My first overseas trip was to accompany Carol on a business trip to Japan. My supervisor was kind enough to arrange for an opportunity for me to meet colleagues in IT at the Tokyo/Shinjuku Pharmacia office, so I had some excuse not to use up all those vacation days.
Dawn arose as the plane approached Narita. Below us we saw checkerboards of farmland bordered by orderly bamboo forests and neat farmsteads with glistening blue tile roofs. The trip from the U.S. to Narita Airport was long, but nowhere near as long, psychologically, as the bus trip from Narita (on Tokyo's far eastern periphery) to the hotel in Shinjuku (on Tokyo's near west side). By the time we got there, we had been travelling continuously for 23 hours.
Imagine our surprise when we entered our hotel room and saw a magnificent floral arrangement and a note from some of the American Shorthair cat breeders in Tokyo, who were to meet us the next day for some sight-seeing. This, and some sushi in the hotel restaurant, prepared us for a restful night's sleep (buckwheat pillows are wonderful!).
Very early the next morning, we met Nabuko and Minako, and departed for a whirlwind tour of Tokyo. Our first stop was nearby, at the imposing new Tokyo Government Center in the Shinjuku district. These twin towers loom over the burgeoning business district, with entrances on the many levels from the converging subway lines to a covered pedestrian / auto way, to the top level at the entrance to the Shinjuku park. We joined a group of sightseers and went to the observation deck in the south tower, where we were reminded, once again, just how immense a city Tokyo is.
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From there, we took the subway to the grounds of the Imperial Palace, where we walked through the portions of the grounds that are open to the public. The moat, rocky wall and iron-reinforced gates are a not so subtle reminder of Japan's feudal past. The East Garden offers a quiet refuge from the busy governmental and business district outside, especially for tourists from the Midwest!
We then took a cab through Ginza to Tsukiji, famous as the central distribution center for fresh fish in a seafood-oriented culture. 87% of all fish distributed throughout Tokyo passes through Tsukiji's Central Wholesale Market. Most business is transacted there very early in the morning, and little on Sunday, so by the time we got there, it was very quiet. However, nearby sushi restaurants have some of the rarest and most unusual items, and we got a chance to sample some for lunch as Minako and Nabuko skilfully guided us through the ordering process.
From there, we walked to Hongwanji Tsukiji Betsuin, a nearby Buddhist temple dating from the early 17th century. A massive life-sized marble elephant adorned the entry, and glittering gold central and side alters shown in the dim light. A wedding ceremony was taking place, so we left quickly.
Minako and Nabuko guided us across the street to a "subway" (actually, elevated) train station, and walked along, underneath the tracks, through a bustling shopping area. Many street vendors had elaborate displays of suits, videogames, toys, produce, and meats, and seafood. As we made our way through the area, the crowd thickened considerably, and the street vendors gave way to shopfronts, and the merchandise changed to silks, jewelry, and restaurants. We took a breather, stopping for coffee and cake in a coffeehouse, joining extended families in their afternoon get-togethers.
Another cab trip took us to Asakusa, where we joined the throngs of people streaming towards the Sensoji, or Kannon Temple to join the Sanja Festival. The street were filled with jugglers, acrobats, and families with children, who made way for the groups of young men carrying portable shrines through the crowds. A very friendly atmosphere prevailed, and we were greeted warmly (but always very politely) by beer-drinking celebrants, particularly English-speakers who wanted to make sure we felt welcome.
We were getting pretty wiped out by this time, so another, very long, cab trip was in order to our hostess' home, in the far northeast reaches of Tokyo. The ladies all discussed kitties while I zoned out on a couch after marvelling at the efficiency, utility, and compactness of the architecture (for example, the hand basin was in the lid of the toilet, and the washwater is used to fill the reservoir and flush the toilet!). Once cat discussions ranged away from looking at specific individuals and more to general issues, we walked to a nearby Korean hibachi restaurant for our final meal of the day with our new friends.
After dinner, we left Nabuko at her home, and Minako accompanied us back to our hotel in the Shinjuku district on the train. We arrived at 11:30 p.m., completely exhausted, and completely delighted.
Carol and I met our business colleagues the next morning. One of her fellow R&D scientists came to our hotel to make sure we could find the Pharmacia offices nearby, and we parted company in the elevator.
I found my conference room, met my colleagues,and gave my presentation. Despite the unhappy news I had to convey, my audience was very receptive, and peppered me with questions throughout. After the presentation, we went to one of the restaurants at the top of the high-rise for business lunch, where I had a chance to socialize a bit with the IT staff. They were pleasantly surprised that I knew my way around Japanese cuisine, could use chopsticks, and could comment appropriately on the quality and presentation of the food (I explained that we had gone to graduate school at Ohio State University in Columbus, near the Marysville Honda plant, and had frequently availed ourselves of the opportunity to visit the numerous excellent Japanese restaurants that had sprung up to meet the demands of hundreds of homesick executives, managers, and engineers stuck thousands of miles from home in the Midwest).
My afternoon was free, but Carol's colleagues invited us out to dinner. Our hosts noted that we were scheduled to travel to Nara the next day, and told us that they had made all the necessary arrangements for the trip. We ate at a very nice restaurant in the Shinjuku district, and our hosts were extremely courteous, placing Carol at the position of honor and me next to her. We enjoyed Kobe beef cooked on the hibachi at our table, and very much enjoyed the company of our hosts.
The next morning, Carol's colleague met us once again in the lobby of our hotel to make sure that we got to the Tokyo train station OK. Before leaving, we handed our luggage off to the bell captain, who whisked it away (more about this later). We jammed ourselves into the crowded subway, and extruded ourselves once we got to the main train station. Our host made sure we picked just the right Bento (Japanese lunch box) from one of the station vendors, and up to the platform we went, where we bought bottles of Pokari Sweat (equivalent to Gatorade, I guess) for the trip. Carol's colleague verified that we had seats on the righ-hand side of the Shinkansen (bullet train), and left us wondering why. We understood sometime later when, as we zipped along the track towards Kyoto, we saw Mt. Fuji clearly outlined in our panoramic window!
We caught a brief glimpse of Kyoto at the end of our trip, as we made our way up and over the train platform. We chose to take a "local" to Nara rather than wait for an "express" which would have had us arrive at roughly the same time. We enjoyed our vignettes into the culture as students, young families, and businessmen bustled on and off the train as it stopped every few minutes. The train pulled into Nara, we walked across the tracks to our hotel, and there we found our luggage awaiting us! (What a great service - we couldn't figure out how it all got there faster than we did, though). We checked in, and then went up to the smallest hotel room I'd ever seen (until going to London the following year, that is). I did'nt feel so bad, though, after glancing across the courtyard and noticing that the rooms on the other side were spaced 50% closer together than ours! We unpacked, consulted our maps of Nara again, and then struck out on foot to the temple district.
Nara is a small town of only 300,000 people, shoehorned into an area 10 km by 10 km, 40% of which is occupied by temples, museums, government offices, and empty land. The "old city" section of Nara has been continually occupied for at least 1400 years. Nara was the capitol of the country from about 700 - 760 A.D., when the capital was moved to Kyoto. Many of the large structures there were built expressly because the city was the capitol, but most have been re-built over the centuries because of the wear of continuous, heavy use, or because of the destruction of fire. Because of its historical heritage, Nara was placed on the American Air Force's "do not bomb" list, so most of the monumental structures pre-date World War II.
Carol was invited to speak at a four-day-long Veterinary Pathology meeting in Nara, but I was free to explore on my own. In my research on Nara, I had found that the local YMCA sponsored English-speaking guides to assist tourists. One of the other pathologists' spouses and I met up with our guides, who walked us through the main temple district, up into the hills about it, and through both Shinto and Buddhist shrines. They provided valuable insights into the history of Nara, and pointed out many items of interest. For me, this provided a great foundation for my solo explorations.
One of the places I found in my walks was Isuien Garden. This is a very formal, very traditional tea garden, with tea-house buildings scattered through the woods. A continuous flow of water through the area helps to mask out the sound of the tour bus parking area nearby, and the manicured shrubs and trees induce a sense of tranquility. Isuien Garden is a little off the beaten path, reachable by a walk down a long wall-lined alley. The walls are topped with ceramic tiles, which end in either a lotus-flower or triskelion design, depending on which clan controlled which part of the city.
I took the train to an area outside of the main temple district that also contained a number of temples and shrines. This area held actively-used temples, and temples that seemed to be of more historical interest. There was also what looked like an aircraft hangar, but as I walked around it, I noticed a large architectural drawing of a temple. At a nearby kiosk (alway staffed to make sure that tourists paid their admissions to see the temple interiors), I asked about the hangar. The attendant said "Oh, that? We refurbish these temples every 500 years or so." I thought that this perspective was startlingly different than what I was used to in the U.S. - that the fact that this happened regularly enough, albeit so infrequently, that the historical pattern was discernable, and part of the attendant's thought process!
Another indication of the long-term planning was the use of cinnabar as a paint material - as seen in the rich red color. Cinnabar, a compound containing mercury oxide, is toxic to all sorts of pests. I really enjoyed looking at the architecture - and noting the differences between the architectures of Buddhist and Shinto shrines.
The area between the train stations and temple district hosts many thriving businesses, including small shops catering to commuters. The tourist-oriented shops were located closer to the temple district, and carried the usual variety of paper goods, t-shirts, pennants, and plastic fish. I enjoyed wandering through the small commuter-oriented shops, down side-streets and back alleys. Something that characterised Japan for me: I stopped at one messy, cluttered, and dusty little alley-front shop and bought an exquisite, unblemished pear - wrapped in tissue paper, then foam mesh, then wrapping paper, and then a plastic bag - this for the equivalent of $5.
People were uniformly friendly, and though they appreciated my vain attempts at speaking Japanese, invariably switched to English. This was especially true of the groups of middle-school girls who approached me (as a curiosity, I'm sure), and especially not true of the groups of middle-school boys! Nara is to Japan as Colonial Williamsburg is to the U.S. - the destination of many school outings. I found the difference in behavior between boys and girls to be surprising, and could only speculate that the girls saw their mastery of English as a key to prosperity in the future, whereas the boys weren't necessarily worried about that.
We departed Japan from the beautiful new Kansai International Airport, located on an artificial island in the Osaka harbor.
Last Updated February 17, 2007
