Sayonara!

[Sunday] My flight is this afternoon but Yuki helps me squeeze in some last minute shopping.  We ride in a typical spotless Japanese taxi with lace seat covers and white gloved driver; this one also has a free phone charger.

There is a huge stadium viewing of Japan's game at World Cup at the Tokyo Dome plus public showings on big screen TVs in shopping mall lobbies...  The bars in Shibuya are packed with young people drinking beer and watching the game.  On our way to Tokyo Station we saw a phalanx of police buses heading to Shibuya-- if Japan wins there will be wild celebrating in the streets  We have a quick ramen at Tokyo station before I head to airport on the Narita Express.

Tokyo Dome on right, amusement park on left. 

Tokyo station (one end).  The domes were destroyed in WW2 bombing and just restored a couple years ago.

TOKYO migrants & monja-taki

International symposium hosted by Center for Pacific and American Studies at U-Tokyo, on building immigrant nations...  presentations on US, Australia and Europe, and a great turnout (competing with World Cup!)

The symposium was followed by reception and then we went to dinner.  We went to a funky place in an alley of Shibuya, which used to be crammed with jazz clubs but now there are  just a few places left.  We went to one called Taru-ya or The Keg, established 1936.  Jazz photos of the greats on "authentic" fake paneling.  We had Japanese BBQ with both veggies and various meats (pork, also mutton and beef tongue & heart) and lots of beer, followed by "monja-taki," a concoction made of bits of mochi, egg, ginger, soy, and cooked on the grill until it is crispy underneath. (Usually made with squid or bits of meat but we had it with corn because one of the guests was vegetarian).  Our host said it was real "downtown" food meaning not high class. No one could translate "monja".

KYOTO ZEN

The Golden Pavilion temple, built originally c 1500 by shogun, who bequeathed it to a Zen sect.  the temple houses some (alleged) relics of Buddha. It was once burned down by an obsessed monk who destroyed it so no one else could possess it.  One might think that a pavilion covered in gold leaf would be gaudy but its shine is elegant and not at all gauche.  The lake water is deliberately kept muddy so as to have the best reflection.  After walking around the lake you end up in a section with snacks, gifts and fortune vending machines.  Lots of school tours.

Fortune telling vending machines in Japanese (above)

and for foreign tourists (below)

high school students enjoying green-tea and black-sesame ice cream. (There were
a few other boys in their group but the girls said they were too ugly to be photographed LOL)

Then we went to another temple, which houses a famous zen buddhist rock garden, which was made c. 1500 CE.  There was also a lake with lotus flowers and an active frog chorus.  

The garden is walled on three sides, the fourth side has wooden platform for sitting/viewing,
which lead into the tatami pavilion, below.

the "dragon resting" tatami pavilion. Notice dragon claw on left panel.
when the doors close the entire dragon can be seen.

pavilion housing rock garden seen from across the lake

Back to Tokyo on the bullet train...  Between Nagoya and Tokyo we passed by Mt. Fuji.  Unfortunately it was somewhat obscured by clouds.   In addition to rice paddies there is a interesting industrial and urban scenery: the Panasonic solar ark in Gifu and the HAL tower in Nagoya.  HAL is a technical college which trains students in computer skills, from games to aerospace. 

Below is Shibuya crossing, as seen from second floor of the station/mall.  I did not know that this is one of the busiest, if not the busiest, intersections in the world.  It does sort of make Times Square look tame by comparison.

And no jaywalking in Japan!

KYOTO- palace

Went out this morning looking for a Starbucks but ended up at a shrine dedicated to the wild boar near the hotel, where they had a small tea and coffee shop.  It was a charming place and the coffee was out of this world -- freshly ground and dripped with spring water.

shrine of the wild boar

and its charming tea/coffee house. Gourds traditionally used as water vessels hang from ceiling.  

Then we went to the Imperial gardens for a tour of the 'household' or palace.  This was the English-language tour, which only foreigners can take; you can sign up the day before, and you have to show your passport.  This is because Japanese people have to wait for as long as month to get a spot on a tour; or wait for one of the two annual public days when anyone can just show up.  This was the imperial palace for about 1000 years until the time of the Meiji restoration (late 19c) when the capital (and the emperor) moved to Tokyo.(Kyoto means "capitol city"; Tokyo means "east capitol")

view through vermillion gate to main pavilion, where royal ceremonies (eg coronations) are performed

painted panels (tigers) inside the tatami pavilion, where state visitors wait before meeting with emperor

roofs are made with cypress bark, 50-75 layers of bark held together with bamboo pins (no nails)

Panels in interior rooms and corridors often have beautiful paintings, but you only get a glimpse from the outside.
Here, a painting named "garden party"

Then we grabbed some ramen near campus.  The condiments include fried garlic bits, hot sauce, garlic paste and roasted sesame seeds.  I had chasu ramen.  Pretty good for five bucks!

Kyoto- Doshisha

S. and I took the bullet train to Kyoto today.  We bought bento boxes in the station--salad, miso fish, and these little tofu skin and beef rolls (all yummy ).  Heading west there were rice paddies in the small towns.  I spoke at the American studies colloquium at Doshisha university, a private university started byProtestant  missionaries in the 19 century.   Our hosts took us to dinner (Japanesey-French) at a restaurant on the top floor of the law school, with fabulous views of the mountains that surround Kyoto on three sides.

Our bullet train bento

View from train

Doshisha campus--old and new buildings

Random rabbit place near campus-- a crepes restaurant

Kyoto has limit on building heights, hence this view to the east from 7th floor restaurant

Tokyo - Triple S

SHRINE.   went out this afternoon with my friend Sayuri (we met at Wilson center last year).  She took me to see the Meiji Shrine which is in heart of city, next to big railway station and the old Olympic stadium (which will be torn down and replaced with a new one for 2020 games). Shrine is in gorgeous park that is quiet oasis in middle of city.

The iris garden (below) was in full bloom. Notice that they grow in water, like a paddy. Legend has it that the Meiji emperor named each iris breed after one of his lovers.

There is also a well dating to the Edo period.  And of course, the Meiji shrine, in a lovely plaza with two enormous and perfectly shaped ginko trees.

kiyomasa well, from Edo period. Pure water for the emperor's tea

The Meiji shrine

Ginko trees in front of shrine

from bonsai display next to shrine.

safe sex! corner of Omotesando and Meiji blvds.

SHOPPING.  Then we went to Omote sando area nearby.  Sort of like Madison Ave.  (though there was condom kiosk on the corner). At 4:00 pm we met Yuki who took over as my guide and we contined shopping in Omote sando then to Galleria in Tokyo midtown. Went to a couple of high-end "craft stores" where I bought gifts, then to Muji and Uniqlo.  (Yuki says the Muji stuff at MOMA store in NYC is what you get in Japan convenience stores.). Biggest find: Issey Miyake shop where price is about one-third of NYC price. Went a little crazy there. :)
(BTW I bought years ago a great coat designed by Miyake's then assistant Naoki Takazawa. He is now the creative director of Uniqlo!)

I bought a copy of this panel from famous scroll owned by the Kosanji Temple in Kyoto, drawn in the 12 and 13 century. Some say it is the first manga.  

MUJI 

 SUSHI.   Back to Shibuya for sushi dinner at a popular place (30 minute wait.  Here we are waiting on line; selfie taken with new remote sensor camera).

The sushi was teally good and probably half the price as in NYC, and also it was a fun place.  Yuki told me that in seven years of graduate study in the US he never once bought fish, which never seemed fresh to him.  It is understandable if Japan is your norm!

 Left, inside the restaurant.  Big shouted welcome when you (finally) get in, of course. Below, first course, spinach, crab meat and roe salad, and Chinese steamed egg. Notice huge cup of sake.

Yuki told me that Ivan Ramen's original shop in Tokyo is near his house.   Counter with six seats, complete with sidewalk ordering machine.  Interestingly, his NYC Slurp Shop is in a food court and has... maybe six counter seats.

We ordered a "salad" of seafood and tofu skin, and this is what came out.  A "roll" made with the tofu skin; inside was salad and bits of sashimi--tuna, salmon, etc.

back row:  toro, snapper, tuna, Japanese cod; 

second from back row:  crab, ??, egg, salmon roe

second from front row: ??; crab claw; shrimp, fried roe

front row:  unagi, tuna hand roll

PS.  did not eat the shrimp head

TOKYO Shibuya and Komaba

Flew in on Monday afternoon, very psyched because I watched four videos on the plane about sake tasting and famous Japanese chefs...  Met my former student Yuki, who is from Japan and is now a professor at Chuo university here.  The Komaba campus of U-Tokyo (which houses the Center for Pacific and American Studies and other humanities fields)  is in a quiet, leafy neighborhood, two short subway stops from Shibuya, a bustling inner-city district.   In the area near the subway/rail station there are tons of people, lots of side streets, with different specialties, eg video games, karaoke, cafes, shopping, etc. etc. There is a so-called "lovers lane" where the hotels have hourly rates. 

We went out and explored a 7-story electronics store (all real estate here is vertical), with different floors for cameras, video games, computers, cell phones, big screen TV, rice makers and washing machines. I bought a Sony camera lens that snaps onto the iPhone and uses wi-fi to send image to your phone.  You can also use it detached, say put it on a tripod (this would be great for the archive) or hold in one hand while you take shot with phone in the other hand. It fits into the palm of my hand and is very light.

Then we went to a ramen joint.  You order by machine on the sidewalk (which is common here).  Thankfully there are pictures.  Inside there is a long U-shaped counter; customers can walk only in one direction (exit on other side) because it often gets really crowded.  We had shiyou with pork, the broth was rich and the noodles very springy.  One wonders why in the USA they give you so little meat and charge you so much more.

Today I had to work on my lectures so I did not venture far from campus.  Went out for a walk through the neighborhood and a lovely park.  Had katsu-don at this little corner place.  Here, the machine for ordering food was inside, though they did have a small English menu with photos.

Then I went searching for a store to buy some fruit.  Finally found a guy with a small produce market.  His vegetables were gorgeous but his fruit selection was small.  There were some nice mangoes, but very expensive, and the stickers read "Ponce"--which is in Puerto Rico.  I asked him if they were imported (the Japanese word for imported is, according to my iphone, "inpoto") and he shrugged.

Little girls walking home from school.  The boys have blue backpacks but the same yellow hats.