TravelJapanBlog.com

Chinatown 横浜中華街

acase — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:14:27 +0000

I’m in China now. Or at least I hope I am. I’m actually typing this a few days before heading to China, and scheduling it to post later, so today’s pics aren’t from China but from Yokohama’s Chinatown (横浜中華街).

Kamakura Daibutsu (Giant Buddha) hike

acase — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:54:19 +0000

Last week I made my fourth excursion to Kamakura. I have taken a completely different route each time and still feel like I have much to explore and discover in this ancient capital of Japan.

We followed Yamaonna’s Kamakura Daibutsu Hiking Course 大仏ハイキングコース during the morning. I won’t repeat everything she said. Click the link for details.

We skipped Engakuji as I was just there at the end of November. Tokeiji (東慶寺), our first stop, was incredible. I’ll have more pictures from Tokeiji in future entries. The top picture in today’s entry is from there.

The trail itself was very cool and nearly empty. The second picture is of an “ordinary” house, and its fence, on the first part of the trail.

There are a few things I would add or change to Yamaonna’s write up of the Giant Buddha Hiking Course.

One is Jochiji’s admission fee, which has increase by 50 yen in the past few months to 200 yen. Strangely, the 200 yen sign looked very old. Maybe they change the price based on the season?

One item about the Daibutsu Hiking Course I would add is that there are views on this hike when you are near the top. The views to the right are of Mt. Fuji and those to the left are of the bay and the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, the morning was overcast and a bit hazy so we couldn’t see Mt. Fuji and could barely see the ocean when we sat down on the above, empty bench next to these four Japanese ladies.

If you aren’t tired after your walk and after visiting the Daibutsu, make sure to visit Hasedera if you haven’t before or if you aren’t planning on doing so on a future trip. From there you can jump on the train and go to Enoshima or you can walk the beach back most of the way to the Kamakura station, saving 250 yen and seeing much more than you can see from the train.

Also, a cheaper way to get to Kamakura is from Shibuya through Yokohama. Instead of the 780 or 890 yen quoted on Yamaonna’s blog, it is only 550 yen (although it takes a bit longer).

One final note, this hike can be very muddy if it has rained recently. It hadn’t rained in almost 48 hours but it was still muddy for us in places. I wouldn’t recommend this hike if it has rained in the past 24 hours.

China’s Tokyo Embassy (The Craziest Place on Earth)

acase — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:31:53 +0000

Imagine the worst DMV on the planet. Now put that DMV on steroids. And not good steroids, that make things work better, but steroids that do nothing but multiply all the things that make a trip to the DMV loathable.

The first thing you will notice at the Chinese Embassy is that you wait in line to go through security at the front door even though the security is fake. There are two security guards and a metal detector at the door. However, the metal detector goes off for more than half the people that go through it, and the guards do nothing but wave such people by. One guard asked to look through my backpack. I handed it to him. He cracked one of the three zippers and then handed it back. I could have had a gun in each of the three zippered sections (it was heavy enough as I had a book in one section and a camera in another, as well as other things), and he wouldn’t have caught them.

The place where all visas are handled is three stories high. The first level was crowded with people in various lines. I somehow figured out that I should be on the third level for my visa and was happy to leave the madness of the first level behind…

…until I got to the third level which was far worse. This 3rd floor room should never have more than about 60 people in it. On my first time there there were well over 100 people. There are lines on the 3rd floor to get numbers to get in more lines, lines to use the copy machine, lines to ask questions without a number, and more lines. People were packed in here like it was a train at rush hour. After waiting in a line of 20+ people to get a number I was told to make a copy of all of my documents. I then got in line to use the copy machine. When I got to the front of the copy machine line I found that it only takes 10 yen coins, of which I had zero. Luckily, the lady next to me gave me one. Eventually my number was called, and I was told to come back in three days to pick up my visa.

I did come back three days later as instructed, waited to get in, went through the fake security again (setting off the alarm again but was told to keep going anyway), waited in one line (Line 4) on the first floor for a while until I got close enough to the front to see the above sign, and then switched lines (to Line 6). I waited in that line only to find out that I had to go back to the third floor first. On the third floor I waited in the line to ask questions and was told to wait in the line to get a number. After waiting in the line to get a number, I waited for my number to be called. After handing over a receipt I was then told to go back to the first floor. There I waited in Line 6 where I was told to put 15,000 yen (almost $200) into a vending machine before waiting in Line 4 again. So I waited in line to put my money in a vending machine. Then I waited in Line 4 and finally received my visa to visit China.

More pets than children in Japan

acase — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:09:13 +0000

A recent article in the Japan Times says that there are now about six million more pets in Japan than there are kids under 16 years of age. This is very different than my experience in Japan during the late 1980s. I’m guessing there were probably 10 million more children in Japan than pets back then. That’s quite a change is just over 20 years.

Jizo (the six statues) are associated with children so I’m trying to show you a bit of irony in the above photo. I took this picture at Gokokuji.

ふしぎな図書館

acase — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:50:04 +0000

I checked out ふしぎな図書館 (The Strange Library) from my local library without even opening it. Murakami’s name on the spine was good enough for me. I brought it with me on my first attempt to go to China, and ended up reading the whole thing on the train on the way to and from the airport.

The book hasn’t been translated into English so I don’t feel bad divulging portions of the plot since few of you will likely be reading it. A boy goes into a library, is sent down to the basement to ask an old librarian for help, is tricked by the librarian, and ends up spending a great deal of time locked up in a cell of sorts deep beneath the library.

Some of Murakami’s common themes show up here, even though this book is somewhat different than normal for him. Like his other works, the symbolism makes the reader think. Beyond those aspects, I found Fushigi Na Toshokan rather entertaining just because the setting is so much like the library at Waseda University. Perhaps that is where Murakami got the idea (as he was a student at Waseda many years ago).

At the Waseda University library you enter on the second floor. When you go down a floor you are forced to remove all of your belongings and put them in a locker (which wouldn’t be so strange were it not for the fact that you don’t have to do that on other floors where there are plenty of books one could possibly steal as well). You then show your ID to obtain a pass to go into the basement. The basement includes a huge collection of books. Below the basement is yet another basement with another huge collection of books. This basement below the basement is where I normally go as some of the books are in English. The ordering is rather bizarre for the non-Japanese books. They aren’t grouped by language, so on a single shelf you will find a book in English next to a book written in Russian next to a book written in Spanish, etc. Nor do they use anything like the Dewey Decimal System, although they are numbered. For instance, I found Tsukiji: The Fish Market at the Center of the World on a shelf and proceeded to explore the books around it, hoping there would be other guidebooks or books about Japan. Instead, there were marketing textbooks and other books with the word “market” in the title.

Anyway, under the second basement of the Waseda University library is yet another basement. This third basement is roped off. I suppose this third, unreachable basement could have been fodder for Murakami’s imagination, resulting in this book.

One other strange thing about the Waseda University library is that many books must be “ordered” online while you are in the library. The ordered books mysteriously appear at the first floor desk 10 minutes later. I always want to look on the shelves around the ordered book I know I want to see what else may be of interest. This is especially true of works in English since there are so few English titles available at other libraries. I’d like to browse the shelves where these books came from, but that isn’t allowed. This is similar to what happens in ふしぎな図書館 as the boy can’t look for his own books. Instead, the librarian retrieves them for him.

I like how Murakami shows how quickly us humans can turn the craziest of situations into “normal” in a short period of time. It doesn’t take long for the boy in the story to get settled in to a life of bondage on the one hand and having a cook who is half boy and half sheep on the other. The initial shock wears off quickly, and it doesn’t seem so strange that someone can be part boy and part sheep. I ponder this, by the way, as I sit in a Japanese restaurant next to Waseda University on a cushion on a tatami floor, slurping soba, while Frank Sinatra plays in the background. Someone who has never been to Japan before would find this scene extremely odd, perhaps even Twilight Zoneish. I now find it “normal.”

ふしぎな図書館 by 村上春樹 is actually a picture book (絵本) of sorts as every few pages is a picture. I’m not sure who ふしぎな図書館 is aimed at, as it is pretty creepy to be a little kids’ book, but there are furigana next to many kanji, even some that aren’t that difficult. Murakami is fairly easy to read in Japanese to begin with. This book, with the pictures and furigana, is an excellent choice if you are looking to improve your Japanese and can read a few hundred kanji.