Tokyo Adventures 2016

Well, we are back to Tokyo for the last trip before moving Stateside. Here’s a rundown of the trip!

We started the week by a visit to Yoyogi park, which is often frequented by folks looking to practice a hobby, walk the grounds, or just enjoy the sunshine.

Here you can see a whimsical fellow playing a ukulele against a tree.  It created a neat atmosphere for the park, unfortunately I did not get it on video 🙁

Here was a guy who was a “DJ-Artist” and would DJ on this little contraption he wore while painting.  He wasn’t half bad!

One of the things that I was super excited about (as I had seen them about two years ago) were the Rock-a-billy gangs. Initially, they weren’t there when we walked past where they usually set up. This was disheartening as they are a source of extreme entertainment! Luckily, we caught them on our way out in the middle of what I can only assume was a dance-off for territorial dominance.

As you can see, this is amazing. In fact, I had to capture it in video.

The next place we went was right across the street to the Meiji Shrine. This is a temple of sorts for the Emperor Meiji. There was a festival commemorating the 40th anniversary of something (I couldn’t make it out!), and as part of the festivities, either countries had donated ice sculptures or there were ice sculptures representing something from various countries (again, lost in translation). There were no specific signs for each sculpture, so we just enjoyed them all as they were.

This guy is maybe trying to get his Shakespeare impression perfected?

As you can see, there were a TON of people here.  Also this is a popular wedding destination and we saw at least three different weddings happening – simultaneously!  There was a small cordoned off area for the wedding party itself, but I can’t imagine trying to get anything done amongst all of these people.

I just enjoyed the way the sun was coming through the trees, and the end cap on this building looks a little like a sea-monster with pig tails.

As is common with festivals, there are always vendors selling food items.  Typically there will be these lanterns depicting the different types of food available – all at quite a reasonable price.  It’s not quite the corn dogs and candy apples featured at American fairs, but it’s pretty close (lots of fried foods easily carried in one hand and eaten with the other).

Here you can see someone selling oysters that would be freshly shucked as they are ordered.  Delicious!

Here is us on the primary method of transportation – the subway!

Here’s a panorama of the Shibuya area – this walkway gets super busy during, well pretty much all the time!

Here’s our group settled on something sit-down – some sushi from near by the Tsukiji fish market – the largest in the world I believe.  This is, unbelievably, getting relocated because it’s TOO SMALL to handle all of the business that is generated there.  Clockwise from top left is our friend Michael (we call him Zoom), Atsuko, Erika, Michael Ivan (whom we call Michael Ivan), and Michael.  For those of you not keeping score at home, the Michaels have it 3-2.

Speaking of food – here’s picture of Tokyo ramen. It is delicious and is quite different from the 30 cent packets sold stateside!

This is a crazy clock-contraption in the Shiodome, a business area in downtown Tokyo.  It’s somewhat of a “futuristic” area (lots of elevated walkways and sculptures), so though this seems strikingly out of place, it’s fairly normal for the region.  The figurines move, however we were not able to decipher the schedule and see a performance D:

Speaking of futuristic spaces, here’s an area called Odaiba. It is a man-made island that is just full of shops and other things. They had a Christmas decoration set up still 😀

Also they have a Statue of Liberty and in the background you can see the crazy Fuji TV building. That ball has an observatory inside, but unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to go inside.

Last but not least – here’s a huge robot statue. Why? Because…Japan.

There was also a car museum that had a ton of awesome old cars – including this DeLorean! How could I not take a picture?

We were also able to get to one of my favorite places in Tokyo – Zojoji.

Similar to the Meiji shrine, we got there on what appeared to be a festival day and there was a huge line of folks waiting to get to the front also we couldn’t get inside.

However, we did see a man with a monkey performing some sort of circus act.  I guess you win some and lose some…

We went up in the Tokyo Tower (the red building that looks like the Eiffel Tower) and you are able to really get a scale of how massive Tokyo is.  The tower is in the center of the city, and this was the view from every direction.

Speaking of temples, here is the approach to another temple in Asakusa – Sensoji. There were a ton of folks here as well (but that’s always the case), however my favorite place here is out back…

…where all the fish hang out!

We also went to a museum and, well basically this picture is hilarious. It’s as if someone had for the first time in their life seen an elephant, and then described what they saw to someone who drew it for them.  I can hear them saying “no, it was bigger, just BIGGER all of its parts were BIGGER!”

That night Erika and I walked around and we found Godzilla!  He was busy ravaging the Star Wars theater so no harm done – phew!

Dinner that night was at an Izakaya, a place where you order grilled foods like chicken, beef, shrimp, or a multitude of vegetables and they bring them out by the stick.  Typically each stick is between $1-2 so you can get quite a lot of food for not a lot of money.

Here’s us in front of the Hachiko statue.  His story is one of loyalty and is known throughout Japan.  The station he is at is getting revamped and there was a whole article about how the statue will be moved to a different location in the news paper.

We also got a chance to go to another Kabuki performance!  We’ve already written about them, but here’s us in front of the theater – the Kabukiza, also in front of a huge wall of Sake barrels serving some unknown purpose.

Here’s a view from of the theater from the street.  This theater was built at the beginning of the 20th century and is one of three currently in use in Tokyo.  There used to be many theaters (similar to how movie theaters are today) and were frequented mostly by members of the lower classes, but this has changed in the past century.

Here’s a view from inside.  These curtains are hand painted and change throughout the hour leading up to the first performance.

This time we only got tickets for one of the smaller performances, but still had a great view!

We visited the Studio Ghibli museum – frequently described as the “Walt Disney Studios” of Japan. They have a home that has been converted into a museum of sorts. I wasn’t able to take any pictures inside, but judging by the 15 foot statue they had on the roof, you can get an idea of the types of things inside.

Here’s another exterior shot. It was quite the experience.

Alright, the next thing on the list was the sumo tournament.  These are held four times per year and we were able to get up to Tokyo in time to see one!  It’s the beginning of the season so there’s a lot of preliminary matches, but typically each wrestler will have one match per day and they build their rankings for the follow on tournaments.

Here’s Erika getting into the mood.  Maybe with another 18 inches and 200 lbs she could get somewhere!!  Also of enjoyment was this guys Hello Kitty outfit.

Here’s a video showcasing one of the matches.  As you can see, these big guys are quite limber. They throw salt to purify the ring prior to the match.  The history of sumo is pretty interesting.  It basically came from a festival that was to honor the gods for the harvest.  It’s transitioned into a sport unto itself, but retains much of the traditions.

Here you can see the wrestlers entering the ring in their regalia. Each of these represents a different “house” or “dojo” where they live and train.

Once they enter, there is a ceremony prior to that class of wrestlers beginning their matches.

The match ends when a wrestler either touches the floor inside the ring with anything other than his feet or touches the area outside of the ring.  This is mostly done with pushing though there are some throws.  It is possible to “fake out” your opponent (by sidestepping at the initial attack) but this is seen as dishonorable and is not done.

As you can see, these guys are quite limber!

Here’s a wide shot of the arena, giving you a sense of scale.

Alright, well that’s a million pictures and only covers a few days of this trip. Hope you enjoyed them; until next time!