One night in Tokyo

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So I leave Mizusawa after a great week and head for Tokyo. The bullet train lived up to its name (and is a very comfortable journey besides as it doesn't rock) and I was in Tokyo almost before I knew it.

Made my way to my hostel in Asakusa (North-East Tokyo), only to arrive in the middle of a parade! It turns out that today was the final day in a extremely famous and popular festival. Since Sunday is the day most Japanese people have off work/school, the streets were packed with people, floats, drummers and dancers, vendors and everything else besides. I felt like a complete jerk dragging my heavy suitcase through the crowd but - having checked-in - I made sure to go back and enjoy the sights and sounds.

There was quite a street culture going on, with people eating around low benches (and sometimes on the ground) in groups and staying until early evening.

Having got my fill of the crowds, I headed over to Ueno to see the famous park, or rather part of the park as it is enormous. I stumbled upon a very pretty and tranquill lake (all the more surprising given the absolute chaos that reigns around it) and an amazing little shrine, which you access through a tunnel of gates and is quite tucked-away. There I saw fox-baby-soul-statues, to go with the Buddha-baby-soul-statues I saw in Hiraizumi.

I was also chatted up by a kindly old gentleman, who completely confused me as he apparently asked initially whether I would like to go out with him, indicating himself (when it became clear I didn't understand) by pointing to his nose, which in Japan (and China) means the self. I, however, took him to be kindly warning me that I had some mark on my nose, and so thanked him and continued to produce a tissue. I was a little perplexed when he led me to a seat looking over the river and sat down and proceeded to make what conversation my limited Japanese was capable of. I eventually twigged and made up a convenient boyfriend / fiance who I was due to meet that evening. He took the hint and gracefully made his departure as a gentleman should. Oh dear!

All that was left was to go back to the hotel, pick up some people to eat with and go out. I had originally intended to go for sushi (when in Rome and all that) but I ended up going to another type of Japanese restaurant with an Australian girl and an Austrian guy and we had a great evening, ordering various typical dishes (including Japanese tiramisu, which is nothing like the tiramisu in Europe) and doing our best to finish off a bottle of Shoku (a form of sake), which, for the record, really isn't as strong as people would have you believe.

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