Stick Together Like Sticky Rice!

May 16, 2014

Wow! What a jam-packed day! I learned so many things about Japan and it's history and culture today.... starting this morning when I learned that the sun rises around 5 am here, and if you sleep with the blinds closed you will be awoken long before your alarm goes off. Ah well.

After that very early start to my day, I went down to meet the rest of my group at our hotel's Japanese breakfast. I was feeling adventurous today, so I got little bites of nearly everything to sample. Some things were familiar- miso soup, fish, sticky rice, tofu- somethings were completely new and honestly I'm still unsure what all I ate. There were some winners in there, some surprises (they do something similar to a poached egg here but its cold! Wasn't expecting that. And the thing labeled "omelette" is sugary sweet and also cold!), and some things I thought were really interesting but probably won't try again (okay and one that actually made me gag... but only one? That's not too bad!).

With bellies full of these mystery bites, we headed out to conquer the Tokyo subway.

Our guide for the day explained to us before we left that the Tokyo subway is very crowded and not at all user-friendly, so we have to stay close to one another as we go. Or, as she put it, "Stick together like sticky rice!" Whenever our troupe pushed into a particularly crowded or chaotic area, you could hear the small woman's voice over the din: "Sticky rice! Sticky rice!"

The first stop on our Tokyo tour was the Meiji Jingu Shinto shrine. This trip focuses on religious studies and art in Japan, so we'll be learning a lot about Shinto and Buddhist traditions. Shinto is an indigenous religion of Japan and is centered around nature.

The shrine itself is gorgeous. The entrance is a gigantic wooden frame and behind it is a lavish (and, incredibly, man-made) garden. We got so lucky on the weather. It was a perfect day! Sunny and warm but breezy.

At the end of the long path, there is another gate leading into the heart of the shrine. Before entering, you must purify by washing your hands and mouth with water. The traditions in this culture are so interesting! There is very specific choreography for how to wash your hands, how to enter the building, and how to pray. It's really beautiful to watch!

Besides the gorgeous nature and architecture, one of my favorite things in the Shinto shrine was the sort of prayer wall inside. People from all over the world purchase small wooden plaques to write prayers on and hang on this sacred tree. I loved seeing all of the different languages and read what other people were wishing for (when I found one in English, that is!).

As if we hadn't already lucked out with the incredible weather, there happened to be a wedding in the shrine that day! Our guide told us that this is pretty uncommon, so we were really blessed!

This is sort of random but, I think, worth sharing. As we were leaving the shrine I noticed a vending machine (there are vending machines everywhere here). What really got my attention though was that this vending machine (and many of the vending machines here) vends both cold and hot drinks, including canned hot coffee. Yeah.

Next our guide took us down what she called the Champs-Elysees of Japan. Walking between the tall tall buildings, peering into Tiffany's and Burberry stores, it felt very NYC. My favorite part of the  Champs-Elysees of Japan was the giant mall she took us into where every single floor represented a different Disney princess. I'm not kidding. The first floor they played Once Upon a Dream, the second floor was blaring Part of Your World, and so on and so on until we reached the roof to hear "and at last I see the liiiiiight" from Tangled.
I've found a country full of people as Disney-obsessed as me! It's incredible!
As awesome as the soundtrack is, the best part about this mall is the rooftop garden. It's a great view of the city, but I just loved hanging out there and seeing all of the lovely plants and funky furniture out there.

Okay now comes my favorite part of the day: Asakusa (pronounced like uh-sock-sah). Asakusa is the historic district of Tokyo. This is the home of the Thunder Gate, considered the symbol of Tokyo.

The lantern is usually left open; it's only closed up for the parade.

Once again, we got extremely lucky as today there was a Shino festival! A parade would be going through the Thunder Gate and around Asakusa, so the city was extra active.
Past the Thunder Gate are rows and rows of shops and kiosks where vendors sell nicknacks and food.
First we made our way through the crowd to see the beautiful Buddhist temple. 
The ornate Buddhist temple was packed with locals and tourists alike, wanting to see the beautiful architecture and its elaborate decorations (and hoping to secure a good spot to see the parade). 

After seeing the Buddhist temple, we were set free to find lunch. I mentioned earlier that there were tons of booths selling food in the area, so most of the group (myself included) decided to be brave and try some street food! 
Dr. Baba took us around and explained what was in each dish, and I noticed that one in particular seemed to be especially popular: octopus bowl.
I’m not normally a huge octopus fan, but I figured “when in Rome” and went for it.

I’m very proud of myself for trying it, but I couldn’t do more than a bite. It’s basically a spherical pancake where the middle is left runny... plus raw octopus inside. Then coat that with mayonnaise and dried octopus. 
Again, I’m very proud of myself for at least trying.

The good news is, street food is cheap and people were willing to share! So, I tried another dish! This one was a winner. I don’t know what it’s called, but it tastes like a sweet bagel on the outside and it has purple yam (which tasted a lot like pumpkin) on the inside. I’ve got to find these again somewhere! 

For my main course, a friend and I shared a Japanese pancake. It’s basically a crepe cooked up with lettuce, onion, corn, bacon, and shrimp, all topped with mayo, teriyaki, and a fried egg. A mess to eat and filling after two bites, but delicious! 

We were lucky once again as the parade passed right by where we were eating, just as we finished our lunch. Everyone in the parade was dressed in bright colors, some in traditional Japanese garb and some in more modern attire. It was a lot of fun! 

Between the heat and the crowd, everyone agreed that we needed something sweet for dessert. I got some bubble tea, a favorite of mine, and some other friends got shaved ice before we headed to do some knickknack shopping. (I rarely buy souvenirs, but I loved wandering through the shops and kiosks, especially on such a beautiful day!) 

Finally, the group came together again and it was time to leave Asakusa. If anyone reading this plans on going to Tokyo, I highly recommend Asakusa. The festival was especially fun, but I’m willing to bet that theatre is still some street food and shopping out there even on days when there aren’t festivals! It’s such a fun way to enjoy the historic side of Japan. 

From Asakusa we headed to see the Tokyo Sky Tree, the tallest self-supporting tower in the world. Attached to the Sky Tree is another large mall (I’m telling you, there is a mall on every corner in this city!) where we milled around for an hour or two before dinner. 

Dinner was at an udon restaurant in the mall. I’ve been told that the three “trademark” noodles of Japan are udon, ramen, and soba noodles. Of the three, udon is my least favorite, but I still was glad for the opportunity to try real Japanese udon! 

As I’m sure you can tell by the tremendous length of this post, this was a very very long day; it’s a miracle I didn’t fall asleep in my bowl of noodles! I barely made my way across the city, through the subways, and up to my room before crashing. I told myself I’d take a quick nap and then I’d go out and see more of the Tokyo night life, but when I fell asleep at 7:30 pm I was gone for good. I didn’t even wash my face or brush my teeth! I must have really needed it, because I ended up sleeping for 11 hours. 

It was a good thing I got so much sleep, too! Because the next day was just as busy...