My Life in Tokyo

Somehow it seems that with this sort of thing, the longer you go without doing it, the harder it is to start again. Kind of like exercising. When I started working on this entry, it had been one month since I last I last published. Now it has been almost two! I find it to be a real challenge to both live my life here–to explore and experience Japan–and also to chronicle it for friends, family and posterity. How do real writers do it?

And so, without further ado, here is a condensed version of our holidays:

Christmas. Santa Claus came and brought Japanese gifts and stockings. The children were spoiled once again and had a grand time. Juliet, delightfully free of expectations, was a joy to watch as she encountered each new toy with surprise and wonder. We made our traditional Christmas dinner of meat fondue.

Mark had to work on the 25th, so the rest of us walked to his office and had a Japanese lunch on the 39th Floor of his office building, overlooking the city.

The major holiday was the New Year, when the entire city seems to shut down for 3 days. We started out with a sushi-making afternoon on the 31st, trying out the new sushi cookbook Mark gave me for Christmas. It turned out not to be too difficult and came out great! Isabella was the experienced sushi chef, having tried it out on a school field trip to an amusement park called Kidzania where the kids get to try out different real-life jobs (see pictures here and read about it in English here here). She insisted on rolling hers up by hand without using a bamboo mat.

After a few quiet days at home, we headed to the train station for our first journey by Shinkansen to Kyoto. The train seems very ordinary and doesn’t feel much different from a regular train, but the journey takes just over 2 hours (this would be more impressive if I knew the distance travelled, but I don’t!). We soon learned why most Japanese ship their bags ahead of time rather than carry them on board: there is very little room for luggage on the train! With Mark’s help, we managed to heave our big suitcase precariously onto the rack above the seats. (You can see in the picture how small they are.)

Our first sightseeing outing took us to Rokuon-ji Temple and its shimmering Golden Pavilion. The building is entirely covered in gold leaf and its image is reflected in the surrounding pool. Although you can’t go inside, we spent quite awhile walking around the beautiful grounds.

I think it was here that we found this delightfully whimsical set of statues all dressed up for the New Year. I think they are the statues of the ancestors, awaiting their New Year’s mochi) treat.

Next we moved onto Roanji Temple which has a beautiful and serene Zen rock garden and a lovely pond. My photos can’t do justice to the rock garden, so check out the link and read about its history! We pondered this sign for awhile. A Zen message?

The next day, we visited Nijo Castle. Although the original castle was built by the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1602, it was destroyed by fire. The current building was once part of the Kyoto Imperial Palace and was moved to the site around 1890. A bit confusing. We were able to walk through this building and see the beautiful painted panels and ceilings in the interior rooms. Some rooms were set up with life-sized figures depicting palace life. I was amused by the scene showing an audience with the shogun: everyone is seated kneeling on the floor, facing him. What distinguishes his status and privileged position is that he gets to kneel on a cushion and rest one arm on a wooden armrest. Now that’s luxury! Another fun feature of this castle is its “nightingale floors” which squeak under even the softest sock-clad tread in order to alert the inhabitants of any intrusion, even by the nearly silent Ninja. It makes for an interesting effect when all the tourists are passing through.

On our last day we visited Kiyomizu-dera temple, tucked into the hills on the edge of the city. You approach the temple up a road lined with shops then climb up the stairs to see the beautiful buildings and view the peaceful wooded hills beyond. It was especially nice to be able to see out, beyond city and buildings. We can never see beyond the city in Tokyo. We also enjoyed visiting the shops on the street below and found several beautiful pieces of pottery to bring home.

We had a couple of memorable meals on this trip. The first was in the Japanese restaurant at our hotel. We had a table in a private room, which was ideal with Juliet, and ordered one of their set menus. There were many different courses, perhaps 7 or 8 in all, each small, beautifully arranged and artfully presented. There was sashimi, some cooked fish, many kinds of pickles, new and unusual vegetables. One course had salmon roe presented in a tiny hollowed-out orange peel. Juliet especially liked these! There were many things we didn’t recognize, but the only thing we all refused to try was the sea urchin offal. Given the choice, I think I’d take a pass on that one again.

Our other fine meal was in a Japanese restaurant recommended by the hotel. It was a small restaurant, old and wonderfully atmospheric. This time we sat at a low table, which would have been ideal with Juliet–except that it was the kind with the pit underneath to make it easier for people who are unused to kneeling. I spent most of the meal worrying that Juliet would fall into it! She had a grand time, though, crawling towards the sushi bar and making friends with the sushi chef. We enjoyed some fine sashimi again and wonderful grilled meats, plus an outstanding rolled omelette.

After two and a half days, it was time to get back on the bullet train and return to Tokyo. Unlike our trip to Saipan in November, this time it was not so difficult and confusing to come home. We had a quiet weekend at home before the workweek began and Isabella went back to school after her luxurious 3-week winter break. After all that time, Juliet was sad to lose the company of her big sister.