Tokyo

We had our first ride on the Shinkansen (bullet train). The stations have enough of a mixture of romaji and hiragana that it is possible to navigate with minimum help. Having a ticket in Japanese also does wonders because pointing works well, along with lots of arigato- gozaimasu’s and summimasen’s. We’re getting quite good at at least that part. Arriving in Tokyo we discovered that there wasn’t just 1 exit, there were 6! We had no idea which one Kazumi would be at so we headed for the North exit (Kita means north, hence the connection). Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait long before she appeared, breathless. She had been hurrying from one to the other to find us. It was still another 15 min. or so to their station and then a 15 min. walk to their home. It sounds like a long time but when you look at the network of cars and roads it’s probably half the time you would have spent driving!

Funabashi is a suburb of Tokyo though I don’t think there was any break whatsoever between the various cities – they simply run together and one side of the street is in one city, the other in the next (much like LA).They live in a very tiny apartment that reminded of us American travel trailers. Everything is compact and no space is overlooked or unused. Extremely efficient though tiny, tiny, tiny. They are saving money so that they can get something much better in the future. Housing is VERY expensive in Japan – much more so than in the US.

We spent Saturday going to Asusaka shrine in Tokyo. It’s a very large shrine with the traditional gate and long, at one time elegant, entrance path up to the actual shrine. It now has the air of a festival with many vendors lining the path, selling their wares and games for the children. We tried the fortune telling – if you get a bad one you can tie it to the tree so that it will take away the bad fortune for you. Jeff’s was very good but I definitely tied mine to the tree with a very secure knot! The shrine itself is fabulous. The details put into the roof tiles and statues and carvings is unbelievable. The center altar piece (for lack of a better word) was totally made of gold, intricately made into tiny shapes and patterns. It was spectacular to see. The splendor and beauty was in sharp contrast to the festival quality outside.

We took off to “Jeff’s town” after that, visiting the area in Tokyo, famous for its electronics. He and Kaz had a wonderful time going in and out of all the stores with electronic marvels and deals that dazzled the eyes. We have decided that the next time we go up there, Kazumi and I are going to go to the zoo while Kaz and Jeff come back to visit the stores.

We went to a 3 generation festival in Chiba. It was very much like a fair in the states with a few major differences.... For a start, the food included squid on a stick, octopus and chocolate covered bananas. They also had a large group of people doing "funny face dancing". They all wore different kinds of masks and danced around on the street. It was great to see!