Tokyo
Apr 16, 01:16 PM
Asako’s parent’s house is a mid-sized apartment walking distance from the subway. Streets here are often one-way, extremely narrow, concrete block lined affairs. They twist in unexpected ways that hint at the walking paths that they probably replaced. I imagine that the sprawling unchecked growth of Tokyo and the fact that it only takes a few turns to get lost is the main reason GPS guided maps are standard in the dashboards of cars and taxis. Try as I might, I still can’t seem to remember the short walk from the various nearby subway stops to the house.
The house itself is on the top of a 3 floor, six apartment building. The furnishings are simple and functional and the construction has a european feel. From the bedroom I am staying in I have a nice view of the tops of neighboring rooftops, streets, and trees as well as some of the larger buildings in Tokyo. Almost all of Asako’s family lives within a few blocks of here; they were all very welcoming and happy to meet me.
The first day in Tokyo started out with Asako’s mom driving around a bit (It’s hard to get used to driving on the left) and some more sight seeing. We visited some local temples and shrines, and did a lot of shopping in Shibbuya. This is the neighborhood that documentaries like to show in fast forward when talking about the pace of city life or the consequences of overcrowding. Asako was right at home here, pointing out all the places where she shopped in high school, and hung out with her friends. This was the first time that I felt like I had stepped into the madhouse that people describe Tokyo to be.
The second day we wake early to go to the Tokyo fish market called Tsukiji (築地). We were lucky enough to have a sushi chef family friend, Mr. Seki, offer to guide us through the market. He and his young apprentice travel to this market every morning to buy the fish that they will be serving that day. The market was as hectic as you could expect with us struggling to keep up with the fast pace of a man who does this every day. I constantly felt like I was either in someone’s way (as I was) or going to be run down by one of the many quick cylindrical-engined trucks that are unique to this market. The sheer variety of fish and seafood available was astonishing. Large tuna carcasses where being sliced either with band saws or machetes, buckets of still alive clams, scallops, urchin, octopus (in mesh bags to immobilize them) and cuttlefish where stacked everywhere. Women sat in small plexiglas booths tallying orders and keeping the books while men in vinyl overalls and boots sliced, cleaned and chopped. At one point the chef pointed out that a fish was caught far away and Asako asked him how he knew that. He responded, “The same way with people. I look at their face”.
After a quick sushi breakfast at the market, we headed into Tokyo to see the Kabuki Theatre (æŒèˆžä¼Ž) in the Ginza district. The play we saw was very enjoyable although I highly recommend renting the english translation earpiece they offer in the lobby; I would have been bored and lost without it. Kabuki is pretty stereotypical Japanese with the all male cast acting out female roles in ridiculously high voices (think monty python) and the male roles making dramatic poses and some comedic gestures. Front row seats are several hundred dollars for the entire show but you can see a single act from the fourth floor balcony for under ten bucks.
Later we checked out the Sony Corporate Headquarters for a few hours and then headed to Roppongi Hills (å…本木) and the Mori Art Museum. We checked out the Tokyo city view from the top of the building as well as some of the modern art installations. This more modern view of Japan was a really good counterpoint to the traditional Japanese culture we had been seeing for the past two days in Kyoto.
We met up with Asako’s parents at a small tempura restaurant for a birthday dinner with her mom. At this point I was reminded of the claim I made earlier that I was prepared to eat something I wish I hadn’t. The first item to be placed on the paper covered dish on the bar in front of us was a pair of deep fried shrimp heads. These crispy little guys were actually really good. The regret came later with two bad choices: I volunteered to switch from beer to sake which (I later found out) was served hot and with about eight dried fish fins floating in it. I also decided to take a head-first bite out of a sweet fish that is deep fried whole. I offered the rest of that guy to the natives and described it as “a little strong” for my taste. In reality I wanted to scrape my tongue off and was kicking myself for using the last gulp of beer to help the sea urchin go down. We finished the night with a desert at the Grand Hayatt hotel restaurant and drove home where I pretty much collapsed into a coma.
The rest of the trip was filled with sightseeing, family style dinners, visiting friends and shopping. Overall, I came away from Japan feeling exhausted, but satisfied. There are still a lot of things to I want to do and see but they will have to wait until next time.
