Tokyo - a city of contrasts

We began the day at Hamarikyu garden, established by the Shogun in 1654.

A beautiful expansive garden on Tokyo Bay with traditional Japanese reception houses, including a beautiful (re-built) tea house in which Emperor Meiji entertained former US president Ulysses S. Grant on his world tour. 

Hamish and I loved our matcha tea gazing out at the lake. A very serene experience. 

We walked through the open space and quiet of the gardens and discovered the duck hunting lake where the ducks were lured into a narrow canal to be attacked by hunting birds and then netted by humans. 

We emerged into a spacious and quiet business district of Tokyo and tried to get a taxi which surprisingly took quite some time. 

Next stop TeamLab Planets, an immersive art and light museum.

An extraordinary lights room with mirrors. 

Shin-deep water with (virtual) coy fish which actually swim around you.

 

We assumed the lights were simply on a loop, but we learnt afterward that the 'fish' swim in response to the movements of the people. So clever!

A planetarium-style dome ceiling with flowers. Wow!

An actual moss garden with weird metal structures (this one didn't do much for me).

Finally, the climax, thousands of beautiful orchids moving up and down above us. 

We were quite overcome and it certainly trumped any light show or immersive experience we've had previously. 

For our next tourist experience we made use of another side of Japanese technological know-how. Hamish needed new glasses and somewhere I'd read that in Japan you could have a free eye test and get new glasses made on the spot (30 minutes) for under $100, all tax free. So thanks to the help of a very friendly optician with a smattering of English, Hamish now has new glasses. He looks new and so does the world. 

Then time for Japanese curry and Udon soup for lunch before we headed on to Senso-ji, the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo (though it's been destroyed by fire and rebuilt several times). 

(This giant sandal is somehow  a warning to evil spirits.)

Quite a different experience to yusukuni shrine: heaps of people, a row of tourist shops (originally allowed to set up there by the temple if they agreed to help maintain it), and instead of elegant wood, the décor was decidedly colourful and ornate. 

We were struck particularly by the monks selling prayer amulets for 'success in love', a 'business boost' and 'happiness.' 

For a religion based on escaping from suffering by eliminating desire until you reach enlightenment, there seemed to be a lot of desires being sold. 

We wandered around the surrounding area known as Akasusa, formerly an entertainment district. Lots of Japanese women (and some accompanying men) were in striking traditional dress. Rickshaw drivers displayed their wares for tourists. 

Shop front doors with spectacular murals. 

But modern Tokyo is never far away. Numerous perspectives on the world's tallest tower Tokyo Skytree,

 with the 'Golden Poop' (yes that's really what it's called) nearby

 

We headed for yet another side of Tokyo life - the anime, manga, arcade and electronics capital, Akihabara. 

The 9 floors of consumer goods at Yahimoto-Akiba was a little overwhelming, as were the 4 floors of claw prize machines. Last year Isaac and Bethany sent me a proud moment with a picture of them at a poker machine in Las Vegas. Another proud moment: Hamish won a soft toy on his first try. An even prouder moment: he was able to stop there. 

Sashima dinner. The tasty sprouts with rice turned out to be individual tiny fish. 

In contrast to Akasusa, there were no women walking the streets in Japanese traditional dress. The young women walking the streets here wore another form of traditional dress - advertising their maid cafes - where men get to be waited on by 'maids.'

Finally we decided to call it a night, and headed for our taste of another side of Japanese life - the capsule hotel. Originally for 'salary men' working (or socialising) too late for the commute back home, they now serve tourists as well. We didn't try the artificial thermal pool but the capsule was surprisingly spacious and quiet.

Hopefully it stays quiet. Akihabara outside certainly won't. 

What a city of contrasts! Tomorrow the Shinkansen (bullet train) for a day in Hakone, then on to Kyoto. So thankful!

Tokyo day 1

Day one of our Tokyo adventure:

1. Yasukuni shrine

There are thousands of shrines throughout Japan but this shrine is special. Established by Emperor Meiji over 150 years ago to remember all those who have died fighting for Japan - now over 2 million people. It's controversial because some convicted war criminals from World war II are enshrined here. 

We approached the beautiful shrine through three massive Tori gates and passed the workman putting up lights on the scaffolding for the upcoming anniversary. We were struck by the space and quiet compared to the train journey we had just been on. Respectfully we approached and watched and asked a guard how people came to pray. You ceremonially wash your hands

step up, place a coin in the box, bow twice, clap twice, silently say your prayer, clap twice and bow twice. 

But if you want to be involved in the formal prayer further inside the shrine you must make a written application and pay the $10 fee. Others had written their requests on paper or on wooden ornaments and hung them on hooks. Workers were removing these, placing them in cardboard boxes, but when we asked where they were to be taken they simply said to  'another location.' 

We respected the sincerity of the worshippers but were reminded again of our great privilege to be able to pray to our Heavenly Father at any time and in any place.

2. Yasukunan museum

You may be relieved to know that we don't have many museums on our itinerary but I had read that this war museum gave a revisionist history of Japan's involvement in the second world war. Not only this, the museum traced the history of Japan through its many different periods. Having put myself through a crash course of podcast episodes and books over the last couple of months to understand the sweep of Japanese history I really appreciated the way this was presented. We especially liked the samurai armour 

and this rope which was made from the hair of 10,000 women. 

The highlight was the narrative from the forced exposure to the Western powers in 1850 and Japan's determination to become a modern world power. 

The series of exhibits tried to persuade us that Japan's invasion of China in 1933 was only a reasonable reaction to anti-Japanese sentiment and a couple of attacks on its troops in China (though even the museum admitted that the main one of these was staged by the Japanese military itself to give a pretext for war). As a result the attack on Pearl Harbour and the rest of the Pacific and East Asia was then only a necessary decision to secure natural resources when the Americans imposed sanctions. What's more, Japan's sacrifice inspired other nations to throw off their imperialists masters. 

I guess there was some logic to it if you thought that the 12 year invasion that left millions dead in China was a good decision in the first place. Oh, and they did completely ignore the atrocities in Nanjing, the treatment of prisoners of war and the enslavement of comfort women. 

Particularly striking was the memorial to the one judge in the war crimes tribunal who wrote a 1200 page dissenting judgement to the convictions and objected to the whole trial as 'victors justice'.

Ok I agree, enough of a history rant. 

3. Omoide yachoko

A small series of alleyways with tiny Japanese eateries.

 We sampled various cuts of pork - head neck intestines etc. but the highlight was the couple we met for lunch. Through her limited English and Google translate we got to know each other.

He said he was the grandson of the founder of Mitsubishi, well known for cars fridges air conditioners and apparently Kamikaze planes. He virtually offered a job to Hamish. After all there is a Mitsubishi hospital in Tokyo. As we walked away we still weren't sure whether we believed him. He had had a few drinks and bought me one as well.  

4. Hashekita steet

Home of youth culture and shopping. 

5. Omoide sanndo

Home of high-end fashion and unusual architecture

6. Shibuya crossing

Probably the world's busiest pedestrian crossing with two and a half thousand pedestrians for every light change - that's 2.5 million per day. 

What a sight and what an experience to cross! 

We enjoyed the Mario karts!

We retreated to the second-story L'Occitane cafe to soak it all in. 

The neon lights and huge shopping area was an experience too.

Just 20 minutes walk away and we were in a local pet shop with reptiles from all over the world. 

Hamish was right in his element. The highlight?

Probably the sheep for sale. What would you do with a sheep in downtown Tokyo? 

Back to Shibuya for ramen

What a great first day!

The adventure begins

A late night train trip after church to an airport hotel to be ready for the morning. Waking up to 3 alarms set for 3:30 a.m., a 10 minute walk and we are ready at the airport for checking in. Turns out check in for a domestic flight to Cairns at 4:00 a.m. really doesn't take very long so we sat around for quite a while. 

Once we're on the plane we sat around some more as some items of baggage were especially heavy and the plane was un-balanced. First time I've heard of that but I'd rather wait for an hour then be unbalanced in the air. That meant our 2-hour layover in Cairns became 1 hour which included changing to the international terminal and immigration. Our's seemed to be the last bags onto the turnstile, so it was quite a rush not to miss our flight. The staff were calling out for those going to Narita, chasing us along and moving us to the front of the queue. Held up by having put aerosol shaving cream in my carry-on bag, we ended up being the last ones onto the plane. Oh what a feeling to hear 'Hamish and Shaun McGregor' called out over the loudspeaker. What happened after we finally sat down? We waited and we're told that the baggage handlers were just finishing up, and then, after waiting some more, we're just sorting out the paperwork. Who knew the baggage handlers had paperwork to do? The captain apologised and said that he would try and make up time on the flight. Do they usually go slow through the air? Was he going to weave in and out of the traffic to try and get there quicker?

An uneventful 7 hour flight except that I felt motion sickness for most of it. A great relief when we touched down and I managed to throw up, after which I felt much better. 

Japanese dinner at the airport. Guess which meal is for Hamish, and which one is for 'I've recently thrown up' Shaun. 

Hopefully I can start being more adventurous tomorrow.

The Japanese have this incredible system of sending luggage on ahead of you, so we swapped our large pack with camping gear for this piece of paper. Hopefully we will meet again in the boot of our Japanese car in Hokkaido. 

Cheap airline tickets means you arrive at Narita and take a 1 hour express train to Tokyo. We managed to work out how to buy a train card and find the right platform.

Finally we arrived in Shinagawa, one stop after Tokyo and Hamish navigated us to 7-Eleven to get some cash and pick up some breakfast. On the way we happened to walk through a Pachinko parlour. 

Gambling is illegal in Japan but you can still use these Japanese poker machines. With great skill you press a button and some balls roll down a shoot and depending on how many balls go into the special box you get points and with those points you win a fluffy toy or a piece of gold jewellery. If you know what you're doing you can take the gold jewellery down the road to a shop which will give you cash for it. Nothing like gambling! In Australia we're much more advanced - we skip out the middle man.  Finding our hotel, we were glad to flop into bed. Looking forward to the start of our Japanese adventure tomorrow. 

milk use by date time

You know it's getting close when the use by date is the day you leave. Hours of planning and listening to podcasts, and I can't wait to explore Japan with Hamish

Our final day!

 A cold night and a very cold morning, but it was worth it to wake up to the sunrise on the mountains and the sound of distant avalanches. 

We couldn't wait for the sun's rays to reach our camp, so we headed back over the extraordinary swing bridges. We enjoyed working out where on the mountain face in front of us we had walked up to Mueller's hut 2 days before. 

By the time we were back to the car we changed from 4 layers to 1 and enjoyed brunch in hot sunshine on the balcony of the Hermitage hotel. A nice touch of glamping. 

Sadly we said farewell to the majesty of the mountains and our time together there. We kept looking in our rear-view mirrors so we could feel like we were still there.

Unexpectedly the glacial waters of Lake Pukaki was absolutely gorgeous in the bright sunshine and we stopped at 4 lookouts to get different views. 

The water was just as spectacular at Lake Tekapo and the Church of the Good Shepherd. 

Then a long uninteresting drive to Christchurch for our final dinner and pack before we wake up at 330am!

As Isaac and I took off at the end of our trip 5 years ago I listened to 'O praise the name of the Lord our God'. As the same song played in the car today, tears of happiness and sadness and thankfulness welled up again. 

Such a wonderful time in a majestic part of God's creation, but so special to spend it with my beautiful daughter, Bethany.