September Days in Tokyo

During Silver Week (Japanese holiday from September 19th-23rd) my ALT friend Ben and I decided to go to Tokyo for a few days.  We met on Sunday, but I actually arrived Saturday afternoon and met with some friends from Sophia University, who I tutored in Santa Clara last summer (see picture).  After roaming around their campus, we went out for dinner, drinks, and karaoke-always a good time!  I met Ben on Sunday afternoon.  After grabbing some dinner and getting settled at our hotel, the adventures began!



1) Tokyo Tower was the first stop. Built in 1958, it's 1,091 feet tall, the world's tallest self-supporting steel tower! We skipped the long line for the elevators and decided to walk instead (well, not really-we actually waited in the line for maybe 20 minutes because we thought it was the line for people who wanted to walk, but it wasn’t bad because the whole time we could smell fresh crepes from a small stand that was near the line). We finally managed to find the stairs and up we went. We made it to the first observation deck (about 600 steps). Our reward was a laminated wallet-size card that says “Certificate” at the top with a little blurb about our accomplishment and a funny little animation in the corner. Score…I guess. I wanted to do the climb during the day because I thought the view would be better but I was actually really happy we decided to go at night. The view from the observation deck was amazing and so was seeing the tower lit up. After we made our way back down, we headed to the Blue Note in Roppongi for dinner. I hadn’t heard of this place until Ben mentioned it but I was so glad we checked it out! It’s a small venue where we got a nice table off to the side and watched C.O.E.D. (Chronicles of Every Diva), a Jazz group from Los Angeles.

2) After grabbing some delicious chocolate chip scones and fruit muffins from a small café near our hotel (the Oak Hotel) the next morning, we headed to Shinjuku. Here, we explored the Meiji shrine. The entrance is through a 36-foot torrii (gate), the largest in the country, built from 1,600-year-old Japanese cypress trees imported from Taiwan. After passing through the torrii, we moseyed around the Inner Garden and eventually found the shrine. The whole area was really quiet and peaceful, nothing like the busy Takeshita Dori street we explored after.  I had a maiko appointment at a studio in Harajuku at 2:00p.m. and we didn’t want to be late, so after seeing the shrine (and watching 2 wedding processions there!) we stopped by the Softbank store (the store has a bunch of English-speaking staff and Ben had some questions about his phone so I decided to speak to someone too, just to clarify my plan. I’m not sure if that was the best idea because I discovered that my bill for the first month was about $192.00. Yikes!:/)

This is how my maiko appointment went:

 First, I chose a kimono. There were 60 to choose from, each made up of different colors and designs!  I chose a black one with pink flowers outlined in gold. Next, I selected three poses for the photo session. I chose two standing poses [one with a fan and one with an umbrella] and one sitting pose. Then I changed into a thin, white robe and the intense makeup session began! After tying my hair back, the man and woman who worked at the studio began applying a Vaseline-like base all over my face and shoulders. Next, my face and shoulders were painted white with a huge, thick brush. Then came the white powder, which gave the paint a finished look. Next came the eyes-the man applied black liquid eyeliner to my lids, attached fake eyelashes on top, and smeared a little dab of red paint under my eyes. The red lipstick was the finishing touch. My eyes had been closed for about 10 minutes at this point.  When the man moved away from me and I saw myself in the mirror, I was totally shocked but definitely amused!



3) Then, Ben and I made it to Hinode, a waterfront area where we managed to grab a quick dinner and be just in time for a boat to Pallete Town. At Pallete Town, we rode a ferris wheel and explored some shops.

After this, we went to Ginza, which was truly unbelievable.  I had never seen any place like this in my life.  It's one of those places you really need to see to believe.  The night streets were illuminated by fancy lights and glowing up-scale stores.  We finished the night at Big Echo, a popular karaoke spot.

4) We were pretty exhausted but somehow mustered enough energy to get up at a decent time on our final day. We decided to go to a sumo wrestling match at the Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena.

5) After this, we went to the Ueno Zoo, the oldest zoo in Japan.  We checked out the polar bears, penguins, flamingos, rhinos, and a bunch of other animals. I ended up leaving earlier than Ben…my feet couldn’t take any more walking. Luckily, the long train ride back to Hitachi gave them plenty of time to rest.  Our trip was definitely a success! 

They wrapped what seemed like a million layers around my body before putting on the kimono. I could hardly breathe at the end, but it was worth it. I carefully made my way down the stairs to a small room where I chose a hair piece. I thought the hair part of the process was going to take forever, but they actually had wigs all ready to go. All they did was stick the hair piece I chose into a wig and then moved me to the photo shoot area. Here, the photographer situated me in the various poses I chose and took about 30 shots in total, and then Ben and I were free to use their outside garden to take our own photos for about 10 minutes. The photographer processed the pictures while I changed back into my clothes and took off all the makeup. By the time I was back to my normal self, he presented me with 3 big photos, one of each pose.