Trips Galore

In less than three weeks my time in Japan will end and there is much pressure to make sure I return to America without any regrets. So the past few weeks have been filled with "small" trips to scratch off my Japanese to-do list.

The first of these trips was my pilgrimage to Odaiba. I am not a very religious or spiritual person, but this trip was probably the closest thing to me making any degree of religious ceremony out some event. Odaiba is a large man made island that lies in Tokyo Bay that has been expanded and developed into a large tourist attraction, as well as a commercial and residential zone. It is home to many attractions such as shopping malls, the Fuji Television building and the Rainbow Bridge. 

View out of the train station

Because space ships produce television from the Fuji TV building.

My camera failed to capture the majestic Rainbow Bridge.

Odaiba has a very futuristic feel to it, from the design of the buildings, to the attractions included (such as Sega's indoor amusement park) and atmosphere at both day and night. That coupled with the fact that Odaiba is not overcrowded (like everything else in Tokyo) made me fall in love with the area almost immediately. I chose a good day to go because a festival of some sort was taken place with a diverse mix of Japanese celebrating their culture with performances involving music and dance. 

I wasn't entirely sure what the occasion was, but it was clearly a major event considering the performances took place in several places in Odaiba and seemingly took place the entire time we were there. Or at least until the sun set. 

But these things did not compare to the true purpose of my excursion to Odaiba. One of the paramount reasons I went to Japan. The reason why Odaiba was on my list of places to go since Day 1.

I am not worthy.

The Gundam Statue. Constructed in 2009 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Gundam franchise, it is a 1:1 model of the classic Gundam RX-78-2 mobile suit from the original series. After bowing down to the statue and praying for forgiveness for not completing my pilgrimage sooner, I took over 9000 pictures of it. And I totally squeed like a schoolgirl when I saw it. 

The next major trip was run by TUJ to Hakone, a town/area in Kanagawa prefecture which is south of Tokyo. It was a day trip in which we visited a number of places in a brief period of time. So while the trip might of been a bit rushed at times, it was one of those times that you got to experience a part of Japan you don't see in Tokyo.

So we meet again, Fuji.

At least you are capable of looking nice.

As you can see Hakone is very close to Mt. Fuji, so it took some time for me to gather my sanity to enjoy the trip fully. Once I did, Hakone was a day packed with places to see and things to do. It began with a two hour bus ride to the region, before scaling up the hills via a cable car (thing) to a place known for "black eggs." Yeah, that stumped me for a while. Eating a "black egg" is supposedly to extend your lifespan. So obviously I ate all the eggs.

Following a brief hike around the hills, we took the bus down the hills to a very fancy hotel founded by a man with the most glorious mustache of all time.

Seriously, look at that thing.

We were served a famous, traditional beef curry for lunch and took a tour around this hotel. While I fail to recall the name offhand, the hotel has been the home to many celebrities (including the Beatles). The tour was brief, but interesting to see a number of statues and items that belonged to some of the icons that stayed at the hotel as well as viewing the traditional, once luxurious western style rooms. 

Following the tour, we took another ride to the Hakone Open Air Museum. 

Just two of my favorite things at the museum

The Open Air Museum, as the name implies, was primarily an outdoor experience with a number of pieces of art on display, including some works by Picasso. Far from an art enthusiast, I set off my own and wandered, taking pictures primarily for cheap Facebook likes. Sadly, that social experiment failed, but I can safely say it was probably my personal favorite museum so far with Tokyo National as a close second.

We caught a train down the mountain we scaled early via the cable car, in what was easily the least comfortable train ride so far. It descended slowly with two switchbacks, so it took almost literally forever. However, it had its benefit as we would eventually (after a fair share of walking) in an Onsen.

For those unfamiliar with an Onsen, it is the Japanese term for a "hot spring," but it has broadened to mean any public bathing facility located within close proximity to a hot spring. Naturally, these have become a major tourist attraction as it is not everyday you can relax and bathe in a hot spring. Having never done it myself, it was definitely worth it being very relaxing. I even got to meditate under a waterfall. 

As if my travels were not done yet, the same weekend (this past weekend actually) I traveled to the Matsumoto region to visit one of the last kind: traditional Japanese wooden castles. Located in Nagano prefecture, west of Tokyo (about a 3 hour train ride), Matsumoto is a relatively small city, when compared to such greats as Tokyo or New York. 

Where did all the city go?

I will probably never get used to the transformation that Japan makes when you leave the urban sprawl of Tokyo, which is of course a great thing. Matsumoto  truthfully, reminds me a bit of my hometown in that is a small city with a nice collection of quiet suburbs surrounding it. Of course, my hometown doesn't hold cool festivals or have a castle in the center of it, but I digress. 

My superpower must be going to places when festivals happen.

The festival in town was a small one which some stands serving food, with some singing and dancing going around the area with what I assume was a Shinto temple. I was unable to get very close and following the Asakusa trip (and knowing I will see them everywhere in Kyoto and Nara this weekend), I had my fill of temples. It was Matsumoto Castle that I wanted to see.

Constructed more than 400 years ago, Matsumoto Castle is recognized as a national treasure by the Japanese government. One of the few left in the country, it is full of history and fully displays the genius of castle construction and offers some insight into siege and siege defense tactics employed in medieval warfare. Upon entering the castle, visitors must remove their shoes, place them in bags and walk on the (cold) wood floors that comprise the castle interior. Visitors are allowed to go through a guided tour, climb the six floors up to the top of the keep, and experience the history of the castle. The defense tactics including wide hallways, narrow staircases, holes to fire ranged weapons and drop hot oil and various towers are all there for display, as well as the weapons and armor of the time. It was a great experience for medieval nerds like myself who are in awe when they get to experience a tour of any castle or medieval structure. To say I was in heaven might be an overstatement. I was in heaven for the Gundam statue anyway.

Cold Soba. Only Once.

After the tour, I got some soba noodles and tempura, a dish that is supposedly famous in the area. While a good meal, I was bit disappointed. I suppose it was because I was expecting some warm/hot soba noodles and broth. A more desirable dish considering how drafting the castle was. After that, I wandered the area with my friends until we had to take another 3 hour train ride back home.

At least we made a friend.

See you next time when I try to summarize the three day Kansai trip in one blog.

Night Life in Japan

This was the inevitable entry in this blog, the one in which I talk about the Japanese enjoy their nights. Basically, the obligatory "party" entry. Being a large city, Tokyo has plenty of places to go to at night to drink, dance, club or wander. That is one of the perks of living here, however most of my experiences in nighttime Tokyo are centralized around two areas: Shibuya and Roppongi. And sadly, it has been the latter more than the former.

There is a large market for social gathering of the party variety in Japan. Walk around Shibuya long enough, you will see a number of clubs and bars with "love hotels" conveniently placed about a block away. Trust the excellent urban planning of Japan to develop that not so subtle suggestion. Also, Shibuya has some awesome names such as "The Red Room" and "The Womb." However, I am a college student on a budget and Shibuya is expensive, so I have been limited to Roppongi.

My fellow students and the staff at TUJ have warned many incoming study abroad students to avoid Roppongi as much as possible. This is primarily because Roppongi is notorious for bad things happening to foreigners, such as stolen property, spiked drinks, and other questionable criminal activities. However, despite all the warnings, Roppongi is still the go to party place to spend a Friday or Saturday night because of the sheer abundance of affordable places to spend your night.

To this day, I have went to Roppongi four times, which is about three times more than I intended. Roppongi is a hot spot with a very lively night life with locals and foreigners congesting the streets with aspirations of drinking and dancing. Sadly, I have no photographic evidence of this but that's because I don't trust Roppongi with my phone or my camera. Or my credit card. Or more than 5000 yen in my wallet. Okay, so I just don't trust Roppongi at all.

To be fair, Roppongi is vastly different than I expected. It's more popular and less "sketchy"with many more Japanese out and about. I was anticipating nothing but foreigners around my age who wanted to get completely drunk in Tokyo just to say they did. Well, apparently the Japanese like to party just as much as we do.

The Japanese tradition of partying is a bit different than the American way. Our parties build up slowly, hit a few peaks, and gradually clam down. The Japanese have a toast or a "kanpai!" an BAM! They party. It's a like a button they turn on and go crazy. And then just as quickly, the party can end when they need to catch the train home. That could be the last train at 12:30(ish) or the first train at 5am.

My first venture to Roppongi was, as briefly alluded to before, supposed to be my last. Going to a club called "Jumanji" for an affordable 2000 yen (a bit more than 20 dollars) for all you drink for four hours, the brief excursion was fun. You drink a few drinks, attempt to dance and chill out. No harm done. I even made a Japanese friend. As far as I am concerned, it was worth it.

And then I was invited to another trip to Roppongi. This time for a "Tokyo Pub/Bar Crawl." Run by one of my dormmates' bosses (he is working as an intern), this is basically a deal to check out about 4 bars/clubs for a flat fee which allows you to get into the place without paying its service/entrance charge and a "free" shot (you are paying the Pub Crawl people so it's more or less included). I was 50/50 on doing the whole bar crawl thing, but I was convinced by the irresistible charm of my friends. The crawl was pretty fun even though we were late, so we only got to go to 3 of the 4 bars/clubs. I only remember the name of two: Propaganda and Wall Street. I just love the Japanese names for things, even though I am pretty convinced both of those two are run by Americans. Oh well. Still cool names.

Oh, I also went to Roppongi for Halloween, dressed in a makeshift Mario costume much to the amusement of every Japanese person in the area. That was priceless, especially since I had a Luigi with me. I must have taken at least 10 pictures for Japanese people because they loved the dumb American in a Mario hat. It made my day worth it.

Nothing much to say here. Stay tuned for my blog on my trip to Odaiba, which will hopefully be written this weekend. Also, my thoughts go to all those who are experiencing problems with the fallout from Hurricane Sandy. I hope all those affected by it will preserve. We can do it New Jersey. We've had worse.