Following some indecision and confusion the marvelousmrchip arranged to come to Tokyo at the weekend, just passing through on his way to New Zealand.
A museum, on a stick…well, 4 sticks…
We started out (after a little jetlag recovery) on saturday at the Edo-Tokyo museum, a building on stilts just by the train line over to Chiba. Its one of those buildings I’ve always looked at wondering what was inside, but it was too far from the railway to read the signs (even if I’d been able to read the script). There is an escalator that takes you up from the ground through a hole in the floor to the entrance on the sixth floor. Don’t ask me how they figure out its the sixth, the first second and third are missing, and the fifth is more of a mezzanine.
The museum itself contains a series of exhibits showing the development of Edo into Tokyo. I guess a few highlights (or lowlights, depending on your point of view) are introduction of aquaducts, great fires (1657), many many not-so-great fires, opening of trade connections, the birth of manga, kibuke ghost automata, Kanto earthquake (1923), the Pacific War and the rise (and fall) of the manufacturing industry. All of which were accompanied by small plaques explaining in Japanese and English what the things on display were and some background to how they were used – usual museum fair.
Sumo science
Time for coffee, having wilted rather badly halfway around the museum and rushed the last half (it was coming up to closing time anyway), we headed back to the station expecting that we’d find a coffee shop there, but on the way encountered a line of people waiting on the street for something to happen. So we joined them, just to see what they were waiting for. It seems there was a sumo match just finishing and the wrestlers were leaving the building and posing for photographs outside. (why do sumo wrestlers need bodyguards?) We headed off once we’d figured out what was happening and found a local coffee shop. Halfway through our impromtu meal (they brought us English menus, it seemed only fair to order something from it) one of the wrestlers sneaks in trying to avoid his adoring public. He is followed shortly by a huge party of middle aged fans brandishing enormous paper bags all alike.
Tales of the riverbank
Asakusa is only a short walk up the river from here, so we wend our way through the adoring sumo fans to the riverfront, where there are tramps sweeping aside the remains of their makeshift homes after a fire, but they still stop to bow as you pass anyway. I briefly lose the temple as we turn up one crossroad too early and the department store and train station have turned into a building site (I know these guys move quickly, but it was only three weeks ago I was here, shopping in a perfectly servicable shop which showed no sign of imminent closure). Confusion ended once the real store revealed itself on our right just a little further up the road.
Cargo train
The market area seemed on the verge of closing, but there was also a sense of frantic activity. Closer to the temple we discovered a cargo bearing group of people heading toward us, so we stand aside to watch them pass. They are followed by a couple more similar groups, each carrying a decorative gold cargo and chanting, each preceded by a pair of lantern bearers and a clapperman keeping everyone in rhythm.
Once the convoy has passed we make our way to the temple compound, where there is evidence of some kind of festival going on, with more stalls around than normal. Theres a kibuke tea ceremony going on on a stage to the east, theres candyfloss hello kitty and teams of cargo bearers relaying their boxes around the local streets. Theres advertising lanterns proclaiming 100mbps net connections.
The atmosphere at the festival was very positive and accepting, not like religious events back home, where I feel like I’m not welcomed.
After the precession headed out again we lost them and decided to head back to take a break before going on to Midnight Mess…despite the rain and the fact that it was gone midnight by the time we got out again we still found some food before heading to LunaSiSoar.
Jump around
The mix of music was much as it normally is, but Chip was appalled by the apparently unironic inclusion of a BoneyM song, and by my dancing to TRex. I was trying to take some action pictures of people on the dancefloor, but Michael came out looking like he was just standing still, I swear he was jumping around like a lunatic when I took that!
I spoke to the cute girl whose name I don’t remember (something like Raisu-san, I think, she used to be a slimelight regular, so if anyone back in the smoke remembers her, let me know), but apart from that the crowd was quite quiet, with fewer than usual people there.
Just another day in the park
After such an event Sunday morning started a little later than usually scheduled, we emerged around 1pm to take a wander around Yoyogi-koen. Despite the rain there were still plenty of lolitas about and the dancing Elvises were there, with their amplifier wrapped in plastic to protect it from the elements.
Over the bridge toward Shibuya we discovered a dance festival with a couple of overloaded donkeys and a floating train. We were also given 2002 calendars by an enthusiastic, but somewhat misguided, religious freak.
Chip made a last minute attempt to postpone his flight to Sydney, which gave him another 24 hours here….time to buy a camera, then find a curry and retire for an early night before an early morning – Chip was hoping to get himself on a tour of Hakone and Fuji, so headed off at stupid o-clock yesterday morning, leaving me with the aftermath of a whirlwind visit.
You can’t do tokyo in 48 hours.
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