Downtown Tokyo & Akihabara

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Today I took off with one of the guys from the Guest house, a fellow Brit by the name of Indrin. Well, he’s kinda a brit, but that’s a minor technicality. Anyhow, I had no plans for the day, so he mentioned something about having to go to Tokyo Station to buy tickets for the Shinshokin (Bullet Train) to Kyoto. Asked if I could tag along and that was that. Tokyo Station is a pretty damn big station, and after about 20 minutes of walking around, we found the place to buy tickets. Joy of joy, nothing much was to be found in English, so I figured the old guy behind the counter was gonna be a tough one. I popped out the old phrase book, and had everything ready for Indrin, but, as with everything else, a few words go a long way. Basically Kyoto, Shinshokin, tomorrow, and schedule are enough to get by here. We were done in no time, but looking at the tickets didn’t give him much indication as to where he had to be or anything. So we look around to figure out his game plan, then head off in search of food. We found a row of small restaurants that just went on and on not far from the station. Most of them seemed to just serve Sushi for Lunch, and the menus out on display with stuff I’d eat were all for dinner. Luckily, he was patient with me and my picky eating, and we trekked on till we saw something I could get. Not sure what the place was, but it wasn’t Japanese that’s for sure. Maybe it was Thai… whatever it was that I ate, it had chicken in it… I think it was some type of curry. And some kind of salted gruel stuff, which wasn’t very appetizing, and a few other items. Either way, it was cheap, and it somewhat filled me up. Off we went to look around town some more.



After walking aimlessly around the center of Tokyo, we find the huge glass building. It was the Tokyo International Forum, and impressive looking building where conventions and such are held. As we stepped inside, we stepped into complete silence. There were a number of people sitting around, apparently on Lunch breaks, reading, or texting on their phones, but the whole building was silent. Indrin and I spoke in whispers to each other as we walked around and took pictures. Some interesting info can be found at the following website regarding the use of laminated glass for the building. http://www.dupont.com/safetyglass/lgn/stories/0601.html



Outside we began walking around, trying now to find our way to the Imperial Palace. Along the way, I saw a small VW Bus selling Tacos on the sidewalk. What a strange place to find a Taco Vender… right in the middle of Tokyo from a VW?!?!? Strange stuff. Finally we reached the outer grounds of the palace. Nicely kept grass, and even better kept trees surrounded the moat that surrounded the palace. (did that make any sense?). We found some pretty cool statues in the grounds, most impressive was the statue of Kusunoki Masashige.

*UPDATE* (Someone pointed out incorrect information posted by me, so here is a cut & paste from Wiki about Kusunoki Masashige).

Kusunoki Masashige (楠木 正成, b. 1294-1336) was a 14th century samurai who fought for Emperor Go-Daigo in his attempt to wrest rulership of Japan away from the Kamakura shogunate, then under the leadership of the Hojo clan.

A brilliant tactician and strategist, Kusunoki's cunning defense of two key loyalist fortresses at Akasaka and Chihaya helped allow Go-Daigo to briefly return to power. However, one of the loyalist generals, Ashikaga Takauji, betrayed Go-Daigo and led an army against Kusunoki and the remaining loyalists. Kusunoki suggested to the Emperor that they take refuge on sacred Mount Hiei and allow Takauji to take Kyoto, only to swoop down from the mountain, and with the help of the monks of Mount Hiei, trap Takauji in the city and destroy him. Go-Daigo was unwilling to leave the capital however, and insisted that Kusunoki meet Takauji's superior forces in the field in a pitched battle. Kusunoki, in what would later be viewed as the ultimate act of samurai loyalty, obediently accepted his Emperor's foolish command and knowingly marched his army into almost certain death. The battle, which took place at Minatogawa in modern-day Chūō-ku, Kobe, was a disaster. Kusunoki, his army completely surrounded, committed suicide along with 600 of his surviving troops. According to legend, his last words were Shichiū Hokoku! (七生報國; "Would that I had seven lives to give for my country!")

After the full-scale introduction of Neo-Confucianism as a state philosophy by the Tokugawa Shogunate, Kusunoki Masashige, once-called a traitor by the Northern Court, was resurrected with Emperor Go-Daigo as a precursor of Sinocentric absolutists, based upon the Neo-Confucian theories. During the Edo period, scholars and samurais who were influenced by the Neo-Confucian theories created the legend of Kusunoki, and enshrined him as a patriotic hero, called Nankō or Dai-Nankō, who epitomized loyalty, courage, and devotion to the Emperor. Kusunoki became a patron saint of sorts to the World War II kamikazes, who saw themselves as his spiritual heirs in sacrificing their lives for the Emperor.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kusunoki_Masashige"




We continued on to the moat, and what I believe were the main gates to the Palace. Wasn’t much to see really besides a few guards and the tops of buildings, and once you caught a glimpse of the palace, it was rather disappointing as it looked so modern, not very “palacelike”. We continued around the moat to the Imperial gardens, which we found to be conveniently closed on Mondays. This took us about halfway around the moat, at which time we’d seen enough of the water and the big fish in it, so after studying our maps for a little while, decided to head off and find Akihabara, aka Electric Town!!!



On the way there we found a few temples, one whose name I don’t recall, and the other being the Shrine of Confucius. They totally outdid that little shrine I saw in Shibuya, these ones were a good size. The first one, the one with the unknown name, was off at the end of a side street we passed. We almost walked right past it, but I caught it out the corner of my eye, so we walked up to look around. It was beautiful, all red, gold and green, with that pagoda style roof that you’d expect to see everywhere in Asia, but rarely see in Tokyo. You walk through the courtyard into a decent sized courtyard, in front of you lay the actual temple where you pray, to the left was the ritual cleansing area with water spouting from a dragons mouth. There were numerous other decorations that I’m not really sure about, and since I can’t read Kanji, I have no idea what any of them said either. It was pretty fascinating though. Across the street we saw another temple, more subdued in color though, kinda a rustic green, like it’d been around a long time. The sign said it was the Shrine of Confucius, and some kind of school. There wasn’t much going on at that one, very quiet, surrounded by lots of trees and bushes. Not many knick knacks or ornaments here, very simple, very basic, and again, really cool. Now, on to Akihabara.



This was one of the places on the top of my lists to visit. I mean, this just has to be a geeks paradise. To tell you the truth, I was more impressed with the walk there, and checking everything out along the way. It wasn’t that it was terrible, you really should visit at least once, but everything started looking the same. Same old crap, in the same old looking store, and the prices for sure were nothing to write home about, they weren’t bad prices, they compared to back home which was surprising, but nothing I really wanted. But pretty much, if you wanted something Electric, you’d find it here. Also found a really kick ass Paintball gun store, which sold pretty much every gun ever made in the world, in it’s Paintball twin version. (I’ve just found out that these were probably Airsoft guns). There were a few interesting sites, and mixes of porn, electronics, anime, video games and movie promos, it can entertain most anyone for a while.



From there it was time to head back to the Hostel. Once back, we relaxed for a while, I checked out my pictures I’d taken, showered up (2-3 showers per day seemed essential with the humidity going on… or maybe I’m just a really big pussy!) and got a few of the guys together for a night out. The crew consisted of an American, Ryan. An Irishman, Graham, and two Brits, me and Indrin. This sounds like the start of a bad joke right? Well it gets worse. We all head out for a bite to eat before going into Roppongi for some heavy drinking, so we stop off at a Tahitian restaurant, full on with the grass hut theme, and grub on some pizza’s. I have the traditional pizza, seeing as how picky I am with my food, only to find out halfway through that the funny taste in my mouth was from the anchovies hidden beneath the cheese!!! . So after that, we get into Roppongi and stop off at an IRISH PUB!!! What the hell is wrong with us? In Japan, all tourists, going to the only place that is full of white people. For some reason, I felt uncomfortable, must’ve been the Irish part of the place. Anyway, after chatting away with the bartender forever, we move on to a few different bars/clubs, all of which seem rather dead, and crap. Couldn’t have anything to do with it being a Monday could it? One of the places had a Blackjack table in the back, and once they found out I was from Vegas, let me play for free with like a hundred bucks or something. By this time I was smashed anyway, and lost the money fast. After that, we wind up at Wall Street Bar, which I remember very little about, and the last I remember is stumbling into the Hostel at 9:30am and passing out. Later to find out I’d blown through 20,000 yen the prior night!!! Ouch!!

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Photos

Statue of Kusunoki Masashige
Kusunoki Masashige was a 14th century samurai who fought for Emperor Go-Daigo in his attempt to wrest rulership of Japan away from the Kamakura shogunate, then under the leadership of the Hojo clan.

The Forgotten Name Temple
Let me know if you know the name of this place. It's right across the road from the Temple of Confucius.

Tokyo International Forum
A view from inside the forum looking up.

Night Out
The guys, from rear left clockwise: Graham, Ryan, Indrin and Me.

Comments

[Seelsorger]

correction
Kusunoki Masashige was not "...a legendary hero of the Meiji era," as you state but fought against the Ashikaga shogunate over three centuries before the Meiji era. By the way, it strikes me as interesting that someone from the land of haggis and deep fried everything should criticize the food of other nations.

[Savage]

Re: Correction
You're correct, I obtained some poor information and will correct it right now. Thanks for pointing that out. I did try to find good, correct information, I obviously didn't look hard enough. Wish I could remember where that info came from. Wiki has some good info, I'll use from there. As far as you being critical of my food preferences... I wouldn't touch Haggis if you paid me. I'm also not big on fried foods... and wouldn't touch a fried Mars Bar or whatever the hell they're making now. I don't like seafood, which I knew would be a problem in Japan, but managed none the less. I also don't like vegatables. And when I say "don't like" it's not that I chose not to eat them due to taste, but the fact that I projectile vomit at the mere smell. Have done since I was a child. Trust me, if I could help it, it would make life MUCH MUCH easier.

[DericBloodaxe]

Kusunoki
come on Seelsorger. this is travelblog.org, not youtube or teenforums-whatever. This is a place for people who just want to relaxingly look at places to go for a holiday or look at other peoples holiday because their lives are so screwed up this is the most we can do to get away from it all. Just chill out, and casually read. No need to be so critical. By the way, Kusunoki wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!