~*SilverWeek in Tokyo*~ PART 1:土曜日（doyoubi/Saturday)

PRECURSOR:  THIS IS THE FIRST INSTALLMENT OF MANY POSTS ABOUT TOKYO.  THERE IS JUST SO MUCH TO WRITE SO HERE IS THE FIRST DAY:

So Tokyo is pretty much awesome.  I went there with some expectations of feeling too claustrophobic and what not but yeah….totally impressed me.  Probably the best thing of the trip was that I saw my old Japanese tutor and dear friend Asuka as well as meeting Nanae (Asuka’s really good friend, and now my friend! Haha).  They were probably the best guides in the world and we all had a blast.  And now I shall give you all the low down day by day:

土曜日(Saturday)

After a long 8 hour night bus ride that stopped 4 times and thus not letting anyone get a good sleep…Mara and I arrive at 5:45 in the morning at Shinjuku Station, one of if not THE busiest station in the world.  It is said that over 2 million people pass through it EACH day, thank you Eyewitness Travel Guidebook…Shinjuku is a BEAST of a station and even Japanese people cannot navigate through it smoothly.  As soon as we jumped off the bus we immediately had to find a bathroom.  That in itself was an adventure since friggin Shinjuku Station doesn’t have like….any bathrooms that are easily accessible….

We end up finding a bathroom but after I step foot in it I walk back out….I don’t do squatters as well as stink… you get the picture I’m sure. 

We found Asuka, or rather Asuka found us and we got on a couple of trains to get to her Ikebukuro apartment.  This apartment was so cute and huge for a single person living in Tokyo.  メチャかわいい (major cuteness).  We went into a 7/11 (which by the way have NO Slurpies…) and dear Asuka introduced us to a delicious little morsel called shuukurimu (shoe cream as Mara and I like to call it).  When Asuka was telling us about it I was like….shoe cream….?  And then it made sense when Asuka told us it was edible… Shuukurimu in fact is a delightful big cream puff thing but is better than a cream puff could ever EVER be.  And this is when the theme of the trip started.  TOKYO TRIP THEME = “LET’S SEE HOW MUCH ASHLEE CAN EAT “ or “ASHLEE = HUMAN NEVERENDING GARBAGE CAN FOR DELICIOUS JAPANESE FOOD”.  And I have no regrets…..the whole trip was absolutely oishii (delicious). 

After dropping our stuff off and not getting in a nap, we go to Shinjuku Station again to meet Nanae.  Nanae or as sometimes I would accidentally like to call her SAZAE~san…(It’s a famous cartoon character here in Japan) pretty much formally introduced us to Shinjuku Station (which from now on I will refer to as simply The Beast) and the Suica Pass.  This is basically a card that you put money on for the trains, subways and other types of fares.  Asuka had to go to her training and so Nanae, Mara and I went to Yasukuni Shrine.

Yasukuni Jinja:  For all of you who do not know, Yasukuni Shrine is one of the most controversial shrines in Japan.  Many Japanese soldiers and civilians who have died in war are enshrined here.   The controversial aspect is that the leaders and planners of World War II and the colonization of Korea and China are also enshrined at Yasukuni including Tojo Hideki and 8 other Class-A war criminals (Thank you, guidebook…).  And let me tell you, it made me feel uncomfortable.  Knowing what the Japanese government ( and I do want to specify government here, because a lot of the people were innocent…) did in World War II not only to the United States, but moreso to Korea and China made the visit an interestingly uncomforting one.    The torii (the gates to a Shinto shrine) were stone and metallic and there were a lot of them- somewhat like the shrine was trying to impose its sacredness on visitors.  When we entered the shrine there was a flea market going on which surprised me since it was on religious property.  Then again, if you look at it from a different standpoint that is one of the main quests of religion:  bring people together blah blah blah.  Still I thought it was weird. 

Yasukuni seemed very much commercialized too.  And another weird thing is that on Yasukuni’s grounds was a huge museum with a Japanese plane from World War II, a locomotive from the Thailand-Burma Railway and tons of weapons and cannons and all that war stuff.  At a SACRED place.  This to me was unsettling.  And even moreso when Nanae explained to me about a man that I saw with the Imperial Japanese Flag (the flag used in Japan before WWII) and some type of sign denoting that he was a nationalist.  I asked her if usually nationalists in Japan dislike foreigners and what I might look like to them walking around on their beloved jinja enshrining their war dead.  She was not sure, but I could tell that the man sort of stared myself and Mara down… 

We didn’t go into the museum, except for the free part. Hahaha…..After I saw somethings that made me feel pretty patriotic I wanted to leave.   Nanae felt pretty uncomfortable as well….I am not for sure how Mara felt. 

One of the cool things about Yasukuni though was there was a Noh stage (form of play in Japan) being occupied by men practicing for a performance the following day.  Their singing was awesome and I just wanted to sit and watch….oh well!~

We made our way back to Asuka and immediately left for I believe a part of Shibuya or Shinjuku… for lunch.  We went to an AWESOME tempura place called つな八 or tsunahachi  which stuffed my face full of tempura as well as fulfilling my duty of spreading the knowledge of gaijin smash.  Mara and I did a nice little skit explaining to Asuka and Nanae what this crucial term is.  If you would like to indulge in my partaking of eating at this restaurant there are videos on facebook.  Thank you, Asuka. 

Tsugi ni:  Shibuya & Harajuku

Harajuku was insane.  Totally awesome.  Full of crazy stuff and crazy people.  A lot of people.  It was just nice totally see around.  We indulged in Harajuku’s famous crepes – which, by the way are awesome.  We just had tempura and then we had dessert!  YAY!  This crepe was fantastic…..huge thing filled with chocolate ice cream, bananas and whipped cream.  Heck yes.  We walked around admiring the things around us (and quite frankly I felt like I was on some type of Pee-Wee Herman Show Drugs SHOUT OUT TO MOM hahha)

 Mara and I came across T-shirts that say:  “Yes We Can Fly”  with dear Mr. President Obama posing as Super Obama in mid-flight.  We immediately bought them.  Only problem was that when the woman showed me the medium it looked friggin huge….well…..I failed to remember that a Japanese woman was showing me this….hence it’s not as good of a fit as I want it to be.  Heheh it is still fantastic.

Proud to be an American:

Walking out of Harajuku we were crossing some type of bridge where Mara and I saw “9/11/2001 -hahahaha” written in graffiti.  Both Mara and I stopped looked at it and felt angered.  We couldn’t believe that someone might have written that but someone else had FAILED to cover it as well as the other graffiti.  I know I might sound like a naïve fool, but still.  It made me think.  It made me reflect on my own feelings.  And Mara and I totally discussed it and we were like why would anyone say that….. 9/11 really has affected everyone in the world in some way or another.  And don’t even try to argue this point with me.  It was an attack on the WORLD TRADE CENTER for crying out loud….not just on the United States….ok….usually I don’t say anything about stuff like this but too bad.  That’s how I feel, and I am open to new ideas.  Deal with it. 

Meiji Jingu- A Pleasant Accident:

On our way back to the station we sort of accidentally spotted a sign for Meiji Shrine or the correct term Meiji Jingu.  I had never heard of this shrine before running into it and boy am I glad I did.  It was such a great comparison and stark contrast to Yasukuni Jinja.  Meiji Jingu was absolutely breathtaking and everything I thought a Shino shrine would look like:  huge forests, wide open trails, beautiful wooden HUMONGOUS torii.  There weren’t as many torii  here as there was at Yasukuni.  There really didn’t need to be many torii.  This shrine is one of the most important thus the title jingu meaning the highest in status of Shinto shrines where Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken are enshrined.  There was an area that looked like it was where ninjas could totally train.  There was this serene and calming affect Meiji Jingu had on me whereas Yasukuni yielded the totally opposite.  It was a great treat to see two famous and influential shrines in one day. 

Izakaya

After leaving Meiji Jingu we went to dinner at a Japanese izakaya or darker restaurant/bar.  Again, I ate a lot because it was absolutely delicious.  Whoever said Tokyo didn’t have good food was completely and totally wrong…. 

Tokyo Tower!

After eating our hearts out at izakaya we went to see Tokyo Tower which is basically like a Japan-ified Eiffel Tower.  It was an amazing view  from the top and any pictures you see do not do it justice.  Tokyo literally NEVER ends….no like really…..it never ends.  Mara and I have come to the conclusion that Tokyo would probably never fall to any type of attack….there is just way to much of it and baby tatemono (buildings) would just spring up out of nowhere.  Tokyo is unlike any other city I have ever had the pleasure of visiting- there are not just a few skyscrapers….oh no….Tokyo has I’m pretty sure hundreds of thousands of skyscrapers in iroiro (varying) heights.  All lights and skyscrapers….totally breathtaking. 

Also, while at Tokyo Tower I purchased my first keitai sutarappu (cell phone strap decoration)  with a little cresent tsuki (moon) and a baby Tokyo Tower….mechaa kawaii (major cuteness, Thank you Ross). 

After Tokyo Tower we rode the trains back to Asuka’s apartment where Mara proceeded to pass out face first into the blanketed ground and I’m pretty sure she stopped breathing.  Don’t worry, we resurrected her in the morning.  After eating our shoe cream.  J

Left to right:  Nanae, Asuka, Mara and Me~