Tim’s Ramblings

WOOO!!! And update!

Look!!! With pictures even!!

So it’s late. Sue me. I got home last night. Today I called a few people, made a lunch date (I’ll see you tomorrow L!) with someone I haven’t seen in a long long long long time, and then proceeded to watch some shows I’ve recorded on the good old DVR and passed out around 4pm for about 3 to 4 hours…. Damn jet lag…

But here is the first update. I’m going to split this into a number of posts. This one is standard sightseeing. About 11 pictures with explanations.

Click on the link below to see the rest of the post!

Trains

We’ll start with the train stations. An integeral part of getting around in Japan, especially Tokyo. Now, once you’re out in the countryside, most people do own a car to get around as stores and such can be a good distance away from where they live. But for most occasions, it’s public transportation. Where my parents live, they need to hop on a bus to get to the train station to get anywhere. They COULD walk but it’ll be a bit of a hike. Of course, the buses only run about every 15 minutes at night so it’s a pain if you just miss it. Eh.

But anyway, trains. The train system in Tokyo is impressive. We have the above ground trains run by Japan Rail (aka JR) and then there are the subways and a few local and regional trains run by other companies. The JR lines run along the outside of Tokyo near the newer main areas like Shinjuku, Shinagawa, and Ueno, while the subways are the only way to get to the older parts of Tokyo, especially in the interior like Ginza, Asakusa, and the Emperial Palace.

Here we have a shot of a typical JR station. This one is at Yuurakucho (有楽町).

Some stations are huuuuuge. Like the Shinagawa station where you have at least 3 major JR lines going through in both directions (Yamanote 山手, Keihin Tohoku　京浜東北, and the Tokaido　東海道), the bullet train (Shinkansen　新幹線), the ones going east to Chiba prefecture (Narita Express to the airport and the Sobu line 総武線). Of course, there’s also the Keikyu line with is not JR and is another local line. The Shinjuku station is even worse as there are the JR lines, the subway lines, the Odakyu lines, the Keikyu lines, and a few others I have never ridden before and probably never will.

…yes…you can get lost… Have I? Um. Yes.

But moving on.

Here we have a typical commuter JR train.

The one is the Keihin Tohoku line. The lines are color coded so even tourists can find the right train. Of course…the trick is to get on the one going in the correct direction…

Oh, and I managed to catch a slightly blurry shot of one of the types of bullet trains that go through Tokyo. They are fast and really kinda cool.

And did I ever meantion how ungodly crowded the trains and the stations can be??

This isn’t very crowded (this is a Sunday in Harajuku) as you can see some space on the right. It doesn’t help make you feel cramped and aggravated though….. Ugh…

The other parts of Asakusa Temple

So if you’ve been a reader even off and on, you probably have seen pictures of Asakusa Temple enough times by now. It’s because it’s a major tourist spot and part of “Tim’s Patented Tokyo Tour”. But there are plenty of other parts in and around Asakusa too!

For example, the above image is from a small shrine (Chingo-do 鎮護堂) dedicated to the racoon-dog diety (otanuki-sama) who is famous for protection against fire and theft along with helping business flourish. It’s just a natural spring where you use the ladle to wash your hands.

There are also some nice nature smack in the middle of Tokyo too.

Of course, this shot is a bit misleading as “nature” kinda stops outside the frame…but still. It’s nice.

And ouside of the main temple complex, you can see these buddhist monk figures called Jizo (地蔵) of various sizes.

The Jizo is actually Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and in Japan, they are typically thought of as a protector of people condemmed to Hell. Cheery eh? But he’s also known as a protective diety of travellers so you see them all over Japan along sides of roads and even deep deep deep in the mountains sometimes where a path may have once existed.

Jizo-sama are usually found wearing a red cap and/or a red bib in Japan as well to symbolize his protection over children.

Of course, incents are critical in temples and shrines as well. The smoke is thought to be purifying and calming and will also help to deliver your thoughts and prayers to heaven.

This is from a smaller temple. Of course, the giant cauldron right outside the main temple in Asakusa will have TONS of these in there. But with all the smoke and the crowd, you can’t take a picture worth anything….

Oh, and please note…no, that is not a swastika. It is a Manji, a symbol commonly used in Buddhism and Hinduism representing peace, intelligence, and strength. The meaning changes depending on the direction of the arms. When rotated 45 degrees with the arms going clockwise, it becomes a swastika. Of course th swastika also has a long long long long history as a mystic symbol before it became associated with Nazism. Oddly, this “hooked cross” symbol is used worldwide. From Native Americans to Far East Asia. How can a symbol like this be used in so many different cultures that could have never ever run into eachother? I have no idea. Interesting though isn’t it?

…Scooping live animals….

As it’s summer time in Japan (the kids get out of school for summer mid July and will be out ’till mid August or so) many shrines and temples will have summer festivals. The big time is during obon(お盆), which is a Japanese Buddhist holiday to honor the family’s anscestors who have departed. Typically it is during August 13th to the 15th and many companies will take the few days off as most people will return back to their families wherever they are.

However, throughout the summer, festivals are everywhere. And with all festivals comes what’s known in the US as the midway games. Yup. Vaguely shady stands usually manned by just as shady chain smokig guys trying to tell you that it’ll be easy to win that big big prize. Well, the same type of games exist here but the prizes are different. Typically they are little toys and video games and pictures and such. Not so much stuffed animals and I think that’s mainly because there are TONS of arcades and such in Japan with tons of those crane machines where you can get stuffed animals and such. So the demand just isn’t there.

However, there is one type of game that you see in Japan that you don’t see in the US anymore. The live animal games. Remember back in the day where you through a ping pong ball into a goldfish bowl and you got a free goldfish? Yeah. Those were the good old days. But due to animal rights activists and such, you just don’t see them anymore (I will not debate about the pros and cons of this here).

In Japan, the kingyo sukui, or the goldfish scoop, is a traditional game. You may remember the pictures I posted of it from a few months back.

There are pros that show off their skills on TV and such. It’s not easy. Not easy at all.

BUT, oddly enough there are other games with a similar theme….and these are just…weird…

We have here a dojo sukui. Yup…those are loaches….

Um…I have no idea what you do with them. I mean, they’re edible…but does the dude prepare it for you or at least fillet it for you if you catch one? And you need more than one to make a meal. They’re also very slippery and slimy….so it’s not easy to catch one. The sticks have a little string that ends in a loop that you try to snag a loach with. Odd…

Then we have the kame sukui. Cute little baby turtles!

Here’s a closeup of the babies.

There’s a sign that says that if you scoop one you can take it home but you can also sell it back to the stand for 1000 yen! Huh. From the look of the scoop and how quick the babies are, it’s not easy either and I didn’t really see anyone catch one.

I gotta wonder though if the kids and the parents know how big the turtles can actually get and how hard it is to keep one… Oh well…

So there you go. A quick little picture tour.

More coming soon! I promise!