Adventures Outside the Prefecture: an epic in 4 parts

*The companion pictures to this story can be found here

On April 20^th I took a day trip to Nikko, in Tochigi prefecture. This trip was months in the making. I'd left Tokyo a number of times with visiting houseguests, but I had never left Tokyo 100% of my own accord; plus, my Meidaimae twin is crazy into traveling - he's been to Hiroshima, Osaka, Kyoto and the usual spots outside of Tokyo, plus he recently returned from a 9 day trip to China - and I felt inspired to take some initiative in traveling. Back in February I gave someone a shift swap for March resulting in a 3 day weekend for me in April. It was then that I planned to 'do something'. Something big. I had already seen most of the greater Tokyo area sights: Yokohama, Kamakura, Hakone; so I decided to knock a different one off my list. The major selling points for Nikko were cherry blossoms and wild monkeys. Thanks to the flu + a 12 day work week I all but missed cherry blossom season in Tokyo. Because Nikko is a few train hours north of Tokyo I figured the sakura might be in bloom up there; and as for the monkeys... well, who wouldn't want to see wild monkeys?

In the weeks leading up to Nikko I got most of my information from my traveling co-worker. One of the most important things he told me was that the day before I left I should go to the train station in Asakusa and buy a combination ticket that included round trip train fare and inclusion to a spate of World Heritage Sites. And the ticket office closed at 3. So, on April 19^th I duly woke up with every intention of going to Asakusa, buying the train ticket combo and making a day of it seeing the sights of Asakusa. A couple of hours later I was intent on going just to get the train tickets. After my roommate invited me to join an at-home sushi lunch with him and his friend I became intent on simply enjoying myself at home. Later that night however, I did think to look up Nikko in my Tokyo Rough Guide. At that point it crossed my mind that although I had been 'planning' this trip for a couple of months, it wasn't until the night before that I made any effort to figure out where I was going or what I might be doing.

Adventures Outside the Prefecture 2: Am I there yet?

*The companion pictures to this story can be found here


Friday started out swimmingly. I successfully met up with a friend to borrow her camera, left the house at a semi decent day-tripping time, and even made it to the correct station about 15 minutes before the hourly departure time. I was so excited for my day of sightseeing I sat at the front of the very first car so I could see everything the train passed by. One of the first things I saw was what appeared to be a big yellow ball sitting next to a big yellow building. I was excited!

The ride was going smoothly – I was seeing cool things, and the train was progressing on time. I checked my guidebook a couple of times and it said that sometimes travelers had to transfer trains at a certain station before continuing to Nikko, but nobody I spoke to at the station had seemed to try to indicate that to me, so I figured I was ok; I kept checking the signs at train stations, and they confirmed that I was going in the right direction. Then all of a sudden the train started going really slowly, there was only one track and the signs saying ‘to Nikko’ appeared on the other side of the track – going in the opposite direction! What happened? I guess I was supposed to transfer after all. As soon as I was able, I got off the train hoping for a quick reversal.

Enter the safety mirror photo shoot. The station was incredibly desolate. I had no idea when the next train would come, but I figured it couldn’t be horribly long; I had forgotten one of the cardinal rules of living in Tokyo – never assume you know what’s going on. I started to pass the time by taking pictures of myself in the traffic safety mirrors. Once I tired of that I started to look around, and quickly realized that there was nothing interesting to look at. I suppose the situation could also be described as calm and peaceful, but I was really frustrated with myself for my mistake. I thought to myself – people are always talking about taking time to slow down in life, and think and be peaceful, this is a great time to actually do it! So I sat down on bench to try and enjoy the peace of the countryside and deserted station. I feel like I gave it at least 5 minutes, although in reality it probably just lasted 30 seconds; I was just too agitated. Finally I heard the signaling bells start dinging to announce the coming of a train. In the near distance I could make out the fancier, more expensive train – the one I didn’t take. This train had reserved seats, but I figured when the doors opened I could jump on and then feign ignorance/confusion when the conductor would inevitably tell me I was on the wrong train. As the train pulled in I was plotting the moment to make my move, but the doors never opened. Two trains arrived at the station only so they could pass each other on the single track. 45 minutes later a train came and whisked me back in the other direction. 15 minutes later I was back at the station where I should have transferred. So, an hour later I was back in the right direction, with nothing to show for my delay.

Adventures Outside the Prefecture 3: On the right track

*The companion pictures to this story can be found here


I got off the train at the correct station and started wandering around a bit. An intercom announcement seemed to say that a train to Nikko was arriving on track 2; I was on track 3. Just to be sure I checked out the signs to see if they were saying the same thing; I’m sure I looked massively confused. A Singaporean couple approached me, asking if I needed help. I told them I was going to Nikko and they said ‘oh, you don’t have very much time!’ I had left the house at a semi-decent time, but my little detour into the middle-of-nowhere, Japan cost me a good deal of time. As it turned out they were going to Nikko as well, it was a favorite vacation spot for them whenever they came to Japan. They explained to me that you didn’t actually transfer trains. The 4 car train split apart. The first two cars went towards Nikko, the last two cars went in a different direction.

*

Talk about a WTF moment. They themselves weren’t sure what track the train was coming in on. I thought it was track 2, but since they weren’t sure I assumed I had heard wrong. Once the train pulled in we realized it was indeed track 2 and we ended up having to do a little jog to catch the train.

Arriving in Nikko well beyond my target time, I headed straight for the information center to get map of the area. Unjustifyingly confident in my navigation abilities, I headed up towards the World Heritage listed shrines and temples. On the way up, as is usual in areas of this nature, I passed a small shrine; this one nicely accented by cherry blossoms. I also saw some really nice and wintry looking mountains. Not foreboding, but they provided a nice mountain setting. Around the same time I started getting hungry, and I realized that usually the main road leading up to the attractions usually have snack stands and gift shops. Where were the snacks? So after turning the corner past the small shrine I walked to the intersection and broke out my map – tourist style.

A little old man rode up on his bicycle and asked where I was trying to go. When I pointed to the area on the map he said first, ‘oh, you’re on the wrong road!’ then ‘you don’t have very much time.’ I was slightly aware of the former, and fully aware of the latter. Thankfully he showed me a still relatively easy way to get there. I thanked him and started walking; actually trying to walk as if I had a heightened interest or sense of purpose in my destination because he had actually urged me to hurry. A couple of minutes later he pedaled up further to me and said ‘well, since you don’t have very much time I want to show you where you can go.’ He proceeded to scribble over places on the map that I didn’t need to see, and circle the important places. He was such a cute, helpful old man! After maybe 15 minutes of walking and wondering, I rounded a curve and found myself opposite a beautiful bright red bridge with gold accents. Surely something of historical significance!

Adventures Outside the Prefecture 4: The treasure hunt

*The companion pictures to this story can be found here

After crossing the street I finally reached the treasures. I was welcomed by an engraved rock announcing the presence of World Heritage listed shrines and temples. Now, the day before I had passed up the chance to buy a combination ticket in advance. Had I made the trip to Asakusa on Thursday I could have bought the train ticket and admittance to all the shrines and temples for a really good deal. But I hadn’t felt like going. So, I had to buy a ticket. As I didn’t have a lot of time, I dutifully tried to follow the old man’s advice and skip the unimportant stuff. On my way to the ticket area I passed a really awesome fountain. I’ve seen a good number of fountains, and this one was by far the coolest. The first ticket place seemed to only sell those combination tickets that I didn’t want so I proceeded through a hut-like structure and up a small hill (and past a few more cool looking things) at the top of which I was welcomed to Nikko in 11 languages. I didn’t see any more ticket booths, but I did see the first set of Torii (the gates before you enter a Shinto shrine). It was pretty woodsy at this point, so I was hoping to see some monkeys – or at least hear them, but I didn’t even see a sign warning me about them.

There are a number of famous images enshrined at Nikko, including the 3 monkeys of ‘see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil’. I was interested in seeing that and a few other sights, but it really seemed like I could only buy a combination ticket, which I wasn’t interested in because I would have time to take full advantage of it. I decided that this was a place I would probably like to come back to so instead of seeing only a couple of things I decided not to see anything, so that when I came back nothing would be a repeat. I was enjoying the fresh air and the scenery anyway, so I just walked around taking pictures of shrines and temples (and a bright red pagoda) through the trees. After maybe an hour of walking around I thought to myself – you came all the way out here! You should really try to see at least one thing; otherwise why did you come? So I made one last effort to buy a ticket, maybe even a combination ticket. I went up to the ticket booth to try to buy a ticket, any kind of ticket – and she said they were closed! So I was like well, I guess I’m just really not going to see a temple or shrine today!

And then I realized how hungry I was. Since I took the wrong route up I never did get a snack, so I turned my attention to finding some food. On my way down from all the sights I passed an inviting gift shop. There were some cool trinkets and souvenirs in there, but I wasn’t moved to buy anything since I more or less planned on coming back. I still did a full tour of the store though, examining anything and everything that looked interesting to me. In the end all I bought was some candy to tide me over, and the saleslady gave me a really dirty look. Further on the way down I happened upon a Japanese-style garden near the entrance that I hadn’t seen before. It was beautiful! It was also at this point that I discovered the ‘landscape’ function on my friend’s camera, which let me take much greener pictures. I still wasn’t seeing any monkeys, but I did see cherry blossoms!! I love cherry blossoms; even further down I saw something else that I love – waterfalls. This one was tiny, just an afterthought next to the downhill path.

At the very bottom I ran into some Gaijin that I had noticed in the gift shop, and we started chatting. As it turns out the guy I was talking to was Nova teacher in Tokyo, from Florida! We parted ways when I decided that continuing my search for food was more important than continuing the conversation, especially because I was walking and they were waiting for the bus. Luckily the first restaurant I saw, Hippari Dako, came highly recommended by my guidebook. It was a cozy little place with an exuberant proprietress who spoke English pretty well. The menu was really cute – it helped travelers learn survival Japanese! I couldn’t decide if I wanted to order yakitori (meat on a stick) or meatballs on a stick, so the woman let me mix and match and have both. The food was really good; if I came back to Nikko I would go there again in a heartbeat.

Adventures Outside the Prefecture: Epilogue

*The companion pictures to this story can be found here


The successful dinner put me in a good mood, and it carried me down the rest of the hill and into the train station. I successfully got on the train and all that, then I remembered something – I was told that I initially went in the wrong direction on the train because I hadn’t been in the first two cars. But I was! I specifically sat in the front so I could get the best view possible. At that point I was like wow, sometimes this country really screws you and there’s no two ways about it. In the end, though, I really enjoyed the day. I didn’t see any shrines or temples, but I didn’t need to; once you’ve seen about 4 or 5 they start looking the same. I didn’t see monkeys either, but I enjoyed walking around in the fresh mountain air, with beautiful scenery to boot. Will I go back to Nikko? Probably not… unless I’m 100% sure there will be monkeys. (*^_^*)

More Encouragement

I am so excited! The movement to fight climate change is growing and growing. It is so encouraging to see individuals from both the public and private sectors making this issue a priority. The latest - a carpet tile executive commited to greening his company, and encouraging other businesses to do the same. Check it out: Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet.

Also of note: Wolfowitz gone, World Bank seeks new identity: "The entire international economic architecture established after World War II... is buckling..." I'll say! This is the post-cold war world. Maybe even post post-cold war. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund are waaaaaay outdated in their policies and practices (two different things, of course). Anybody who knows what I studied in college probably already knows how I feel about this. I also think it's interesting that the U.S./Bush administration thinks it should continue to choose the president of the Bank when a) poor judgement in picking people for leadership roles is now the norm, and b) the U.S. contribution to the Bank is less than other countries.

And that brings me to Al Gore's latest book, the Assault on Reason; a book which I had actually dreamed of writing myself, and which I certainly want to read ASAP. Al Gore is much better as an activist than a politician. He has a lot to say about the Bush administration - but this stuff needs to be said, without fear of impunity.

Live from New York!

This is so exciting - world leaders and many of the leading urban cities in the world are joining together with multinational banks and other companies to retrofit older buildings to make them much more energy efficient and contribute that much less to climate change. This is incredible! I am also very proud because among the participatory cities, both Chicago and Tokyo have signed on.

(International Herald Tribune) Coalition to invest billions to save energy
(New York Times) Global Coalition to Make Buildings Energy Efficient

Adventures in writing

Sometimes, when I’m not interested in teaching a regular Nova lesson, I have my students blindly choose from a list of phrases (found in the teacher’s room) and have them create a story from the phrases. I did a lesson like that today, but this time I participated as well. Each story was written in 10min.:

One night I was walking home from work, jamming to my iPod as usual. Before I knew it, sharp teeth plunged into my neck and I sank to the ground. And then – it was only then – that I noticed a dark shadow had fully encompassed my neighborhood – streetlights and barking dogs included. The next thing I knew, I woke up! I was on the Chuo line pulling into Mitaka station. A little disturbed by my dream, I put on my music to power myself for the walk home. Rounding the final corner before my house I noticed another pedestrian in the street. In that moment I realized that I hadn’t been dreaming, as I leapt up to sink my teeth into the neck of my neighbor.

Required phrases: before I knew it, sharp teeth, and then, a dark shadow, the next thing I knew.

A strange noise pierced the cold wind swirling around their secluded country home. The family was gone, leaving only the dog to register the eerie noise. The floorboards began to creak and faint voices and shuffling noises could be heard – as if this strange turn of events was straight from a terrible nightmare of Tim Burton or Stephen King. All of a sudden the front door of the house swung open to reveal a long dark road that in the daytime functioned as the family’s private driveway. The whimpering dog witnessed a parade of the undead file into the house. They silenced the dog, and waited for the family to return.

Required phrases: a strange noise, a cold wind, a terrible nightmare, all of a sudden, a long dark road.

This really happened

Yesterday...

I got on the train on the way to work and this older (60s) Japanese man with a long ponytail kept stealing glances at me as I was reading my book. Right before the next stop (which happened to be where I got off) he looks at me and says,

Do you know Jimi Hendrix?
- Uhhmm, yeah.
Yeah! He is an excellent guitar player. The greatest!

Then he did some air guitar and got off the train.

Welcome Home, Casio

I'm so excited! I bought a new digital camera tonight!! My good ole' Vivitar - the one with the black rubber band holding the batteries in - finally gave up in March after a long and protracted battle with functionality. Some highlights of the experience:

• I had planned to only look at models, jot down notes and then look them up online, but a very helpful salesman spoke English! Thus negating the need for any legwork on my part.

• He spoke enough English to give commentary and help me compare. Like, 'this one has a wider lens, but this one has a better zoom. If you want a wider picture you can step back.' Or, 'this one has a hand-shake function, but you can only take 200 pictures on the battery. With the other model (without the hand-shake function) you can take over 300.' Very helpful.

• I was very surprised that a Casio was one of the best models in the store. I told him, I've heard of Panasonic, Sony and Nikon, but I didn't know Casio made cameras! He said they were the best and very popular in Japan.

• The camera was on sale, plus he gave me a 5% discount (for being foreign?) so I saved about 7,000 yen. PLUS he gave me a carrying case for free.

• And another employee gave me a red carnation.

I'm so psyched! I can take pictures again!!!

ps - I just checked online, and I got the camera for waaaaay less than it costs in the U.S. Go Japan!!!

... oh man! the carnation is fake! (>_<)

One Tokyo

Today was one of those days where I wake up, and just don't feel like doing Tokyo. I challenged myself to put these feelings in words; This is what I came up with. I titled it as the name of my blog on purpose. The former title, Carrying the Banner, also had an associated poem.

One Tokyo

Tokyo…
Is not mine
Flashy, but not exciting
Trendy, but not thoughtful
Tokyo is not mine
Not something I can relate to
Or wish to aspire to

Tokyo is
Money and old Edo
Overworked salarymen and lonely housewives
Working. Drinking. Shopping.
Showy yet secret
– and in its secrets deeply flawed, and
Incredibly proud
Full of traditions yet lacking in community

Tokyo wildly embraces the new
Leaving layers of the old hidden beneath the surface
This is not my city
But I am only one person
And this is only the Tokyo seen through my eyes
This is just one Tokyo.

It may not be mine, but this is the Tokyo that belongs to me.

A staple food for the 21st century

I love Grape Nuts! I mean, I love all cereal, but grape nuts in particular. Like, if way in the future there were an anthropologist or historian for some reason examining my life/eating habits they might speak of me as such people now speak of people way back when saying,


The staple food of her diet appeared to be cereal, most notably Grape Nuts, bowls of which, on particularly rushed or extremely lazy days, were a substitute for meals. Said food was often accompanied with edamame (soy beans), apples, and a cultural phenomenon called PB & J, which means peanut butter and jelly, which our subject preferred to eat with crunchy peanut butter.
Our records show that the subject spent a year outside of her native habitat, where Grape Nuts were not a naturally occuring substance. She didn't show any particular signs of withdrawal, but rather adjusted well to the local staples of raw fish, marinated grilled meat and a phenomenon called Freshness Burger. After 8 months of relocation, however, a box of the cereal found its way to our subject's adopted habitat in the hands of two visitors and our subject once again became dependent on her former staple food, however small and dwindling its reserves were. At the present time our team is unable to determine the fate of our subject after she exhausted her supply of Grape Nuts.


*I will be making a real post soon - i'm working on an epic that should be up in a few days

The truth about Japanese fashion

Do you want to know the truth about Japanese fashion? Here it is:

Pantyhose are IN! in in in in in. Japanese women looooooove them some pantyhose. They wear it every day. Do they wear pants, or even stockings in the winter? No, skirts with pantyhose. When it's nice outside do they go without? Nope. Open-toe sandals, closed-toe shoes, it's all fair game. I have even seen a number of women wear hose with long pants and completely closed shoes! Why? As I can often be heard saying in Japanese, wakarimasen (I don't understand).

The funny thing is, when I wear pantyhose (a must at work) I truly feel like a Japanese woman - like I'm one of them. It's so universal here that I feel like I've tapped into something... that even though I'm so obviously Gaijin I'm just like everyone else on the train, coming home after a full day of work.
*****

Now if only I could maneuver in hose like Japanese women can. I've mastered riding my bicycle in work clothes and heels, but I tore my 2nd (of 3) specially imported pair of 'soft brown' hose on the pedal of a very nearby bicycle when parking my own the other day. So now I just need to learn the secret of 30s bicycle parking in a crowded lot while wearing pantyhose - before I'm out of 'soft brown'.

Talk About Longevity!

The End of a 1,400 Year Old Business