Monday morning Stephen and I said goodbye to Skye as she headed south to Tokyo, work and the new house. I puttered about, uploading pictures while Stephen got rid of his washer and dryer, refrigerator, sofa, dining room table and chairs (when you rent an apartment in Japan, it comes with NOTHING, and must be returned, equally empty to the owner when you leave).
Mid-day we took a break from all our hard labour and went for a bike ride around the lake. The sun was shining even though it was cold, and it was a perfect day to be outside. After about 15 or 20 minutes of cycling, we paused at a foot onsen (a public foot bath) which was, as usual, immaculately clean, and joined about a dozen locals in having a nice soak in local hot spring water. I rolled up my jeans and tried out the hot end, which Stephen had already gleefully sunk his tootsies into, but couldn’t take the heat. You can see for yourself the lobster-esque colour Stephen’s skin changed to after just two minutes in the water. It’s hot!
After a nice soak in the cooler end of the onsen, we put our socks and shoes back on and kept peddling. We stopped at Takashima Castle and had some fast-food lunch, which was not terrific (rice, fish, nattou, pickled plums and tonkatsu fried pork), but decided time was getting on, so skipped going inside in favour of a sake tasting at the local Masumi brewery.
We sampled 10 sakes, in the “dry”, “young” and “sweet” categories, as well as some delicious plum wine. I have an extreme palate that prefers either the very dry or the super-sugary sake. Hana-maru, a frozen sweet sake in a small bottle, tasted like a delectable alcoholic slushy. Yum!
The ride home was equally pretty, even though we veered away from the lake for a while to ride over train tracks and some side streets. The wrought-iron street lamps in Suwa were very attractive, and the quiet laneways reminded me of small-town Britain. When we got home, Stephen kindly put the kettle on and made a pot of tea, and then showed me how to use the singing digital control panel to get the bath to draw itself. Seriously that bathtub was from the future! It filled itself, turned itself off, told me in Japanese that my bath was ready, continually added heated water to keep the temperature steady, and sang to me. I must own one!
I decided to split my first full day in Tokyo into two parts: old Japan and new Japan. Initially, the plan was to head south on the Yamanote line to Harajuku, leave the station and walk west towards Meiji Jingu (Meiji Shrine), do a circuit of the park and then cross over the train tracks to the commercial fashion district to see the kids in their crazy gothic lolita, visual kei, and cosplay styles. As it happened, the battery on my camera conveniently died in the middle of my walk through Meiji Jingu, giving me a pressing reason / convenient excuse for a shopping mission to Akihabara (Electric Town). More on that next post.
Meiji Jingu is beautiful – a peaceful oasis of tall trees, lush green undergrowth, wide gravel walkways, picturesque stone bridges and massive torii (wooden gates) in the middle of bustling Tokyo. As soon as you pass through the wooden beams of the entrance, the city seems to fade away.
Originally built in the 1920s, the shrine was destroyed in World War II and rebuilt in 1958. The forest is incredibly diverse, containing over 350 different species of trees, donated by loyal Japanese from all over the country when the shrine was established. I can only imagine citizens of Hokkaido trying to transport native specimens down to Tokyo in the early 1920s. It must have been an amazing spectacle, and a huge effort.
My walk took me all around the inner precinct or “Naien”, past colourful commemorative sake barrels and a Treasure Museum housing items that belonged to Emperor Meiji and Empress ShÅken. At the shrine, there was a wedding procession moving through the courtyard, and a bride and groom outside having their photos taken in traditional Japanese wedding dress. A few international tourists were milling about, as well as some local tourists stopping by to pray.
The ritual for Shinto prayer is to pick up a ladle from the stone fountain, dip and wash your left hand first, then your right, put the ladle under the running tap and pour water into your hand to wash your mouth, then proceed to the altar. You throw a coin into the grated money receptacle, bow twice (full bend at the waist; your back should be parallel to the ground), clap twice with hands near your stomach, then make your supplication to the enshrined God or Goddess, and bow again before leaving.
Useful tip: the 5 yen coin is said to be the best or most effective coin to throw in the prayer bucket (“offertory box” / sei-sen bako). Stephen tells me it’s sort of a pun or homonym; a play on words. “Go-en” means 5 yen, but “en-musubi” means a binding connection, with “en” being “connection”. “Go” is a prefix you can put on things that means “sacred”. So you’re asking for a “sacred connection”. Neat!
After my walk through the dappled spring sunshine and cool leafy breezes, it was a strange transition from all that peaceful emptiness and quiet greenery to the hectic crowds in Shinjuku station at rush hour…
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