A Day in the Tokyo Sun

Well, I am back in Ichinoseki and the difference couldn't be more noticeable when it comes to temperature. Actually today it was around 3 degrees, but coming from Tokyo which now seems like the sunniest warmest place on Earth, I am really feeling the cold. Was very difficult for me to get to sleep last night because I was so cold!
In Tokyo and Yokohama we enjoyed sunny days with the mercury rising to around 12 degrees on every day. I didn't need to wear thermals! Now, well, there was a hint of snow and there's a bit on the ground, but the wind cuts through you like a knife! It's seriously freezing! And the worst is yet to come!

Crowds at Shinagawa.

Still, my last day in Yokohama saw me head into Tokyo. I brilliantly got off at the wrong station which was a good start - I wanted Shinjuku, but I got off at Shinagawa because I still get all my shins mixed up! Outside the station there was a crowd lined up waiting for the runners in this massive 2-day race they have here around New Year every year to pass. Teams (of seven I think) link in a big relay to run a total of 109 km each day of two. It was on television, every second of it! Still, Australia has it's traditional New Year's Cricket match at the SCG too, sporting events are special this time of year. And it turned out to be a special test match, didn't it...

This building is not like its neighbours.

I think the runners were curiously still some time away, like an hour or two if not more. But already there were plenty of people in this area of town with wide streets and shiny buildings. Nestled in between two buildings was this small and ancient-looking temple which I thought was very interesting. Across the road I looked at a map of the area and couldn't work out why it didn't correspond to the one I was looking at in my trusty guide book. Oh... I'm not where I think I am. At all! D'oh! Yes... a proper fool was I.

On the train again, it took 45 minutes plus to get to Shinjuku, more than double the time you'd expect. There were fires near the tracks, according to the information screen in the carriage. So we stopped at Harajuku station for over ten minutes, taking on enough passengers in that time that no more could fit inside the train. We stopped again two or three times, the last time for over ten minutes 200 metres from the Shinjuku station platform!

I have to admit, I like a good whopper. And I enjoyed one at Shinjuku station - McDonald's and KFC are the big winners in the American Fast Food Wars here, Burger King is much harder to find outside a couple of main centres. I was a bit disappointed in the size of large fries and drink, but the meal was satisfying. I'm sure that large in Australia is bigger than Burger King here, the fries are bigger here at McDonalds than Burger King, I am sure of that!

Walkway on the 29th floor of the NS building, Shinjuku.

I revisited the NS building in Shinjuku for some good views of the city with blue skies in the background.
Then I made my way through an interesting residential area to get to the vast Meiji Shrine park. It's a really big park I visited back in 2011, however, this time I was not able to get close to the Meiji Shrine itself, although I'm sure I could have if I waited long enough. Getting to a temple around New Year is very important here, and despite it being the 3rd, the queue to get to the temple was an hour plus long, at a guess. The park was wonderful to walk about, and if you can fade the faint sounds out from Tokyo, you might think you're in woods somewhere. Then there were policemen stationed at different points, not allowing access towards the temple from the north. They wanted to control the flow of people which is reasonable I expect.

More food stalls could also be found and this visit was clearly a family affair for many.
I walked down to Shibuya, wanting to see if a couple of museums were open. The Salt and Tobacco museum had moved when I eventually found it, the Tepco Electricity Museum I couldn't find at all. I suspect it has been closed down completely, probably after the 2011 tsunami - Tepco is the company responsible for the Fukushima Daichi Plant. You know the one.

So, more time spent in Tower Records, where I had a good hard think about J-pop. And, well, I think there's a whole blog in my thoughts, so I won't elucidate here and now. However - Watch this space!
The next blog should be up in the next few days, however I will save J-pop for another time because it's going to require a little bit of research. Around Tuesday - ish you can expect to see the continuation of my top ten destinations - we are up to number five!

I left Tokyo yesterday on the Shinkansen. It's easily the best way to travel in Japan. It's smooth and fast and pops you back at the centre of the city you're heading too. It's raging hot with fires in parts of Australia now, but I can barely feel my feet! Take care 'til the next time...

A Very Japanese New Year

So this is my first New Year in Japan. It's kind of a big deal here, well, Christmas is a time to eat sponge cakes with cream, see Santa-san and go to KFC for dinner. No, that is not a joke! So New Year is more special, involving spending time with family and visiting temple. Which is what I did.

Lining up at the temple.

People decorate the front of their house with pine tree-branches, sometimes combined with bamboo. Actually this simple piece of decoration can be seen many places around town and Japan. We made the trip down to Yokohama on the 30th and have another day here before heading back to Ichinoseki, where it is much colder than here. We left snow, no sign of it here. Day time maximums around the 12 degrees (positive) so that's a mercy, I can tell you!

I went with my wife yesterday to Iseyama Kotai Jingu (temple) where there was a long queue but nothing compared to many other temples. People line up to make a prayer. When you finally reach the temple, bow five times, throw some money into a wooden receptacle, and clap twice. This temple is famous for a rock (without a name) too, which apparently gives off good energy. Stalls went down the street selling mostly fried delights for those who dared to test their stomach.

Food stalls.

Looking down on some Osechi.

Kamaboko

We also enjoyed a traditional New Year's food. Osechi it's called, but sadly I failed the cultural food-based test badly. Although the chicken was ok! I found most of what I was offered very difficult to eat. The hardest was Kamaboko, hard to describe but my wife likened it to ham, but to me it tasted very seafoody. In fact I was just told it's made of fish paste! It looks like some sort of sweet, but it doesn't taste like that at all!






We did get to see a wonderful sunset over Mount Fuji on New Year's Eve, but it's not so much the party-celebration western countries experience, rather it's for the family. And otherwise it was pretty quiet. How was your New Year's?

Merry Christmas and all that! (a little bit about surviving winter in Japan)

Dear everyone,
Merry Christmas to you all, if indeed you celebrate Christmas. The world is a big, wonderful place and I hope that 2014 will offer me more chances to explore, perhaps back in Australia around mid-year! Here in Japan Christmas is quiet I guess. I havent really done anything today at all. I took receipt of my new computer at least. The old one died last week which is why you haven't heard from me of late. Expect that soon the blogs will be coming again, as I will finish up the last five top destinations of my top ten, write more about Japan and do my best to brave this winter.So far we have had a bit of snow, but not a lot.
To keep the place warm we need to winter-proof the apartment. Unfortunately Japan is not as well equipped for winter as you might expect - for starters, double-glazed windows aren't that common. So, bubble wrap is the order of the day to provide a small bit of insulation.
Here you can see my attempts at insulating the doors/windows. Even the front door, not made of glass, gets a going over in an attempt to keep the cold out. Nevertheless, we find that after turning off the heater, the temperature plummets pretty quickly.

A cold winter's day, through the bedroom window.

Bubble-wrapping in progress!

Last night in Ichinoseki it was around -3 or -4 degrees celcius outside. The temperature inside when we woke at about 6am was plus 4. When we went to bed it would have been around plus 15 or so, which is freezing in Melbourne, but really quite toasty here! It's amazing how your outlook changes.

Front door with bubble wrap and kerosene tank.

Our kerosene heater.

We use a kerosene heater, popular in Japan. Last year we used the reverse cycle heater/air conditioner, and it took ages to start giving us warm air. The kerosene heater has been much better, and only a little more expensive to run. The difference is well worth it. We were fortunate that someone had a spare and very kindly and generously let us borrow it. We have to fill it up from a tank every few days because we are burning fuel, and it's not the best on the eyes, we need to ventilate the apartment regularly. But that's the price you pay for warmth.
Melbourne, my home town, enjoyed a 31 degree Christmas day, we were about 30 degrees less for a maximum here. Next year we hope to go back to a hot Christmas. Everyone here says a hot Christmas is just not right.Speaking as an Australian, I have to disagree...