Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
As the saying goes, time flies! The two and a half months living on my own in Tokyo will soon come to an end, and in about two weeks I will start my second semester at Tokyo International University. During the break, I spent a lot of time at home eating cheap food, but when I had the chance, went out to see new things. I had some good times with friends, and was fortunate enough to go on a trip to the Northern island of Japan for the famous snow festival. As promised, I will start this entry with the New Year.
In Japan, New Year's Eve is the most celebrated Holiday. Despite that, mine was rather plain due mostly to lack of good planning. Most people greet the New Year with their families, commonly at a famous shrine, mountain, or at home. The next day is the busiest day for shrines, as almost everyone goes to pray for good things to come in the new year. I was aware of this, and had planned to visit a famous shrine on the 1st, but did not have plans for New Year's Eve. I though about spending it with some fellow students staying here over break, so I contacted them. We talked about meeting up, but never finalized the plans, so on the night of the 31st I headed to Ikebukuro in hopes of contacting them while there and meeting up. However, I was unable to make contact that night, so I ate dinner at the Mexican restaurant before returning home. At my apartment, I turned on the TV and saw live broadcasts of people at famous places to greet the New Year. Thousands of people were crowded around shrines and temples across the country. I realized then that I could have gone to a big shrine in Tokyo to stand in a huge crowd of people and count down, and then wait among them all for a turn to pray at the shrine. However, at that point, watching all those people stand in the freezing cold for hours from my warm apartment seemed ok. I was able to instant message chat with my mother as it became 2010 here. Unfortunately video chat was not working, so I typed to her about some of the things on TV. Some men, presumably priests, stood in the snow, as it snowed, wearing only loin cloths and pouring water on themselves. A cleansing ritual, I guess, but seemed like a good way to get sick. I decided that the next day, I would video chat with my family as it became 2010 there. After all, I could go to a shrine any time. My mother told me when to meet her online, so I agreed. I got on at that time, and then suddenly realized there had been a miscalculation. I had missed them by few hours. At that point it was dark out, but I decided to head to my local shrine just for the heck of it. It was abandoned, as it was already shut down for the day. "Oh well" I thought. I looked at the outside of the shrine adorned with a tiger banner and then returned home again. Later, I found out about other options I could have pursued, but too late. So my New Year in Japan was not the most eventful, but was happy nonetheless. I was able to be thankful for just being here, and count my blessings.
After that, I met with friends a few times. One time in particular is worth mentioning. I decided to go to Ueno Park to see some of the things I was unable to my first time there. I met up with Chris, one of the students living in an apartment not far from there, where I had attended the Christmas party. We walked around a bit while waiting for our other friend, and saw some neat things. We walked past some street performers to visit the Ueno Toshogu. It is the original grave site of Ieyasu Tokugawa, before his remains were moved to the current, most famous Toshogu. However, the actual shrine was hidden for some reason, and placed in front was a large banner with a photograph on it. I guess it was under repair. At some point, I hope to visit the famous Nikko Toshogu, and then I will have visited all three. After that, we headed to the National Museum of Nature and Science, not to go in, but to see something outside. I had heard of a life size model of a blue whale, and wanted to see it. As we got close, it was not hard to spot. It became more and more imposing as we approached, and soon I was looking up at a realistic model of the world's largest living creature. Maybe I am easily impressed, but I thought it was very cool. Plus, I love whales. Another thing I really want to see some day, a real blue whale! We sat down next to my new giant friend and I contacted our other friend. His friend and her friend were in town, and would be joining us later. We still had a few hours, so we went to nearby Akihabara for lunch. We then returned to Ueno and watched another street performer, this time a singer, while waiting for the friend's arrival. They eventually joined us, and the 5 of us headed to Tokyo National Museum.
Tokyo National Museum is home to many National Treasures and ancient artifacts. At the time, there was a special exhibit of the most famous Dogu, which are clay figures from Japan's pre-historic Jomon era. I had learned about these in a history class, and it was interesting to see in person. The exhibit also included Jomon pots, intricate clay pots which the era is named after. In other parts of the building were many other types of ancient artwork, including carvings, paintings, ceramics and more. My favorites were some old swords and armor used by samurai.
Less than two weeks later, I was on a boat on my way to Hokkaido. I did not think I would be able to go at first, so the trip was planned last minute, but everything came together and it was great! First I packed up my bag and prepared to head to Tokyo station. To my surprise, when I opened the door and stepped out of my apartment, there was still snow on the ground from the night before. I didn't have to go to Hokkaido to see snow, but the snow festival is an extra special, once-a-year event, and the reason I went at this particular time. For the trip there, I managed to get a package deal which included bus and boat fare from Tokyo to Sapporo. From Tokyo station, I took a bus to Mito, and another from Mito to the port of Oarai. There I boarded the ferry, where I would spend the next 20 hours. I entered the "economy" room where I would spend the night. These shared rooms are the cheapest option, with mats and blankets on the floor to sleep on. I was the first to arrive, and soon met my first roommate, an older woman traveling alone. I went and had a filling dinner in the boat's buffet-style restaurant, and then went back to the room. I met my other 4 roommates, also older women, who were part of a tour. We sat around and chatted about various things, and I was given some delicious home grown strawberries to snack on. One woman was quite a traveler, and told us about all the places she had been. One of the places she has not been is the US, and she wants to visit the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas some day. After our chat, we all went to bed for the night. The next morning I ate breakfast at the buffet, and then lazed around until we approached the port in Hokkaido. We pulled into Tomokomai port and got off. The woman traveling alone and I got on the same bus to Sapporo, and bid farewell to the tour group. They were heading to the festival as well, but by a separate bus. We chatted a bit on the way. Her son lives in Sapporo, and she had been once before, but it would be her first time to the festival. She was to meet him after he got off of work, so until then she decided to hang around me for some reason. She helped me find my hotel. I was very grateful and let her store her luggage there for a few hours. We went to check out the main site of the festival, where I was to meet Chris, who was also taking a trip there and had arrived the previous day. We met up with him and walked around, looking at the magnificent snow and ice sculptures. I won't go into too much detail, other than that they are awesome to see in person, and I will let the pictures say the rest. It was definitely a festival setting, with many booths selling food and goods. It was so cold, my hands felt like they had a thousand needles in them. After a bit, we parted with Chris to go retrieve the woman's luggage. I said goodbye to her and spent a few minutes in my room trying to regain control of my hands. They had turned bright red despite my cheap gloves. I then went to meet with Chris again at the Panasonic Tower. As I approached the tower, I suddenly heard my name shouted. I turned around and to my surprise, I saw the lively adventurer woman from the boat running toward me! The tour group was about to leave the site, but they happened to see me amongst the thousands of people. I said goodbye to them again and went inside. I bought a warmer pair of gloves, Chris and I sought out a place to eat ramen, which is famous in Hokkaido. We found one of the many alleys lined with ramen shops and sat down to a warm, satisfying dinner. I had the shops specialty, butter corn ramen. Was very tasty and filling. Again I was reminded that instant ramen and real, fresh ramen should really have two different names. We then went back to our respective hotels for the night. The next morning, I met with Chris once again and we walked to a park that has a historic building in it. It was very lovely, covered in snow. Then we headed to the station, and parted ways. Chris would head back to Tokyo soon, and I made plans for the rest of the day. I took a shuttle bus to another of the 3 main festival sites, which is on the edge of town. It is known as the most activity and kid oriented site, with several types of snow rides such as sleds, snow rafting, and bamboo skis. I watched some of the activities, but did not participate. I went into the arena there for a bit to warm up and brush all the snow off of my face. There were more rides and booths, and a stage. I was there as a voice actor/singer from the anime Naruto was being interviewed in front of a bunch of kids. Having seen all the site had to offer and watching children who had 10 times my endurance for the cold run around and hide in igloos, I headed back to the city. I decided to have dinner at Hokkaido Beer Hall. It is not as famous as Sapporo Beer Hall, but was closer and easier to get to. There I indulged in another Hokkaido specialty, fresh lamb. I ordered an all-you-can-eat deal that included the lamb, fish, clams, prawns, octopus, and some veggies. They bring out 3 huge plates of stuff, and if you finish you can order more for up to 100 minutes. For one person, it does not look feasible to even eat all of the first portion, but I somehow managed to eat it all with the exception of a bit of octopus (not a big fan). You cook it yourself at your table, and it comes with a special Mongolian style sauce. Of course, being in Sapporo, I also ordered a Sapporo beer. It was all very delicious.
After my huge dinner, I walked around the 3rd site of the festival, which is a street full of ice sculptures. I had seen ice sculptures once before in my life, and these made those look like something that fell out of an ice dispenser onto the floor. I walked around the main site a bit more, and then before I was turned into a walking snowwoman, went back to the hotel. The next morning I checked out and headed by train to Chitose airport, where I took a plane back to Tokyo. Overall the trip was pretty short and very cold, but very enjoyable and I will remember it well.
A few days after getting back, it was time to pay my final rent and fill out the forms to move out. I had to go to Shinjuku again, and passed a rally of an anti-foreigner group. I have spotted people from this group several times in Tokyo. They are part of a political party, and not necessarily racist, but against foreign immigrants to Japan. They want Japan to become more independent by closing off, but this is not likely to happen. As most of the people in the actual leading political parties know, foreigners play an important role in Japan's economy. After I visited the Sakura House office, I went to Akihabara again. I had been planning to try a maid cafe while in Japan, and it seemed as good a time as any. I decided to go to Mononopu, the Sengoku themed maid cafe I had seen advertised during my previous visits to "Akiba". I had an appetizer of manta fin, a Calpis sour, and a Valentine's special crepe. I had my picture taken with a random maid since I did not know who to choose. I think most of the maids were a bit nervous to talk to me, but one of them walked up and said "Hello!" We talked for a few minutes, and she said she had an interest in English. After I finished my tasty, overpriced snack, I looked at some shops and headed back to the station. I could not resist getting a kebob before I left. I think I could live on those things, until I died because they probably aren't the healthiest thing. So gooooood!
The following Sunday was Valentine's Day, and I decided to go out. First, I went to another maid cafe with a Japanese friend I met here. I decided I want to try multiple types of cafe since there are so many! I had a very yummy lunch of soup, bread, stuffed cabbage roll, cake, and tea. The cafe is a more elegant type of maid cafe that often has many female customers since it is in Ikebukuro. However, because it was Valentine's Day, there was a special event where the maids were cosplaying as game characters, mostly from a dating sim. After lunch, we met with three of my friends living near Ueno, and we all went to karaoke and dinner. It was a fun night. Since then, I have spent the week at home, saving what little money I have. Tomorrow I will go see a Broadway musical, in Japanese! I was to see CATS with another student from ASU who is studying here at a different University. However, she had to go home suddenly due to a family emergency, and so I will be going with another Japanese friend I met here. It is in Yokohama, where I have not been yet. I will write about it next time!
- comments