Sunday in Japan, or: How I Spent Father's Day Without My Father

I read in the travel guide that Harajuku was the most popular hangout spot for Japanese high-school and college students. On Sundays the teenagers come dressed in "cosplay" (costume play) and hang out in the area. We were hoping to get a glimpse of these kids, but since we're visiting Japan in the rainy season and there was a light drizzle and we were in the area around noon, which was probably too early, we only saw a handful of kids. The ones we did see were quite wild -- girls in hot pink tutus and leotards, goth guys dressed in black with piercings all over their faces (for the most part we have seen relatively few piercings and tattoos in Tokyo) and girls with fantastical eye makeup.

Takeshita Dori is a pedestrian-only street in Harajuku filled with stores for young hipsters. I'm amazed at the lining-up phenomenon in Tokyo. It seems that people will wait in line for just about anything here. At one point we saw a huge line of people wrapping around the block. Turns out these people were waiting in line for the gourmet popcorn store. On Takeshita Dori, we stumbled upon a food court with another long line leading up to the third floor. These people were waiting for some sort of pastry and sweets buffet.

The Ukiyo-e Ota Memorial Museum of Art houses the private ukiyo-e (wood block print) collection of visionary collector Ota Seizo, who realized the importance of the prints and dedicated himself to their preservation. Because the prints are so fragile, they are only displayed for one month at a time. We were fortunate enough to view Katsushika Hokusei's famous print from the series 36 Views of Mt. Fuji. I distinctly remember getting this image wrong on a slide identification exam in an art history class.

The main road in Harajuku, Omotesando Dori, is lined with high end stores, places I wouldn't dare into in the U.S. There are, however, some Japanese gems like Kiddy Land, where Kevin and I both purchased some Japanese Peanuts souvenirs in Snoopy Land, and the Oriental Bazaar, which has reasonably priced Japanese souvenirs like pottery, fans, woodblock prints and jewelry.

There was a metro stop along Omotesando Dori which allowed us to catch a train to Shibuya. Shibuya is more along the lines of what I expected to see in Tokyo -- towering buildings, streets bustling with people, huge shopping centers and flashing billboards.

 

The train station in Shibuya is famous for its statue of Hachiko the Dog. At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, Hachiko ("hachi" is Japanese for "eight," as he was the eighth in his litter) was owned by Hidesaburo Ueno, a professor at the University of Tokyo, who rode the train to work from Shibuya Station every day. Each evening, when the professor returned from work, Hachi would meet him there for the walk home. But one day the professor died at work and never came home. Hachi was a loyal dog, though, and waited patiently for him, returning every day for nine years in time the train to arrive. Eventually he became famous for his loyalty, and after his death the statue was erected in his honor. Today people come from far and wide just to see and be photographed with it, including Kevin.

We also climbed to an observation area above the busy streets so we could watch the light change at Shibuya Crossing, a business intersection reportedly nicknamed "Times Square of Tokyo" and featured in the movie Lost in Translation, just one on the long list of movies I haven't seen.

From Shibuya, we were able to walk to Robin's church, Tokyo Baptist Church, and attend afternoon services. It was a very contemporary service with lots of music.

After church we went out to dinner with Robin's friend Hiromi in the neighborhood of Ebisu. So far, this has been my favorite neighborhood in Tokyo, with lots of pedestrian streets lined with cafes and restaurants. Due to the small size of apartments in Asian cities, it is difficult for people to entertain guests in their houses, so they frequently go out to dinner. I guess that is why these cities can support such a large number of restaurants and other eating establishments.

We found a yakiniku restaurant which served a Japanese style barbecue. Thankfully, Hiromi is a native Japanese speaker, so she was able to order for us -- dishes of various cuts of beef, vegetables and rice. This is the first time that Kevin had been to a restaurant that brought hot towels, and I think he was slightly confused when the waiter handed him the warm, folded wash cloth.

After our order was placed, the waiter brought us two copper urns filed with hot charcoal and set them under a vent at each table. He then brought out various dishes filled with dipping sauces, and finally, trays of thinly sliced raw meats and vegetables. We were tasked with cooking the meal ourselves. When a slice of meat was cooked, you wrapped it in a lettuce leaf and ate it with your hands. It was absolutely delicious, and Kevin was a real trooper for trying new foods.

 
We were lucky enough to be in Tokyo for one of the bi-monthly performances of the Pirates of Tokyo Bay, a bilingual improv troupe. The cast, who was broken into two teams, alternated between English and Japanese improv skits, very similar to what you would see on Whose Line is It Anyway?, and the audience voted on the team they liked best. They were hilarious. I would say that 90% of the cast was caucasian and therefore likely not native Japanese speakers. The Japanese audience members seemed to find them quite funny, so I'm assuming that their Japanese was impeccable. I couldn't imagine doing improv in my native language, let a lone a foreign language. We also happen to be in Japan at the start of Tokyo Arts Week, and ironically there were two guest actors from New York performing in a play as part of the festival who took part in one of the skits.

Hiromi has lived in Tokyo for most of her life, so she knew some other spots in the area that she wanted to show us. She took us to the Yebisu Garden Place. Yebisu is a local Tokyo brewery. This area was the sight of the original brewery but is now a collection of shops, restaurants, hotels and corporate offices. We found a Burger King that was still open at such a late hour, ordered ice cream sundaes, and ate them outside in the Central Square, an outdoor pavilion with a glass canopy that reminds me of the Kimmel Center. We took the elevator up to the 39th floor observation deck and were able see the Tokyo night skyline from another angle.

Tomorrow we are meeting Hiromi for lunch and then we're going shopping for yukatas.