Coming of Age Day

Coming of Age Day is the day 20-year-olds visit shrines and get all dressed up. Most of the girls wear kimonos. The guys mostly just wore ties, but we saw a couple in traditional dress and they looked bad-ass. The picture above was taken the day before the actual holiday at the Meiji Shrine. Isn't she pretty? The kimonos are gorgeous.

These two pictures were taken on the actual holiday at the Asakusa shrine. We probably should have gone back to Meiji because that's where most people go for this holiday, but this one is closer to the house. Off to the right (out of the picture) was a performing monkey. Monkeys are very popular here. They creep me out, so of course Gen always wants to watch the "performances."

Aren't the girls pretty? Most looked really traditional, but we saw a couple in their kimonos with cornrows, fake tans, and purple eyeshadow. The kimonos worn for special occasions like this are more elaborate than what you normally see on the street. (I still haven't gotten used to seeing women out doing everyday errands in kimonos, but it's cool.) The colors are brighter, the patterns more elaborate, and the obis (sashes) are tied in a more intricate way. It was cold, so a lot of the girls had on fur collars or fur muffs. Fur is big here. Hats, coats, earmuffs, gloves...I guess PETA doesn't have much of a presence in Japan.

The new and the old

One of our favorite things about Tokyo is the juxtaposition of the new and the old. You can see this everywhere, from the skyscrapers built right next to the shrines and women in beautiful kimonos shopping in Chanel and the grocery store. The picture above is the Tokyo Tower seen from the Zojoji Temple. The temple is maybe 3 blocks from the tower and is a totally different world.

This picture is a little dark, but it was taken from the same spot as the first picture. This temple is famous for the little statues that you can see on the bottom right. They represent stillborn children and families come here to pray for those they have lost and to have safe pregnancies. Nearly all the statues have little red crocheted caps and capes and some have offerings of flowers and incense. While we were there they were having a service. The temple doors are always open and anyone is welcome to come in during the services. It's really an interesting experience. Of course, we didn't understand a word of it.

The picture above is the Meiji Shrine, which I talked about before. The one below is the entrance to the main street in the Harajuku area. Harajuku is famous for the youthful culture and crazy fashions. It was also unbelievably crowded.

Unfortunately there's no one in that picture who is really dressed crazy. Part of that may be the weather. It's been pretty cold here. My cousin told me that there are these little cliques and each clique has a different way of dressing. She saw a group all dressed like Little Bo Peep once. We haven't seen any of these cliques all together, but I have seen a lot of girls wearing pink brocade coats with really full skirts. They all have really exaggerated makeup that makes them look like dolls and some wear little top hats. They are very cute. Tokyo style is fascinating. I have noticed some definite trends. First, everyone dresses up all the time. There is no such thing here as business casual. Gen's getting pretty good at tying his ties. Tall boots are very big. You see a lot of the skinny jeans tucked into boots. There is also the puzzling trend of shorts paired with boots and tights, or sometimes over-the-knee socks instead of tights. I am not a huge fan of this look, but most people actually pull it off. On Sundays they block off the main road in Ginza, the expensive shopping district, and it's a total fashion show. Gen and I sat on a bench there for an hour, just people watching.

Skyscrapers and Shrines

This is the Meiji shrine. I don't know if you can really tell from the pictures, but there were so many people there. You basically just get caught in this crush of humanity and swept along with the crowd. The day we went was the day before Coming of Age Day, where 20 year olds get dressed up and visit the temples and shrines. The walkway to the shrine was lined with elaborate ice sculptures. There must have been at least 50, most at least 5 feet tall. The crowd on Coming of Age Day must have been insane. This is really close to Harajuku, the area that's famous for the crazy youthful fashions.

These are some views of Tokyo from the Metropolitan Government Offices. The office building is open 7 days a week and they have express elevators that whisk you up to the top floor. I think we were on the 42nd floor. There are windows all around and a coffee shop/restaurant with some great views, as well as a kitschy gift shop. We actually made it up there by accident. We were looking for something else (can't remember what) and got lost. There are several places in Tokyo that open the top floors to the public for the great views. Depending where you are, you can see the Tokyo Bay or Mount Fuji in the distance.

This is what we did for our first full day in Tokyo. We arrived on New Year's, which is a big holiday here. The New Year's celebrations last for several days. These pictures were taken at the Asakusa Shrine, a Shinto shrine that's 3 subway stops from our apartment. The first picture shows the Thunder Gate, the entranceway to the shrine. The entrance is lined with stalls selling a variety of goods, including kimonos, woodblock prints, rice cracker snacks, and toys. The second picture shows the signs for these stalls and you can get a sense of how crowded it was, although the pictures really don't do it justice.

Here are pictures of me at the shrine. If you think of the shrine on an axis, the north-south is lined with the stalls selling souvenirs and the east-west has food stalls. The picture of me with sunglasses on shows the food stalls behind me. They have all kinds of goodies for sale, like takoyaki, okonomiyaki, yakitori, and corn on the cob. Takoyaki are octopus balls- round fritters made with octopus. I love takoyaki, but I haven't had any yet. Osaka is well-known for its takoyaki. Okonomiyaki is sometimes referred to as Japanese pizza or Japanese pancakes. It really tastes like neither. It's made with a batter of cabbage and egg, and then topped with a variety of items. If you get it at a restaurant you can tell the chef what you want on it. Okonomiyaki literally means "as you like it." At the stalls you basically get pork and veggies, or sometimes pork and veggies topped with an egg. It's covered with a brown sauce and sometimes mayonnaise. Yakitori are skewers, normally with chicken, but we saw fish, octopus, and vegetables.

Kinshicho

OK, so this is where we live now. Big change from High Point, huh? This was taken when Gen was house-hunting in November. Our apartment is about 4 blocks behind the Mauri Department Store. That's the building with the OIOI sign.

Department stores over here are the greatest. A lot of them have grocery stores in the basements and some have 100-yen stores (like the Dollar Store). One near us even has a dry-cleaner inside. The prices are usually a little higher, but the convenience can't be beat and most take credit cards, which many of the smaller places don't.

In the first picture, you can see a silvery gate at the center of the picture. The red-light district is through that gate. There are all kinds of restaurants, but it's mostly hostess bars, where men can go and pay to have drinks with women. The women are usually foreigners from countries like Thailand, the Phillipines, and Russia. To the right of the gate is the train and subway station. It's really convenient to the apartment, only about a 5-minute walk.

Charlotte to Tokyo

Sorry for the long delay. After the holidays and the stress of intercontinental moving I didn't have much time. Also, no Internet access at the apartment! Luckily, we found a coffee shop with wireless, so I have set up camp. Right now I'm sitting between 2 tables of older Japanese ladies who take breaks in their conversations to stare at me.

Let's see, where to begin...we left Charlotte at 6:00 am on New Year's Eve. The good thing about flying on New Year's is that you are pretty much the only people on the plane. We flew ANA, which is a fantastic Japanese airline. US airlines could take some lessons from their Japanese counterparts. The flight was smooth and the service impeccable. We flew from Charlotte to Chicago and then Chicago to Narita. Flying over the Alaskan mountains was a pretty cool experience. The Chicago to Japan leg was 14 hours, but it really wasn't that bad, despite the lack of leg room. We each had our own tv console, good books, and Travel Scrabble (thanks Brian and Katherine!). After we arrived, we took a train from the airport to our new neighborhood. In order to acclimate, the company put us up in a hotel for a couple of days. Because we arrived during the New Year's holiday, Gen had a few days to sight-see with me, which was very nice. In the next post I'll put up some pictures of our first days here.

I miss everyone! Thanks for all the e-mails and go Deacs!