Tokyo Dome and other Sights

A little while ago we took the boys to Tokyo Dome. We expected to go bowling and then go to Magicquest, but the boys derailed our plans. Once they saw the rides, the jig was up. Tokyo Dome, like so many places in Tokyo, is a little bit of everything. It has shops (like a mall), restaurants (not just the food court variety--some nice places), things like bowling, and also rides. 

Tokyo Dome:

 

Sam and Graham entering the Wonder Drop ride (note Sam's rain coat; this is a water log ride)

 

It went fast enough that though I tried to get a picture of the boys coming down the chute, all I got was a picture of the chute.

 

Here you can see part of the roller coaster (it is magnificent--it goes through both a hole on top of a huge building and through the ferris wheel) and the tower thing that Sam and Sid dropped down.

 

Sure, it was cold (note the coats), but not so cold that kids were not playing (at night) in the splash pad.

 

Both boys wanted their pictures taken with good old Colonel Saunders--KFC was one of the many dining options available at Tokyo Dome.  We ate at a hamburger joint called Zest Burger.

 

So cool!

 

Sam alongside girls with interesting fashion sensibilities.

We also visited some other sites.

We found a pretty little park not far from our apartment where we took some pictures with the nice fall leaves.

While looking for a "green" ice skating rink (not made of ice but of a glass-like substance), we stumbled into a mall with this Swarovsky crystal Christmas display:

 

We never found the ice rink, but we found Starbucks where we all had hot cocoa. :)

On another venture, Sid and Sam found their dream car. ::

Thanksgiving

Well, I don't think there is anything quite like spending a holiday in a foreign country.  On a day to day basis you don't think all that much about how you are in a different country.  There are, of course, the little hassles that you don't have back home (foraging for food at grocery stores the size of a 7-11--or in fact buying some of your groceries at 7-11; walking everywhere instead of hopping in your car; etc.), but nothing hammers it in that you are far from home like spending a holiday somewhere else.  Both boys had Tuesday off this week (some sort of national holiday),but they both had school on Thursday.  We were invited to a friend's home for Thanksgiving dinner (she has an oven!!!) and I was going to make the pies there. It turned out okay, but it took many trips to many stores to gather the necessary pie supplies. And, even then I couldn't get Crisco (although one of the stores did have blocks of lard) so I had to use butter (I looked up an online recipe).  Our friend is Irish but married to an American (thus the Thanksgiving meal) and the dinner had people from all over--Argentinians, Americans, Filipinos, Irish, British, and Japanese (and maybe a few from places I didn't list!).  It was funny to see the Argentinians taste the pumpkin pie. :)  In Japan, pies (like most cakes and other desserts) are not as sweet as in America.  It was sort of funny to the Japanese taste the pies, too. At any rate, it was a fun dinner, but also sort of sad.  It made us all miss home to be spending Thanksgiving so far away from our own oven.

It was also sad to come back to our apartment.  I think I may have mentioned it earlier, but we have a terrible water problem. The windows have condensation as do several of the walls and the ceiling in some places. We wipe them down, keep towels around them, try to dry things up with the heaters. But to no avail. The curtains, our clothes, our bedding all stay damp.  Mold has begun to grow in several spots and on one set of curtains despite my efforts at bleaching the affected areas. Finally, on Thanksgiving morning the landlady came by to investigate the issue. She said she has not had the problem but that she also does not use any heat in the apartment. She asked if we could just live without heat this winter. We said no. So, she's looking into getting a dehumidifier for us.  Let's hope it works before we are all waterlogged!

Kabuki

Following up on the last post, I got the opportunity to go see a Kabuki performance.  Kabuki is a traditional theater performance--in fact, the Japanese language used in these is so archaic that even the Japanese in the audience rent the headsets that tell them what is going on in the play--where all the actors are men. So, men play all the roles.  It is very interesting that while many of the family-inherited jobs have gone on to just be jobs anyone can have, Kabuki is still owned, operated, and acted by Kabuki families.  So, there are very young actors (ages 4 or 5) that are in the family and who are excellent actors at even that young age.  "Extras" are drawn from outside the families, but the major roles all go to men in the Kabuki families. And, at least in the plays I saw, at one time on stage you would see three generations of men from a single family.

The Kabuki I went to consisted of 2 plays with a dance/song thing in the middle. I might also mention that the Kabuki musicians are also Kabuki families--so jobs handed down from generation to generation.  The middle musical performance I saw had one of Japan's national treasures in it.  I think his name is Nakamura Shikan, but it was sort of hard to tell and the program is mainly in Japanese so.... At any rate, there was thunderous clapping when he got on the stage. He is an old guy--about 80 or so. 

I was really excited to get to go to the Kabuki and I was very lucky. All around Tokyo you see the posters up and so I was interested in seeing the performance. But, Kabuki is VERY expensive (in Japanese you'd politely say "choto takai"--a little expensive). One of Sid's schools purchases tickets for the faculty, but Sid could not go as he had a fascinating conference on Japanese textbooks to attend. So I got to go in his place.  But, everything comes at a price. The Kabuki provides meals so you rush down during intermission to eat the bento they have prepared.  Yes, it was much fish.  And some other things not very identifiable.  Luckily there was a rice ball. Those of you who know me or who have been reading this blog know I do not like fish or strange food. I like hamburgers and hot dogs and pizza.  Someday I will be another obese American. At Kabuki, though, I was the gaijin (foreigner) who couldn't work the chopsticks properly and who as a result did not get to eat very much before we had to rush back up to the show.  Thank goodness my chopstick skills are still poor!  Eat no fish? No problem. Blame it all on the chopsticks. But, I have to say, that the entire table was quite entertained. I could make out enough of their conversations to know that I was the main topic and that several considered trying to find me a spoon or fork.  I think it was also mentioned that I eat like a toddler.  Hmmmm.

The show was interesting--it was a very interesting insight into Japanese culture.  But, it was also long. The whole performance (meal included) was a little over 5 hours. 

Well, I find that's what I have to say about Kabuki.


We went to Tokyo Dome yesterday and I hope to post some photos later in the week.  It's a tough one, though....national holiday tomorrow (boys home), Thanksgiving Thursday (boys at school but dinner invitation in the evening)...so, we'll see. :)

It's a man's country...or is it?

A few days ago one of my Japanese professor friends (a woman) said to me, "Japan looks like a man's country, but it's the women who know how to enjoy it." 

And, I had to think about this for a little while.  It is true. Japan really does look like a man's country.  Japanese men can be quite bossy with women.  When interviewing, all Japanese women wear the same outfit--black skirt or pants, white shirt, black jacket, and the same black bag.  Interviewing women cannot have their hair colored in any way other than natural (they simply won't be hired--so they all die their hair black before they begin interviewing). Yet, despite this, I am assured that attractive women are often hired over what might be more qualified candidates.  And, only in the last few years have women begun to work after getting married or having a baby.  It really does look like a man's country.

But, maybe my friend is right--it is the women who know how to enjoy it.  Riding the subways here and there and everywhere, I see a lot of the habits of a wide spectrum of the Japanese.  And, I notice that most of the men I encounter are scurrying to or from work. They are on the way to work at 7:40 when I take Sam, still on the way to work at 8:30 when I head home and then when I go out to other places at 7 or 8 in the evening, they are returning home from work.  While the government has passed an 8 hour law, it's common knowledge that many workplaces require their employees to work from 9 to 8.  But, what I notice is that even women in work clothes seem to enjoy the niceties of life that are passing the men by. 

I see the men, cramming their faces with "fast food" at lunchtime. They eat standing up and then hurry back to the trains or offices.  Not so with the women. Tea rooms and places like the 4 Season's (where I was treated to a very pricey lunch) are filled with women. Seriously, only women.  Well, women and sometimes Sid. Sid and Sam went for cake and tea one afternoon to find the place packed--they squeezed into the last small table and when Sid looked around there wasn't a single other man in the whole place. 

Japanese men work, work, work.  And Japanese women, well, they work and then go enjoy themselves.  And, on the surface the Japanese men have most of the power, but it's sort of like the story Sid tells of a Japanese friend he had in Gifu. Sid went to her house to have dinner with her and her husband. At work the woman was just normal acting--like an American, not necessarily submissive.  At her house, she fed her husband his dinner, using chopsticks to feed him, and got him beer when he said, "Oy, Biru (Hey you, get me a beer).  But, when the husband exited the room for a moment, the woman turned to Sid, winked, and said, "Sometimes he likes me to treat him like a dog."  So, who was the master and who the mastered? Hard to say.  Maybe it's a man's country, but maybe it's the women who enjoy it.

Waving the Flag--the Japanese Flag

Just a quick post.  Today Sam came home from school waving a little Japanese flag. So, I said, "Sam, why are you waving the Japanese flag?"  His reply?  "Ah, Mom. We had to go see the emperor today and they made us wave these flags."  Sid has wanted to see the emperor for 20 years, but hasn't.  Sam, the 8 year old, got to go see the emperor drive by--close enough that he waved at the emperor and the emperor and his family waved back.  One of the advantages of going to a Turkish school inside of a Japanese elementary, I guess. Ah, Sam, why couldn't Daddy go wave the flag with you, too?

I have to wonder if Hirohito is turning in his grave. Do you think he ever in his wildest dreams envisioned that someday in Japan an American kid would be waving the Japanese flag at the Japanese emperor? 

Travels

Since I last had time to post, we have visited several places.  In Tokyo we went to an indoor theme place (located inside Sunshine City) called Namjaland.

Namjaland is famous primarily for its Gyoza City--a food court where numerous establishments offer gyoza or dumplings as a specialty.  There is also a clown who teaches you how to make balloons. (See Sam above)

At Namjaland, Sam and Graham played the game of catching the eels and lobsters. Again, Japan not noted for its animal rights activism.

 

We went to Kyoritsu University's festival (all the colleges hold fundraising festivals).  There were different booths with things to eat, make, or do. We went to a fashion show (Kyoritsu has a fashion school), ate yakisoba (noodles with soy sauce and vegetables), visited with the international youth hostels group, and met up with Sid's student (my Japanese sensei/teacher) Nami.

Nami-san is 21 years old and wants to work in international business. She is so sweet and nice. This is Nami at the flower arranging room.

Sam and his teacher at the flower arranging room.

We also went to Rappongi Hills briefly. Rappongi Hills is a big, very pricey mall thing with a film place attached. We did not eat or buy anything. But, we saw the big spider statue!

We also took the train up to Nikko to go to a place called Edo Wonderland. Edo Wonderland is a theme park that shows what life was like during the Edo Period in Japan.  There was too much there to see in one day. But here is some of what we saw:

 

Nikko is located in the mountains. They have the coloration of the Smokies but are much more pointy.

 

Scene from the train/bus station.

 

Scene upon entering Edo Wonderland. Notice Graham's face. He did not yet know that soon, very soon he would become a Ninja!

 

Sam and a Ninja warrior. :)

 

Sam throws stars with an Edo townsperson.

 

Ninja Graham

 

Ninja Sam

Lastly, I took Sam to the Van Gogh exhibit at the Tokyo Museum of Art. He was fascinated with the story of Van Gogh's ear and with the snack bar, but less impressed with the paintings. 

 

Inside the art museum.

One last thing of note, however. We did not visit this place, but did mark the date of its opening about a week ago. Ah, the imports from home:

 

Notice the crowd--this is a week into Hooter's run here in Tokyo!  The people waiting? All men!

More Hooters.  But then, Hooters isn't something you see everyday in Japan. :)

Things I learned from Japanese fashion

Over the coming months I hope to illustrate all the things I have learned from the Japanese about fashion.  Unfortunately, it's hard to take pictures of strangers without them seeming to become offended. So, it requires that I have someone with me who can strike a fake pose in front of the person I really want to photograph.  At any rate, I have learned a lot from the Japanese about fashion:

1)  Any time of day is a good time to wear a little bling--sequined shoes, dresses, shirts, purses, belts, and headbands are in style all day long every day of the year.  Even if you work in an office or bank, you can always go with a little glittery purse or phone.  Glitter doesn't have to be just for those working in cafes or discotechques.

2)  Ever wonder whether to wear pants or a skirt? Why not both? And, all the better if you can pair the skirt-pants combo with some nice textured tights. 

3)  Scarves aren't just for winter anymore. You can wear them on warm days, too. Just be sure to bring a washcloth with you to dry the sweat on your face and neck.  (The washcloth comes in handy anyway as a towel at public restrooms which are not equipped with any kind of towel or hand-drying devices at all).

4)  Boys can wear capri pants--and especially ones that puff out at the knee--sort of like a medieval courtier.

5)  It is always good to look like an anime character.  You can have extra eyelashes woven into your own for a reasonable price in Rappongi Hills and then buy the dress and bow at Takeshita.   See the finished product:

Well, that is all the fashion advice for now. I hope to illustrate these for you in later posts!