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Published: February 6th 2009
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Video is of a tradition called setsubun. In Pre-meiji Japan setsubun (2/3) marked the beginning of the new year. Both large scale temples and households do mame-make; I got to do both. I went with the family to Zoujouji, a large temple in the middle of Tokyo, one of the most well known of the Tokyo temples. They did this mame-make 3 times, throwing bags of soybeans out to the gathered people. This had a religious connotation, once, but all that seems to have left. The people throwing the beans are famous Japanese actors, singers, as well as Elmo. In the house, I got the pleasure of pelting my little brother with soybeans because he wanted to wear the Oni mask. Oni is a bad spirit. We throw beans to chase the Oni out. After we sufficiently pelted him we ate our age in beans plus one, for the new year. Host father was quite embarrassed at his pile.
Next day I met up with the Waseda student studying at LAF next year, Minoru, and went to go see Akasaka, an area on the other side of Tokyo, once the center of Edo. It largely escaped the WWII bombings, probably
by luck more than mercy, so retains some old Edo character.
Going out of the station, first thing you notice is the Asahi complex across the river. Less to do there than Ebisu, but with more...character. It is a complex of 4 buildings, two happen to stand out. First one, the tallest one, is a tower designed as a modern, glass and steel representation of a beer glass with a foaming head. Odd, but the building that stands out looks a bit like the black box in Mecca that Muslims make the hajj to crowned by a glorious golden turd. Well, not technically a turd but it sure looks like one. Its supposed to be in the form of a gourd carried by samurai for health and wealth.
Out of the station, we headed down a street called Nakamise dori. Mise being stores/stalls. Lots of them. This form of stalls leading up to the temple was preserved from the old style, where people would make their religious trips and shopping in one swoop. The area was pretty big, maybe 10 streets by 3 streets. Lots of cheap and traditional stuff being sold. Chopsticks, crafts, carvings, kimono, and many
many types of food. There were the usual sickening sweet mochi, an unsual amount of senbei, mostly of the soft variety and hand grilled. Picked one up myself. Types of dried rice cakes. There were deep fried manju as well, something I've never seen before. Manju are buns stuffed with everything from potato to mochi to pork. All of the stalls were very old, very small. It was nice to see a traditional area left over from the pre-war period. Not many of those.
The main temple is called Sensouji, the oldest in Tokyo. We walked around the complex, did the usual temple stuff like throwing a 5 yen coin into the trough in front of the temple, looking at people burning incense, etc. Temples are fun to see, architecture is beautiful, but I just don't have a large enough interest in Buddhism or Shintoism to study them for a long period. 20 mins is just about perfect for one the size as this one. Minoru knew a ton about the area and temple. Always good to have a Japanese person around.
On our return we stopped at a soba place. According to Minoru, soba is pretty big
in the area and I can't say no to soba. Switched up my usual zaru cold soba order and went with a goma (sesame) soba, cold. This was a zaru served with sesame seeds and a cold sesame sauce to dip instead of the soy-based sauce. Not a thick sauce, but flavor was pretty heavy. The soba was a finer texture than usual, no specks of buckwheat husks were visible. Fine grind with a heavier sauce doesn't make sense to me. In this case probably a typical zaru order would have been better. I also ordered an onsen tamago because they are awesome. Because I am a foreigner and was speaking Japanese I got a free rice ball too. Gaijin charm strikes again.
After lunch we went to Kappabashi dori, a street filled with restaurant suppliers of all sizes. Knives, uniforms, mixers, fridges, pizza tools, you name it, its there. The knives were absolutely beautiful and I want to pick up a Japanese knife before I go back to America...for when I get the urge to make sashimi. There were some oddball stores selling restaurant props like large lobsters, pigs, and a statue of liberty for placement in front
of the store. Kappabashi is also the center for sampuru, the fake food in restaurant windows so foreigners have a clue what they are ordering. Beer, fruit, sushi, crepes, pizza, pasta, fish were remarkably recreated, but for a price. A fake beer costs about 5300 yen, about 10 times the price of a beer at a restaurant.
One more item of note about Japanese politeness/effectiveness/ineffectiveness. Walking down the street and heard an emergency vehicle. Like actually had sirens and lights on. Emergencies don't really happen here. An emergency here really just consists of getting wet, cold, dirty, or anything that may induce a common cold. Then a mask is slapped on you and you are quarantined, but there still are no paper towels and soap in most bathrooms. Plus, I haven't seen a policeman carrying a firearm yet. This ambulance obviously had someplace to get to but even with the sirens and lights, it was a little timid I thought. It wasn't really booking it like there was someones life on the line. No passing cars, certainly no horn blowing lest it disturb the status quo peace and quiet. The best part was at the red light. The ambulance
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Translation: Yebisu beer makes time interesting did not continue. It came to a complete stop as someone was suffocating or burning alive in a corner of Setagaya-ku. It then preceded to ask over a loudspeaker, in keigo, "Would you please stop and allow me the chance to humbly cross the street?" I like the horn a lot better.
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