Blog Entry XVII: Japan Part I - Tokyo

Flying Delta out of Busan, we landed in Narita, Tokyo's International Airport with two objectives:  to gather  some wonderful first-impressions of this amazing country and to see my brother and sister-in-law, James and Sally.  


Our first task here in Tokyo, the world's largest metropolitan city, was to find our way to our hotel, a very comfortable hour and a half train ride across the city.  

The Metropolitan Hotel

  
At the Metropolitan, we were received like royalty.  


From the moment, we stepped onto the rich, deeply cushioned carpet of the hotel's reception hall,  three smartly dressed attendants were on us, looking to carry our bags and escort us each step of way.

Tipping in Japan is taboo...a violation of accepted social norms, a cultural faux pas... and yet service, everywhere, particularly at our hotel, was impeccable. They even upgraded our room.

And yet, I was hardly able to enjoy all the attention, at least at first.  I spent so much time trying to conjure up words like “thank you” in Japanese that it all just passed me by.   


If you're wondering, it was thanks to that Tom Cruise movie “The Last Samurai” that anything that sounded close to Japanese passed my lips.  And as for the the "thank you"....?   With a little bow, I laid it out there like a big egg.  “Arigatou !” 


Thankfully, it drew generous smiles as opposed to laughter.  Mission accomplished.

A look out the window the next morning gave us some clue as to how big Tokyo really was... massive!


The "Metropolitan" is on the north side of the city, once the heart and soul of Japanese culture...and a paradise for the neophyte traveler to Japan.

Our first stop was Ueno Park.  Loved by the Japanese, this place has everything from museums to  temples.  It even houses the city zoo.  And although Spring hadn't yet sprung, some of Tokyo's famous cherry blossoms did thankfully rendezvous on time for our arrival and Tokyo's cherry blossom festival.

Jet lag, if one can call it that, kept us from starting at a torrid pace.  In fact, we spent the morning strolling leisurely in the park, listening to music, drinking coffee and people watching.  We did manage to fit in one museum, the National Museum.  It was a wonderful beginning to our first day in Japan.

Little did we know what the afternoon would bring us....  


... at the Senso-Ji Temple, Tokyo's most sacred and spectacular temple.  There, they were celebrating the opening of Tokyo's cherry blossom festival.

The temple was just a bee hive of activity!! Throngs filled the alleys, the smell of incense filled the air, while the booths and small boutiques pulled at us like gravity.   Our walk to the temple became a veritable trek...


...and at the same time, a most enchanting and unforgettable experience.  To be there at this time, among these people, around this temple, was bliss.  

We were riveted.

There was so much to see...

..and be curious about...

...and marvel at...

..and to try and understand...

...and reflect upon....

...and admire that day.

...like the incredibly skilled craftsmen in the shops surrounding the temple....

...not to mention all the shoppers.  What does one look for on a spring-showery day....a parasol?  Maybe!

And what of the people who might come across your path...

The day went by too quickly.  Still the walking, talking, exploring, and browsing began to take a toll.  It was time to return to the hotel.

James and Sally would be arriving soon for their three-week stay in Japan. 


We were really happy that our schedules overlapped and that we would be spending five days here together with them.

At breakfast, we spent two hours catching up  and making plans for this very rainy day. 

James and Sally had a morning trade fair to attend and we wanted to see the emperor's palace so...

...we'd rendezvous in the foyer of the Peninsula Hotel for coffee and lunch.

Despite the rain or maybe because of it, the palace grounds were beautifully stark. The fortress walls were a dark gray, the palace buildings, off-white, and the water,somber and murky, Somehow though, it all worked. 

The rain turned into a steady, persistent soaker.  After a few quick shots, we made tracks for the Peninsula Hotel for coffee and lunch with James and Sally.

New York has its Macy's and London, its Harrods.  And who hasn't heard of “Printemps” in Paris. 

These are, after all, the Valhallas of retail, the palazzos of purchasing, the Taj Mahals of taste and discernment


...all department stores of distinction from which great things are expected and where guests are held to a higher standard. 


Tokyo's entry into this rarefied world of consumerism is without a doubt, Takashimaya.

From the gold emblazoned lettering on the thick glass doors, to the beautifully decorated grand foyer with its giant bouquets of flowers, to the smartly uniformed clerks in fresh white gloves, Takashimaya's message was clear: 


One comes to Takashimaya to seek the pleasure of unadulterated individual service. 

While I'm sure every Takashimaya guest has his or her own story, it was without a doubt, the beautifully formal, ever-patient, elevator operators who personified for me the meaning of Takashimaya service.   

Single-handedly, these young women transformed a normally very routine experience into a beautiful oriental ritual...


...reminiscent of a Japanese Tea Ceremony.  


It was breath-taking...


...and worth repeating!

And just look at those hats!

 Oh yes, I was smitten and oh yes, I did take several rides.

Tokyo's weather called for more rain and rain it did. 

In a bygone era, temporary outdoor stands were the popular solution for dripping umbrellas and unwanted puddles on clean marble floors.

And of course,  it was simply understood that one's umbrella would still be there upon one's return. 

Look! The Umbrella Sheath Distributor

But it is said that somehow tourists, misunderstanding the workings of this fine tradition, sometimes borrowed the said umbrellas, only to place them in other “available” racks once the rain had stopped.  Oops!

Yes, there were complaints...but was there a solution?

Thanks to Japanese ingenuity, the “umbrella sheath distributor" was born and what an engineering marvel it was!  


One had only to insert the dripping-wet umbrella into the distributor and presto.... it would emerge covered in an elongated plastic sheath. 

No fuss and more importantly, no mess on the freshly polished Takashimaya Department Store floors.

The camera condom

As I mentioned, Tokyo's rain was a real soaker and  I was beginning to worry about my camera.  

Slow, unremitting rain, is a killer for cameras hiding under old jackets like mine.  What to do? 

Thanks to some Canadian ingenuity and the Takashimaya sheath, the camera condom was born.   

Applying it over the lens and onto the camera body, I found that all problems relating to leaks disappeared. 

Thanks to the camera condom, not only was the camera protected from leaks, but there was also 99% assurance against any unwanted... pictures.


....O.K., there was one slip but who could resist?

Tomorrow, we all off to Kyoto.

Until next time.