A Year in Japan
A Year in JapanJanuary 2003
(Xmas/New Year Trip Continued)
Koya San
New Years Day. It was my 293rd day in Japan. We left Kyoto early and made for Nara, bypassing the city on enjoyable quiet roads and headed south to Koya San. It was a slow, twisty but beautiful drive up there, past forests covered in snow. Ever since a Buddhist monk, Kobo Daihi founded a temple here in 819, Koya San (50km south of Osaka) has been one of Japan`s holiest mountains. On top is an elogated cedar filled valley perched 800m above sea level, where more than 100 monasteries cluster around the head temple (Kongobu Ji) of the Shingon sect. At one time, there were 1500 monasteries up here. Most were destroyed during the anti Buddhist movement in the late 19th Century, but in recent years, many temples have been extensively repaired and Koya San is once again a major centre of pilgrimage. Women were banned from Koya San until 1872!
Near Kongobu Ji (Temple of the Diamond Mountain, built in 1592) hung the Rokuji No Kane (Six O Clock Bell, cast in 1547) which is rung by a monk every even hour. A gravelled path led into the Danjo Garan, Koya San`s sacred precinct. This large sandy compound, was filled with cryptomeria trees, stone lanterns and a smattering of snow everywhere. It was a cold crisp morning. The Garan`s most important building was the monumental Konpan Daito, the Fundamental Great Stupa covered in strident, orange lacquer (last rebuilt in the 1930s). Inside, a large Buddha and four other blue coiffed Buddhas were surrounded by a gaudy forest of wooden pillers painted with bodhisattvas.
Photo of Konpan Daito, Koya San
Winter Photos of Koya San
Down the road, the buildings gave way to stately cedar trees where we followed a path into a mysterious, mossy forest. This was Okunoin, Koya San`s vast cemetery. Stretching away to either side, the forest floor was scattered with more than 200,000 stone stupas of all shapes and sizes, some jumbled and decaying like fallen logs, others still clean of lichen so vague inscriptions could be seen. Here and there, we also spotted Jizo statues (for aborted/miscarried children), their red bibs bright against the muted greens, and occasional war memorial. There were baskets of small change in front of many statues. But you would have needed a few sacks to cart away all the 1 yen coins. There was also a huge mound covered in tiny figurines.
Photos of Weird Cemetery Mound
New Year`s Day and the immediate days after, is when the Japanese people visit Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines to pray to idols and ancestors for what they want; typically more money, a baby boy or acceptance to a good school. Consequently, the cemetery had crowds of Japanese visitors. We reached the spiritual precinct where we found people offering paper or bamboo strips bearing names of deceased relatives to one of seven bronzed Buddha statues. They would then douse the statues with water as a service to the dead. It was a strange new sight for me. The local monks here had set up a stand to pass out free cups of Amazake. On this freezing morning, we certainly needed warming up. Nearby, stood the `Hall of Lanterns` where thousands of oil lamps donated by the faithful were kept constantly alight. Two of them are said to have been burning since the 11th Century. Inside, countless lit lanterns hung from the ceilings while pilgrims had monks write their dedications for them on narrow wooden strips which would later be burnt to send the message up to the spirits. I would rate this cemetery as one of the strangest but most intriguing places I have visited in Japan. The beautiful location was very atmospheric, but it must be one creepy place to walk around at night.
Photos of Okunoin Cemetery, Koya San
More Photos of Okunoin Cemetery, Koya San
Even More Photos of Okunoin Cemetery, Koya San
Another Photo of Okunoin Cemetery
Yet Another Photo of Okunoin Cemetery
Turning north, we drove back to Nara. Back down off the mountains, the local roads were packed with cars full of families on their way to and from shrines. 30km from Nara, one town`s main street was gridlocked with traffic. For some reason, the Japanese are tolerant enough to sit in traffic jams for hours, but not me. I left the main road and negotiated narrow lanes parallel to the main road. We bypassed the gridlock and eventually found the road to Nara, saving an hour of waiting. I later asked one of my adult students about this Japan mentality of sitting in traffic jams. "They don`t know any other road" he said. "Well, neither did I, but I was willing to try and find a different route around the gridlock" I replied. "Ah. You are different" he concluded.
By the time we reached Nara, it was dark. We had come to see Sayo and her family. They had lived in my hometown of Lowestoft for 4 years where my parents had made friends with them. We had visited them in August and had been exposed to wonderful hospitality. I had told them that we would be in the area and they invited us to stay that night. They had prepared a traditional Japanese New Year`s meal. We started with `Oseti Ryori` (New Year`s food); small boxes of delicate dishes of pickles, giant prawns and assorted goodies. Then they installed a mobile gas grill on the low table and cooked up `Ozoni`. This was a Japanese stew of glass noodles, razor thin slices of beef, crythananum stems and other vegetables. It was delicious. Fresh strawberries and icecream for desert and fried rice cake (mochi). All washed down with a few refreshing ales. Since Jill was also from Lowestoft, they had a lot in common and she laughed as they recounted their life there and heard the familiar names. They presented us with New Year`s presents. The Japanese love giving gifts. We were relieved that we had bought a few modest offerings. It was a lovely relaxing evening and I was pleased that Jill had had the chance to spend the evening in a Japanese home. From my experience, the invitations are few and far between. Most Japanese prefer to socialise publicly and guard their privacy at home. Sayo, however, had lived in England where you do a lot of socialising at home. Their hospitality did come at a cost. Jill had to promise to send some `Radox` bath powder by mail. It was one thing that Sayo missed in England.
It was time to go home. Leaving Nara, we eventually joined the Tomei Expressway at Nagoya. There was a beautiful clear light blue sky and we spotted the formidable snow capped peak of Mt Fuji 100km away. As we drove closer past the tea plantations, the traffic became heavier. The expressway was absolutely chocka. A few Japanese ignored all road protocol and used the emergency lane. What the hell, I joined them and we passed miles of backed up traffic or took exits and rejoined the queues at the other joining entrance (another sneaky trick). Finally, we pulled into a restaurant area, the closest view of Mt Fuji from the Tomei, for a brilliant backdrop of the mountain which dominated the skyline. All things considered, a view of Mt Fuji covered in snow on a clear day, is the finest view in Japan. Two days later, as Jill flew over Mt Fuji on her way home, all the Japanese stood up to peer through one side of the aircraft windows for a glimpse of the mountain on another clear day. "And to think", she emailed me later"that I had just been there".
Reentering the Tomei expressway, we found it gridlocked with 40km of traffic all the way to Tokyo. There`s nothing like paying tolls to sit in traffic jams. No wonder they all have TVs in their cars on the dashboard. Bugger this I thought and took the next exit. Using finely homed directional sense, I took relatively clear local roads and eventually found a road to Yokohama. From here, we took the Shuto expressway south across Tokyo which was unusually clear of heavy traffic which was probably still sat on the Tomei. Reaching Tsukuba at 9pm, it had been a long 12 hour drive with only a petrol/Mt Fuji stop. We had covered 3000km in ten days.
Tokyo Disneyland had been scheduled for Jill`s last full day. It was however, the busiest time of the year and some of my students who had recently visited it, reported that every major ride had a one hour line of waiting. They had lined up for 5 hours for 5 rides! Jill felt that she "could live without Mickey Mouse" if it meant avoiding the queues and opted for a lazy day in Tsukuba; her only lazy day during the whole holiday.
At Seibu Department store, we purchased `Hello Kitty` products for Emma, a friend of mine who had been requesting them for months. I didn`t have the guts to go and tackle Hello Kitty on my own. Go on. I dare you to check out the official Hello Kitty homepage. You know you want to. There was also a display of rice cake bashing (mochi) on the ground floor. (see previous email). We tried some of the freebie samples with strange sauces. They tasted jaw wrenchingly awful. I didn`t know that dog`s vomit was used as a sauce here. That was the best comparison to the taste of this stuff. A lazy lunch at the Mexican restaurant managed to remove the taste from my mouth. Jill also cut my hair and gave me the best trim since leaving England. It was apparent that I had lost some weight on the roadtrip (all those tuna fish sandwiches!) which was a good way to start the New Year.
The following morning, Saturday January 4th, the car was covered in ice, as were the roads. It was treacherous driving. The car slid early into the journey and we crawled out of Tsukuba en route to Narita Airport, passing a dozen road accidents. As with all my guests, I was sorry to see Jill go. She had been an excellent road companion, always game for a laugh and very tolerant of my usual excessiveness to see as much as possible. In the previous fortnight, she had seen more of Japan than any other teacher at the school. She had viewed every major highlight that the average tourist would take in, plus a whole lot more. I think she enjoyed Japan. At least she told me that she "had a brilliant time". She did, however, stay well clear of tuna fish sandwiches for weeks after.
On the last day of the Xmas break (Jan 5th), Jamie (fresh back from his holiday in Thailand) and I had a social call. Two of the students from the Tsukuba Woman`s University had been in contact. They were keen to practise their English so we agreed to meet them for a day out. Emi and Reiko were both cute 19 year olds. I felt like I was escorting my two daughters around, but their English was good and it was nice to hang out in Tsukuba with the locals. Emi`s grandfather had built a castle down the road. The locals thought he was mad. I had driven past this many times (about 20 minutes from my flat) wondering why it was there.
The girls had planned numerous activities. First up was the new Harry Potter movie at the cineplex. I managed to doze off during this (oh the shame). The cineplex was a full on entertainment centre. We tried our hand at the baseball pitching area. You grabbed a baseball bat and stood over a pitching plate. At the other end, there was an animated pitcher who was filmed throwing a ball. A baseball would spring out of a hole where his arm extended and you`d take a swing. Despite choosing the slowest speed (70kph), we were all crap. Our escorts were as bad at the ten pin bowling. It took a while to find bowling shoes to fit me.
At the amusement arcade of state of the art video machines, there was a soccer game. You laid cards of various international players on a small soccer field surface in the position they were to play, and the computerised version would appear on the screen. You could swap the cards depending on whether you needed a better defence or midfield. There were a series of photobooths. The Japanese love having their photos taken. We paid for eight shots and then as they were being developed, you could use video machines to add hearts etc or scrawl over the photo with a laser pen. You could also have them developed as a tiny series of stickers. Many of my students are always bringing these into class. Finally, we went to a Yakitori restaurant which I had visited before, where the girls ordered a selection of goodies. We asked about Japanese life and they asked about English life. Most adults who are learning English have computerised dictionaries. The girls gave us one of theirs. When they didn`t understand a word, we would type it in and it would appear in Kanji (Japanese written language). All in all, a nice day out.
We met them a couple of weeks later on a Saturday night after teaching. This restaurant had tables with a large round hole in the centre. A waiter brought over a portable BBQ with hot coals in a metal pot which was inserted into the hole and plugged into a gas connection beneath the table. You ordered raw food and cooked it yourselves. We grilled various items like clams, bacon and pork. My problem with Japanese restaurants is that the portions are so small that it would cost a small fortune to fill me. So tonight I had cooked and eaten a chicken dinner before going out. Anything in a restaurant is like a snack to me!
January was a slow month which passed very quickly because I was so busy. My days became a routine of getting up mid morning, hitting the internet cafe to type up those lengthy roadtrip reports, have an occasional jog, go to a school and teach, come home, continue to write up the roadtrip, and stay up until 4am most nights with Jamie and other teachers, watching videos, eating dinner around 2am and drinking lots of calories from the cheap European red wine that is available in Tsukuba (3 bottles for £5!). Canadian Joan had a dinner party and I repaid the favour, while we watched highlights of the American Superbowl at one o`clock in the morning. I had a new tennis opponent, Canadian Luke, who as a previous club player, destroyed me on our first outing. The King is dead...
On Sunday January 12th, I spent the day in Tokyo with Jamie. Before arriving in Tsukuba, he had spent three weeks in Japan, mostly in Osaka, gradually running out of money while he applied for jobs. He had hardly seen anything of Tokyo. We accidentally got on an express train to Tokyo which cost double the normal fare but there was only one stop instead of the normal 15. We set off to see some old and new sights. Walking to the Asakusa district, we visited Senso Ji, Tokyo`s most venerable Buddhist temple, I will reuse my previous description "Approaching the temple, we passed beneath a solid red lacquer gate with a massive paper lantern (at least 3m by 2m). The temple was founded in the 7th Century, but most of it is postwar reconstruction. A colourful parade of small shops lined the main approach to the shrine. Packed with tourists, they sold trinkets, Japanese crafts, souvenirs, kimonos, calligraphy. Inbetween were fast food stalls and restaurants. A constant crowd clustered around a large bronze incense bowl where people wafted the pungent smoke (breath of the gods) over themselves for its supposed curative powers. The hall before the temple was full of life; the rattle of coins tossed into a huge wooden coffer, swirling plumes of incense smoke, the constant bustle of people coming to pray, buy charms and fortune papers or attend a service". 2003 in Japan is `The Year of the Sheep` and there lots of posters and huge wooden votives with pictures of sheep. I had visited this place with Yuka (Shimodate school) before the Sumo tournament in September. Low and behold, we bumped into her and a friend in the area.
I decided to try the fortune telling tin of numbered wooden sticks. I shook out No 66. Here`s what it said; "No 66. Bad Fortune. When water and wave stay still long and don`t circulate all become dirty. Flying birds drops off feathers which means they got weakened. Trouble will come to you repeatedly so our mind get confused, loosing the way what to do, having nothing to do. Though it may look silent and peaceful, but as time passes by trouble, problem appear." There were some additional points;
* request will not be granted
* The patient is hard to get well
* The lost article will not be found
* The person you wait for will not come over
* Building a new house and removal are both bad
* You should stop to start a trip
* Both marriage of any kind and new employment are bad.
Well, thanks a lot. That made my day.
West of Senso Ji, we strolled through an area know as Rokku full of cinemas, pachinko parlours, gambling halls and drinking dives. There were small theatres where `Rakugo` is still performed; a centuries old form of comic monologue where familiar jokes and stories are mixed with modern satire. Men sat at bars quaffing beer. It was 10.30am. Next door on `Kappabashi dogu gai`, lay `kitchenware Town`, where numerous wholesale shop allow you to kit out an entire restaurant including the plastic food displayed outside restaurants to tempt the customer.
Back at Ueno, we followed the elevated JR train lines down to Okachimachi station. Beneath the train lines were two alleyways of markets in the area known as Ameyoko Cho. Originally, it was `candy sellers alley` dating from Post World War Two shortages. Nowadays, the small stalls sell bulk tea and coffee, cheap shoes, ready peeled fruit, jewellery and fish; all jumbled up.
The train lines took us further south to the frenetic, neon lit streets of Akihabara, the `Electric City` dedicated to technological wizardry. This is Tokyo`s foremost discount shopping area for electrical and electronic goods of all kinds, from computers, cameras and car stereos, to `washlets`; electronically controlled toilet cum bidets with an optional medical analysis (I wonder where it sticks the thermometer?). The area was packed with young people checking out the latest products and video games. Just south of Tokyo Central Station, I showed Jamie the Tokyo International Forum and we walked up the ramps to the top to look down on the vast ship shaped glass atrium.
Photos and Tour of Akihabara District
Having spent the morning in eastern central Tokyo, we caught the train round the western side to Shibuya. I managed to track down the yakitori cafe where I had spent a Sunday afternoon with Bryan. We had plates of different grilled meats (including tripe, pork and chicken) and beer before checking out Shiboya which was as packed as ever. We climbed the hill full of love hotels. Love Hotels are a Japanese phenomenon.
Good Article and Photos of Love Hotels
At Shinjuku, we took in the Tokyo Government Metropolitan Offices observation deck on the 48th floor for a fine view over Tokyo in clear weather and the largest pendulum clock at the NS Building (both repeats visits for me) as well as the NTT Building in the Tokyo Opera City, 54 floors of offices, shops, restaurants. The 234m tower also had a state of the art concert hall. On the eastern side of Shinjuku (Kabukicho), floodlit with neon lights and full of Sunday shoppers in the early evening, before plunging into Shinjuku station to head home. Another exhausting Sunday in Tokyo.
The following Tuesday, unusually for me, I gave myself plenty of time to drive to Shimodate which takes between 50 minutes and an hour. Around 1.20pm, 10 km down the road, I was stopped at a traffic lights. When the lights turned green, I had a long straight empty road. There was a 50kph speed limit on the local roads but Route 45 has lots of straight stretches and everyone usually does 70kph. As I set off down the straight two lane road, I saw a van come towards me. Suddenly, with no indication, the van pulled across the road to do a U turn. It took me completely by surprise but I slammed on the brakes. The car kept in a straight line, but I slid into his right lefthand passenger wing. It was a split second reaction. One moment there was a clear road, the next, a van was completely across the road. By the time I hit him, I had slowed considerably but upon impact, my front bonnet crumpled up like a sardine can lid. I couldn`t even swerve off to the side because local roads in Japan all have one foot concrete barriers off to the sides. Fortunately, wearing a safety belt, I was OK and since the other driver was on the right hand side without a passenger he wasn`t injured. Noone stopped to act as a witness or get involved.
When I climbed out, I found a little old man, about 70, looking a little shocked. He was wearing a cap. Also a sure sign of a bad driver in Japan (never trust anyone wearing a hat; male or female). The local farmers/old men have a terrible reputation around here for their careless driving. They drive as if noone else is on the road. The favourite habit is to break and then indicate if they want to turn on (as opposed to indicating and then breaking as in the UK). You soon learn to give yourself plenty of stopping time behind these idiots. I can only assume that he either wasn`t paying attention, though its difficult to see how he didn`t see me on a clear straight road. He probably misjudged my speed.
So there we were. I couldn`t speak Japanese and he didn`t know a word of English. The procedure for me is to immediately call school HQ to get someone to translate and deal with the police. You are not allowed to move the cars or touch anything until the police inspect the accident. There was a garage down the road, so we left the other traffic to get around the accident and walked there to make our respective phonecalls. It was at least a 30 minute drive for Shun to come from HQ. He said he`d call the police. Back at the scene, we looked dumbly at each other. I took photos of the scene. We were told to always have a camera in the car in case of an accident. He gave me his card and I gave him my details. Shun arrived, talked to the man and got his story and then mine. I was adamant that the accident had not been my fault.
Then the local police turned up. A police van equipped with a photocopier and assorted technology and a police car. About 6 policemen. It was obviously a slow day and a gaijin (foreigner) was involved for novelty value. One cop took photos of everything. Two others measured everything including my 32 metre skid marks. From this they estimated that I was doing 65kph in a 50kph limit. Shun told them my story. Its strange to be unable to talk to them directly. They`d ask Shun a question and he`d translate both ways. They were preoccupied with the `delay reaction` (the time it takes your brain to tell your foot to step on the brakes). Again, I was adamant that the old man had not indicated. As soon as he started to swing across the road, I slammed on the brakes. Maybe a car with better tyres would have stopped in time, but I was driving Mr Whippy, the cheapest car in Japan and the tyres are very narrow. They inspected my UK Drivers License, my International Drivers License (inevitably not being able to read a word), my Gaijin card (my Japanese citizenship card) and the car documents and photocopied everything. Everything was in order.
Eventually, we were asked to move the cars off the road. The school would take care of removing my car which was drivable. Just before I departed, I went up to the old man, bowed and shook his hand. It was all properly civil in that Japanese way of never losing your temper. Noone had raised their voices from the moment of impact until we left. The policemen laughed a lot, though I have no idea about what. The whole procedure had taken two hours from impact.
I had called Yuka at Shimodate after the accident to let her know that I wouldn`t make the first lesson at 2.30. The next one was 4.30. Shun drove me down there and I arrived 5 mnutes before the lesson. En route, I had been talking to Shun about Japanese driving habits. "Noone indicates. They just break and indicate". He laughed, only to slam hard on his breaks. He nearly went into the back of a housewife who had just done that. "I rest my case" I concluded. While I taught until 10pm, someone from the school drove down another car for me. It was done very efficiently without fuss. Another Mishibishi Toppo, a white automatic that drove like a tank. But at least I was mobile again. (I switched cars again a fortnight later).
For days afterwards, I drove very cautiously, but continued to entertain idiots. The next day, a farmer`s truck overtook me and a large peice of unsecured cardboard flew off the back and landed right across my windscreen, completely blocking my view. I had to slam on the brakes and get out to remove it. What is it with these people. Are they trying to kill me?
I had 3rd party insurance but Japanese car insurance law had recently changed (inevitably you find out afterwards). The new law said that in the case of an accident, both parties are calculated on the `blame` factor which would be decided by the insurance company based on the police report. Obviously, because I was `speeding`, I had to take some of the blame, even if someone pulled across me without indication to make an illegal U turn. The insurance company came up with a 80/20 blame on the old man. I would have to pay for 20% of the damage to my car. The insurance company estimated 94,000 yen of damage so my bill was 18,000, about £97.
The day after the accident, I handed over my company class to Margot. I had been taking this class on my Wednesday `day off` from my arrival and I asked Luke to give me the remaining Wednesdays off, since I was on a `5 day contract`. I felt that I had done it long enough and with no proper holidays until my departure, I wanted the extra days to finish off Tokyo or other sights. The adults at the Company Class (mostly engineers at a wiring component factory) had been a good laugh. They were the first students I had to say goodbye to. You both get very attached to each other. Inevitably, after one Wednesday off, another teacher did a runner (noone I knew; she lasted 6 weeks) and I had to cover her classes the following Wedneday. So even in January, I only got one full Wednesday off. Doh! I won`t miss the lack of full weekends in Japan.
That day of cover was the toughest day I`d done in ages. Of course, it didn`t help staying up late to socialise with UK Jamie until 5am the previous night, before dragging myself to a two hour staff meeting at 10am. From there, I followed Noboru (one of the Japanese staff) down to Shimotsuma to the Daiho Kindergarten for an outside class of 45 minutes with 22 x 4 and 5 year old monsters. The class was held in the small gym/hall. They were initially shocked by my size, but within minutes had surrounded me and were all trying to hang off me. "I`ve just entered Gullivars Travels" I thought to myself as I was pulled down to the floor. Complete bedlam. I had never taught a playgroup before and it was full on murder. After 15 minutes, I was exhausted. I attempted to teach them 1 to 20 on with huge flashcards, colours, fruit. Lots of rushing around games and the `Head, Shoulders, Knees, Song`. I couldn`t control the kids, they did what they wanted. Three female teachers were also in attendence but just took photos of me. I felt it was the worst lesson that I had taught in Japan, but the female manager couldn`t praise me enough. `You were brilliant` she told Noboru in Japanese. I dragged my weary ass to the car and drove onto Shimodate for the "Afternoon From Hell". Already shattered by that class, I started with 3 x 4 year old girls in a playgroup which their mothers` attended, followed by two kindergarten classes (one with 5 kids). Jesus. It was a relief to get adults in the evening. I taught for 6 hours 15 minutes that day, the longest stretch I had done for weeks. I think if I was forced to do that gruelling day every week, I`d quit as well. Despite that hellish 12 hour day, the socializing continued until 4.30am the following morning. It was UK Linsey`s final week. She had lasted a full year (a rare acheivement) and was flying back to the UK before joining UK James and US Forrest in Taiwan. She was in a party mood and it seemed to go on every night.
On Sunday January 26th, I hit Tokyo again with UK Jamie and US Jeff. We caught trains to Shimbashi (SE central area) and walked to the Rainbow bridge which is the gateway to the Tokyo Bay Area and Odaiba, a modern waterfront city built on vast islands of reclaimed land. Originally these islands were the site of cannon emplacements set up in the bay in 1853 to protect the city from American Commodore Perry`s threatening Black Ships (the Arnold Schwarzenegger of his day; "I`ll be back"). Now it is better known as the site of an ill fated construction project of the late 1980s, which led to the downfall of the City`s Governor. In 1988, the Metropolitan Government set about constructing a 21st Century city. The economic slump and spiralling development costs slowed the project down. When the Rainbow Bridge linking Odaiba to the city opened in 1993, the area was still a series of empty lots. A decade later, Odaiba "is anything but a dead duck; futuristic buildings linked by a space age monorail, a man made beach, parks and architectural wonders have turned the island into a popular weekend hit with the locals" (Rough Guide) and it is increasingly a place of thronging crowds bored with the traditional centres of Shibuya and Shinjuku. Forbes magazine described the district as "a sort of Canary Wharf on hallucinogens."
We started with an exhilarating walk along the Rainbow Bridge. This 918 metre long single suspension bridge has two levels; the lower for the waterfront road and monorail, the upper for the Metropolitan Expressway which I had driven across. On both sides was a pedestrian promenade. The walk provided magnificent views across the bay; one of the best views of Tokyo I had seen, with the red Tokyo Tower standing out amongst the high rise buildings that swamped it.
Descending from the 52 metre walkway, we were amazed to find ourselves walking along a man made beach of clean yellow sand and tranquil water lapping against it and populated by large flocks of ducks. My map told me that this was, Rainbow Park. Mid Sunday morning, families were strolling around in the sun, Taking a dip in Tokyo Bay is prohibited and rightly so; Odaiba's artificial beach looks out over a sewage treatment plant! Fronting onto the beach were the Decks and Aqua City shopping malls. Aqua City contained Tokyo`s largest movie theatre complex of 13 theatres. There were great views of the bridge.
360` Panning Shot of Waterfront Area
Then suddenly we were in New York, New York. In front of Aqua City stood a replica Statue of Liberty. In 1998, an attention-grabbing stunt by the French government (during the `France Year in Japan` festival) drew crowds of people to Odaiba to view France's "least famous" statue. While the millions of visitors who flocked to see the "original replica" of the Statue of Liberty, when it was temporarily relocated from the Seine to Tokyo Bay, may have associated the lady with the lamp more with New York than Paris, the exhibit proved so popular that when Madame Liberte had to make the long journey back to France in September 1999, Fuji TV commissioned a replica of the replica to take her place. The French-produced facsimile has been welcoming Tokyo's tired, poor and huddled masses to Odaiba since December 2000. Only in Japan
Photo of Replica Statue of Liberty
Behind Aqua City a surreal aura hung over Tange Kenzo`s 1997 Fuji TV Building, a futuristic block with a huge metal sphere suspended in it`s middle, that looked like it had been made from a giant Mecchano set. It is a unique 125m tall aluminium framed building and the titanium panel finish on the orb makes it look like a spaceship rising from a launching pad. Personally, apart from the Tokyo International Forum, I`d say this is the most interesting architecture in Tokyo. A strange escalator took you up to a higher level through the structure, but it didn`t go straight up like a normal escalator. This one snaked along at different gradients so you felt as if you were been transported in a wavy motion with the curves of the hand rests accentuating the feeling. To the left of it was a huge staircase. On the side of the building was another normal escalator but covered in a massive glass cylinder.
Photo of Fuji TV Building (Outside)
Photo of Fuji TV Building (Looking Up)
Photo of Fuji TV Building
Photo of Fuji TV Building Onservatory
360` Panning Shot Around Fuji TV Building Area
We didn`t bother to pay to enter the metal `observation` sphere where the tour starts from. Instead we followed the crowds and entered the building at a lower level, also part of the tour, which had numerous displays of famous Japanese TV programs and TV studios recording shows. The TV station`s mascot is a dumb looking blue dog in sunglasses called Gatcha, which looked like a hairless blue Fleegal from the 1960s Banana Splits TV series.
On the tour, you pick up a leaflet to get Gatcha stamps at various places. I found one half completed and we finished the tour and got the remaining stamps. At the end, I was presented with a small plastic tissue box and packet of tissues with Gatcha logos. Jeff whined "We did all that hunting for that peice of s***?" Ah well. Little things please little minds. Essentially the whole place was mostly shops selling crap to do with a certain program. Characters, logos etc. The kind of stuff that the Japanese go for. These shops were packed and they were buying four of everything.
If that place was surreal, across the wide open walkway, in front of the bulk of the Hotel Nikko Tokyo was a small outside Snowman exhibition. Someone had carted in truck loads of ice and snow and built two dozen different sized real snowmen, dressed in various costumes. Parents snapped photos of their little treasures posing by the snowmen; probably the only snow they`ll see in Tokyo this year.
Walking down the pedestrian walkway, we passed the Statue of the Flame of Liberty. 27m in height from the white pedestal, this narrow gold painted sculpture was another gift from France to Tokyo in commemoration of the France Year in Japan in 1988.
Beneath it, on a vast parking lot stood a Classic Car festival. Cheap skate Bob Jack Tours avoided by £5 admission charge by ducking under a wire fence. It was packed with hundreds of every car model you could imagine. Jamie spotted a Super 7 model, similar to the one his grandfather had built as a kit car in the 1960s. There were gaggles of minis, MG sports cars, Aston Martins, E Type Jags, Porches, a Rolls Royce, numerous American models, all the Japanese classic like the Skyline models. The owners would sit in the drivers seats and wait for enthusiasts to come up and talk to them. It took a lot to finally prize Jamie and Jeff from this attraction.
Nearby was the Museum of Maritime Science, another weird structure. The Musuem was housed in a concrete reproduction of a 60,000 tonne white cruise ship. I`m not kidding. It looked like a vast concrete boat had been embedded in the side of the island. For some reason there are no photos of this place on the internet.
Small Photo of Museum of Maritime Science
Another Small Photo of Museum of Maritime Science
Down the road, we were blown away yet again by the MESCI (National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation). It is a centre to promote a better understanding of science and technology and has developed dynamic accessible methods through displays, demonstrations and interactive experiences. It must be brand new because it wasn`t in my guidebook. For starters, the building itself is a multilayered oval shaped building of glass. At one end hung the Miraican Maglev, a vast digital globe upon which was screened the world`s weekly weather, speeded up. You lay down on enormous white padded loungers and just stared up at it as it changed. It was both mesmerising and meditative.
There was a section called `The Earth Environment and Frontier` full of exhibits `Towards Synergy with the Environment`. We talked to a researcher about her model demonstrating a hydrogen run car. It is apparently currently only available in California and Japan (rentable at 1 million yen a month which is £5,000 a month). There were open houses where hot air generated by a greenhouse during the day was fanned under the floorboards to heat plastic bottles of water and small rocks which acted as storage heaters; natural central heating. There were also biodegradable bottles that decayed after 4 months of being buried in the ground.
It would take more than a day to explore or play with all the exhibits here; robots, micromachines, nanotechnology, superconductivity. `The Information Science and Technology for Society` section had a giant hands on model of how the internet works.
At the `Time Scanning Wall`, you sat on a revolving couch and your full body was digitized on a wall. As your photo moved slowly across the wall, it morphed into strange shapes until you were crushed into a vertical line. `Co Draw` allowed you to try laser drawing. There were sound controlled puppets. When you spoke words into a microphone, they would animate themselves. Just for the record, the word `Bollocks` got some terrific movements. The `Life Science` section had dissectable human brains to play around with.
There were `Heat Screens`, which would be coloured depending on your body heat. It was like being in the `Predator` movie. We climbed aboard a bouncy virtual reality ride and checked out the `Science Library` of numerous educational videos which you could watch on wide screens in your own small 3 seater booths . When you stood up from the seat, they switched off automatically. Nearby was a bank of free internet PCs too. With all this going on, we didn`t feel the need to splash out on the special `Godzilla` exhibition. It was without doubt, the best museum in Tokyo and I will return.
Outside, we walked past the space age looking Telecom Centre, a wannabe clone of Paris`s Grande Arche at La Defense. It was a huge `n` shaped building covered in shiny black glass panels with an upturned circle beneath the main square arch.
Photo of Area Around Tokyo Big Sight
Tokyo Big Sight is the enormous and striking Tokyo Exhibition Centre with an unique impressive design. It`s entrance was composed of four huge inverted pyramids and in front stood a 15.5m red handled saw, sticking out of the ground as if left behind by some absent minded giant. Not something you see everyday. Inside, vast corridors with endless conveyor walkways took you around the various annexes that make up the 230,000 sq metres of interior space. A jewellery exhibition was being set up. Unfortunately, the posters had been printed and they read `Jewellepy Exhibition` (Doh!).
Retracing our route, we hit the Panasonic Building, less than 6 months old. The leaflet said "Showcased here are the latest digital network `Life Style and Environmental Showcase` technologies, related products and services that make up the foundation of the `Ubiquitious Network Society`". Every new product was on display with an army of cute looking female assistants to explain them. One girl displayed a miniature camcorder/camera/mini disc player. It was 3" long and its printer was 6" long. We had to rush around here, but discovered a couple of interesting concepts. There was a lie down shower! A reclining plastic lounger (the kind you lie on by swimming pools) had been modified so that you were sprayed from either side with hot water why you lay there. Jeff said `They`ve forgotten the beer holder!". Another interesting specimen was a medical bidet/urinal thing. You could sit on it (it came out of the floor and rose up to meet your bum). It would record your pulse, analyse what you pissed into it and probably inspected your crap for fibre content. I think you’d have to be either a hypochondriac or have too much spare time on your hands to have one of these installed.
We had to leave Panasonic to visit Tokyo Fashion Town next door where the World`s largest indoor waterfall was set off on the hour. A tall open central area, surrounded by shops and restaurants had a circular water pipe (basically a giant shower head) hanging from the glass ceiling. At 5pm, the shallow circular water pool, which we had just walked across, filled with water as classy classical music boomed around. Then the water started to fall from the ceiling and voila; a waterfall; just like that. Shower Tree 35 as it is called is 35m long and in the Guinness Book of Records. It lasted 5 minutes before it was switched off. I felt a little cheated. It wasn`t a proper waterfall if you turned it off and on. The Japanese will do anything to get the shoppers in.
Photo of Largest Indoor Waterfall In The World
Another Photo of Largest Indoor Waterfall In The World
The Partire Tokyo Bay Wedding Village and Square was another new entrant to the wacky world of Tokyo Bay. The blurb said it was "a special place for wedding ceremonies, which will surely attract couples who want to make their wedding full of unique ideas". It had a cutesy Japanese copied shopping square, the kind you see at any theme park, "constructed after the image of the streets of Paris" (Not!). It was spotless, and came complete with a white mock European fountain and was full of small customised shops selling wedding dresses and everything you need for a wedding. The complex was dominated by a mock cathedral/church where you could hold the wedding. There was one going on when we there, (6pm on a Sunday?) though we were refused a look. `Reserved`, a girl said at the door.
Walking across the Yumeno Ohasi (Bridge of Dreams) which was lit in the darkness by a long promenade of orange lights, we passed the immense neon multicoloured Great Sky Wheel, which was part of our final complex; Palette Town is a vast shopping and entertainment centre which offers something for almost everyone and is awesome. On the east side was Mega Web which contained three pavilions including the Toyota City Showcase, displaying all of Toyota`s range of cars (about 140) . It was a massive two storey affair where you could climb into any car just to get a feel for it, or even, get this, take it for a test drive for about £1.50. There was an ingenious invention. To conserve space, a tall vertical 8 storey metal frame held 4 cars on each level. 3 levels were above the roof level. A display panel had a photo of each car and you just pressed the relevant button and it would be brought down automatically on a ramp and pushed out into a display area in front of you, complete with a flashing lit show. You could only look at it from behind a barrier for 3 minutes, before it was taken back into the tower and restored ready for the next selection. There were two of these storage devices in the showroom and I was very impressed as I selected a couple of cars.
You could also enjoy fuel injected fun by signing up for the various activities (for £1 to £3) such as designing your own car using CAD technology, taking a ride in an electric vehicle or a virtual reality drive. The AVR Amusement Vision Ride replicated the racing cockpit of rallycross with live action 3D images and real motion. You wore silver virtual reality helmits, sat in a small buggy and got thrown all over the place. It was very funny to watch the Japanese getting tossed around like miniature spacemen. This must be one of the largest car showrooms in the world. It certainly looked bigger than the Amlux Toyata Showroom which I had visited in Tokyo which used to have the record. There is an excellent set of photos at the official homepage including the automatic storage tower. The adjoining pavilions included History Garage with a collection of classic cars and `Future World` a small entertainment centre, has a 3D interactive roller coaster.
Outside stood the Great Sky Wheel. which until March 2001 was the tallest Ferris wheel in Japan. 115m tall and 100m across, it was neon lit in candy colours and took 16 minutes to do a full circle. The Battle of the Ferris Wheels has been raging at three sites in the Tokyo area since 1999 with the title of tallest now held by "Diamonds and Flowers," which stands two metres higher than the Odaiba wheel at nearby Kasai Rinkai Park. These are two of the largest Ferris wheels in the world and I had often seen them from the Shuto Expressway as I drove around Tokyo at night. They look very impressive at night when the colours change all the time. In its first two months of operation in 1999, 200,000 people rode the Giant Sky Wheel. Three years later its popularity endures with the waiting time for a seat in one of its sixty gondolas stretching to more than two hours on weekends.
The upper floor on the west side of Palette Town was dominated by the extraordinary Venus Fort, described as a "theme park for ladies" but basically a shopping mall. It was designed as a mock Italian city, complete with piazza, fountains, a church facade and Roman style statues; even the ceiling is painted and lit to resemble a perfect Mediterranean sky through dawn to dusk. It was the weirdest shopping centre I had even seen. The tourist blurb read "with beautiful streets of 18th Century Europe as its motif, put yourself in the romantic atmosphere; you will feel like being in Italy or Southern France" (as opposed to Venus Fort; ed).
The paved lanes with shops either side were lit with beautiful clusters of tiny multicoloured lights. This was the current lighting show. I quote the Japanese blurb "As the work by Jeff Johnson, an American decoration designer, the show this time is characterized by concept of Enchantment. The show not only attracts and pleases you with its beautiful light and colours, but also instills feelings of happiness into your hearts. The big-scale design presents wintry scenery. You will be intoxicated by the light rays of bright stars and the wintry moon as well as by the sight of icy snowflakes drifting in the sky. Share the experience of this mysterious, beautiful and incredible illumination with your sweetheart! " (or a couple of sweaty male gaijin will do just as well). With the warm temperature contrasting with the cold Japanese air outside and the dimly lit streets, it really did feel like you were in Europe if the Japanese had won the war.
When we entered the main piazza, we found a crowd of shoppers gathered around the impressively gushing fountain. They were participating in a typical Japanese affair; a group orchestrated `throw a coin in and make a wish` ceremony (because they obviously have to be trained like dogs and do it together). A dozen smartly dressed girlies, moved people into positions from where they could throw their coins and did a countdown. Afterwards, the girls lined up in single file and goosestepped down the street. Bizarre.
We found a cheese shop and tried the free samples and did the same at the wine shop next door (as you do). It has to be said that the endless female shop assistants were all gorgeous petite beauties. Jeff concluded "They should call this place `Penis Thought`", which was pretty witty for an American!
Alas, 9 hours after starting, we had run out of time and caught the space age monorail back to Shimbashi. We didn`t have enough time to check out the Rainbow Sewer Museum. Shit! Apparently you "learn the role and mechanism of sewers with many facilities that give visitors the opportunity to see, touch (touch what?) and experience various things related to sewers". I guess that means you see a lot of shit and rats.
There is even a new sight being developed. Last year in Odaiba, the source of a 40` C hot spring was discovered 1,500 metres underground. Six companies are currently redeveloping a thermal bath theme park at a cost of 31 billion Yen. The grandly named Oedo Onsen Monagatari (The Great Edo Hot Spring Story) is scheduled to open its doors in February 2003 on a 10,000 square metre site. The project will include replica Edo Period bathhouses featuring baths, saunas, massage facilities and outside baths. And I still haven`t tracked down Little Hong Kong or a corny tour of The Beatles' Yellow Submarine or the Tezuka Osamu World Art Square.
It had been a superb day of new sights and what I imagined modern Tokyo would be like. Odaiba is an orgy of the ersatz. Modern, surreal and totally mindboggling. Its a shame I discovered it after all my guests had come and gone. If you ever come to Tokyo it is an unmissable day of wonders. I will definitely return before I leave.
For your amusement and information, check out these statistics about Japan that I have discovered;
