For more pikkies of my Japan Trip click on this link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/grazor.ray/TokyoTripApr2009#
What an amazing place Tokyo is.
The Japanese are polite, patient, courteous and especially punctual.
In fact the other side to that politeness is that they ignore you with studious conviction. They don't stare and they avoid eye contact unless directly approached.
Its a city of many contrasts feeling at one time as though its all neighbourhood. and at the same time the degree of sophistication evident in so many things also speaks to its worldliness.
I think now of the odd and an interesting marriage it represents, something. borrowed, something blue, something old and something new. Don't really know about the blue bit, but if you take their language, the script they write in, then most definitely borrowed, as is Buddhism and certainly plenty of the old and new living happily together.
I am currently sitting on the Shinkansen, Super Express, more commonly known as the Bullet Train to you and I, so I can absolutely attest to its speed and punctuality.
Its beautiful and sleek, totally functional, comfortable and the damn thing is so spotlessly clean as to be almost intimidating. I am on a day trip to Kyoto to fulfil a 30year desire to visit the place that the first Tokugawa Shogun had his Kyoto residence, Nijo Castle.
Why you may ask, well simply put during my undergrad I took Japanese Economic History with the period Tokugawa to Meiji specifically as my study range.
Did I mention Tokyo isn't cheap, with the exception of the ubiquitous noodle bars and yakitori houses, most items come at a higher cost here in Tokyo.
My observations of the Japanese and my conversations with my dear friend and his fiancee who are hosting my visit, confirms some thoughts I might have had; but my eyes are continually opened based on simple observation.
The evident hierarchical nature of the society absolutely creates its own quite interesting challenges for the ex-pat gaijin community. Probably the most obvious being the evident lack of social interaction outside of the work environment with Japanese colleagues. As my friend's fiancee informed me, after struggling in Japanese all day, its quite nice to wind down and be around folks, where you can not only think in your language; but essentially relax in it and not have to worry about the myriad of cultural trappings and sometimes obstacles to be found here.
No doubt like a typical gaijin I keep being amazed or gawk at simple stuff
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*The taxi' whose door opens by itself and closes by itself.
* parking lots where cars mysteriously disappear into the floor once switched off only to mysteriously reappear facing in the right direction to drive away.
*The fact that there are vending machines offering a wide array of products though predominantly cigarettes and a strange variety of drinks almost every 75 metres along the way
* Numerous folks wearing white masks, which I didn't initially understand until it was explained that the large amount of cedar trees in the city has led to 1 in 5 individuals having hay fever like symptoms, so its pretty standard..
The other being that when someone has a cold it helps prevent them from spreading it. (Common sense huh)
*Designated smoking areas along the street that's adhered to by one and all.
* that a car can only be purchased if you can show you own a parking spot or have arranged for one
*The fashion statement for the younger women which is one of long socks/leggings running just above the knee, with either denim shorts or a short denim skirt and high heels is a de rigeur outfit in its various interpretations.
* I don't believe I have seen a male under 40 who doesn't carry some type of man bag, very practical actually and generally very stylish.
*Our tour guide(I did a half day tour that was highly informative) kept on referencing western style toilets on my first day. I didn't think too much of it until I went into one of the public bathrooms at the Buddhist temple, hmmmm......different...... and so I understood that there is a traditional Japanese style apart from sit down, despite the Toto brand having some of the most sophisticated I have ever seen.
One opened for me in restaurant rest room in Kyoto today as I approached it making me nervous and wary that someone was watching me.
* Litter is unheard of as was evident this morning as my host was driving me to Tokyo station in his lovely Porsche and had to avoid a gentleman in the road that had stopped his scooter to track down a piece of litter he had inadvertently dropped.
* all the neighbourhoods despite the lack of large gardens etc, are all filled with trees, bushes and all the doris(avenues) are lined with ginko or cedar; but the surprise was the amount of citrus trees with large ripe fruit that can be found. (limited research suggests it might be the bitter orange used in ponzu)
Tokyo is a phenomenally fashionable town and it shows in the very wide variety of western shops and designer labels. Did I mention that it aint cheap :)
I saw Puma's yesterday that were averaging $440 a pair, admittedly they were naturally high end with a designer name attached to them that I had never previously heard of, there were even Puma platform shoes. We also went to a Nike store where you could design your own sneakers, which is a big thing in this town.....Bathing Ape anyone, the styles are multi-hued and equally multi varied.
The Prada cube in Aoyama was quite extraordinary which brings me to another feature which is the variety of architecture and how attractive the majority of it happens to be. As my host pointed out, invariably as they knock down the older structures, the new ones going up show style and panache and of itself is worthwhile for a tour.
The folks in this town like their cars throwing cold water on some of my misconceptions about Japan being a land of small cars. Yes there are numerous small vehicles, especially trucks delivering liquor and spirits as well as foods; but goodness, I can't remember the last time I saw so many high end vehicles and I am talking Rolls Royce galore, Porsches of all sorts, Range Rovers, the Aston Martin seems especially popular, Maserrati's, and BMW's are two a penny. Lots of Alfa Romeos (including the classic Spyder of which you rarely if ever see one in Toronto).
As a sequitur, by the way a delicious and ironic revelation was that the Japanese have played a very expensive joke on those of us that live in the west and pay the premium for their luxury divisions think Toyota/Lexus and Nissan/Infiniti as examples. There is no Infiniti brand here they are all Nissans admittedly with specific names for the Japanese market. The ubiquitous Oakville mum run around. Lexus SUV, is a simple Toyota here. The wily buggers have charged us more for their domestic brands through a simple rebranding exercise. Knowing this intellectually and comprehending it mechanically before was one thing: however I found staring it in the face though to be more than cheeky!
Moving on, one of the consistent highlights for me has been the quality of the food and the fact that I am now a true believer in Japanese A5 Wagyu, something I was able to experience on the evening of my arrival in conjunction with a NY colleague of mine that was coincidentally in town and was leaving the next day. While I have consumed wagyu before, the quality, taste and texture of the A5 was quite something else. We had the most amazing meal at a Yakinuku restaurant in Nishi-Azabu off a tiny side street with a completely unheralded entrance, that I suspect you would walk pass without appreciating it was there.
We were taken through and up the ladder of taste and flavour, with the grilling taking place at our table and guidance from the lovely young woman that was grilling for us, beautiful slivers of meat with a variety of sauces for dipping then a variety of wagyu A5, which was so beautifully marbled that I watched with increased expectation as she grilled a decently thick almost rectangular column to perfection, which was duly consumed with relish by myself and my dining partners.
The meal ended on an especially high note when I was served a bowl of soba noodles in a cold broth that had a hint of citrus, with beautifully chopped green onions and white sesame seeds sprinkled over the top. It was sublime, the textural crunch added by the sesame seeds to the perfectly cooked soba and that broth with its wonderfully perfumed fragrance was outstanding.
The very next evening of course my hosts chose to take the bar up a notch taking me to a tiny fish restaurant in Shibuya on a Friday night allowing me a number of experiences at the same time.
The first being my chance to observe the throngs of Salary Men out on the town in droves, in their suits and with their briefcases, getting a load off after a long week. The second was the superb meal that we enjoyed at Kekiya.
We started with ultra fresh thinly sliced pieces of bass that was marinated in a mix of olive oil, lemon and dribbled with a light, fresh and invigorating pesto. That was followed by crab spring rolls that has no relationship to the more traditional spring rolls as the wrap was more of a firmer textured crepe with warm crab flesh and greens and beautifully seasoned. We moved on to a large platter of sashimi and thank goodness my host insisted that I had some of the fatty tuna belly, which I had generally avoided in the past; but found that this piece of toro melted in my mouth and was so flavourful, I was disappointed I hadn't eaten some more when it first arrived.
Next came gyoza dumplings which simply didn't meet my expectations in shape (cylindrical and cut into good length individual two mouthful portion) or taste and filling. Here we had discernible pieces of seafood with a flavour base that excited the already overwhelmed taste sensorium.
We followed that up with tuna jaw that had been braised and goodness what a total joy, fantastic ingredients cooked with minimal fuss and beautifully presented not to mention amazingly tasty, we rounded of the meal with two whole grilled sweet fish on the bone served with a lovely clean lemon and olive mix with infused herbs, goodness my hosts know how to appeal to my centres of joy!. The food has been fantastic. Did I mention our Saturday sushi lunch with the most divine Unagi I have ever had. This was a full serving uncut on a long slender plate with a small dollop of rice underneath that allowed you to focus on the beautifully grilled nature of the pike eel and the subtlety of the teriyaki sauce, the sheer enjoyment of which forced me to order a second one.
Tokyo has many contrasts as I have observed. After having being at Shibuya crossing on Sunday evening (a total madhouse), having also mingled in the insanity that is Harajuku on a Sunday afternoon, less than 15 minutes away we are in a part of Nishi-Azabu called Hiro, the Five O'clock bell is rung and my host informs me that from all accounts the bell is rung throughout Japan daily, but as we walk back from a supermarket shopping excursion I am struck by how peacefully quiet the neighbourhood is and that's what I found time after time when wandering away from the major dori's or avenues, you hit narrow side streets that it's a total wonder to explore. They are narrow, neat, clean and invariably one will find small eateries, shops or interesting architecture. Life off the beaten track has never been so interesting and this represents in so many respects the land of so many contrasts that I found in my visit to Tokyo.
Not mentioned or mentioned only briefly in this short travelogue; but must be done, observed:
* the madhouse that is Tsukiji Fish Market and eating ultra fresh sushi and freshly grilled pike eel in the surrounding area at 8am in the morning washed down by a beer.
* A day trip to Kyoto for an opportunity to ride the super fast, super clean and especially comfortable Shinkansen Super- Express, better known as the "Bullet Train". Still a marvel of modern engineering that takes you 500km away in just over 2hours. They are never late ( though bloody expensive) The other reason for Kyoto is the history and the temples. You will not be disappointed.
* Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. You may have heard about this based on the furore and controversy linked to Japanese Prime Ministers visiting the war dead. Ignore that and go, its very very worthwhile. Its an opportunity to get a complete history lesson on Japan and its relationship with the world.
* take cash and lots of it. Credit cards are fine; but as I found out to my horror,the Japanese cater to themselves, so access to ATM machines with Plus and Cirrus non existent, with the exception of finding a Citi or HSBC branch and even then try getting money out of your account, challenging.
*the basement floors in the large department stores in the Ginza
* the coach service to Narita. You will get a semi tour of Tokyo thrown in as you move from hotel to hotel for passenger pick-up
* the Japanese subway system. Clean (naturally) and very easy to use, though some decent walks on transfers from one line to the next.
More pictures from My Tokyo trip can be viewed here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/grazor.ray/TokyoTripApr2009#
Arrigato Gozaimasu!
