An Early Spring
Tokyo & Kamakura
We are in love with Japan so far. Both of us have enjoyed it more than any other country we have visited. It may be a bit early to say this, but so far it seems that everything is just a little bit better: toast (its thick and delicious), toilets (high tech with tukkas washers built in and heated seats), trains (comprehensive, fast, smooth).
When we first arrived in Tokyo we were immediately impressed by how clean this country is. It is a megalopolis yet truly spotless -- a stark contrast from India. We were also impressed by the efficiency of everything. When we arrived at customs a long line was starting to form, and just as quickly as it had appeared several more customs workers came on duty to move people through more quickly. Then we took the train from airport to the city, and again were amazed at the efficiency of everything. On the train platform the place where the doors would be were marked. People neatly formed two lines at those spots, and then as the train pulled up (door lining up exactly with the platform marking) the two lines split to either side to allow passengers off the train. Then the two lines neatly filed onto the train. On the train itself there are electronic boards posting which stop you are currently at, how long it will take to get to the future stops, and when you arrive at a stop the board even shows which direction to walk for exits and transfers.
We checked into our hotel, Kimi Ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn. Our room had mats on a bamboo floor to sleep on, and there was a traditional Japanese cypress bathtub to bathe in. That first day we were pretty jet lagged so didn't see too much. We did visit one of the worlds largest department stores near our hotel and had lunch there. Department stores in Japan are a great place to eat because most have a floor with many restaurants. Most menus are in Japanese only so luckily most of the restaurants have displays of the (plastic) food in windows outside or picture menus. We have been doing a lot of guessing and pointing in order to order. Anyway, our first day we had a delicious meal at the department store of udon soup with tempura shrimp and vegetables. We also visited one of the worlds tallest escalators and saw a small art gallery with some really nice black and white traditional Japanese watercolors. Later that day we walked around an area of Tokyo called Shibuya. It is an area where many young people go to hang out. It has many shops and restaurants. It is loud in this part of town (many other areas of Tokyo seem very quiet for such a big city) and bright neon covers many buildings. We had dinner at a place with a picture menu, and were pleased to pay only $5 per person for a meal of rice, seafood or meat, miso soup and salad. Japan can actually be very affordable if you are careful and are willing to shop around.
Our second day we began with a visit to the Imperial Palace Gardens. We saw some beautiful plum blossoms, but otherwise the park did not have much in bloom since its winter. Next we explored an area called Ginza. It is an upscale shopping area that was very nice. We had lunch at a ramen restaurant -- counter space only. We arrived at 11:55 and it was pretty quiet. 10 minutes later the restaurant was completely filled with people on lunch break. All around us people in designer clothes loudly slurped up their noodles and quickly headed back to work. After Ginza we went to an area of Tokyo called Shinjuku. Like Shibuya it is like Times Square in New York but spread out over a much bigger area.
Our third day we began by visiting the huge fish market here (Tsukiji), the largest in Japan. It was a maze of stands selling every kind of seafood imaginable. We saw teeny octopus, whale meat, huge chunks of tuna, eels, and mussels bigger than our heads. The workers rushed around and you had to watch where you walked so as not to be splashed by the water from the bins and tanks that they pulled fish from. We then went to the Detached Palace Gardens, which were really lovely. We saw cherry and plum blossoms, many varieties of trees, and ponds. The garden was such a peaceful setting to wander around, and such an interesting contrast to the huge buildings all around it. From the garden we took a boat down the river to Asakusa (a part of Tokyo) where we visited the Senso-ji temple.
That night we went to stay with the Enomoto family (we met them through Benny's good friend Jeff who spent two summers teaching in Japan). They graciously invited us to stay with them in their home and our first night Harue cooked us a delicious traditional Japanese dinner called Sukiyaki. A large pot of broth is heated on the dining room table and you cook tofu, vegetables and beef in the mixture. Using your chopsticks you take out bites and dip them in egg to eat it.
They also took us to the beautiful city of Kamakura, about an hour south of Tokyo on the train. The city is filled with lots of beautiful shrines (lots of pictures in the photo album), and because it has been such a warm spring we managed to see several beautiful flowers already in bloom. We were also lucky enough to witness a traditional Japanese wedding, and a took a short video of it which we posted here:
We also posted some pictures from our last few days in India, which include Bangalore and Mumbai. Tomorrow we head to Nikko, a city couple of hours north of Tokyo that is also famous for its shrines and temples.
Note: we will be adding captions to the two new photo albums shortly, when we have a bit more time.
