Fireworks and a Fish Market

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Another blog entry about my time in Tokyo. I've been thinking about writing it for a while, but I am only getting around to it now. It's been a busy week. I am now sitting in an internet cafe about to leave for Tohoku. It's Friday night and we will be taking a night bus up there and then start working straight away once we arrive on Saturday morning. I have been preparing for the trip all weel, buying the necessary things. I am not sure to what extent I am prepared mentally, or what to expect, really. I just want to help. It's been reallu hot and humid here every day and I don't think that will be much different up north, so I am sure whatever we do will invlove a lot of sweating. But I am sure it will be rewarding as well. Now, before I go I wanted to write down how my week has been.

On Monday I met up with Vin, aone of the poeple that will be in my volunteer group this week. We had met at the orientation last Saturday. Vin is from California and married to a Japanese woman. His wife's mother lives right in Tokyo, so he can stay with her, lucky him! We spent a lot of time looking aroudn for cheap deals for what we would need in Tohoku. After a successful consumption session in Uniqlo, we took a break in Meiji shrine in Harajuku. The complex is enormous and we had a really relaxing time walking around in what felt like a forest and getting away from the busy city for a bit. The shrine itself is beautiful too. Adter that, we walked through Harajuku and then stumbled across the best shop in Japan ever: the 100 yen shop!!! We found lots of really useful things here that we needed for our trip. Every item in these shops is 100 yen, unless otherwise designated. There are somegreat bargains yto be found here. Monday night I had dinner with my friend Daryl, who moved to Tokyo in May (I think) and is doing some research here for 2 years. We had a really nice dinner and walked around Shinjuku afterwards. This area is famous for its host clubs and we saw lots of pretty young men trying either to get people into their clubs or to get women to work in their clubs. It was really interesting to see and Daryl and I talked a lot about sexulatity in Japan and how men seem to be so much more feminine here than in the West. Fascinating.

Tuesday I had a wonderful experience in the Edo-Tokyo Museum. This museum does an excellent job at displaying how Tokyo has changed over the past. Entry was only 400 yen and inlcuded a private guide! I was assigned this old Japanese gentleman, who was a bit hard to understand, but really nice. It turned out he was a lot older than I thought, because he told me that he was 15 in 1945! He shared some of his wartime experiences with me and it was one of the most incredible experiences as a historian ever. Oral history is simply the best. He said that he is actually kind of glad that the atomic bombs were dropped, because it lead to peace. He was just so appreciative of his volunteer job at the museum, because he knew it was only possible to guide foreign visitors around the museum because of the prosperous and peaceful times we live in today. What a humbling experience that was. I think one doesn't realize how precious peace really is, until you talk to someone who knew times of war. After the museum, I went to Akihabara, Tokyo's Electric Town. It was full of shops with all kinds of electrics, anime and manga. There are also lots of maid cafes around there and girls in maid outfits were standinga round everywhere, advertising tehir cafes. But overall, places where all one can do is shop and spend money are not so much my thing. So I moved on. I went to Meguro, where, according to my guide book, the oldest wedding hall in Tokyo was located. It was great. It was kind of like a hotel, huge cafe and event location in one. Everything was very shiny and modern. People were super friendly and service excellent. I sawe the two chapels and the traditional wedding hall in Japanese style. That room was just gorgeous. It was so cool to see exactly what I wrote my dissertation about in real life. Of course there weren't any weddings, since it was during the week and it's in the middle of summer, but it was still awesome. I also saw the room where they exhibit all the dresses and kimonos that brides can choose from (you don't have to buy them, you can rent them). I really enjoyed the experience.

On Tuesday night there was a big display of fireworks in the outskirts of the city and a few people from the Couchsurfing community in Tokyo (including my two hosts I had so far) went to see them together. It was a lot of fun and the fireworks were great. 40 minutes of continuing fireworks. It was awesome. I don't think I have ever seen such a long display before. They did the traditional stuff, but of course, being Japanese, hearts and smilies as well.

On Wednesday I spent the day out with my friend Keiko, who goes to Waseda University, the biggest and best private university in Tokyo. She showed me around the different campuses of her uni, which was really interesting. Certainly a different kind of sightseeing. It was really good to explore a part of Tokyo that is not so touristy. And the main campus was beautiful. There was an interesting museum about the history of dance in Japan (Kabuki, Noh, etc.), which was really informative and enlightening.

Yesterday I went to the Tsukilji Fish Market, which was definitely a highlight for me. The market is enormous and I saw many different kind of fsih, mussels and other kinds of sea food that I had never seen before. The huge tuna, which were cut apart with specific saws right there, were particularly impressive, of course. Unfortunately a few tourists did not behanve appropriately, which made me really sad (and afraid that I would be associated with them). It clearly states outside that the market is not a touristic attraction, but buisness and that, while people are welcome to observe, they need to stay out of the workers ways. Sadly some tourist just down the narrow isles as if they owned the place, talking loudly and even sometimes a bit condescendingly. I even saw one British guy start a fight with a Japanese fish monger. I was pretty shaken after that and felt really ashamed to be a white tourist walking on the same isle. I did not want to be associated with them. But other than that, the market was great. I could not bring myself to have fish for breakfast. Instead, I bought a jam sandwich. After the market, I went to Odaiba, the artificially created island in Tokyo bay. Many of the buildings are really futuristic and I really enjoyed the architecture. The ride across the water towards the island was great too with amazing views of tyhe city. I also saw a popular high school girl band do a gig, and it was really fascinating to watch the fans. The majority of them were young men. And when I saw fans, I mean real FANS. They sang along to every song and jumped up and down like crazy the whole time. They even knew the dance routines of the band! Watching them felt like a cultural study of some sort. After Odaiba I went to Tokyo's first park, Ueno park. I toured the temples and shrines and saw a great street performer.

Overall, it's been an amazing week. I am now off to Tohoku. I'll write again once I get back next week!

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