Last weekend, we headed west for the first time, taking the Tobu Tojo train to Shinrin Koen (Forest Park). There’s a pretty awesome Forest Park back home too and times like these feel like we’re back in the great, green Pacific Northwest.
We rented bikes and rode most of the 17 kilometer (about 10.5 miles) path around the park. The paths wind through the trees, and around ponds, fountains, arboretums, playgrounds and art installations. A great day trip and definitely on the list of places to return again and again.
Fountain at the south gate of Shinrin KoenThese gnomes protected the fountain at the south gate of Shinrin KoenThese kids were learning how to rope climbPonpoko Mountain—We should have known this wasn’t a real mountain when we had to climb downhill to get thereThe fountain at Memorial Plaza in Shinrin Koen. Snack shack had rose ice cream. Delicious!I’ve always wanted a cruiser bikeKids: Do not try bike selfies at homeMap of the cycling course at Shinrin KoenWe had to walk a couple kilometers from the train station to the park. Stay on the walking path… or meet your fate!The train emptied out a couple stops before the park. We’ve never been on a train this empty in Japan.We passed this recently flooded rice field on the way to Shinrin Koen. The growing season is just starting.
Bulk purchasing isn’t really part of our day-to-day life in Japan. Our 550 square foot apartment, which actually has quite a bit of storage, doesn’t really necessitate things like the Gorilla Metropolis Playset, a swingset that is almost twice the size of our apartment. Or even two-dozen rolls of toilet paper for that matter.
Still, visiting a Japanese Costco was on our list of things to do. In the U.S., a trip to Costco every couple weeks was part of our shopping routine. A case of black beans here, a giant bag of tortilla chips there… things that would keep for awhile. Of course, we had a big pantry and a garage to keep all these things in.
The closest Costco in Iruma was actually not the most convenient, requiring two train transfers and a bus ride, so we chose the other Saitama location in Shinmisato.
The shopping mecca known as LaLaport
The train let us off right outside LaLaport, an expansive indoor/outdoor shopping mall with Forever 21, H&M, Columbia, Adidas; the best fashion stores America Japan has to offer. Ikea anchors the mall on one end and Costco holds down the other.
That little girl’s about to start a riot for a Costco dog!
As we approached Costco, it wasn’t any different from the ones we frequented at home. People packed the outdoor seating, attacking their ¼ pound all-beef sausage with all the toppings.
I can only assume that guy is finishing up something from the Fresh Food Hot Items menu
Just outside the main door, the giant Costco weekly deals billboard greeted us with similar bargains as we’d find in the U.S. Frying pans, reading glasses, tires and tents alongside party-sized platters of sweet rolls and sushi.
Carrot cake cupcakes and Very Berry Mousse Cake
Inside, it was bumper to bumper. The bakery section had giant carrot cake cupcakes and “Very Berry Mousse Cake” that seemed to be popular. The specialty cake section was there too, although with a more Japanese-friendly whipped cream frosting option. It was starting to feel like the end of Wizard of Oz… “And you were there…”
Enough sake to fill a swimming pool, which you can buy on aisle 10
If sweet treats aren’t your thing, maybe the giant liquor section is? I’m sure it’s not that much of a novelty outside of Oregon where liquor sales are tightly controlled, but it was odd to us to see sake, tequila and whiskey for sale alongside the beer and wine.
Our cart. I will gladly ride the train for two hours for Kettle Chips and Tillamook Cheese
All of the product signs were in both Japanese and English, so we were able to put names to items we’d seen other places, but couldn’t identify. In the end, our cart ended up very similar to what we’d buy at home. Sea Salt Kettle Chips (from Salem, OR), Tillamook Pepper Jack Cheese (from Tillamook, OR), strawberry jam, bread, pickled Jalapenos, baby kale and a bottle of Kirkland-brand Malbec. We did buy one distinctly-Japanese item: edamame tofu. The little squares had whole edamame beans (soybeans) inside.
A little taste of home and a little taste of Hokkaido
Epilogue
No trip to Costco is complete without swinging through the snack bar. The famous ¼-pound hot dog—which has a better ring to it than the “0.11339809 kilogram hot dog”, even in metric system Japan—was a crowd favorite. Pizza, coffee, churros and ice cream were paired with some new-to-us items, including clam chowder, pineapple smoothie and bulgogi (Korean barbequed meat) bake.
We ordered a slice of cheese pizza and a Hokkaido soft-cream sundae with raspberries and chocolate and sat down amongst the masses, relishing our first Japanese Costco experience.
Supeingo is “Spanish” in katakana, which is the set of Japanese characters for foreign words. To my untrained ear, it sounds like “spango.”
As a former Spanish teacher, I’m always on the lookout for Spanish words and phrases. A part of me is still in “I have to tell my students about this” mode. Even in Japan! I have found many examples of a Latin presence in this part of the world. A family registering with city hall. A young woman in Japanese class. Several of my students are Latino. I find these glimpses familiar, more so than overhearing Americans on a crowded street in Tokyo.
Last week, I had the chance to sit in on a beginning Spanish class at the university. I can’t remember whether I was invited, or (probably more likely) I invited myself. Several students mentioned taking Spanish class and I was intrigued at an opportunity to compare it to my own experience teaching.
I arrived with the two students. The seats were assigned, but a seat near them was open. While we waited for the professor, I asked one of the students why he decided to take Spanish, and after crowd sourcing for a bit, he came back with the answer that most of the students thought it was an easy class. Ha. I have heard that before.
The professor walked in to a class of about 30. My students introduced me in Japanese and she conversed with me for a bit in Spanish. That was probably the first time I communicated well with a Japanese person in a foreign language. Maybe some day that language will be Japanese. If she was feeling any emotion at my surprise sit in, she didn’t show it. I admit, I tried contacting her in advance but had no luck. What bad manners! But, here we were.
Going over subject pronouns in supeingo class
A flurry of conversation in Japanese. Understandably so as I taught my own students a foreign language in their native language.
The students were passed out a quiz. I grabbed one. It was on beginning vocabulary—teacher, student, etc.—and how to make nouns plural based on number and gender. Ah, this I knew! I was going to ace this quiz. Except for the Japanese prompts. Afterwards, she called on students to give answers and she wrote them on the board. Students corrected their own quiz.
The professor called on me to answer a question. I told her in Spanish that I couldn’t read Japanese but I thought the answer was x or y. My student leaned over and whispered that she told me I was wrong. She only wanted to hear x as the answer. How mortifying! That was a good lesson for me in how my current Japanese students probably feel. They might know the answer, but they have no idea what I’m asking.
After the quiz, students orally reported their score to the teacher. Again, I quietly asked my student about that. What’s to stop a student from calling out a higher score? He said, “She trusts us and we trust her.” This would never fly in the U.S. Also, again, interesting to me my own students’ reactions when I either ask them to grade a neighboring student’s paper or I just take the paper when the quiz is over. They may be used to grading their own and doing so honestly? What a concept.
More Japanese. A video on Toledo, Spain appeared. I was interested because I spent some time in Toledo in college. I could get the gist of the video because I knew the context. That was basically the theme of the class for me. Even though it was conducted in Japanese, I could understand what she was teaching. It actually helped me learn some Japanese vocabulary. It was a fun, brain teaser. My mind was fried by the end of the two hours.
I thanked the teacher as I left and we had a mini conversation about Toledo. I asked her if she had ever seen it in person and then proceeded to thank her/apologize for my presence.
The next day, we went to a Celebration of the Americas/Cinco de Mayo festival in Tokyo. Again, a lot of cross-lingual communication. I had fun talking to some of the food vendors asking them to describe what they were serving. There was food from Colombia, Peru and Spain. Not the most authentic in the world, but I’ll take what I can get!
At some point, a young Latina translated a Japanese menu into Spanish for me so that was exciting. Yes, exciting! I got a high out of feeling understood and an exchange where both parties communicated with each other!
I look forward to my next encounter with supeingo.
Another weekend, another Tokyo adventure. This time we set our sights on Chiyoda, home to the Imperial Palace, the National Gardens, National Archives and Japan’s legislature, known as the National Diet.
Of course, the day was planned around the potential for good eats. We actually found Loving Hut on our first try instead of aimlessly wandering the streets of Tokyo for hours on end. The restaurant is part of an international chain with a goal of providing people access to affordable vegan food. There’s one in Portland with more of a Chinese vibe.
“Be vegan, make peace” say the fine folks at Loving Hut
This location took a more traditional Japanese approach to its menu, but with an awesome weekend twist: VEGAN BUFFET! The fat kid inside me screamed with excitement. All you can eat with no “what’s in this” moments to worry about.
My big, fat vegan lunch
I only took a picture of one plate, but I didn’t stop here. Hoax ham, faux fish, counterfeit chicken—not their real names, but I think I just populated my vegan restaurant menu! “Eel” sushi and veggie pork-stuffed buns (nikuman is the traditional pork-filled bun in Japan) alongside curry, sautéed vegetables, gyoza and fresh rolls. And the “meat”-on-a-stick didn’t stand a chance. I haven’t been so full since we’ve been in Japan.
After eating like a man going to the electric chair, we needed a walk. We were situated right between two great tourist destinations. Chiyoda City to the left, Tokyo Dome City to the right.
We started left and made our way to the Imperial Palace. The original site of Edo Castle, the grounds have beautiful gardens and parts of some buildings date back to the 1600s. Just entering is impressive as you cross the moat designed to protect the palace and enter through massive gates.
No alligators in this moat… as far as I know
Skyscrapers from modern Tokyo peek around corners of centuries-old stone, once again blending the old with the new in the way that only Tokyo can.
Tokyo’s skyscrapers peek through the old stone walls of the Imperial Palace
The gardens were in full bloom with every color in the crayon box, although we’d just missed the sakura by a couple weeks. Equally colorful carp swam in the ponds, showing off for their human visitors.
Trees and flowers in bloom
While the east garden is highlighted mostly by the wide-open park space at its center, the outer garden is more densely populated with flora, including 260 trees representing each of Japan’s prefectures.
A crowd of Nikons and Canons surrounded a bush in the park. Turns out they were capturing one of the days more beautiful and simple sights. Viktoria captured several wonderful photos of this butterfly feeding on the blooms.
Just… wow
After feeling like we’d seen the grounds, we explored the nearby area. We walked through the Kokyo Gaien National Gardens across the street. A beautiful scenic walking path again gave glimpses of new Tokyo while encasing us fully in nature.
The Tokyo Skytree sneaks into view through Tokyo’s real trees
The area is also the home to the Science Museum and Nippon Budokan, the arena where many “Live at Budokan” albums were recorded, including the dynamite Cheap Trick recording.
We headed back the other direction toward Tokyo Dome City, site of the massive Tokyo Dome, home to the Yomiuri Giants.
Japan’s Yankee Stadium
The Giants are Japan’s version of the New York Yankees, owners of 22 Japan Series titles and Japan’s Babe Ruth, infielder Sadaharu Oh. In 22 seasons with Yomiuri, Oh slugged 868 career home runs and won nine Central League MVP awards. I’m sure I’ll gush about Oh more when we return to visit the Japan Baseball Hall of Fame, located in the Tokyo Dome.
The complex is full of restaurants, shopping and an amusement park. Kids of all ages seemed to be having a good time with the different rides and activities.
You hear the screams from the roller coaster before you see the riders
We walked around for awhile and took it all in before finding dinner. We settled on pizza since it’d been awhile since we’d had any. The restaurant served Neapolitan-style pies and the food certainly impressed more than the service. We were seated in the “international” section, next to a couple young men traveling from Iran and a young European couple.
On the way home, we decided to stop in Shibuya for the full, nighttime experience. We were not disappointed.
Shibuya at night
Tokyo’s Times Square was lit up like a Christmas tree and thousands crowded the area heading out for a fun-filled (and booze-filled, from the looks of it) Saturday night on the town.
While in Shibuya, we went to the towering Tokyu Hands department store. Floor after floor of everything you’d ever need. We bought cards (the ones with glue-free envelopes) and light fixtures while perusing fitness items, beauty products and a great Hello Kitty display.
Tokyo provides a lot of opportunity for tourism, shopping… your typical big-city stuff. But, the gems of a city are in the alleyways and parks. We found an abundance of both as our Tokyo adventures continued last weekend in Harajuku.
The fashion scene was pretty subdued that day, but these girls were dancing in Yoyogi Park.
Our primary purpose for the visit was Tokyo’s Earth Day festival in Yoyogi Park, another of Tokyo’s fantastic public park spaces. Hundreds of vendors sold food and goods and non-profit organizations used the opportunity to reach thousands with their messages.
One booth demonstrated how you could pop corn with a reflector and sunlight.
Sun-popped popcorn
Others reminded us of our need for the ethical treatment of animals, our food and ourselves. Not being able to read food labels is actually one of the few real downers of being in Japan. We do the best we can.
Booth reminding us where fur really comes from…
A live band filled the air with covers of American classics. A spot-on rendition of Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart” was followed by a rockabilly take on Elvis Presley’s classic “Hound Dog.”
The Japanese Janis Joplin
The biggest draw to these things is usually the food, and Earth Day 2014 provided some great eats! Veggie “meat” on a stick, steamed “pork” buns and…
French fries as long as my arm.Deep-fried, cheese-filled avocado. Yes, you read that right…
Then there’s the innovative, weird and just plain Tokyo. A dog in a backpack, a truck that turns plastic into oil and whatever that thing is.
Then, there’s this.
After the festival, we explored Harajuku. Shopping is abundant, of course, but there are little pockets of awesome all over the district. We grabbed some amazing raw milk ice cream in coffee at Shiroichi.
These guys were really enjoying their ice cream towers from Shiroichi.
We walked up Takeshita Street, which is the crammed-with-tourists home of Harajuku’s fashion movement. The video screen captures visitors in their last seconds of freedom before crowd-induced claustrophobia takes over.
The camera on Takeshita Street’s gate projects visitors onto the screen. Viktoria is in the gray sweater at far-left.
We finished our big day out at Baird Brewing. At some point I’ll write a post about the beer “scene” in Japan, but on this day, we found a good one. Bryan Baird, a brewer with Pacific Northwest connections, has brought true craft brewing to Tokyo.
Baird Brewing’s Harajuku Taproom
The pub food was fantastic—we had grilled tofu, shitake mushrooms and edamame—but someone should tell the Japanese that you need to serve some carbs with beer approaching 10% ABV.
Reminders of home surrounded us in the corner of the bar. A postcard from Portland sat on the shelf to our left. Oregon breweries were well represented in the swiped coasters that lined the top of the bar.
Before we left, the bartender asked where we were from. I told him Oregon and he got very excited. He says “hold on…” and heads into the keg cooler. He comes back out with a 22-ounce bottle of Portland’s own Upright Brewing “Seven” and a big smile on his face. Apparently he’d just returned from his own craft beer pilgrimage to the Rose City.
I look forward to the opportunity to explore those alleyways again soon.
After a month in Japan, we finally have internet in our apartment. I never thought I’d say it, but I miss the low muss, low fuss approach of Comcast.
Our service window was 1-5 p.m. on this rainy Friday, which means they showed up around 4:30. After checking a couple things, the technician makes a phone call, then hands me the phone. The man on the other end wants me to try and set it up myself.
How, exactly, would you like me to do that? I don’t have any cables, equipment…
He asks to speak to the technician, who after a short chat, hands the phone back to me. The technician will return shortly with a CD and some cable.
NTT technician splicing our internet into the above-ground wires.
“Some cable” involves a roll of electrical tape, a lift truck and some serious cable splicing 20 feet off the ground. Not to mention his sidekick, a dude in a white hazmat suit with flashing red lights built into it, holding a red LED wand and directing traffic like some Darth Vader/Breaking Bad/air traffic controller hybrid.
To be fair, the NTT guy was not nearly as scary as this combination.
This was followed by a lot of drilling and banging as our internet, its lifeline securely strung over the street, was surgically inserted into our rented residence through the same slightly-opened window our air conditioning vents out.
All the while, the technician is perched on a wet ladder with wet shoes on our second-floor porch, inches from the railing and higher than he was when surrounded by the protection of the lift truck’s workbox. With each fumbled tool, one thought repeats in my mind:
We’re SO going to be on the news when he goes over the railing.
Fortunately, this seasoned pro dodges the precarious situation on the porch. It goes a little geek for a minute as he starts to set up the hardware and service, scanning QR codes with his phone, connecting the account to the modem.
Then he’s done. Gomenasai he says. Sorry. Basically, there’s no help for the English-speaking beyond this point. I have a stack of papers with various network names, usernames and passwords, labeled in Japanese. I have a CD with “easy” setup instructions… all in Japanese.
Pa-su-waa-do… Password!
Suffice to say, the CD doesn’t work. I start matching screenshots and kanji, navigating my way through the setup. Fail. Fail. SUCCESS! I have internet!
I hope that was all he meant by “we’d like you to try and set it up yourself,” because I’m pretty sure none of that other stuff was happening.
Last weekend, we ventured back into Tokyo for a day in Shibuya. Shibuya is the Tokyo you see on television. Towering buildings feature video screens instead of windows. Shopping centers feature all the latest trends, including malls with dozens of stores focused exclusively on clothing for teen and 20-something women.
Shibuya Crossing is one of the most famous “scramble” crosswalks in the world. When the walk signal flashes, people cross the road at every axis. You really get a flavor of Tokyo as an international tourist destination in Shibuya, with a variety of faces and languages exploring the streets. According to Time Out Tokyo magazine, it’s the number 1 visited location in Tokyo among tourists.
For me, the most charming part of Shibuya comes from its history. There are multiple references and memorials to Hachiko, the loyal dog. Everyday, Hachiko would make the walk from his home to meet his owner at Shibuya Station. Even after his master passed away, Hachiko would continue to travel to the station each afternoon in search of him.
Hachiko mural at Shibuya Station
He became a celebrity among those traveling through Shibuya Station and is now immortalized in statue and mural form at the station as well as on t-shirts, pens and postcards.
Originally, Shibuya was the gateway to Tokyo for those traveling east from Osaka and Kyoto. As Tokyo grew, Shibuya transformed to support the economic needs of the capitol. After World War II ended, the modern commercial transformation of Shibuya began.
The district is continuing its transformation with a detailed urban development plan, scheduled to be complete in 2027, featuring a combination of office and retail complexes with significant, pedestrian-friendly green spaces.
On Tuesday night, we made our first trip to the Seibu Dome, home of the Nippon Professional Baseball League’s Saitama Seibu Lions. The excitement of the experience was only slightly tempered by a two-out, two-run home run in the top of the 9th inning by Nobuhiro Matsuda of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, turning a 3-2 Lions victory into a heartbreaking 4-3 loss.
View of the Seibu Dome from our seats in center field
With all due respect to American baseball, this was easily the most enjoyable ballpark experience I can remember. We sat in the home team’s general admission section, stretching from dead center field to the left field foul pole. The Hawks fans had their own section in right field. Separate, as it should be…
Stay on your own side, Hawks!
General admission doesn’t have seats or bleachers. It’s a wide-open area, covered in old Astroturf sloping from the concourse down to the outfield fence. Most people brought tarps or blankets to make the hard turf a little more comfortable.
But you only need to worry about sitting during the Hawks’ at-bats. While the home team is batting, we’re standing. And singing, chanting, jumping, waving and pumping our fists as commanded by the rally leader. We are the ōendan!
Welcome to the Lions Den!
Kattobase Ginjiro we chant as Lions’ catcher Ginjiro Sumitani steps to the plate. Ku-ri-ya-ma, Ku-ri-ya-ma we sing, encouraged by our neighbor in the Lions Den who waves her towel and shouts encouragement at her favorite player.
Perhaps the biggest fan of Lions’ captain Takumi Kuriyama in all of Saitama
The chant of moeru, moeru involves clapping and jumping up and down, proclaiming that the current batter is on-fire (“burning”). Our new friends teach us the chants as we go and forgive our mispronunciations of the ones we try to pick up along the way.
The spirit of, and respect for, competition is alive and well in Japanese baseball. In the top of the 7th inning, the Hawks fans are given their chance to celebrate their team.
In the middle of the 7th, the Lions fans get our turn. Our new friends hand us two packages of “Victory Balloons,” long, blue balloons of a—ahem—questionable shape. As the Hawks make the last out in the top half of the inning, we blow up our balloons, sing the team victory song, and let them fly!
Victory balloons fill the sky. Let’s go Lions!
As our Victory Balloons take flight, the Lions do as well, scoring the go-ahead run in the bottom of the frame. The RBI triple is met with a new celebratory chant… ichi, ni, san… banzai, banzai, BANZAI!!!
Standing and cheering while the other team is at the plate is a no-no. This goes for the 9th inning with the home team on the verge of victory as well. In America, the home crowd would be on its feet, cheering the team over the top. In Seibu, we are seated and silent.
Maybe a little cheering would have helped as the aforementioned two-out HR sinks the Lions hopes. Former Major League pitcher Dennis Sarfate comes on in the bottom of the 9th for the Hawks and strikes out the side, along with our hopes for a Lions victory.
But it’s still early in the season and this is just one stumble at the beginning of a long race. As with most of our experiences, we were embraced (literally in one case after that RBI triple) by the locals. In the Seibu Dome, we’re not Japanese or American… We Are Lions!
No matter where you are in the world, unexpected adventures are always a good thing. Such was the case with last weekend’s day trip, our first into Tokyo.
We planned to stop first in Ikebukero, a district in west Tokyo, to find a Taiwanese restaurant that specialized in vegetarian dishes. We’re still traveling without smartphones, so all we had to go off was some loose directions from a website and the city maps at the Ikebukuro train station.
We started walking and, within a couple blocks, stumbled upon a festival celebrating Taiwan and its heritage. There were even inflatable replicas of yours truly!
Which one is real and which one is inflatable?
We looked at a couple vendor stands, listened briefly to what must have been the opening address and then headed out in search of our restaurant.
As with many of these uncharted trips, we didn’t reach our destination. We’ve yet to figure out the street numbering convention. At present, I’m convinced it’s the worst way to identify addresses in the known universe. Check back in a couple months and maybe I’ll have a better attitude.
Fortunately, the festival had two booths serving exactly what we were in search of: Taiwanese vegetarian food! And even better, we finally found vegetarian gyoza! Those little pan fried, stuffed dumplings are so good, but usually so filled with pork. It was easily the best purchased meal I’ve had since we’ve arrived in Japan.
Taiwanese lunch
The festival also featured some amazing entertainment. All performed by young people, it was impossible to take your eyes off the stage.
A group of pre-teens pounded out the beautiful rhythm of taiko drums.
Taiko drummers
These young men and women put on an exciting display of dragon wizardry.
Dancing dragon
These beautiful young ladies entranced the crowd with their choreographed dance.
Early April is a magical time to be in Japan. There is a nationwide obsession with the “sakura,” or cherry blossoms. And sakura fever is infectious.
Catching sakura fever at Ueno Park
Late March when we arrived to our hometown, Kawagoe, we started to see glimpses of this fever. The innocent pink blooms start to stand out among the grayness of the city and the bareness of winter. A seemingly stoic passerby would suddenly stop and produce a camera to zoom in on a perfect shot of a colorful limb.
The cherry blossoms set a perfect scene on campus at Tokyo International University as students and parents gathered for the school’s opening ceremonies in early April. The perfect symbolism for renewal, a new school year.
On Saturday, we had an opportunity to see firsthand the “Hanami,” or cherry blossom viewing parties at Tokyo’s Ueno-kōen (park).
On the train and the crowded streets outside of Ueno, it’s business as usual. You’d never guess what you’re about to see. We followed the masses.
Upon entering, the mad rush of the city floats away and is absorbed by the petals of flowering tree after tree after tree after tree.
Boats circle Shinobazu Pond as Bentendo Temple watches over.
Hundreds of cameras emerge, and we, too, try to capture the sight. But it’s futile. No picture can describe this. Better to put the camera away and enjoy the moment.
Part of the Hinami is picnics under the trees. Friends and families gather and stake out their spot with tarps, food and drink. The shoes come off and the party begins. As our guidebook puts it, “locals gather…for rare public displays of euphoria.” Euphoria and maybe a little public drunkenness. But come on, this only happens once a year! The Japanese define what it means to work hard, play hard.
Typical? Probably not. But we’re tourists so we flock to see the geishas.Hanami at Ueno park
Part of this seasonal madness is sakura-flavored everything. Drinks, pastries, ice cream, candy, you name it! Get it while it lasts. I had the opportunity to try sakura-flavored ice cream and it was one of the best ice cream cones I’ve had here. Not that I’ve sampled a lot or anything.
How does a cherry blossom taste, you ask? My answer: not too sweet, a little flowery and definitely a little bit magical.
