Go Ahead, Surprise Me! - April 30

It was a sunny day, so we decided to go to the Meiji Jingu Shrine. The shrine was built in 1920 to honor the Emperor and Empress Meiji, who were instrumental in opening Japan to the outside world. The shrine is located in the center of a large park in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. Here is another oasis of greenery tucked away in the heart of a busy, crowded city. We passed through a large torii, or entry gate, into a wooded area with a main path and several smaller paths. It was crowded because this is a holiday.

We didn't get too far before a group of college students approached us and asked if we spoke English. They said they would like to improve their English and offered to show us the shrine. We were delighted to have tour guides and we learned a lot that we would not have learned on our own. Their English was quite good already, but it was fun talking to them. They had a lot of questions for us, and we had questions for them.

The shrine is a Shinto shrine, and you must purify yourself before entering. The ritual consists of using a special dipper to pour water on one hand, then on the other hand. Then you pour some into your hand, put it in your mouth, rinse, and spit. Finally, you rinse out the dipper. This reminded me a lot of the hand washing ritual performed by observant Jews before eating, sans the mouth rinsing.

When we got to the shrine we saw that a traditional wedding was about to happen.

One of the students showed us how to make a wish at the shrine. You toss a 5 yen coin (about a nickel in US money)  into a wooden offering box. Then make two low bows, clap your hands twice, make a wish, and make one final low bow. 

Our next adventure took us to Tokyo Station to meet up with Tokyo Free Walking Tours. Unlike other "free" walking tours, this tour is conducted by volunteers. The focal point of the tour was the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, but a lot of interesting information was packed into this well-organized tour. This is one of the tours where you just show up without making a reservation. There were at least 50 people who showed up, but the guides were prepared for us. They divided us up into 7 or 8 groups. Our group had 9 people and 3 guides. Most of the guides, men and women alike, were dressed in traditional clothing.

As we walked over to the Gardens we learned about the history of Tokyo Station and some of the other buildings in the neighborhood.

The station has been extensively renovated. The money for the renovations was acquired by selling air rights to neighboring properties.

Samurai hipster

The main entrance, in the center of the building, was intended to be used only by the royal family. A private road ran from the palace to the central entrance.

We crossed over a moat to the first of a series of defensive gates leading to the palace grounds. The royal family still lives in the palace and it is only open to the public two days a year. The East Gardens are part of the palace complex, but are located on a separate island.

We saw the various guardhouses, the ninja quarters (ninjas are a real thing), and the original walls of the palace/castle. There was an elegant tiered building from which the emperor was able to view Mt. Fuji. 

Akiko and Masaka lead our group through the gardens.

In the actual garden area we saw the place where the events depicted in the film, 47 Ronin, took place and Masaka told us the story and showed us anime-style illustrations of the story.

The gardens were lovely, well-designed, and well-maintained. The design emphasized natural shapes and land forms, but in a controlled way.

At the end of the tour we had the opportunity to try on pretend kimonos.

For dinner we opted for halitosis (Note: auto-correct does it again! It's supposed to say "yakitori"), since we had enjoyed it so much the other night. We walked over to a place near Shinjuku Station. It was a nice place on the 11th floor of a building, and, unless you knew it was there, I don't know how you would ever know it was there. It was an attractive place with shoji sliding screens and tatami mats. You had to take your shoes off and lockers were provided for shoes and whatever else.

We had a little room with a large shared table. The table was low to the ground and there was a pit underneath for your feet. You got a flat pillow to sit on.

The menu was pretty minimal. It was mostly chicken, with a few seafood options. Most of the items on the menu did not look that appetizing. We both ordered the mixed yakitori chicken. This concerned me a little because I didn't know what needed to be mixed about chicken. White meat and dark meat?

When you needed a server, you pressed a button, and someone would come very quickly. The male waiters all looked like doctors. The females wore kimonos.

Nobody spoke much English, so we just had to close our eyes and jump in. 

First we were given bowls of a cold custard with pieces of chicken liver (I think) on top. It was actually very good. I think it comes automatically, as we did not order it.

Next, we split an order of eggs and rice and chicken. It was kind of sweet-tasting, but good.

A little hibachi-type of food warmer was brought to the table, along with a tray containing three mystery condiments and a mystery utensil.

We later saw some other people use this utensil to remove yakitori from the skewer. We tried it and it worked very well.

So, the yakitori came. We each got 5 skewers. First was a meatball type of thing. The next one looked like pieces of white meat. The third one looked like hearts or gizzards. The fourth one looked like smaller greasier pieces of white meat. The final one looked like greasy pieces of chicken skin.

I took a bite of the meatball. It was unpleasantly and suspiciously crunchy. It had white stuff in it. I think it was gristle. I think they just ground everything up and made it into a meatball. I decided not to eat any more of it. I ate all of the white meat, and that was it. 

Live and learn. It is good to try to experience different cultures. You won't always like the experience, but you can always get something out of it.

When they brought the check, the brought us some tiny cups of a very light both. It was excellent.

As we walked home we took a slightly different route and found ourselves in a garish but lively area full of restaurants, cheap stores, karaoke bars, and who knows what else.

Good night, Tokyo!