Herbs, Tea, Rocks and Dirt: Past Trip: Japan 2003 + 2004

Back in 2003 I was lucky? enough to be selected to go to Japan on business. In reality, no one else wanted to go. I made 3 trips to Tokyo totaling about 7 weeks in the county; June, September and again in January of 2004 for a week.

My temporary office

The office was in right in Tokyo at the Ningyocho subway station, my hotel, Hotel Saibo was only blocks away. Tokyo was as strange to me as anything I could imagine. The city was a mix of real old and real new. Small noodle shops and 7-11 convenience stores side by side. Conveyor-belt Sushi places and French Pastry shops, modern hi-rise buildings and warrens of traditional housing. Ladies in traditional dress, children in school uniforms, Japanese men in suits and everybody had camera phones. I bought lots of ceramic dishes and chopsticks and chopstick rests.

Some things I learned

they drive on the left
rice balls are triangular
they are very polite
they are not all 3 feet tall
they wrap things beautifully
their entry tickets are beautiful too
if you ask questions in Japanese, they will respond in Japanese and then you are stuck
Chicken breast cartilage is an appetizer
They actually wait till the light changes to cross the street

Tickets for Tokyo sights (pink paper is a sweets wrapper)

Work days were long, but it was hard to tell if people were working or just killing time till the boss left. Lunch could be long as well and in the afternoon the office lady would come around and offer sweets to the employees. I worked in the office and went to meetings at the customer's location and also did some work in an old almost abandoned warehouse. I didn't always have a lot of work to do so I took off around mid-day and explored the city. At night often a group would go out and have dinner and drinks, if dinner wasn't brought in.

On my first trip I was able to see a lot of sights around Tokyo and I also took a weekend trip to Kyoto, the old capital of Japan.
In Tokyo I visited;

Asakusa Kannon Temple

Ginza (South of Tokyo Station) - strolled around and looked for music stores, English bookstores and checked out department stores and Izakayas(Traditional food and drink places)

Kabuki-za (Kabuki Theater, I didn't see any performances)

Tokyo National Museum in Uneo Park, multiple buildings. Hokan held Japanese Art and had a great sword collection, Heiseikan had Japanese archaeology and Toyokan had Eastern Art. I spent more time at the first 2 and just breezed through the third major building. The grounds had many interesting typical Japanese features as well.

The Kuromon "Black Gate" originally the front gate of some famous dude, moved here in the 1800s.

Imperial Gardens (East and Outer) near Tokyo Station.

Electric Town in Akihabara (Electronic and computer heaven)

Kyoto
I took the bullet train(Shinkansen) to Kyoto which took about 2 hours. I was hoping to see Mt. Fuji on the way, but did not because of cloud cover. I got a room at a Ryokan a traditional Japanese inn, I had a 3 tatami mat room about 6' by 10'.

Ryokan Hiraiwa

Room receipt and map

While in Kyoto I saw gardens and shrines non stop for 2 days and there were still way more to see.
I had lunch one day at Munich Haus down an alley off Shijo Dori. Ate wursts, sauerkraut and drank beer in a bar with German decorations and all Japanese people except me.
Day 1

Nijo Castle - palace buildings, defensive walls, gardens. The palace has Nightingale floors which squeak as you walk, so you can't sneak up on the king.

Ryoanji Temple - famous for its rock garden, just 15 rocks, white gravel and some moss, no matter where you stand you can never see all 15 rocks.

Brochure and ticket

Rokuon-Ji (The Golden Pavilion)

Ticket and Brochure

Day 2

Kyoto National Museum - very good ceramics, Lacquer-ware, swords and armor.

Sanju-Sangen-Do - Long temple with 1001 statues of the Buddhist deity Juichimen-senju-sengen Kanzeon aka Kannon. Warriors used to see who could shoot arrows the length of the long narrow temple without hitting the walls, ceiling, floor or errant monks. The temple had a pleasant smell.

Brochure and ticket

Shosei-en Garden, Teahouses, pond, bridges, 10 minutes from Kyoto Station. Belongs to the nearby Higashi Honganji Temple, which I didn't visit since I had already overdosed on Temples and Shrines.

On my second trip to Tokyo my better half was able to come along. On the flight over she and this guy (who I met on the way home) were the only 2 blond people on the plane. She took bus tours while I was at work and we took a bus tour together to Nikko a large temple complex north of Tokyo. There was also a National Holiday while we were there so I had an extra day that we were able to spend together

Nikko National Park(day trip) a vast Temple complex, also visited Lake Chyuzenji and saw a waterfall.

Meiji Jingu - West of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, we used the Omotesando and Meiji-Jingumae stations. A Shinto Shrine dedicated to the 122th Emperor of Japan. The site consists of the Main Shrine, gardens and some treasury buildings we did not visit. We saw a wedding taking place. Harajuku in the same area is where kids dress up like Goths and Anime characters, they congregate on the bridge that leads to the Meiji-jingu shrine. We also walked down the very crowded Takeshita-dori, a famous pedestrian street with lots of crazy fashionable shops.

Oriental Bazaar - a very nice souvenir shop (several floors) between Omotesando and Meiji-Jingumae stations on Omote Sando avenue. Very worth a visit.
Tower Records in Shibuya, they had band score books for lots of rock bands.
Kyu-Shiba-Rikyu Gardens - surrounded by office buildings, but remarkable very peaceful and after a bit you forget all about the buildings.

Mt. Fiji tour - not me though, I had to work, someone got to see Mt. Fuji, not me though I had to work.

Tokyo Tower (not me either)
Sushi near the Tsukiji Fish Market
my favorite hole in the wall Izakaya under the train tracks in Ginza, good food and beer, much more enjoyable than by yourself.

On my third trip, I went to do a Demonstration for a new feature. When not preparing for the Demo I was able to get out and see some places I didn't get to see on my previous visits.

Tokyu Hands - a huge craft store, very worth a visit
Nezu Institute of Fine Art - Buddhist and Shinto paintings, ceramics, they had a garden as well.
Hibiya-koen Park, near the Imperial Palace Garden. Some of the trees were trussed up for the winter for protection against snow and wind.

Some local sights around the office.

Small shrine just out the side.

A Pachinko Parlor - I played one day, it was very loud affair with lots of flashing lights and loud music and the sound of millions of small steel balls bouncing around trying to escape the machine. I didn't see the attraction.