Dad's Visit - May 2011

Having a visitor is always a good opportunity to go out and explore more of your city. I finally had a reason to venture out to the famous Tsukiji fish market, but unfortunately, the tuna auction was closed to the public. The official excuse is the earthquake; however, the fish market has become very big and successful over the decades, yet still uses traditional (and outdated methods for running the business. Their reluctance to introduce new technology preventing from running their business smoothly, and tourists have always been an extra distraction. The earthquake gave them the perfect trump card to restrict tourists visiting the market. But Tsukiji is not the only one on the earthquake bandwagon; it has become everyone's go to excuse for everything these days.

The only part of the market that's open to the public is a regular market surrounding the commercial part, which was still fishy.

We also discovered a random temple near the market, with huge lion heads - probably used in some sort of procession.

This is a good example of modern architecture dwarfing some more classic (looking) buildings in Ginza.
Aside from visiting the gardens, this is the closest you can get to the imperial palace. It's also one of the most picturesque spots in Tokyo.

The national parliament building is not much to look at, which makes it a good reflection of Japanese politics in general. When I arrived in Japan I was shocked to learn how incompetent politicians here are and how bad the political scene is. They are currently on their 7th Prime Minister in 5 years. On top of that, bribery and corruption are rampant, while politicians consistently defend Japan's war criminals (outright denying they are criminals), thus perpetuating the long standing tensions between Japan and its Asian neighbors. The people are extremely hardworking which picks up the politicians slack and thus ensures Japan continues to thrive - but barely. I also found out that Japan has the highest debt in the world, and is on the verge of bankruptcy.

You would think the citizens would demand more from their politicians, but it seems that the Japanese are just too apathetic (or afraid to stand out) to demand change from their leaders. The most serious problem at the moment is the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, something the government has not been able to cope with now for over half a year. All in all, politically, Japan gets a big F-.

But the gardens are very nice, so an A+ there.
The Hie-jinja, a Shinto temple built on a hill in the 17th Century to protect the shogun's castle, made me feel like I was in Planet of the Apes because of all the monkey statues.
This statue of a mommy monkey with her baby is an important site for pregnant women.
We had dinner at a random little restaurant, tucked in under an highway.

We took a day trip to Yokohama, Japan's second largest city, but when taking the train from Tokyo the two city's blend together.

Yokohama started out as a small fishing village, which became a port in 1859. By the early 1900s it was the largest port in Asia, attracting many foreigners.

Many of the foreigner houses remain in Yokohama. When walking around this neighborhood, it was hard to believe we were in Japan.
Yokohama Bay Bridge.

Yokohama's Chinatown, the largest in Japan.

There are cute characters on buildings all over Japan - they use (ambiguous) cute characters for EVERYTHING.
We also took a day trip to Kawagoe, also known as Little Edo. The Kita-in temple had some nice carvings...
... and a rare 2-story pagoda.
The temple also has the only original existing rooms of Edo Castle, which were moved from Tokyo's Imperial grounds before the massive earthquake, and thus weren't destroyed.

A wooden veranda running around the house is a common feature in Japan. The Japanese have a saying that when you meet the right person, you can see yourself drinking tea with them on this veranda when you're old.

It usually overlooks a beautiful garden.

The temple also had a very interesting garden of 500 statues of Buddha's disciples. There is a story that if you go to the garden in the dead of night and feel around in the pitch black, one of the statues will feel warm. This is the statue that most resembles you.

School children with their trademark caps and backpacks.

Another random shrine with offerings of bottled drinks. I've seen sushi (gross and moldy) and cups of coffee offered at shrines too.
Turtle pond!
The Children's Day fish flags.
Kawagoe is called Little Edo because it preserves the atmosphere of 19th Century Tokyo with its kura houses. Kura have thick clay walls, double doors and heavy shutters, and were fireproof warehouses and shops. Only about 30 kura houses remain.
The bell tower was built in 1624 to tell the time and warn of fires.
And more cute things... Statues of animals scattered all over Kawagoe.

We also took a day trip to Kamakura, Japan's capital from 1185 to 1333. It's a seaside town full of wooded hills and temples, so its a favorite of artists.

One temple was in a cave, where you could wash money in a stream. If the washed money was spent, it would return to you many times over.
Kamakura also has a giant Buddha, which was cast in 1252.
One of Kamakura's most famous temples is the Hase-dera. It also has a shrine in a cave.

The hall is dedicated to Jizo, the guardian of children, and all the statues are placed there to protect babies who have died.

Sometimes in Japan you see really random English signs. I can't even begin to explain this...

We took a very tiny local train that passed right in front of peoples doors to a nice restaurant overlooking the ocean...

... and at sunset we got a nice view of Mt. Fuji.

Back in Tokyo, we visited Shinjuku, the city's business district. This is where the massive Tokyo City Hall is located. This is one of the entrances...
And the main towers.
They both have an observation point up top.
Many of the office buildings in Shinjuku are quite interesting.
The world's most expensive intersection is the main intersection in Ginza. The building on the left is the iconic Wako department store, the exact point of the world's most expensive real estate. My work is diagonally across from Wako and I can look at it out my window as I teach.
The Edo-Tokyo museum was set in a very futuristic building. In the background you can see the green pyramid roof of the sumo stadium.
The museum had the usual selection of Japanese folding screens depicting some battle scene...
The emperors "wheels"...
A demonstration of the traditional silk dying process...
Block printing...
And a reconstruction of pre-earthquake/WWII Tokyo.
We also visited Asakusa and my favorite teppanyaki restaurant.
The nearby Senso-ji Temple looked different today because of the pouring rain. At least we could see the cool ducts in action.

The Koshikawa garden was also a first for me. It's Tokyo's oldest (17th Century).

We did quite a bit of walking around Tokyo, and saw this typical Tokyo scene: a complex network of trains and rails.
We discovered a random temple on the way, a very austere and imposing structure...
... with a large statue of Confucius.
The nearby Kanda Myojin was a bright contrast to the temple we saw earlier. It was built in 1923 on 8th Century foundations, and is the place to pray to the spirits of marriage and commercial success.

The statue at the temple looked a lot like Santa Claus.

The nearby Yushima Tenjin is a Shinto shrine that is popular with students around exam time.

We also discovered a very tiny shrine, wedged between two buildings in Akihabara.

Inside:
The main street in Akihabara is an assault of advertising on the senses. It looks different at night when all the neon signs are flashing, though they have become more conservative since the earthquake.

Akihabara also has many random themed cafes, including a cat cafe, where you can drink coffee and play with cats.

All in all it was a great visit, and despite having to work, I was still able to see a lot of Tokyo. I have also turned into quite the competent tour guide.