I just started reading a book called The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama. I say “just started,” but I’m actually more than half done with it in just two days. It is conjuring up all sorts of memories of my time in Japan.

Even though we only spent a few nights in Yanaka last year, it became a magical place in my head. This probably has more to do with the fact that it was the first place I’d been to in Japan in 20 years than anything else. But maybe, just maybe, Yanaka is a magical place.

Tsukiyama’s book is set mostly in Yanaka (for the first half of the book anyway), and I really feel like I’m there again as I read it. When she speaks of the temple bell (or gong) being stuck 108 times on the New Year (joya no kane) I think back to visiting Zenshoan (全生庵寺院‎) in the Yanaka neighborhood with its gold Buddha and beautiful Zen Buddhist bell pictured below.

The title of the book refers to the path through Yanaka Cemetery (谷中霊園) between Tennoji and Jomyoin (loads of jizo here and all over the streets and temples in the Yanaka area).

I’ll post more once I finish the book in a few days.

The above photo shows some Yanaka jizo.

The above picture is of the Yanaka Ginza (谷中銀座) frequently mentioned in the book.

We got lost one time coming out of the wrong exit at Nippori Station and ended up at the large Buddah statue in Tennoji pictured above. We then walked through the Yanaka Cemetery, the “street of a thousand blossoms,” purchased and ate yakiimo (baked sweet potato) from an old man selling them out of the cart he cooked them in, and chatted with some people who were enjoying the evening hanami (the cherry blossom viewing parties; there weren’t yet really many blossoms in Tokyo though).

That experience was, by far, the best time I’ve ever had getting lost.

Posted on June 13th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: book review, books, buddhist, cherry blossoms, Japan, japan pictures, jizo, sakura, Tokyo, yanaka. Comments: 4

Amusement parks are very popular in Japan, not only with the Japanese locals but also with foreign tourists. I really don’t understand the latter. For instance, why would an American going to Japan want to go to a more crowded, more expensive version of what they can already get at home (while in a country like Japan with so many things that are unique and foreign to normal experiences)?

I’ve never been to Tokyo Disneyland, and I hope it stays that way. I did go to Universal Studios Osaka and regretted it. However, when traveling with kids it can be difficult to avoid the amusement park trap; I mean trip. My suggestion is to avoid the ones everyone knows about and find something a little different.

Flashback to 1989… I was living in Tokorozawa, Japan. Nearly every night during the summer I was treated to a fireworks show from my apartment thanks to a nearby amusement park called Seibuenyuenchi (西武園ゆうえんち). I only went there once and my recollection was that there weren’t many rides. I remember animals there–especially a peacock. Either my memory is bad or things really changed at Seibuen Yuenchi between 1989 and 2007.

While surfing the net before going to Japan in 2007 I told my kids that I once went to an amusement park in Japan that now appears to have a Hello Kitty Marchen Town. They had to see it so we put it on the agenda. Plus, I wanted to check out my old Tokorozawa neighborhood which in my memory looked like scenes from Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ). (Miyazaki lives in Tokorozawa.)

Given that the cost of Seibuen Yuenchi is a small fraction of what you’ll pay at Universal Studios Japan or Tokyo Disneyland I was happy that if we were going to do an amusement park it would be this one.

Although most of the park consisted of your typical rides, this section of the park, for younger kids, is what I will share with you in pictures. Here my kids are heading off to the Hello Kitty Angel Coaster.

Hello Kitty and her friends were all over the place in this section of the park. I’m guessing that Sanrio Puroland (サンリオピューロランド) is like this on a much larger and much more expensive and crowded scale.

The above ride was like the Mad Tea Party ride at Disneyland except that you get to spin in Hello Kitty and her friends.

The above video is of my kids on the Hello Kitty Angel Coaster. We were the only foreigners in the park that day and it wasn’t very crowded, even though it was a holiday week.

If you want an inexpensive amusement park experience in Japan then Seibuen Yuenchi isn’t bad. Nearby is an indoor skiing facility called Sayama Ski Slope. To get there take the applicable Seibu line from Ikebukuro or Shinjuku. Coupons are sometimes available on the website linked above.

Posted on June 9th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: amusement parks, ghibli, hello kitty, Japan, japan pictures, tokorozawa, Tokyo, video. Comments: 3

If you are a U.S. baseball fan the name Alex Cabrera probably doesn’t ring any bells. Or maybe the first you heard of him was when his name was included in the Mitchell Report late in 2007. (Note that Cabrera has never tested positive for steriods and denies ever having used them.) Most probably don’t know that he could have had the record for most home runs in a season in Japan had he been pitched to in 2002. He hit 154 home runs between 2001 and 2003. Baseball seasons are shorter in Japan so to hit 154 home runs in under 400 games is practically unheard of. That’s Barry Bonds territory.

But because he didn’t play in the states, and he is originally from Venezuela instead of the states, virtually no one in the U.S. knows about him. That isn’t the case in Tokorozawa, Japan.

I wrote a bit about a Seibu Lions game we went to here. I thought I’d also share a video I made of the fans cheering for Cabrera.

Each player had a different cheer (or two). Since it was early in the season (this was only the second home game of the year), the words to the cheer were written on the cards male cheerleaders are holding up in the above video. It didn’t seem like anyone needed the cue cards though.

Posted on June 7th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: baseball, Japan, seibu lions, tokorozawa, video. Comments Off on Alex Cabrera カブレラ アレックス

I’m going to be out of town the next few days so I thought I’d post about a book I just finished before heading out. Manga! Manga! by Frederik L. Schodt (and with a foreward by the famous Osamu Tezuka 手塚治虫) was an interesting read. The contents are very dated now, and it wasn’t as fun to read as Mangajin, but I still found it hard to put down.

I’m currently reading Autobiography of a Geisha (along with about ten other things), and it is even more of a page turner.

My kids’ blog is now up here. Hopefully, they will use it so you can read about our adventures through their eyes.

Posted on May 14th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: book review, books, Japan, Japanese Manga, recommendations, reviews. Comments Off on Manga! Manga!