A Visit to Tokyo with Mr. Miwa
Today was another day spent touring Japan with Mr. Miwa. Instead of using bicycles, today we used the trains. Rather than staying in Chiba area we went further into Tokyo.
Our day started out pretty early like yesterday. After breakfast we walked through Mr. Miwa's neighborhood and down to Yagiri bus station. Along the way we chatted about the differences between Japan and America, like how street signs are cooler in Japan because they have cartoons on them. Also we talked about building roads is different because the homes are built first and then the roads are built, so in more rural areas the roads are not on a grid system and they are very narrow.
We rode the bus to Ichikawa train station on the same bus line that I rode from Ichikawa station the Mr. Miwa's house before. When we got to the station we rode the train to Ryogoku station and got off.
Right outside the station is a Kokugikan. Kokugikan is translated as 'national game center'. Kokugi means 'national game' and kan means 'center'. The national game that has competitions in this stadium is sumo wrestling. It was neat to see a sumo stadium. The stadium is a lot like Key Arena in Seattle. It was probably a little smaller. In the center of the floor was a raised area where the ring was. Around the ring is where people sit in chairs. Around the floor is the 'luxury' seating. This is simply a small fenced off area where fans and their families can kneel down or sit to watch the matches and eat food. This was the first deck of seating. The second deck was where the cheaper seats were and these are the same as seating you would find a baseball stadium. In the entrance to the stadium their is a display of famous sumo wrestlers and their sumo wrestling outfits. It is the sumo equivalent of hanging NBA jerseys in the rafters. Just outside the stadium is a tower where during each day of the 15 day sumo tournaments traditional sumo music is played on a taiko drum to signify the opening of the matches.
After visiting the Kokugikan Mr. Miwa and I went to the Edo Museum which was right nearby. We visited two exhibitions. The first was 'The Hermitage'. This was an exhibition about Catherine the Great and her dynasty. The paintings were very nice. I really liked the painting titled 'Mary Magedellina going to Heaven'. I thought it was odd because it depicted Mary rising to heaven with some angels. What stood out was that some of the angels were only heads with wings. I am not famililar with art or religion during that period, so I can not tell whether it was normal to paint such things when dealing with heaven, or was this painting odd at that time too. Besides the painting I also liked the detailed porcelain work and Catherine the Great's golden carriage.
After viewing this exhibit we went upstairs to see the exhibit on Edo, Old Tokyo. This was very interesting because there were a lot of life-size replicas side by side with many miniature models. The museum had built a life size model of the Nihombashi Bridge and Mr. Nakamura's Kabuki. Most of the exhibits in the Edo section of the museum dealt with the social systems of Old Tokyo and how they changed over time. Unfortunately a lot of the descriptions were in Japanese, so I did not get to read all of them, but I did get to read about the governmental structures in neighborhoods. It was very similar to how a city is run today, but it was on a smaller scale. You would have a neighborhood of a few square blocks. Each of these would be responsible for fire prevention and policing. Each of these little districts would have their own governor as well. All of these governors would individually meet with their district then meet with the others, much like all other town meetings.
When we were done visiting the museum we took one train and one subway to get to Asakusa. Asakusa is a place for tourists to go and it has a lot of temples and shrines, as well as many many little shops. Today was a Friday, so their were not too many people, but still there were a lot. Jesse told me that when he went people were bumping into people all over the place. After walking down the road leading straight to the temple we went inside. Inside the temple I got a fortune. The way it works is that you pay 100 yen to shake a metal container. On one end there is a small hole. After you shake the container for a while you tip it so a wooden stick comes out of the end. The stick has a number on it. This number is on one of the drawers in a big cabinet in front of you. When you find your drawer you open it and take your fortune. If it is good you have to keep it with you all the time. If it is bad you tie it to a rack in the temple. Luckily I did not have to tie mine to the rack.
When we were done visiting the temple we did some more walking around the area. There were a lot of little shops where people sold all sorts of things from kitchen wares to shoes to food. There were even a few places to play pachinko.
Once we had our fill of walking we got on the subway again and we went to Ueno park. This was a very big park with a lake, a bunch of museums and a zoo. I guess I could liken the park to central park in New York or maybe Golden Gate park in San Fransisco. We walked around and took some photos. We passed the lake which had lotus plants growing on it. They stood a couple feet off of the water, but there were no blossoms because it was too late in the summer.
Finally it was time to head home on the train. It was a nice ride because of all the walking we did. Mr. Miwa said it was more than a few miles according to his pedometer. Right now we are relaxing and getting ready for the sushi dinner we are going to have tonight.
Our day started out pretty early like yesterday. After breakfast we walked through Mr. Miwa's neighborhood and down to Yagiri bus station. Along the way we chatted about the differences between Japan and America, like how street signs are cooler in Japan because they have cartoons on them. Also we talked about building roads is different because the homes are built first and then the roads are built, so in more rural areas the roads are not on a grid system and they are very narrow.
We rode the bus to Ichikawa train station on the same bus line that I rode from Ichikawa station the Mr. Miwa's house before. When we got to the station we rode the train to Ryogoku station and got off.
Right outside the station is a Kokugikan. Kokugikan is translated as 'national game center'. Kokugi means 'national game' and kan means 'center'. The national game that has competitions in this stadium is sumo wrestling. It was neat to see a sumo stadium. The stadium is a lot like Key Arena in Seattle. It was probably a little smaller. In the center of the floor was a raised area where the ring was. Around the ring is where people sit in chairs. Around the floor is the 'luxury' seating. This is simply a small fenced off area where fans and their families can kneel down or sit to watch the matches and eat food. This was the first deck of seating. The second deck was where the cheaper seats were and these are the same as seating you would find a baseball stadium. In the entrance to the stadium their is a display of famous sumo wrestlers and their sumo wrestling outfits. It is the sumo equivalent of hanging NBA jerseys in the rafters. Just outside the stadium is a tower where during each day of the 15 day sumo tournaments traditional sumo music is played on a taiko drum to signify the opening of the matches.
After visiting the Kokugikan Mr. Miwa and I went to the Edo Museum which was right nearby. We visited two exhibitions. The first was 'The Hermitage'. This was an exhibition about Catherine the Great and her dynasty. The paintings were very nice. I really liked the painting titled 'Mary Magedellina going to Heaven'. I thought it was odd because it depicted Mary rising to heaven with some angels. What stood out was that some of the angels were only heads with wings. I am not famililar with art or religion during that period, so I can not tell whether it was normal to paint such things when dealing with heaven, or was this painting odd at that time too. Besides the painting I also liked the detailed porcelain work and Catherine the Great's golden carriage.
After viewing this exhibit we went upstairs to see the exhibit on Edo, Old Tokyo. This was very interesting because there were a lot of life-size replicas side by side with many miniature models. The museum had built a life size model of the Nihombashi Bridge and Mr. Nakamura's Kabuki. Most of the exhibits in the Edo section of the museum dealt with the social systems of Old Tokyo and how they changed over time. Unfortunately a lot of the descriptions were in Japanese, so I did not get to read all of them, but I did get to read about the governmental structures in neighborhoods. It was very similar to how a city is run today, but it was on a smaller scale. You would have a neighborhood of a few square blocks. Each of these would be responsible for fire prevention and policing. Each of these little districts would have their own governor as well. All of these governors would individually meet with their district then meet with the others, much like all other town meetings.
When we were done visiting the museum we took one train and one subway to get to Asakusa. Asakusa is a place for tourists to go and it has a lot of temples and shrines, as well as many many little shops. Today was a Friday, so their were not too many people, but still there were a lot. Jesse told me that when he went people were bumping into people all over the place. After walking down the road leading straight to the temple we went inside. Inside the temple I got a fortune. The way it works is that you pay 100 yen to shake a metal container. On one end there is a small hole. After you shake the container for a while you tip it so a wooden stick comes out of the end. The stick has a number on it. This number is on one of the drawers in a big cabinet in front of you. When you find your drawer you open it and take your fortune. If it is good you have to keep it with you all the time. If it is bad you tie it to a rack in the temple. Luckily I did not have to tie mine to the rack.
When we were done visiting the temple we did some more walking around the area. There were a lot of little shops where people sold all sorts of things from kitchen wares to shoes to food. There were even a few places to play pachinko.
Once we had our fill of walking we got on the subway again and we went to Ueno park. This was a very big park with a lake, a bunch of museums and a zoo. I guess I could liken the park to central park in New York or maybe Golden Gate park in San Fransisco. We walked around and took some photos. We passed the lake which had lotus plants growing on it. They stood a couple feet off of the water, but there were no blossoms because it was too late in the summer.
Finally it was time to head home on the train. It was a nice ride because of all the walking we did. Mr. Miwa said it was more than a few miles according to his pedometer. Right now we are relaxing and getting ready for the sushi dinner we are going to have tonight.
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