Springtime in Japan

Recently work took me to Tokyo.  Lucky for me I also have a cousin living there so I had a personal tour guide.  In fact, since I had some holiday time to burn, I stayed for a few extra days. Thanks to Sarah, I really had a ball!  Oh, and I was doubly lucky as I happened to hit Japan just as the cherry blossoms (sakura) were in full bloom.  What can I say?!
Here is a decent shot of blossoms along the river up near Mt. Mitake.  More on that in a bit.  Don't forget to open this blog in a browser so you can see the slide shows.

Sarah lives west of Tokyo in Musashino, about a 40 minute train ride into downtown Tokyo.  Her community is a clean quiet suburb and she teaches at the local university nearby.  While wandering around Musashino and then Tokyo I noted a lot of pedestrians as most people utilise the Tokyo train and bus system.  I saw few motorbikes, which is much different than SE Asia.  There also didn't seem to be as many cars and they were VERY well behaved.  I kept balking at crosswalks as Sarah stepped right out into oncoming traffic.  In Thailand we'd have been killed on the first go!  Not so in Tokyo.  Very good car manners but the bikes are another matter altogether.  Bicyclists are common in Musashino, mostly on the sidewalks.  Walkers MUST move for the cyclists and seriously keep watch out for them as they are not watching out for you.   Sarah oriented me to the train system and I was able to commute to and from downtown Tokyo without further assistance.  My only issue with their commuting system is related to the "men with the white gloves..."  During peak commute time, there are men in uniform with white gloves that will shove every last person they can into the train.  Luckily we saw the gloved men on one outing but our train did not need a packing.  Whew!

I was able to stay in an extra apartment at Sarah's complex when I wasn't at my work venue.  That made for a great way to live "like a local" including using a tiny bathroom.  I can only compare a Japanese apartment bathroom to a "head" (bathroom) on a small boat.  All space in a Japanese home/apartment is used very efficiently.  Sarah has made her small apartment very homey and has it very well organised.  

One of my favourite things from my adventure was to visit a very good friend of Sarah's who had invited us to dinner.  Etsuko is an amazing Japanese woman who was an editor before retirement and travelled extensively.  She lives with her husband Take, and her sister Masako, who's smile lights up the room.  They have a lovely Japanese style home with sliding doors and tatami mats on the floor.  (sliding doors use space much more efficiently)  Etsuko has a full western kitchen and she cooked up a Turkish dish preceded by some Japanese style appetisers.  Everything was so good and it was special to get a home cooked meal, particularly in another country and culture.  Some other friends, Richard and Joan, who are also originally from the USA joined us for dinner, and we had a rousing conversation over great food and a few beers.  (mostly Richard and I drank the beers)

Sarah took me to some prime areas of Tokyo.  Since the sakura were in full bloom, there were many people picnicking in parks.  The Japanese call this Hanami which translates to "flower viewing."   Hanami has been going on for centuries and they take it very seriously.  Scouts for a larger group head to their chosen park and pick a prime spot.  They put down ground covers and save the space for family and friends to come and go all day, eating and drinking often well into the night.  Here is a little slide show of some of the parks we visited.  I also had fairly nice weather and occasionally lovely sunshine for taking photos.  

Yanaka is an older part of Tokyo with temple structures and cemeteries.  We wandered around all day and I really enjoyed seeing some older architecture and historical sites.   

One evening we made our way to one of the most famous intersections in the world- Shibuya Crossing.   We saw it in the day and it wasn't so busy but at night it was packed.  It is a 5-way intersection and people can cross at numerous angles.  It's really a spectacle!  We also ate dinner at an amazing sushi place nearby.  I have been to many "sushi trains" but this one was unique.  You order from your own flat screen and your food comes, made to order, directly to your spot.  You remove your plate, push a button, and the tray on the conveyer returns to the kitchen.  It was really quite cool and efficient.  We ended up sitting next to some nice kids.  

Another quick story about food... I had heard about ordering food in Japan, specifically noodles of some kind, from a vending machine and then pick up ready to eat.   Japan is vending machine crazy by the way.  They are everywhere, particularly drink machines and they have fun things like iced coffee, green teas, and more.  Eating ramen is a must while in Japan, of course, so we chose a ramen place to order from a machine, completely in Japanese.  Even more challenging was that the pictures were on a wall outside, then inside the machine just had Japanese words, prices, and buttons.  We took pics of what we wanted outside, then came in with our phones and found the matching script and prices, pressed the button and a few minutes later our ramen was served, piping hot!  Except, mine was not hot.  I ordered a cold soup.  What?  It was a cold day and I was looking forward to a steaming bowl to warm my hand over... but it was tasty all the same-- and the experience was worth it.  

On my last full day in Japan, Sarah took me to one of her favourite places, Mt. Mitake.  We jumped a westbound train from Musashino and traveled for about an hour to Ome Station.  There is a cable car tram that takes you up the mountain, or you can hike.  We took the tram and did a nice walk later along the river from one station to the next as there was a sake distillery on that route. 

At the top of the tram is an old village and a lovely temple complex.  One website I visited said this shrine has been a centre for worship for at least 2000 years.  Musashi Mitake Shrine is at the summit and enshrines a white wolf in the form of an “oinusama” (sacred dog) because it is said to have acted as a guide for the mythical hero Yamato Takeru when he became lost on the mountain.  Many people hike with their dogs to this beautiful place.  We had a misty, rainy, overcast day, all the better to enjoy a bowl of hot soba noodles before we headed back down the trail.

Well, I really need to wrap this up and get it posted but I have to share one last photo.  I have previously posted this on it's own but I want to place it again.  As we were walking along the river towards the sake distillery, we happened upon a young lady all dressed up in costume getting some professional pictures done.  Amazing!  
I would highly recommend a trip to Tokyo, especially if you have a cool cousin to hang out with.  Thanks Sarah for everything!