Last Moments in Tokyo

In our mode of travel, our destinations and their timing are not predicated by local spectacles and events, though sometimes I wish we would make them so.  For example, in our France visit last year, we missed the Tour de France by just weeks, in Spain we missed the Running of the Bulls by a month, and in Tokyo, we missed the early spring cherry blossoms and another big miss, the sumo wrestling championships in Tokyo which ended May 28.  We were here on May 28, but reservations should have been in place months and months ago.  Phooey!

We are headed to Kyoto tomorrow for four nights and on to Hiroshima for another three nights, then finally we will be off to South Korea to see Tessa and a little of Seoul.  Leaving Tokyo, I feel we cheated this city by not allowing enough time to see this fantastic place.  Yes, we finished our must-do list of significant places to visit here but we are exhausted and find ourselves wishing we had just another day for a little downtime or maybe a few more days for a deep dive into local markets, local cafes, and things uniquely specific to Tokyo.  Maybe we will return.  This city is worth a return visit.

While we are fascinated with Tokyo, astounded by its great size, and challenged by the massive transportation systems, we’d like to know more.   Yuka, a lovely young lady we met while having coffee outside the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden told us that during the US occupation of Japan, the country decided to model itself after America.  Once a closed, isolated society, Japan opened itself up and it has in grand style.  While society is still a strongly patriarchal one, with men dominating the workforce, women are finding their own.  Yuka went to school in St. Louis at Washington University and received graduate degrees from NYU, this Ph.D. in Law has a clear view of what Japan is becoming.  Her teaching pertains to antitrust. She sees that Japan is preparing to open itself up to greater foreign investment, especially from countries like France and Greece.

Yuka certainly is in the know of Japanese economics and law but she also knows her sweets.  She guided Stan to the most luscious cake, Mille Crepes, a multi-thin layered cake dowsed in milk and sugar.  It was unbelievably good and must have been a tedious work of art to make!  As we continued our talks, table to table, she suddenly said,  “I don’t know if you are interested but I have two tickets to . . .” she paused trying to think of the English word.  I blurted, “The Sumo Championships????”  She laughed and said, “No, Gymnastics Championship.”   We told her no we only had two more nights here and did not have the time.  It was so sweet on her part and a great laugh among us.  Our visit made our day!

We finally stopped ourselves chatting and said farewell to Yuka and her sister, and walked on to the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.  Anyone who has read my blog knows we love and make a point to walk through botanical gardens in each city we visit.  This one, the National Garden, like almost everything the Japanese people do, is perfect.  It ranks among the most spectacular garden parks we have seen throughout the world.  The Japanese garden, for example, is laid out on acres and acres, not just a corner of the park.  It is photo-worthy from almost every angle with ponds, bridges, Japanese maples, and lilies. 

From the National Garden, we made our way to the Tokyo Tower.  It is the original Tokyo Tower much older than the Tokyo Skytree.  Yes, we looked out over the city from one tower yesterday, do we want to do another one today?  Yes, Tokyo Tower is the original tower – modeled after the Eifel Tower but a little taller, it is older than Tokyo Skytree and even today is a photographic icon for Tokyo.  Yes, I’m proud to say we went there and rode up to the topmost lookout.  Even though the weather was cloudy and hazy, the view out over the city was wonderful! 

We kept seeing people dressed in character costumes from anime, video games, television, and film.  We thought they might be characters who pose for photos in exchange for money.  Nope!  It was Cosplay, a wildly popular activity for Japanese young people.  All dressed up in elaborate authentic costumes and make-up they visit public places to be seen and interact with the children and crowds.  They act in character and we are told they are experts on the character they represent.  I don’t have many photos because I did not understand Cosplay and did not want to offend.  Little did I know they would have loved it.

We had just three more places on our must-do list – the Rainbow Bridge, Shibuya Scramble Crossing, and Ginza shopping district.

We headed to the Bridge via the most spectacular metro ride in all of Tokyo.  The Yurikamome Line to the Odaiba-Kaihinkoen Station is a thrill ride.  Everyone wants to ride up front with a full-view windshield showing us go around sharp curves, over rises in the track, out over Tokyo Bay, and through an ironwork tunnel to the Odaiba Marine Park.  I had as much fun watching the ride as the excited 5- and 6-year-olds standing at the big front window. 

We lodged a table at the outdoor plaza of the Hilton, ordered a glass of wine, and waited for darkness to see the bridge light up.  Another glass later, the bridge finally turned green.  According to the Internet, had we been there last night (Saturday night) there would have also been fireworks,  I choose not to believe that!  Another miss!

For us oldies, getting home after 9 pm after leaving the apartment at 10 am, is almost too much.  We were tired squared!

On our final day, besides doing laundry and making blog posts we traveled to the Ginza shopping district.  The famous stores are all there, Louis Vitton, Chanel, Tiffany, Harry Winston . . . all the fashion and jewelry designers. We were not buying and gentle rain was falling so we did not stay long.

So . . . yes, I wish we had a few more days here.  People here interest me.  I love watching the children in their pristine school uniforms and hats – most are crisp and white, but some of the more rowdy kids’ hats are crimped and wrinkled. Crinkled or not, their hats are a part of the uniform ad they wear them.  The rowdy ones don’t care; they are so very cute. 

I cannot help myself, I love observing what young girls are wearing.  In South America and Europe, young girls often wear tight-fitting and revealing clothing.   Girls in Japan seem to prefer a very feminine look wearing mostly wear blousy, ill-fitting embroidered sheer overlays to skirts and blouses over big black boots.  Some wear dresses and gored skirts very much like those my grandmother sewed for me when I was young.  Career women wear heels with tailored suits.  Older women wear conservative dresses from the 1950s skirts, simple tops, and shoes with low heels.  Men and women wear tailored suits.  We saw few people wearing shorts, no girls and women in body-beautiful form-fitting fashions, and very few people in jeans.  Black leather shoes, boots, and white tennis shoes rule.