Hanabi (Fireworks)

Today, at 5:30, I went out to meet a friend and her husband to go see fireworks. As with Disneyland, many Japanese people find it to be quite a shame if you leave Japan without seeing one of their many magnificent fireworks displays, and so my friend ardently searched for one that would take place before I leave (most start in August). And so, we waited at the JR Nambu Station at Mizonoguchi to head out to some place I’ve never heard of on the Tamagawa River to watch the fireworks.

And I had an experience that everyone should probably have before they leave Japan. The packed train. When I say ‘packed,’ I mean, you can literally feel people’s bones against yours, you can feel their heartbeat, their sweat stains your clothes. You cannot get a handhold, but however reckless the driver might be in his sudden stops, you will not fall; there is no room to fall. I’ve been in packed trains before. The worst up until today was when I went with my host parents to see a Sumo match way back when. This one outdid them all.

We made our way down to the platform and got in line behind 20 other people that were lined up at one of the 4 doors to our train. The other lines were longer. It wasn’t but a minute or so and the train pulled up. And as the doors opened, people were falling out. No one got off. To look at it, there was room for maybe three people. But the Japanese are not to be deterred by any manner of train traffic. And so, with a laugh, I, like the twenty people in front of me and 8 or so people behind me, shoved those already in the train farther inside, like packing an already bulging suitcase. And somehow, we made it, though there were those who couldn’t fit. As one, we moved with the motions of the train like seaweed on a wave, unable to keep balance because there was no room to readjust your feet. But, as I said before, you cannot fall down. You cannot readjust either. Everyone fits together somehow, like puzzle pieces and you just have to stay that way. We rode like this for four stops before several people got off and the rest of the way (two more stops), while full, was not, ‘if this guy moves, his elbow will spear my kidney’ packed.

And, once we’d funneled out into the streets with a million other people, we stopped at one of several tables along the sidewalk to buy bottled tea and snacks of dumplings, though in truth we’d have done better to wait. All along the way, mostly young couples walked close, if not hand in hand, and despite the humid and hot weather, most of the young girls were all trussed up in their Yukatas, their hair up and prettily done. Even several of the young men with them were dressed in the male equivalent of a Yukata, though their hair was spiked and gelled and modern in contrast to their dress. Also, many young married couples with small children were among the crowd.

We walked a long ways, then up the stairs, over a road and down onto the banks of the river, past policemen shouting for people to watch their step. On the bank opposite, all you could see were little dots of people’s torsos, in such a number that you couldn’t see the green that was the space between them. On our side, stretching about a mile long on the main path, were stands selling their festival wares. I’ve come to love these stands, as they are more traditionally Japan to me than Ikebana. There was Yakisoba, Takoyaki, Okonomiyaki, Mizuame, Candy Apples, Shaved Ice, Frankfurter on a stick, chocolate covered bananas, chicken nuggets and more, all the way down. We finally found a bit of asphalt on the path above the main walkway, and laid down our tarp and sat (rather uncomfortably as it was rocky, hot, hard asphalt) and waited for the fireworks to begin.

At around 7:15, they started. This particular show was to last an hour and had 12,000 fireworks. While that is a good amount, the largest firework show around is, naturally taking place after I leave, and is held over the Sumida River in Tokyo (we were now in Kawasaki). The fireworks show was absolutely amazing. From start to finish it was the equivalent of the big rush at the end of our 4th of July fireworks show (the part when they set off all of what’s left at the end). And these had been designed in a computer to be artistic, so you weren’t just watching fireworks, you were watching a show. I don’t know how the fireworks in bigger cities in America are on the 4th, but this one in Japan put St. Louis’ fireworks shows to shame. They had all sorts and they were going off constantly, not one by one, but three by three or more, and in two locations. It was such fun.

Afterwards, we joined the mass exodus, cutting through a jungly bit of forest and rejoining the group, and wisely, instead of going straight to the station, we walked for about 20 min. and found a restaurant where we had dinner and said our farewells (this was the last time I would get to see my friend), and then we went back to the station and I caught the last train home.

PS: Btw, I've added two entries today, so there's a new one below this too : )

Tanabata and Charcoal Grill Anko

(7/7)

Today we went out to celebrate my host dad’s birthday, even though it’s still two days away. I’ve been forever bugging them in the most roundabout ways that I know how, to escort me to a little restaurant about 5 buildings down called ‘Charcoal Grill Anko,’ and tonight, we finally went.

My affection for the place began months upon months ago, just around the time when the brisk winds of autumn became the chilling torrents of winter. Back in those days I would often walk all the way down to Sangenjaya on foot, or if not that far, then the large grocery aways down the street, and since my walks would often happen under the cover of darkness, my return journeys always took me past the curiously enthralling, often bustling Charcoal Grill Anko. I can’t say what it is about the place that cast a spell on me, but just the overall aura of it was intoxicating. As I would walk in and out of the shadows of buildings at night on my way back home, the smallish wooden sliding door that is the entrance, with small, plate-sized square windows just large enough to let you peer in to see the men inside, working behind massive, hot grills, their hair pulled back in bandanas, their close a mysterious and alluring black as they serve people at the bar beer and dinner, drew me in. The place itself seemed to glow invitingly, a warm, honey-colored glow that washes comfort over you in a world of florescence. Beside a Dominoes pizza and an out of use shop, this restaurant, above all others, seemed to offer a different side of Tokyo, a side I wanted desperately to see but never have (and was too timid to brave on my own). And so, I would always, on my walks, slow down, sometimes stopping at the door, and watch the young men cooking inside and it would make me happy and I would smile, and then I would glance up at the massive, torso-sized lanterns bearing the shop’s name that hang on either side of the door, and proceed on my way.

Flash forward about eight or so months and I finally make the not-so-subtle hint that I want to go, that finally hit’s the target and me, my host dad, my host mom and the grandma all walk the two minutes or less down the street and for the first time ever, we enter the shop. Now, situated next to the bar dining is an outside, triangular-shaped, raised wooden porch that they put in about five months ago. As we enter the restaurant, we’re greeted by a chorus of ‘Irasshaimase’ (welcome), and the manager and the other young cook look up briefly at our entrance, but are quick to return their attention to the food on the grill before them. We are offered a table upstairs, but because the grandma has a hard time with stairs, we’re ushered out onto the porch instead where there are three tables waiting and empty. And I got a flash of what I’ve idealized as the ‘salary man’s eating joint.’ Instead of stools or chairs at the small tables, there are red and blue plastic crates (like people ship crates of beer or milk bottles in) which are covered with colorfully designed cushions. Beyond, out facing the street and the passersby is a glass display case like you might see at a butchers, and in it are displayed all the fresh foods ready to be cooked up (corn, meat, eggplant and other veggies). On the wall nearest me is an old 30s or 40s vintage poster of a women in a kimono advertising Yebisu Beer, and then a yellow fabric banner offering beer and another fabric banner often seen this time of year. This second banner is white on the top, blue on the bottom and in the middle, in bright red, is splashed the kanji for ice. This is an advertisement for shaved ice, the treat of choice in this oppressive, almost sadistically humid and miserable weather we’re having.

Against the far wall are blackboards whereon are written the specials in white and neon green marker, and this wall is made of wooden slats, and in these slats are stuck, just a few, colorfully decorated handheld fans (decorated with fireworks, koi, etc.). In the far corner, which isn’t that far at all, is a charcoal grill (as opposed to the grill inside which is more like a hibachi grill), and from time to time a guy in a traditional-looking shirt encircled by red carp, would come through with fish skewered through, or vegetables, and would place them on the grill, the fish’s dead eyes looking at the world upside down as he is placed over the charcoal. And there also stands a very thin bamboo tree which was decorated with colorful slips of construction paper for the currently running Tanabata festival.

Tanabata, written ‘seventh night,’ is a festival falling on July 7th (aka 7/7) every year, though its decorations are around for much longer. The history of this festival is as follows. Once upon a time, high, high in the heavens there was a beautiful princess who was so skilled at creating fine woven masterpieces that she was called Orihime (Weaving Princess). Her father was Tentei, ruler of the universe and he took great joy and pride in his daughter and her magnificent works of art. But, over time, Orihime grew lonely, for so busy was she with her weaving that she scarce had time to seek for someone to love, and seeing his daughter’s sorrow, Tentei introduced her to Hikoboshi, who herded cows up in the star fields. When the two met, they fell instantly in love and married soon after, but so preoccupied was Orihime with her new husband, that she stopped weaving, and Hikoboshi, for his part, neglected his herds and thus they wandered all over the heavens. At this, Tentei grew very angry and divided the two by the river Amanogawa (The Milky Way). Heartbroken at being wrenched from her lover’s side, Orihime fell upon her father and wept, begging for mercy and so Tentei decreed that, if Orihime worked hard the year round at her weaving, he would let the lovers meet on the seventh day of the seventh month every year. And so, to celebrate this reunion, the Japanese write wishes on colored paper and create paper chains and tie them on bamboo, some even floating them down rivers on small boats.

Now that you’ve got your history lesson for the day, let us proceed.

So, in honor of Tanabata, the restaurant had drinks for $2 on 7/5-7/7 and we made it just in time. As has somehow become my custom, I ordered soju (a type of rice or potato alcohol) cut with water, and my host mother started ordering a list of dishes off the menu for everyone to share. I don’t know if it is my host family alone, or if it is a common Japanese custom, but it seems that whenever we go out to eat, rather than each person ordering a dish for themselves, my host parents order about six or seven dishes and everyone shares, which is rather nice, I think as its more social and you get to try everything. To eat we had a shrimp and vegetable dish in a sort of sweet miso/soy sauce, cold potato salad with a hint of curry powder in it, squid and daikon (Japanese radish) cold in a sauce, pepper steak that fell off the bone it was so tender, grilled vegetables rapped in a thin bacon, thinner than American bacon and grilled on the grill (okra, zucchini, tomato and mushrooms), and all kinds of different yakitori (grilled chicken kabobs, sort of). And the one dish I did try (was coerced into trying) though I should have taken a hint from my host dad who just sat by and watched, was cold, raw chicken liver. Not a fan. Not. A. Fan. I somehow managed to get it down, but it took the rest of my soju to wash out the taste. Then there was a minced chicken sausage on a stick dipped in a raw egg and soy sauce (Japanese people eat raw eggs A LOT) and then rice which was served in a peculiar way. I suppose it was a more traditional way of serving it, but instead of a dish being brought out, we were given a wooden tray. On the tray was a dish of cold water which the rice serving spoon sat in (rice is sticky, so the water is to keep the server from sticking) and then there was a wooden, circular steaming box topped with a metal thing, which you open to reveal steamed sticky rice and vegetables.

Minus the raw liver (my own mistake), this was by far and away the best food I’ve had in the 10 months I’ve been here, and that’s up against some pretty tough competition. The chicken, in all its various forms, was so flavorful and tender and wonderful. And the ambience of the place was just an added bonus. Our waitress was dressed in a Yukata (a lighter, informal summer kimono), with a fan stuck in her sash/belt, and at one point, the manager came in carrying a spiral of incense (that serves as mosquito repellant) in a watermelon shaped hanging pot, to which my host dad replied, ‘Oh, that takes me back.’

So, though it was just going out to eat, something I’ve done several times now, this outing was more fun that I’ve had in quite a while. If you’re ever in the area, I highly advocate going to ‘Charcoal Grill Anko.’

These pictures here are of a bridge near my school which was built around a Tanabata theme with Orihime on one side (of the highway), her lover on the other, and the rest of the bridge is decorated with the various constellations cut into the concrete of the bridge.





PS - You may have noticed, but the layout is back to the one I had at the beginning. I figured it might be nice to finish how I started ; )

Edo, Meiji, and Fashion Street

So, you shall never guess who I saw today as my small field trip party finished our fabulous lunch of 'Chakko Nabe,' which is the dish sumo wrestlers eat every day, in a shop that is owned by a retired sumo wrestler. Yes, it tasted mostly of chicken soup with cabbage in it, with a side of eggplant and rice and it truly was delicious, and worth every cent of the $8.20 I paid for it. But first, let me preface the following encounter with the fact that we'd tried to go to the one, the older one, across the street but were sent away to the one we ended up going to, though it was lunch time and the place seemed entirely empty, though I thought I'd caught a whiff of English being mumbled inside. So, after paying our small bill, we all piled out into the rainy street and saw that a heavy set man and a second man carrying a very large, very expensive camera, were just coming out of the restaurant opposite. We all gathered together on our side of the street to oogle and gape at the camera, and finally, when we'd seen enough, we turned to leave. It was only as I cast a lazy, backwards glance that I noticed that, in fact, the heavyset man with the cameraman was in fact our very own Travel Channel Star, Bizarre Foods' Andrew Zimmer.

A few days ago, we went to the Meiji Jingu, aka the Meiji Shrine and Harajuku. As we got off the subway and started to cross the bridge to the shrine (where all the cosplay people supposedly hang out, though it was a disappointment again at this time, and it was 2PM), there was what looked to be a Visual Kei street band just finished with their concert. I was sad I missed it, but...it was all good, because my host family took me through the shrine and explained a few things to me as best they can. It was a special day too. I forget the name in Japanese, but the signs in English said Thanks Dolls Festival Day, and my host mom explained that, rather than throwing old, beloved stuffed animals or dolls away, on this day, people from all around bring their dolls/toys there (pay a fee I'm sure), and line them up together along the front corners of the inner courtyard of the Shrine; then, they offer thanks to the god, I think, for the doll (for being a loyal friend I guess). My host mom was too creeped out to go near them, but my dad took me over and we looked, and there were all kinds: Hello Kitty, expensive-looking geisha dolls, those wish face things, regular kid's dolls. Quite a sight. Also, there were three weddings going on while we were there, and we got to see the procession of one of them. Evidentally, the close relations of the bride, for the wedding, wear these long black kimonos with either a koi fish, or a dragon or some golden design on them, and of course the bride wears a white kimono with this weird pocket thing that goes over her head, and her makeup is done like a geisha's, and the groom wears a certain traditional black and gray kimono-outfit thing with a fuzzy white ball on the front. Evidentally, when 'Erika-sama', aka Erika Sawajiri, aka the girl from 1 Liter of Tears, got married, she got married at the Meiji Shrine. She's been on the news a lot lately because her company nulled her contract, supposedly over questions of drugs, though she's been a bit of a bi-atch to the media all along, so she's always been a thorn in their side. But, anyways, I also found out that there's a thing that when boys are 3, 5 and 7 years old, and when girls are 3 and 7 (I think it is), they dress up in a certain kimono outfit and go to a shrine and there's a ceremony. Dunno why though.

So, after we went to the Meiji Shrine, we backtracked and my host mom wanted to go to some of the big, popular stores. I don't have the faintest clue why, but yet again this time, when I went with them, the place was PACKED. I mean, it was nuts. It was all I could do to keep up with them in the crowd (and that's saying something, seeing as I'm like, a foot taller than everyone else). We went to Kitson, which is the newest brand, and the one my host mom most wanted to see, but it was packed and crazy expensive, so we left fairly quickly. We went next to H&M, which was even more packed, but a much larger store. And then we went to Forever 21, and you've never seen real madness until you've seen that place. For anyone who even remotely likes to shop, I suggest you try this 'shopping in a popular Harajuku store' thing at least once. It is an experience.

Also, worthy of mention...if you're into Japanese TV and stuff, some places to go are FujiTV studios in Odaiba, NHK studios which is on the main road in Shibuya (the road on the right of the Starbucks at the crosswalk), Ameba (the online music site), which is located on the right side of the Omote-Sando in Harajuku (they sometimes have guests), and J-Wave radio, which is in the fifth floor (I think) of the HMV store in Shibuya, same street as above. If I find anywhere else, I'll put that up. NHK is big for kids' shows and jidaigeki (period dramas), but I HIGHLY recommend FujiTV's place. It was a lot of fun when I went.

Oh, we also went to the Edo museum today, as a field trip, but I'd say, unless you really love Japanese history, it's a pass. I mean, it was really neat to see, but I wouldn't have gone that far out of my way to see it. It does cost, and most of the explanations are only in Japanese (only the labels are in English). I forgot to mention that Tokyo Tower and Rainbow Bridge were lit up the Olympic colors the other day, when the city still hadn't been decided, so, that was cool. I've uploaded some more pics in the general First Few Days file, so check those out when you can. Well then, talk to everyone later!