Tokyo

 






We started our experience in Tokyo in an electric Taxi. The driver found our hostel and we got into our room. People know just enough English to help us along our path. After I got over the toilets with their programs and music on the side and heated seats, we went to a park in the area we are in, Shinjuku, called Gyoen Park. It was well maintained and beautiful. It was Sunday, so there were a lot of people in the park enjoying the sunshine in many ways.

We then went on to meet a friend of Wataru, our department head, who goes by the name of Swint. He runs the business school at Temple, Japan. He gave us some tips for being here and was a really nice guy.



That night we went out in Shinjuku to find Godzilla and explore our area. We met a guy, Derek, who was in Peace Corps Kenya 88-90. He now lives in Sai Pan, which he told us is a US territory. He is married with children who now go to college in the States.

The religion here is Shintoism. There are a few temples scattered over the city. We passed one on our way home  called the Hanazona Jinja Shrine. 


We did find a bar that was playing the Super Bowl on Monday morning. They were winning when we walked in…, We’re number two again! What playoffs are in April? We’ll be in Puerto Rico then. 


We then tried to go to the National Museum, but we didn’t realize it would be closed on a Monday like in the States. So we ended up at a local museum and I loved this ball outside. This day was the only rainy one we had in our travels. But that didn’t keep us from eating ramen at a local place. 






The next day we went to the Meiji Jinga Shrine which epitomizes the Shinto value of nature. There are lovely grounds to peruse and lovely shrines too. Certain things you could not capture with pictures because they wouldn’t let you. We tried to see the treasure house, but it was closed. We find a JB’s place everywhere we go. Tokyo was no exception.




We then went to the Kabuki Theater. Bridget had written a paper on it in college and really wanted to go. We bought tickets to the second act which included one story, then a 25 minute break, during which you were supposed to buy stuff, Then another performance of about an hour. We had some trouble staying awake, but we got through all the Japanese stories that often sounded like actors (and they are all male) really had to go to the bathroom to poop. I wished I appreciated it like I wish I could appreciate classical music. Anyway, it was good to go to a cultural phenomenon. I was mostly surprised at how many people still go.





Because we endured the Kabuki, we decided the night would be time for the Golden Gai in Shinjuku. Apparently, this used to be a red light district, but it is no longer. They changed the tiny gogo clubs into bars. We went to the Albatross first and we had to sit under the back of the stairs. This bar is primarily for tourists, but there are some that don’t accept visitors. It was fun hanging out in the little bars with tourists from all over, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, USA, and other locales. However, it was no fun finding food and we had the only bad meal of our trip at the 5 Gallons Diner.  The place had some famous guy in it who was all dressed in a variety of colors and had many stuffed animals with him.








When you have such an exciting night, laundry needs to get done the next morning. This is very feasible in Unplan Hostel, which was a really good place to have a private room. They gave us breakfast each day and the shower was nice and warm, as well as the toilet seat. 
We then went out to the Mori Art Museum and saw some contemporary art which always needs explaining for us. They had a great Skywalk on the roof, where we saw the expanse of Tokyo, the world’s largest city in population. We saved up our energy for Thursday when we took a day trip to Hakone for steam baths and massages. 





We started off with a surprise when all of seats to the Hakone train turned around. Then we were shocked to see Mt. Fuji on the train. It was a glorious sight and a Japanese woman pointed it out to me again. No pictures were allowed in the spa but the hot pot lunch was no problem. We then went on to Lake Ashi which sported a lovely Torii in the lake. There was also a historical pirate boat there too. We might have had trouble getting back to the train, but a cab miraculously arrived to take us back down from the lake. It was a great day.















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