Blogs from Tokyo, Japan, Asia - page 212

Diassapointment. Blessing. There are those of you that will be massively dissapointed with me. I did not get to a Japanese new years religious ceremony. I did not experience the deep religious feeling I was led to believe I would. I was blessed just the same. I believe that I am an extremely lucky traveller, having been invited to Buddhist blessing ceremony in Thailand, given discounts to capsule hotels, invited into peoples homes in Ecuador, Canada and the United States and shown around those places at the expense of my host and new friend. It is wonderful to meet people that are proud of their country and want to share it with others - I am amazed at the kindness of complete strangers, I can only dream of being able to return the favour some day. ... read more

I was always under what was probably a poorly uninformed impression that Japan was a quiet, understated country. In my few (wasted) years in high school Japanese class I learnt about the culture of a quiet people, who respected tradition and weren’t amenable to the loud, disrespectful ways of us Westerners (hence the trainee Japanese teacher who came on exchange to Maclean High School for a few months and after one period of our Year Nine elective Japanese class she was so shaken by our loud and outrageous behaviour she took off the remainder of the week and steeled herself against any further aural assaults by refusing to come to any more of our classes). Touching down in Tokyo I had prepared to present my quiet, humble self and was certain that I would be unable ... read more

In my last blog entry I was telling you all how well I have learned the train and subway systems. I guess after today I need to eat my words a bit. When the subway stops, the conductor usually opens the "exit" doors (on one side of the car) and waits for everyone to get out before opening the "boarding" doors on the other side of the car. One of my shortcuts has been to not get off when the "exit" door opens, but to wait a few seconds for him to open the "boarding" doors on the other side of the car. This way I can get off on the other side of the tracks and not have to go up and down stairs to get to the other side. Each day for the last ... read more

Much before a good portion of the world was to welcome in the new year, Japan rang in 2007—literally: striking an enormous bell 108 times outside of temples, with Buddhist monk chants providing the background sound. This New Year’s Eve brought me to Tokyo—the culmination of a sweeping Japan trip—where the city’s grand temples/shrines, treasures among the skyscrapers, provided the venue for an explosion of celebratory spirit. The occasion was marked by both pure revelry and spiritual reverence that kicked off Dec. 31 and spilled over into the next days of a period known in Japan as Shogatsu. Tokyo’s Zojoji Temple, proclaimed as the Tokugawa (shogunate dynasty of the time) family temple just before 1600, and its grand monastery complex played host to a good majority of locals (and tourists) on the actual New Year’s Eve. ... read more

The last day of 2006 began with a trip to Starbucks (yes, I know..) for some caffeine, followed by a wander around Asakusa's main temple- Senso-ji. The area around the temple is lined with little vendor booths and food stalls, and it was fun trying to navigate through the huge crowd of people. But then it wouldn't be Japan without that form of "entertainment". ;) Luke and Ian decided to sleep late, so by the time we were finishing our tour of Asakusa, they were finally up and moving. The five of us assembled at the train station around 11:30 and then headed to Shibuya to see the massive pedestrian crossing. From Shibuya, we started walking towards Harajuku but stopped in Yoyogi park when we came across a curious group of street performers. The first group ... read more