28th August 2004

After finishing my diary yesterday, I went downstairs to the lobby to deposit my key and that’s where I met Junko. My landlord and landlady told me that she was staying here too and suggested that we go to the bon-odori together. ‘Let’s go together?’ she asked me in good English and of course I had no objections to that. With a few other guests of the Sawanoya ryokan we went outside where we already could hear the music of the bon-odori playing.

Bon-odori in the neighbourhood

Just round the corner then we saw a big crowd, food stalls and at the other end of the street a small stage with ‘Bon-odori taikai’ (‘Bon dance festival’) written on it. Junko introduced me to an older Japanese gentleman, who I bowed to instantly and said a friendly-formal ‘Hajimemashite!’ (‘Nice to meet you!’) He looked at me cheerfully, made a few praising comments about my Japanese skills and insisted that I join in the dances afterwards. And because I’m always eager to make new experiences, I agreed to him and to myself to do so. Junko asked us: ‘Do you want a drink?’ and brought cups filled with a delicious fruity drink and a lot of ice cubes. Just what I’d needed!

On the stage they demonstrate the dance...

After I had watched the dancers then for a while Junko invited us to join in. Yet I was the only one who followed that invitation, all the other people of my group were too shy. First I couldn’t quite get the steps and I think that I looked quite ridiculous trying but eventually I came to understand that you had to imitate the steps the dancers on the stage were demonstrating. While dancing you circled around the stage, made certain steps and hand movements and clapped from time to time. Although I wasn’t nearly as deft as the Japanese dancers, I kind of got the knack of it. And it was great fun!

...and people dance around it, here Junko

So I danced and danced until, after some time, I met the old Japanese gentleman Junko had introduced me to again. We started chatting in Japanese, we exchanged business cards, I understood that his name was Itsuo and after the dances had come to an end he invited me to go to a nomiya-san (a Japanese bar) nearby. I agreed in the twinkling of an eye and went back to the Sawanoya to get the access key for the night. Then Junko, Istuo, his wife Elizabeth who had come from the states, a few other guests of the minshuku and I went over to the nomiya-san. Arrived there we took off our shoes and lowered ourselves on the zabuton cushions on the tatami floor.

Lively party at the nomiya

I took the free place at the side of Junko and first sat in the seiza (the ‘correct’ way to sit in Japan) for about five to ten minutes, but then my legs began to hurt and I changed into the agura (crossing one’s legs what is restricted to men in Japan). What a relief! We ordered snacks and drinks then and chatted away cheerfully. With Itsuo I had a long talk about my future plans of coming to live in Japan someday and what the best way to accomplish that goal would be. Itsuo, who had already lived in Europe for a few years, opined, that it would be best to save enough money to be able to live in Japan for about one or two years without working first. That way I could learn the language best and could eventually start to look for work. Of course I would have to give up my previous job in order to do so what would make the whole thing a risky operation but it’s the only way to do it. And somehow he’s right: People often accomplish so little in their lives because they always try to have as much security as possible. And to preserve that security no matter at what cost. I’m also like that. But it would really be better to change myself. Anyway, after a few ‘kanpai’ (‘cheers’) and some delicious snacks we had a photo taken of us and then we returned to our accommodation. Here I gave my business cards to everyone and also got loads in return. They really come in handy, those cards! Tired as I was, I fell into my bed soon. Today I got up already at six, checked my emails and packed everything for the day. Then I set off for the Tokyo-Eki where I found myself a café to settle in for two hours and write some postcards to friends and relatives (altogether I wrote sixteen!!).

Sumo-wrestler at the Tokyo-Eki (the hefty man in the background)

Then, at twenty past ten I got on a train of the Soubu line, bound for the city of Chiba. I arrived at about quarter to twelve and followed the precise instructions that I had gotten yesterday from my friend Tomoyan: I went down the stairs on the right hand of the nishi-guchi exit and got to the ‘basutei no takusan aru tokoro’ (the place with a lot of bus stops). I waited there for some fifteen minutes and then, shortly after twelve (I was already asking myself whether I had gone to the wrong place again…) Mari and Tomoyan’s car pulled over in front of the station. I waved, they waved back and then they picked me up. It was the first time for me to ride in a Japanese motor car with right-hand steering! Woo!! How much I wanted to drive myself… First we went to Mari’s place where we sat around the table (it was a really large specimen of house!!) and had a nice little chat. Then I slipped out of the room for a second to get my Austrian souvenirs out of my rucksack and gave them to my two friends. We went on chatting (most of the time it was the two of them chatting but I tried to make conversation in Japanese too) and after some forty minutes the delivery man bringing our lunch rang the doorbell. We ate it with relish and from time to time I asked about Japanese table manners and how you ate certain kinds of food the right way. After lunch they showed me around in the house a bit and then we set out again. First thing we went to the seaside. Unfortunately it was a quite cloudy day with some drizzle every now and then but still I was very happy to see the sea. Tomoyan told me then that the water was quite dirty here because it was the water of the heavily industrialised Tokyo-Wan bay but that the water on the other side of Chiba prefecture would be cleaner.

Seaside of Chiba – unfortunately on a rainy day

Next thing we drove on to Makuhari, a business district of Chiba city, where Mari is working at NTT and Tomiyan attending a school for nursery. Here we walked around for a while and then went to a shopping mall where they also had a little gaming arcade with purikura machines. Purikura is a cult in Japan: you enter this phonebox-sized apparatus and get little passport photo-sized pictures taken of you which you can edit afterwards, adorn with little graphics of flowers and so on… So we went into one of those purikura machines and now I’m richer one purikura photograph with two beautiful Japanese girls...^^ Following our little photo shooting we bought some drinks and then back to the car. After some time of driving around we stopped in fron of a restaurant where we went to have some supper. First okonomiyaki and then something the name of which I hadn’t known before and which I have already forgotten again. I’ll have to ask Mari for it. Both dishes were prepared on the hot teppan iron plate at the table and tasted great! We decided on warikan (shared the bill) and then back to the car. The two of them brought me back to Chiba station where they had picked me up before and we thanked each other for the nice day. Then I took the Soubu line back to Tokyo-Eki where I met two other gaijin who asked me if I spoke Japanese. In response to my ‘yeah, a little bit’ they asked me how they could go to Shinjuku from here. I remembered the time as I had just arrived here, explained the way to them and showed them to the ticket machines. Then I told them which platform they had to go to and how much the ride would cost. Also the ticket machines I explained to them. Then I took the Marunouchi line and the Chiyoda line back to Nezu. After going to the minshuku to get changed I went out to the bon-odori again. There I met a Japanese guy of about the same age who talked to me in English because he told me that he wanted to improve his conversational skills. Unluckily I didn’t have the chance to ask him for his email address. I also met Junko again but we didn’t talk much this evening because she had found yet other travellers who she was chatting to in English. That’s really one strange thing: Sometimes it seems to me that it’s easier to find Japanese friends in Japan as a gaijin when you don’t speak Japanese because a gaijin who speaks Japanese might just be uninteresting to Japanese people. The reason for this is simple: For speaking Japanese there are enough fellow Japanese in Japan, who speak Japanese a lot better than any gaijin. Gaijin are here for communicating in English because they know English better than any Japanese. Still I refuse to talk only in English and exercise my right to speak in Japanese as much as possible. I want to get some practice too! First, there”ll also be bon-odori tomorrow and second, Junko and I will be in the same minshuku until 1^st September. So we’ll still have plenty of chances to talk to each other. I mean, I do have her mail address so I can’t complain but talking is still a lot better than writing. And I definitely want to have a chat with her again and give her some souvenirs.
Ok, I’ll go to the ofuro now and then to bed. Oyasuminasai!

27th August 2004

Today I got up at nine, man the long rest was soo good, and then I packed my things. This time I replaced my laptop, which I had taken along as a dictionary until today, with the Wordtank. Great, it’s so much lighter! By the way, the shift key wasn’t defective, only the way to use it is a bit strange and I had to find that out. Fortunately I found it out yesterday before I’d go to the store to complain because that would have been well embarrassing. This time I also didn’t forget to take along the tickets for the return flight and set out for the Tokyo-Eki. There I found my way to the ticket office again and queued. This time everything went smooth: I got my JR-East-Pass, my JR-Seishun-18-kippu, my seat reservations for the shinkansen, I could pay with credit card and managed to speak mainly in Japanese. How proud I was of myself^^ Then I went to the information centre where I had been yesterday already and got a jikokuhyou (timetable) for the trains from Tokyo to Odawara and from Tokyo to Kamakura which I’d have to take on the further course of my travel. Ithat finished my business with JR. I’ll just have to ask for the times of the trains going back to Tokyo when I’ll arrive at Odawara and Kamakura respectively. Next thing I went on to Meijijinguu-mae station taking trains of the Marunouchi line and the Chiyoda line.

Station of Harajuku near the Meiji-Jinguu

Donated sake barrels at the Meiji-Jinguu

After I had a good look at the surroundings and asked for the way, I reached the first giant torii-gate on the way to the shrine. Of course my cameras had lots of work again^^. Anyway, for me just coming from the bustling streets, the sudden change of atmosphere was remarkable. The chirping of the cicadas, omnipresent in summertime-Tokyo, a shady, wide gravel path, high, old trees to both sides and the crunching of gravel under the feet of the few pedestrians walking down the path – really impressively peaceful! I went through one more torii-gate and reached the forecourt of the shrine.

Well for ritual cleansing of hands

There I took a few photos of the well for the ritual cleansing of hands and mouth and rinsed those body parts, then abruptly the silence was broken by a group of loudly chatting Italians… I marched directly towards the front of the shrine and performed the steps I’d learned yesterday. Throw in a coin, clap your hands twice, fold your hands piously, bow, stay bowed, say your prayers and leave. In the background I heard the Italians chatting about clapping your hands two times and that that was the spirit of Shinto (at least that was what I understood that from their Italian). Next I saw the place where the votive plates called ema were hung up and decided to buy one for myself this time.

Ema written by me

I got one plate for 500 yen and wrote ‘Shourai, shiawase ni nihon de kuraseru koto wo inorimasu. Maiya beruhado’ on top of it. Than I hung up the plate on one of the countless hooks and remained for a while, deeply in thoughts. Then I strolled across grounds of the Meijij-Jnguu for a bit and then I slowly walked back to the underground.

Apparantly in Japan they speak German too – just not very perfectly…
Trolley bag that cought my eye at the underground station

This time it was only a short ride, to Yoyogikouen-Eki station, where I asked for the way to the Yoyogikouen. The Yoyogikouen is one of the big parks in the middle of Tokyo and is, as it seems, used for recreation a lot. In the center of the park there is a nice pond with clear water and a fountain, all around there are wide lawns, where people sit around, practice their musical instruments, play ball games or indulge in other amusements, and there’s even a cycling course going round the park! A cycling course on which pedestrians are not allowed to walk! If you have ever seen how cyclists normally have to make their way though armies of pedestrians on the sidewalks because they’re not allowed to use the streets you know why I’m so enthusiastic about it! Should I come to live in Tokyo one day I’ll surely use it a lot…^^

The nice Yoyogi-Kouen – which is used for many purposes

From the Yoyogikouen I proceeded on on foot to search the Touken-Hakubutsukan, the Japanese sword museum I wanted to visit. This was the first time that I sought something in Tokyo that wasn’t a major sight or tourist attraction which was easy to find. But with the help of a city map, the underground and the roadside maps that can be found everywhere; and asking for the way every now and then, you can make it. By the way, for me also a compass is really useful^^. At the Touken-Hakubutsukan I paid my 525 yen entry fee and enjoyed the great variety of astonishingly well made blades on display.

That’s the only photo I could take of the 'Touken-Hakubutsukan’

Unfortunately photography was forbidden once again and so I bought a book about nihontou (Japanese swords) for about 1000 yen to have a souvenir of that very interesting museum. On foot I walked back to the underground station and took a train to the Omote-sandou this time, had a quick look around and bought some food and a KDDI phone card at at konbini (convenience store). Then I settled down on a bench nearby and leasurely ate my supper. After having rested my tired feet for half an hour or so I took the Chiyoda line directly back to Nezu station and after I had phoned Europe I went back to the minshuku and started writing my diary. I’m writing my diary in a bit of a hurry today because any minute the bon-odori (traditional mid-summer street dances) of the vincinity, which I naturally don’t want to miss, will start. So long!!

26th August 2004

The next thing I did after writing my diary yesterday was looking for food. I hadn’t eaten anything the whole day and my stomach growled as if accusing me for not having fed it so long. Fortunately I soon found a nice little restaurant where I bought a delicious yakiniku. That was yummy! Then I went to Mejiro-Eki, one of the stations of the Yamanote line which circles inner Tokyo like London’s Circle line and got on a train. To return to Nezu station I had to change from Yamanote line to the Chiyoda line at some place and from Nezu I hurried back to my minshuku. The reason why I returned as fast as I could was that at the minshuku a shishi-mai, a traditional Japanese dance was performed this evening at eight. It was fascinating how smoothly and seemingly effortlessly the dancer dressed as a lion moved!!! If you are ‘bitten’ by that lion, that means good luck for you. Of course I caught the whole performance on video. Afterwards I watched TV for a while, wrote some emails, went to the ofuro and then to bed. Today I got up at eight, packed my things for the day and set off again, this time heading for the Ginza, a part of Tokyo renowned of its shopping opportunities and exorbitantly high prices. On the way I stopped at the Tokyo-Eki to enquire where you can buy the JR-East-Pass allowing you to ride JR trains for four days. They told me where I could buy it but the man at the counter wanted to see my tickets for the return flight and of course I didn’t have them with me… Ok, so I’ll have to go again tomorrow, no problem. I proceeded to Ginza and left the underground station.

Crowds of shoppers at the Ginza

Also here people seemed to be in a hurry this morning. I didn’t care and bought an okonomiyaki-pan, a kind of Japanese bread with pancake taste, which I had for the first time and which I ate with relish. Then I strolled along the Chuuou-doori and spent some time with looking at the buildings towering above me, taking photos and filming. On the way I found a nice bookstore where I asked: “Shougaku sannensei, yonnensei no tame no hon ga arimasu ka?” (“Do you have books suitable for primary school, third or fourth grade?”), and got a prompt “Rokkai desu” (“They’re on the sixth floor”) as an answer. So I looked for an elevator and pressed the button. It really surprised me to see a man standing inside the elevator asking me where I wanted to go. I said: “Rokkai” and instantly the man pressed the button. I don’t know if it was a manned elevator again or if I was helped by a dutiful Japanese citizen this time though… Upstairs I asked one more time for those books, was asked “Nihongo de mo yoroshii desu ka?” (“Are books in Japanese alright too?”) and as I answered “Hai, ii desu” (“Yeah, it’s alright”), I was shown a rich choice of relatively easy to read books in Japanese. How happy I was when I started to read and could understand most of it!! I chose three nice novels and bought them. As I walked down the stairs (this time the elevator was too slow to come up^^), I realized that, while reading, the time had passed by awfully quickly and that it was already half eleven. As I left the bookstore, the quite hectic morning atmosphere had given way to a far more relaxed one, the street was crouded with shoppers and the sun was shining. Taking in that scenery made me feel like shopping too and that’s what I did. After window shopping for some ten minutes I found a CD- and DVD-shop which seemed quite appealing to me.

Progressive system for listening to CD’s

Inside I listened to a few CDs what you could do on listening stations where you didn’t have to open the CD cover but coud simply scan the barcode with a laser scanner. Once the central computer recognised the CD, the listening station started downloading the contents of the CD from it and started to play them. By the way, the maximum listening duration was limited to 45 seconds per track, which sounds annoying but actually has the advantage that you don’t have to wait very long for a listening station. After listening to a few J-Pop CDs I also looked through the DVDs in the basement and bought one DVD and tree CDs in altogether. Oh my god, I just LOVE J-Pop! Why, oh why can’t you buy that stuff in Europe?!? Yet I had to realise that CDs and DVDs are quite expensive in Japan while the electronic devices used to replay them are rather cheap. The price of ono CD was about 3000 yen, the price of a DVD around 5000 yen. Is that normal in Japan or did I just happened to walk into an expensive store?

Street interview at the Ginza

Coming out of the CD store, I walked on heading for Nihonbashi where you can see, marked with a stone, the point from which until today the road distances in Japan are measured. Traversing the Nihonbashi, once an old frail wooden bridge which was long since replaced by an unappealing concrete construction, a stilted expressway runs along the river, in the same way many other Japanese rivers are (ab)used. I have once heard that the reason for building expressways above rivers was, that the rivers are property of the state and therefore the building ground for the expressways is cheap.
Not an especially nice sight but as to so many things, you get used to it quite soon.

Starting poing for measuring streets in Japan, at the Nihonbashi

Next, I headed for Kanda, according to my travel guidebook famous for its countless bookstores. While I walked through the streets I could indeed see a lot of stores only that they weren’t bookstores… Not that it makes any difference…^^

Clearance sales Japanese-style

I went on to Yushima where I visited the Yushima-Seidou, and old and quite big temple. The garden and the forecourt in front of the entrance were bewitchingly nice but unfortunately the main hall itself was closed except for Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. What a pity! But nothing one can do about it...

Statue in the garden of Yushima-Seidou

Only a few buildings down the street there is also the Kanda-Myoujin, a very beautiful Shinto shrine. After I had taken a number of photos I could see an old Japanese lady praying: First he threw a coin into the big box standing in front of the shrine, then he clapped her hands twice and folded them, bowed and remained in that position, praying. Then she went off. I emulated it instantly, of course. And of course I prayed for a happy future in Japan, as always^^. May the gods hear me!!

Kanda-Myoujin

The next place for me to visit was Akihabara, the paradise for everyone into electronics, one electronic shop after the other and they’re all trying to lure in customers with flashy neon signs and commercials blaring out of storefront speakers. Since there was still daylight the signs weren’t that effective though and I resisted the temptation, walking on and looking for a phone box to phone Europe. After a short phone call I strolled along the Chuuou-Doori. Somehow I felt very well in those quarters. Must be because of my computer freak past. I’m still a fan of electronics and the sight of gaming arcades makes me feel extremely well even today. Maybe because I have already spent so much time of my life in gaming arcades…

Akihabara – still at daytime

Most interesting for me were the Japanese denshi-jiten (electronic dictionaries) because they are really cheap and handy and you can’t buy them in Europe. Finally I decided for a Canon Wordtank S30, pretty small and handy, which I bought for 20000 yen. And I even got an English manual for free thrown in the deal. Then I directly went back home to test the Wordtank and and had to realise that apparently the shift key was broken. At least it seemed like that because, when you press the shift key, nothing happens. I really do have bad luck with electronic appliances – also in the last few days the backlight of my laptop’s LCD display wasn’t working right. It helps to rap against it but you have to rap more intensly everyday. Where is this to go?? And still I like electronics. So set off immediately to exchange my denshi-jiten. In front of the station Kanda-Eki a nice middle-aged Japanese man helped me and explained the way to me. He then told me that he thought that the store was already closed but that he wasn’t sure about it and so he phoned the store for me! Try finding that kind of politeness in Europe!! Anyway, he told me that the store would open again tomorrow at half past ten. Still good that I have alredy sought out the location…

Akihabara at night

So I rode the underground to Roppongi, notorious for its discos, clubs and long nights and, really, it’s quite lively! As I realized that I hadn’t eaten anything except my okonomiyaki-pan, I bought a delicious gyuudon, a bowl of rice topped with small cubes of beef and some nice sauce, at a Yoshinoya store and filled my belly well. After I couldn’t eat anymore I went for a stroll and then I took the underground back to the minshuku. And here I’m sitting now and writing – and listening to the Kuraki Mai CD I’ve bought today. I’m feeling quite tired already and so I’ll see to go to sleep soon.
Oyasumi!!

25th August 2004

Actually I had intended to sleep for only an hour yesterday evening, I just wanted to rest a bit before, as I had said, checking out the nightlife. I had set the alarm clock to quarter past nine but it seems that all the walking around in Tokyo had worn me out plenty and so I didn’t wake up at quarter past nine in the evening but at half past three at night. I must have switched off the alarm clock somehow while still being half asleep^^. Oh, never mind! There are still plenty of other chances to enjoy some Tokyo nightlife…
This morning I got on a Marunouchi line train from Ootemachi station to Shinjuku where I got off the train and somehow managed to squeeze myself through the crowds towards the station exit.

Hurry, hurry, for the early bird chatches the worm…

Somehow I felt a bit strange at that time of the day as a tourist: While everyone else is running, rushing and scurrying I was stranded in the midst of that rush as a beholder, a mere bystander who can afford to take all the time in the world to stop here and there to look at a building or to take a photo of something. Is it only me who’s feeling that? It is like an inbred lump of guilty conscience inside me, asking me “What are you doing here, why aren’t you at work?” I gues, I’m just one of those people who can’t relax even on a holiday. At other times of the day there you see people in a hurry too, of course, but the morning hours are extreme.
Somehow I still managed to ignore the voices in my head and enjoying myself, taking my time to take photos and to film to my heart’s content. When you come out of Shinjuku station you soon come to a quite bustling junction where you can virtually feel the pulsating energy of busy Japanese sarariman.

A really busy junction in Shinjuku, a really busy area…

Along the sidewalks shop employees are standing around, greeting customers and giving away free tissues (very useful on muggy days like that). Traffic is rather dense and the air is filled with the monotonous humming of engines and the smells of exhaust and gasoline. And shops, shops, shops, as far as you can see.

Karaoke – the famous Japanese entertainment
that can be found everywhere

Taking a few detours I walked towards the Tochou (the Tokyo Government Office building), which is a lofty 250m tall and is most impressive when you’re standing right in front of it. Once again I made extensive use of my digital camera… When you enter that skyscraper, you don’t enter the ground floor (ikkai) but the first floor (nikai), which means, that in order to reach the elevators that take you up to the observation platforms, which are free of charge, you first have to take some escalators down. In front of the elevators some security guys are controlling visitors’ bags (but they only open them for a quick look and don’t start ransacking it), and then you are invited into the elevator by the elevator girl’s friendly ‘irasshaimase’.

Tochou – the Tokyo Government Office building –
also a much demanded photo motif in Tokyo

Then the elevator whisks you up to the 45^th floor. One particularity in Japan is that they count floors the American way – the ground floor is called first floor, the first floor second floor and so on. According to that, yonjuugokai, meaning 45^th floor would actually be the 44^th floor for me. Somewhat confusing. Anyway, up there you enter a comfortable lobby with agreeable background music and carpeted floors. The tower I was in, was the south tower, implying that there’s also a north tower. Right, the Tochou has got two towers after all.

Tokyo’s huge parks – here the Yoyogi-park seen from the Tochou’s south tower

As you’d expect from an observation platform the room was all windows and I enjoyed a stunning view on the city even though the weather wasn’t very nice. At least I could see as far as the Rainbow-Bridge in the southern parts of Tokyo. Afterwards I went to the Shinjuku-Chuuou-Kouen, a comparatively small park which is yet quite nice. Still I was surprised that obviously homeless people were living there in tents. In such a ‘Mr.Clean-country’ as Japan I just didn’t expect it. I also wasn’t quite sure of it but you could see quite many tents under the trees and on many banks, covered by blue plastic sheets, there was stuff piled up that looked like the personal belongings of the people who lived there. Or is it just my imagination that’s too vivid? Dunno.

Tents in the shinjuku-chuuou-kouen

After having seen enough of this park I ambled to the next underground station, Tochou-Mae, and went, maybe taking a little detour, to Shinjuku-Gyoen-Mae station. From the station it was a 300 metres walk until I then stood in front of the Shinjuku-Mon, one of the entrances to Sinjuku Park. There I saw barriers, similar to those at subway entrances and exits and beside them a row of ticket machines: 200 yen you have to pay for a one-time entrance. But as soon as you are inside you realize that it was worth every yen. It is really beautiful and well-cared-for, a quiet and peaceful garden. And somehow, in the shade of the trees and feeling a slight breeze, it was pleasantly cool.

Shinjuku Park

On my way I also saw two little Japanese teahouses. Then I crossed a really elaborately laid out pond (with some Koi – Japanese carp – swimming in it) on a wooden bridge and went on to the chrysanthemum fields. Then I settled down on a bench to leisurely think about what I still wanted to see today. I decided to go to the Gokokuji temple next so I left the park and took the underground to Gokokuji station. Isn’t it just convenient how you can reach almost every point in Tokyo per underground?

Furou-mon – Gate of eternal youth

Through the Nioumon, the main gate of Japanese temples guarded by two guardian figures, I slowly approached the temple and while surrounding it, I noticed how astonishingly empty this place was. When you hear of Tokyo you’d normally think of crowded areas but not here. The only person I could see around was was a middle-aged woman who was painting the landscape of the temple forecourt (and, boy, she was good at it!). Then I climbed the stairs to the temple entrance and took off my shoes. Unfortunately, as in many temples, photography was strictly forbidden inside but things like that make sightseeing a lot more interesting, I think. This way, there are still places you can’t find any photos of in travel guidebooks and so you can still discover them on your own. In order not to forget, I decided to describe how the inside looked as detailed as possible: When you enter the temple through the sliding door you are in the right part of the temple. On your right hand there is a counter where a monk, who sells the temple souvenirs, is sitting (among those things various omamori – protective charms). In the middle of the back part stands the main altar, on its left and right hand there are side altars (at least I think they’re side altars, who knows…). The floor is laid out with tatami and in the center a large carpet is spread out on which the believers sit in seiza – the formal way of sitting in Japan, where you kneel, resting your bum on your heels, knees together. I bought an omamori that drives away bad spirits and then I set off again, heading for the nearby St.Mary’s. cathedral. On the map it looked easy to find so I stored the map away and tried to make it with my hands free – big mistak. After the third turn I found myself in some narrow backstreets, hopelessly lost. Only after wandering around for approximately half an hour I decided to use my map again – and found the cathedral with ease.

St.Mary’s cathedral

At about half four, I stood in front of the cathedral and entered it. Unfortunately photography wasn’t allowed again and so I took loads of photos from outside. The inside consists of a large hall having everything that European cathedrals have: sacred water, confessionals, an altar, an organ… And now I am sitting here in front of the cathedral, typing away on my laptop.

St.Mary’s grotto

By the way, I just noticed that I haven’t eaten anything yet today. That’s typical, whenever I visit interesting places I forget to eat. Actually, that would be THE diet^^. But now I’ll go to get something yummy! So long!!

24th August 2004

After eleven at night yesterday I went to the laundrette only to realise that it was already closed. Normally I would have put it off to the next day but since I had no more fresh T-shirts to put on I had to improvise: I put some detergent into the sink in my room, added some hot water and then I started scrubbing. Then I rinsed the T-shirt, wrang it out and hung it up to dry. It even got almost dry by this morning and as I ironed it, it got as dry and crisp as one could wish. Anyway, having something to wear again, I packed everything I would need for the day into the rucksack (among that also a bag full of souvenirs from Austria, because I would meet my friend Mai today) and then I set off onto the streets. To the underground station where I took the Chiyoda line heading for Tokyo-Eki. There I got off and looked for Marunouchi-Chuuou-Guchi where I was supposed to meet Mai.

Tokyo-Eki

After looking for a while I found an exit out to the streets and saw a sign saying ‘Marunouch-Chuuou-Guchi’ nearby. We had agreed to meet at 10 in the morning and I walked up and down the street. For 9:30 in the morning it was already quite hot and muggy which made me transpire quite a little. Then, to kill time, I studied one of the many city maps you can find at every street corner and to my dismay I discovered that the Tokyo-Eki-Marunouchi-Chuuou-Guchi was across the street, about fifty metres away!! …but as I arrived there we found each other soon. Because I hadn’t eaten any breakfast before we went to a nearby café where I ate pancakes with syrup (it was a kind of American-style café where they only played English music) and afterwards we walked through the Ootemon (one of the entrance gates) into the Koukyo Higashi Gyoen (the park surrounding the Imperial Palace). When you enter you have to go to a counter first where you get a kind of chip/ticket/card for free which I think they hand out to be able to control if everybody has left the park when they close it in the evening. A very clever system! First thing you see upon entering are some Bansho (guard houses that were manned with samurai guarding the gate) and of course I took photos again. The sound of the cicadas was deafening and the smell of a muggy noon was lying in the air. Next thing we came to a little hall in which a variety of Japanese vases was displayed. Really beautiful, the various patterns in their detailled elaboration! As we had left that hall again it suddenly popped into my mind that I hadn’t yet given my present to Mai and so I asked her to look away, pulled the present from my backpack and handed it over. I think she liked it. Chatting about well-known Austrian articles we went on and came across the foundations of a stronghold that has been built in the 17^th century. That stronghold had been over 50 metres high and only nineteen years after its finishing it had cought fire from flying sparks during a festival and burned down.

Stronghold foundations

After all that walking we were feeling a bit exhausted and so we sat down to rest for a while in a nearby lounge where Mai took photos with her keitai (mobile phone). In Austria, camera phones are still very rare so all I could do was watch and admire the achievements of Japanese technology. Sugoi! (Great!) You can take photos, send emails with photos attached, request informations about the underground lines and schedule, write emails in Japanese… what else would you want in a mobile phone? For me who has seen things like that for the first time it was a real revelation. And even better: As I then asked: “Ikura gurai datta?” (“How much was it?”), she answered: “Sanzen en” (“3000 yen”)!! Unbelievable, it wasn’t even expensive! ^^

Beauty of the Koukyo-Gaien

After having rested for a while we went to the Kitanomaru Kouen, another park nearby, where we bought a cold 120-yen-drink in front of the Nippon Budoukan. Those drinks machines are near whenever you need them…^^. Benri da!!

Nijuubashi with the Koukyo (Imperial Palace)
in the background – a very popular angle in Japan

Next thing we took the underground from Takebashi station to Nijuubashi station that is named after Nijuubashi, a western-style bridge that has been built in the Meiji era (in which everything with a western and modern flair was popular). And after a short walk in the shade of countless trees the beautiful Nijuubashi came into sight, with the Koukyo, the Imperial Palace, appearing distantly in the background. Of course I couldn’t help but take a lot of photos^^. I also took a photo of the both of us with the Koukyo as a background. Good thing that my camera’s got a self-timer^^.

Mai and me

After we had seen enough of the palace and rested sitting on some stairs (boy, it surely was hot!) we went to Tokyo-Eki and looked for an underground that would take us to Kokkaigijidou-Mae station – we had to walk a long distance to get to the platform. The distances between the respective underground lines are surprisingly long in a station as large as Tokyo-Eki… As we finally reached the platform, Mai told me then that she had a headache and wanted to go home, so we had to say goodbye already. What a pity! But I hope, I can meet her again tomorrow. So, alone again, I went to the Kokkaigijidou, the building that houses the parliament of Japan, on my own and let the shutter click dozens of times…

Kokkaigijidou – the Japanese parliament

I also strolled around in the neighbourhood for a while and then I headed for for Akasaka, another district of Tokyo. There I bought my supper at a konbini and also some drinks. At the Akasaka underground station I phoned to Europe again and then I went straight home to my minshuku. Luckily one of the lines leaving from Akasaka station was Chiyoda line, so I could go to Nezu station directly.

Akasaka in the evening – still hot enough

Today I came home a bit earlier than yesterday. In the minshuku I hurried to answer my emails, then I quickly put my clothes into the washing machine and then into the dryer. I think they should be dry any moment now… Okay, and now I’m writing.
Afterwards I’ll make a nap for about an hour and then check out the nightlife here. And maybe iron some T-shirts, haha ^^
Oyasumi nasai!!

23rd August 2004

And here I am again, sitting in my room and writing my diary. After having finished writing yesterday, I went to the ofuro (the Japanese-style bath) and it was the first time for me to do so. I already knew about the rules that apply to using Japanese baths before (e.g. wash first and only then enter the bathtub), but you wouldn’t need any previous knowledge because really everything was explained on signs in English language. So first I sat down on a little plastic stool beside the bathtub, washed and scrubbed myself thoroughly, rinsed with the little wooden bucket and then I plunged into the – astonishingly deep, surely eighty centimetres plus – tub with the very warm water. Aah, after a long day after lugging heavy bags around and perspiring, this was absolute heaven! After I crawled out again with a slightly dizzy head I towelled myself and put on the yukata (a sort of bathrobe) provided by the house… I was feeling soo originally Japanese…^^ After that I took the batteries out of the charger in my room, brushed my teeth, set the alarm clock to seven and then I got into my ‘bed’ which lay spread out on the tatami floor^^ Although hadn’t really been worried about it I was a bit insecure as to whether I could sleep well in futons – and I’m glad now to know that I can. I woke up around one at night, and I felt really thirsty so I went downstairs to the lobby to get some of the delicious cool tea that’s provided for free in the refrigerator.

View from my window

I got up at seven in the morning and first thing I brushed my teeth, then I stored away the futon into the oshiire (a closet for that very purpose), packed everything I needed for the day into my little rucksack and then I set off. Soon I reached Nezu station again and took the subway heading for Tokyo-Eki and then proceeded to Roppongi station. There I bought a 290-yen-bento, one of the little lunchboxes they sell everywhere, at a konbini (which is Japanese for ‘convenience store’) and was very surprised as the man behind the counter asked me if he should warm it up. Due to my poor Japanese I didn’t instantly know if I had understood him right but he was really offering me to warm it up. After a quick ‘hai, onegai shimasu’ from my side he puts it into one of the four microwave ovens behind him and in a minute my bento is warm. And not only that, you also get a pair of ohashi for free in every konbini at the counter. Benri da yo!! That’s the famous Japanese service! Outside then I found myself a bench to sit down and enjoyed my breakfast. Then I strolled around in Roppongi, one of the quarters of Tokyo, mainly along the Roppongi Doori, for about an hour. Somehow I had expected to see more people strolling around or doing whatever else but after all it was Monday morning and most people have better things to do on Monday mornings… Next, I started walking towards the Tokyo Tower and while walking I realized that I had forgotten my room key in my room. That bloody American-style door locks: to lock them you only need to push a button on the inside and then close the door behind you from outside. You don’t need to lock it with a key. So it can happen than you walk out slamming the door behind you and only then realizing that you left your keys inside – and to unlock it again, of course you need a key… Okay, doesn’t matter, I thought to myself, they’ve got a master key anyway, and so I walked on until I reached the tower.

Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower is a radio tower that has been designed taking the Parisian Eiffel Tower as a role model, only that the Japanese version is about 100 metres higher. When you’re standing directly in front of it, it is pretty impressive and I took several photos of it looking straight upward. Then I queued in front of the ticket window to buy a ticket for the elevator that takes visitors up. They take around 1300 yen if you want to go all the way up to the platform in 250m height. The ticket for the platform on 150m cost just around 700 yen but I wanted the best view and I didn’t feel like being stingy. So queued again at the elevator doors (again, yes, Japan is a land of disciplined queuing) and entered the crowded elevator – definitely nothing for sufferers of claustrophobia. While going up, I listened to the informative announcement of the nice elevator girl (though I was more interested in the elevator girl than in the informative information…). This is one thing I like about Japan so far: In all kinds of places you all sorts of information about this and that and mostly delivered in an agreeable female voice. I mean, after some time you probably start to find it annoying but, come on, you can always ignore it (or at least try to). Anyway, I think you get used quickly to all the ‘Go-chuui kudasai’ (‘Please take care’) around you…^^. Although the sky was overcast and so the Fuji-san was nowhere in view, I enjoyed the view over this sheer endless ocean of houses, filmed and took loads of photos..

Contrasts of small and large, old and new – Shrine amidst a sea of houses

And that surely consumed time: Inside the Tokyo Tower I spent more than two hours. But there’s also another reason why it took me so long: For the escalator ride from 150m to 250m – and for the ride back down – I had to wait in endlessly long queues…

The Tokyo-Tower, a popular destination for family trips

After I got out of the tower again, I leisurely ambled through the surrounding streets, it is quite interesting when you don’t know where you are after a while and then find your way again with the help of a city map and a compass… and then I went on to the Zoujouji-temple. After having bought – once again – a delicious cool drink at a vending machine I climbed the stairs to the temple entrance.

Zoujouji-Temple

Inside I saw for the very first time what Japanese people actually do when they enter a temple: the man in front of me went to a small table near the entrance, took some incense from a small bowl standing on it and laid it into a bigger bowl with burning coals, also standing on the table. He repeated that movement and did it with utmost respect and a solemn slowness. Then he folded his hands and bowed deeply. Of course I instantly had to emulate him.^^ Then I found the votive tables and the Jizou-statues (statues of the Japanese guardian deity Jizou) in front of the temple and, boy, there were a lot of them! Then I walked the way to the next subway station (Shiba-Kouen station). From there I took the train to Sengakuji where I wanted to see the temple but unfortunately it was closed, or at least that was what it looked like. Still I could take a few photos from the outside, enough to get me content…

Sengakuji-Temple

Also here I had a good look at the neighbourhood and ended up with a one-hour-walk which brought me back to Sengakuji station – the point where I had started to walk – by chance though I absolutely hadn’t known where I was walking. Knowing my position again, I took the subway back to Shiba-Kouen station and paid a visit to Shiba-Kouen, a nice little park and wonderful to relax after sightseeing… but unfortunately I driven away soon by a sudden outburst of rain and so I went back to Tokyo-Eki I once again phoned to Europe.

Shiba-Kouen

I also took the chance to by my supper in a konbini, a bowl of kappu-ramen (a type of instant noodles) and a little bottle of calpis with tea. Delicious!! Then I went back to my minshuku where I instantly was handed out the forgotten key (They wouldn’t even let me finish my sentence: ‘kesa dekaketa toki ni kagi…’^^). Then I went to my room, answered my e-mails, agreed to meet with a penfriend tomorrow, copied the photos and videos of the day to the computer’s hard-drive, ate my ramen, sipped my green tea, watched TV a bit and then I enjoyed the ofuro again. Only thing left to do is to wash my t-shirts, then I’ll go to sleep. Oyasumi nasai!!^^

22th August 2004

After I had spent the past week adapting to the Japanese time zone by going to bed and getting up early in order to avoid the notorious Jetlag and packing my huge rucksack in the night from 20^th to 21^st August finally the time had come. I went to the sauna, took a shower and then, at precisely 5:18, the three of us, my dear parents and me, left the house heading for Vienna airport. First I only sat there in the back seat, happily watching the night scenery gliding by and listening to the monotonous hum of the engine. It was that unique feeling of leaving your house for a travel you always wanted to do and knowing that you wouldn’t be back for a long time. Still, after some time the novelty of the feeling wore off and so I decided that the radio should be turned on, tuning in FM4, one of my favourite radio stations in Austria, and so I spent the rest of the journey listening to some alternative music in the morning programme. As we then stopped on a short-time parking lot directly in front of the airport entrance, I ate some breakfast – a muesli drink and a banana. Already having a slight surge of nervousness in my stomach I really couldn’t eat much. Next thing we entered the airport building where I instantly found my check-in counter. The check-in counter hadn’t yet opened, so we returned to the car to hang out a bit. As we returned to the airport hall there was already a long cue in front of the counter and I had to swallow down a wave of curses… Nevertheless I had to wait for only twenty minutes and then I could finally get rid of my heavy bag! Checking the flight tickets again, I suddenly realised it: I somehow had mixed up the departure times before, believing that the plane to Paris would leave only at 11:15. Nonsense! The truth was that the plane would, with me on board or not, leave at 10:10. That meant that if my brother and his girlfriend, who I had agreed to meet with at eleven, wanted to see me before my departure they would have to hurry big time! Well, they made it just in time and all we could do before I had to hurry off to the gate was to shake hands. Run, Forrest, run!! 5 minutes before scheduled takeoff I was sitting inside the plane to Paris and as it finally accelerated I was excited and overjoyed – a feeling that lasted but several seconds because upon takeoff I became a bit seasick. Strange, normally that doesn’t happen to me. I felt a bit dizzy all the way to Paris and also I was quite tired… but as I finally got out of my seat in Paris and left the plane I instantly felt better again. I quickly rushed to the next toilet to relieved myself; then I walked on, looking for the terminal where the plane to Tokyo would wait. On my way there I unintentionally misled another traveller: thinking that he wanted to get to the plane to Tokyo too I dragged him behind all the way to my terminal, only then realising that the poor guy just wanted to get his luggage and then sightseeing to Paris^^. Ok, no hard feelings mate!! The first kind of “Japan-feeling” I got when I was standing at the gate to the plane to Tokyo – Narita Airport and about eighty per cent of the passengers were Japanese! That was really a novelty for me because where I live you don’t normally see Japanese on the streets – you just know them from photos… I had already started to imagine my seat neighbour - one or two cute Japanese girls wanting to practice their English with me but, alas, on the seat next to me was empty and the next seat was occupied by an old Japanese fella who hardly talked all the way… Fortunately I’m sitting next to the window, I thought, but the one big disadvantage of window-seats I should find out soon enough: it is bloody damn hard to go to the toilet! So I opted for dehydration-diet, hardly drinking anything and therefore only having to go to squeeze myself out once during the whole flight. Luckily the backs of the seats had little screens built in and I killed time watching the actual flight data – altitude, airspeed, outside temperature,… that kind of stuff. You wouldn’t believe how cold it is up in 30000 feet! The food that was served was quite alright, not at least because it was served by Japanese-speaking stewardesses who already understood “Koucha wo kudasai” (“Black tea, please”). And it was really an exalting feeling not only not to have to talk in German but even not to be able to talk in German because no one would understand it!! I went on killing time until about 0:00 Japanese time, and then “went to bed”, curling up in my Economy-Class seat. Fortunately Air France was providing blankets, had they not I would have caught a terrible cold already in the first hours of my travel – it surely is cold inside airplanes… Although a baby was crying incessantly I slept quite well, first with the provided ear plugs and then, after waking up with sore ears and taking them out, also without them. At about 5:00 I woke up to the loud drone of the jet engines and soon breakfast was served. And then, as I just had finished my breakfast, one of the greatest views of my lifetime unfolded before my eyes: Japan from the air in the orange glow of the sunrise – a true eye-opener!! After that, the hour left until landing passed quickly and then, on 22^nd Aug 2004 at exactly 7:39 Japanese time I would set foot on Japanese ground for the first time in my life!

Narita Airport

The first peculiar thing I noticed was, that the toilets were mounted lower than they are usually in Europe: for a short bloke like me an encouraging sign…^^ Satisfied with myself after noticing such a little thing I then proceeded to the passport control where I saw myself confronted with my first task in Japan: filling in the immigration form. It looked easy enough but then I noticed that I didn’t have my address in Japan at hand, so I simply left the gap empty and hoped for the best and as luck would have it, the immigration officer, a dutiful-looking middle-aged Japanese man, seemed to have overlooked it. Then, again without long queues (maybe because it was Sunday morning), I went through the passport control without any problem and also my rucksack was just coming around the edge on the conveyor belt as I got to the baggage reclaim. Everything went perfectly!! The last thing to do was to pass the customs – also without problems – and there I was, standing in front of Narita airport!! I quickly took some photos of the airport hall and then I tried to find the bus stop of the Limousine Bus to Tokyo only to be told that I first had to buy a ticket inside the airport building. So back into the big hall, laden with my heavy bags and looking for the counter of the bus company. It took me five minutes to find it and then I bought my ticket (in Japanese – hooray – I had bought something in Japanese!!^^) spending my first 2900 yen there. Next thing, I got out to the bus stop again where the schedule told me that I had to wait twenty minutes for the next bus. Standing out there in front of the airport, feeling the humid air that was hot in spite of the early morning hours, the thought came back to me with a striking clarity: I was finally in Japan, I had made it! Still captured in that moment and being in high spirits I saw the bus pulling in, got my luggage ready which was carefully put into the trunk by the attendant and then I got in – the inside equipped with air-condition, just perfect! By the way, despite of it still being nine in the morning and the temperature still being rather low at 23 degrees Celsius, I already got the notion of what the Japanese call ‘mushiatsui’ (humid and hot). When the bus reached Tokyo Air Terminal, the first stop on its way, I was shocked to see employees of the bus company pulling out my big backpack from the trunk and then getting on the bus to ask who it belonged to. “Watashi no desu” (“It is mine”), I quickly respond and jump off the bus. As soon as I had gotten off the bus it started moving - and that while my little bag with all the valuables was still lying around on my seat. So I jump towards the door, rap on it with an expression of panic in my face and – phew – the bus stops again. A staff member explained to me that my ticket was only valid to Tokyo Air Terminal and that I had to top up if I wanted to go to Tokyo Eki, so I paid the additional 100 yen and got back on. Arrived at the Tokyo Eki I saw myself confronted with yet another problem – finding the underground – no easy task in a building as large as the central station of Tokyo. Outside it was not. So I entered the building, looked for signs with the white ‘M’-logo on blue background or for signs that said ‘chikatetsu’ (underground) but somehow couldn’t find either of them. So I search my bags for the folder with the subway map, take it out and only two minutes later I was already approached by young Japanese guy with a friendly voice, asking me “May I help you?” “Wow”, I think to myself as I get the way to Nezu station explained in rather good English. On the way to the subway I also stumbled across a drinks vending machine – my very fist one in Japan – and bought a bottle of Japanese tsumetai ryokucha (cold green tea) – oishiiiiii!!!^^. As I finally arrived at the ticket gate it popped into my mind that I still didn’t have a ticket, so I went to look for a ticket machine which took some time but once I had found the machine everything was fine. When you can speak, understand, write and read only some Japanese there seem to be no unsolvable problem at all. So, equipped with an ichinichiken (one-day-ticket), I went to Nezu station and as I emerge that air-conditioned subterranean refuge I noticed that it had already become a lot more ‘mushiatsui’. Might sound a bit strange but somehow I do like the feeling of ‘mushiatsui’. My body is able to cope with it and perspiring a bit doesn’t bother me too much; and somehow the humidity of the air feels quite okay, ‘the very air somehow smells good’, I would say... Standing in front of the underground station I took out that little map showing the way to the sawanoya-ryokan, the inn I would be staying at, thought about the directions for a while and then set off – and found it straight away! I don’t mean to brag but give me a map and I’ll find any place in any city of the world… As I then explained to the friendly old man behind the counter that I had booked here, filled in a form and could finally get rid of my rucksack, I felt genuinely relieved. Still having unplanned time on my hand, I simply set out for a walk through Tokyo. I didn’t have any plan but I did have an ichinichiken, and so I started with going around all over the city by subway. For some time I strolled around in the streets, not exactly having an idea where I was, and some time I spent at the koukyo-gaien, one of the big parks around the Imperial Palace.

Koukyo-gaien

Then, at about three in the afternoon I bought a phone-card for kokusaidenwa (international telephones – you can’t phone out of Japan from just any Japanese payphone) and phoned to Europe (where it was still eight in the morning^^). Then I walked on, buying something to drink every now and then and then went the ‘big round tour’ on the yamanotesen, Tokyo’s circle train line. I got on the train at Kanda station, bought a ticket to Ueno station, the next stop, and then I circled on the yamanotesen for a bit more than an hour, savouring the view at the skyline, and then, really, I got off at Ueno station and therefore only paid the 130 yen for the one-station-ride^^.

Street somewhere in Ueno

Around six in the evening I then returned to the ryokan (inn), where I was shown to my room in which I am sitting now. I unpacked got the internet to work in a jiffy – and the connection is unbelievably fast! Then, after copying the photos and videos to the hard-disk, I started writing my diary. And here I am. I guess I’ll go to buy instant ramen now, go to the ofuro (the Japanese-style bath) and then sleep soon so that I hopefully won’t be too tired tomorrow. Good night!!