Back in the US!

I'm back in the US! I flew from Narita (Tokyo) to Dallas to Tucson. I got lucky -- only a short delay taking off at Narita, but no disruptions to my plans. Previously, I'd flown directly to Chicago, with no other stops. That's good if you want to buy any liquids at the duty free shops, or bring your own.

I had planned on taking the train to Utsunomiya, then a bus to Narita. But Mr. Yamagi very kindly insisted on driving me to Utsunomiya. En route, we stopped at this shrine, then had a nice hamburg steak lunch.

The horse chestnut (栃の木 - tochi no ki) is where the name Tochigi comes from. Many things in Utsunomiya are named Marronnier this or Marronnier that, since "marronnier" is French for horse chestnut. The bus from Utsunomiya to Narita is the Marronnier Bus. So, if you are headed toward Utsunomiya, anything with "marronnier" in the name is a good guess!

Here is my last meal in Japan -- a tempura and rice set. Yum!







Now I'm staying with my parents inTucson. It's nice to have so much free time to spend with them and I could get used to the retired life very easily!

I've been working on preparations to go back to the States. Here is my last adventure: The St. Patrick's Day Parade in Harajuku.

Most of these pics need no captions -- they speak for themselves!

The Saint himself showed up.




















They played "The Minstrel Boy" (or "The Moreen")



























Here are the Bretons. The theme this year was Celtishness in general, so Bretons, Scots, etc all showed up. Even the Irish setter and Irish wolfhound clubs came.





















Here were 2 actual Irishmen who gave me commentary during the parade.

One of their friends who marched in the parade.

Harajuku and Meijijingu

On Saturday I went to Tokyo for a business meeting (doesn't that sound posh?).

After the meeting, I went to Harajuku because I haven't been there before. Harajuku is known as a teenybopper's shopping district, which is why I hadn't been there before. But Meijijungu, which is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the Meiji Emperor and Empress is in Yoyogi park. Yoyogi park, like Ueno park, is a green oasis in surrounded by urban Tokyo. Tokyo University, or Todai, which is the nation's top university (imagine if you combined Harvard, Yale and Stanford) is nearby, so I imagine students find the park a good place to relax.

I'm guessing that the annual Tokyo St. Patrick's Day parade will come through here.


Here is a Wendy's in Harajuku. I haven't seen many Wendy's. When it comes to hamberger places usually I see McDonalds, Freshness Burger and Mos Burger.

Here is a Demiglace Bacon Cheeseburger set. Yum!

These plaques comemorating the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.are on a bridge.


































In case you are hungry, here are some vendors ready to feed you. The closest is takoyaki, which are balls made of octopus in batter. The joke, of course, is that there are 8 octopus balls per octopus. HT next is yakisoba, or stir-fried noodles. There were also okonomiyaki, which are savory pancakes with cabbage, shrimp, etc. Okonimiyaki is one of my favorite Japanese foods.

This is the first torii gate leading to the shrine.












Kimono never go out of style.











Here are some French wines that have been donated to the shrine.
















Here is the more traditional sake. Japanese gods like sake, which is OK!


Here is the final gate. I have finally found a Shinto shrine that has no stairs.



Here is taiko drum at the shrine.








This light looks like the sort that would fit just fine at my house! I like the arts and crafts/art deco/Japanese combo.

Here is the shrine itself. The proper way to pray at a Shinto shrine is very simple.
Toss a coin or coins in the box. Ring the bell once - pull the rope. Bow twice. Clap twice in prayer while thinking about your wish. Bow once.

People write their wishes and prayers on ema, or small wooden plaques, which are hung up by the shrine. I saw them written in many languages: English, German, French, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, etc.

Starting Final Countdown!

Well, I have less than a month left in Japan. I am both looking forward to coming home and already missing unique features of Japan.

Today, I started looking around my apartment for things that I could start sending home. I wondered how this room that started out with nothing but a futon and my suitcases could get so full of stuff! Then, I caught the next train for Utsunomiya and went shopping at Bell Mall. Go figure!

My tastes in food have changed a bit. 　　None of these pics are mine.
I've learned to like mayonnaise. It may be the ubiquitousness of it here, or it may be that Kewpie mayonnaise is more to my liking than Hellmann's. Yes, that is a Kewpie doll on the bottle. According to their website, Kewpie introduced mayonnaise to Japan in 1925, and

I've learned to like clams, or maybe I'm getting them fresher here and like them that way.

I haven't learned to like natto.





I love dango, and will have to learn to make them at home.



I have tried and like gin. Thanks, Brian!

I am looking forward to pizza (anything with corn on it is not pizza!), bacon at reasonable prices, olives, cereal snack and cheese. Just looking at this list tells me I must keep walking as much as I have been...and keep eating Japanese sized portions!

I'll like having the mobility that a car offers, but I'll miss the trains. There were only a few times that weather caused delays. And if I miss the train leaving Karasuyama, it's another hour until the next one. But, they are on time, and easy to ride. I get on, and leave the driving to JR. I don't have to know the route between here and there, I just need to know which train to get on. And no hassles with parking either! I can read, listen to music, sleep, whatever. Give me an internet connection (or a dead tree time table) and I can get myself almost anywhere here.

I'm definitely coming back to Japan.

Snow! (again)

It snowed last night. Of course, then it turned to rain when it was time for me to walk to school. But it was still pretty.

We watched a movie this afternoon in the gym. I don't know the name, but it was a group of guys (and a girl) goofing off, and pulling pranks and the police officer who tries to stop them. I didn't understand a lot of it, but some of the physical humor was very funny. It was filmed in Karasuyama, so I had a lot of "Hey, I know where that is!" moments. I'm going to try to buy a copy of it.

Here's the snow.

Ueno Park

Yesterday, I went to Ueno Park in Tokyo. It's a very big park, just outside Ueno Station. The first time I was there was in 2007. The area that is Ueno Park was originally Kan'eiji Temple. That was destroyed during the Meiji Restoration. The land for the park was granted in 1924. The National Museum, the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and several other museums are there. There is also a Zoo.

I went there to see an exhibit at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum called "Morris to Mingei". I'm a big fan of arts and crafts style, and art nouveau, as well as Japanese art. William Morris was part of the beginning of the English arts and crafts movement.

When I got to Tokyo, the weather was absolutely gorgeous. The little thermometer I have hanging on my purse indicated 80 degrees at one point during the day.

First, I went to Tokyo station. Maruzen bookstore is one of the few places that open at 9:00 in the morning, and they have a large English book section. Maruzen is on the Marunouchi side of Tokyo Station. That's the side that looks like the original station.

En route, I saw this on the side of an ice cream vending machine.













Maruzen had a display of cat art. While it was all very cute stuff, it was priced out of my range.

















On the Yaesu side of Tokyo Station, is the Yaesu Book Center. I had never been there before, although the bookstore in Utsunomiya station is a branch. This one is eight stories high.

Here is a statue outside the store. Japan is like this -- old Japan and bleeding-edge technology blend seamlessly.

The foreign language (books in foreign languages, mostly English) section is small, but they had a neat series of bilingual business books.

Back at Ueno station, I found a very long escalator.














Here is the Panda Bridge between Ueno Station and Ueno Park. There is a very large Panda statue just outside the station exit there. It's a good landmark if you use the coin lockers, like I did.

There are homeless people living in Ueno park, and I couln't always distinguish between the men who were retired and enjoying the weather, the ones who were recovering from the night before, and the ones who lived there.

In Ueno Park, here is the National Museum. I visited here in 2007. It's a very nice museum, especially if you like Japanese art and history.













There are all kinds of performing artists in the park. This guy was pretty good.













Here is the TokyoMetropolitan Art Museum.












Of course, I couldn't take pictures of the exhibit. Morris' things are more neo-gothic, in my opinion. He worked with textiles and furniture and anyone who wanted to decorate a house for D&D would enjoy his stuff. I wouldn't mind a room of it, but I like the later craftsman style.
After I left the exhibit, I saw and exhibit of bonsai trees. Most bonsai are not as small as the ones you can buy at Target.

Here is a cute umbrella sculpture.








There are signs in the park warning not to feed the birds or cats. There are also people in the park who do just that. I found a statue, and before I could take a picture of it, I saw a cute black and white cat. It was shy, but a man (who the cat obviously knew) held the cat for me to take its picture. I had some cat treats in my purse and was able to buy some photo ops. But there was another man who knew what this kitty really liked -- cheese. He even gave me some to feed the cat.

Note: not only is it legal to drink in the park, but you can buy beer there as well. It was warm enough to enjoy a nice cool one.











A crow.




































Here is the statue.










Here is another kitty.












Here are several torii gates.









Some trees were blooming already. I think they are plum blossoms.


































There is a little island in a lake in the park with a Benzaiten shrine. Benzaiten is the Japanese version of the Hindu goddess Sarasvati. She is the goddess of music and eloquence, and also one of the Seven Lucky Gods.













Ducks!












Here is the marshy lake in the middle of the city.












All in all, it was a very nice day. I even got home at a reasonable hour!