Friday Morning (Tokyo)
Timothy Dobbins
The last two days have been absolutely non-stop - partly by schedule,
partly by my own choice! When you have an opportunity like the one I
am currently experiencing, there is an overwhelming urge to go go go,
just because you know you may never be here again! So...that's what I
have been doing!
I am sitting in my room at the moment, listening to the lilting sound
of a Japansese morning news station. No, I can't understand a word of
it, but it is oddly the same nevertheless. I watch the reporters smile
and bow to the TV audience and I feel right at home!
Yesteray morning began at 4 AM. If you can believe it, this was by
choice! A few of us wanted to go and experience Tsujiki fish market -
the largest fish market in the world! The journey began with us
descending down the stairs to ride the Tokyo subway system, which is
also the largest in the world. Amazingly, most of the signs and
directions are in both Japanese and English! This was very helpful,
but we still needed the assistance of a very nice Japananse woman
after we got off the subway two stops too early! We finally made it,
though. I knew immediately that we were at the right stop because as
soon as we got off the subway at the station, I could smell the fish
in the air. Everyone else said I was imagining it, but those who know
me KNOW that I was really smelling it, hehe. It was an amazing
experience there - a true world unto intself with every single type of
sea creature you can imagine for sale - alive and frozen. Pictures
forthcoming.
After returning and showering (so nice), we were off to breakfast and
a full day of seminars and sightseeing. The first speaker was a
gentleman named Tsutomu Kimura. He spooke for a few hours on the
nuances, problems and successes of the Japanese educational system. He
was very entertaining and knowledgeable, and the hours flew past. The
questions asked by my fellow teachers were outstanding.
Lunch was decent at the hotel, and then we were loaded onto buses for
a whirlwind sightseeing tour of Tokyo. The highlight was a guided tour
(on foot) of the National Diet building, which can be compared to our
Congress. The name is still a mystery to me and enticed a few chuckles
from others. It was a fascinating glimpse inside the workings of the
Japanese governement. We were then taken past the Imperial Palace by
bus (I will go back to the East Garden at a later time, I'm sure) and
dropped in Akasuka, which is the site of a very famous Shinto shrine.
We had a VERY short stay (30 mins) and took lots of pictures!
Unfortunately, myself and another were a bit late for the bus, having
to do some essential shopping for a few minutes. Well worth the stares
of our fellow teachers, though, as I found a wonderful gift for my
daughter!
The evening was taken up by the official Welcome Reception! Two hours
of speeches, toasts and very good food. I was looking forward to
having some of the great looking sushi that was on the end of the
table, but by the time I got there, it was gone. Ah well, soon!
At this point, I could (literally) barely keep my eyes open, so at
about 10 PM I decided to forgo the invitations to hit the town, and I
slept. It was very needed!
The next morning was filled with more seminars - the first being a
discussion on the economy of Japan by a gentlemen named Takahiro
Miyaro. It (suprisingly) was very entertaining and educational! I am
constantly being amazed by the wonderful sense of humor everyone seems
to have in Japan! We were then presented with two free books by the
author Kenji Miyazawa, who was a very famous Japanese writer of
children's books, although not in his own time. What a generous and
beautiful gift. I just must figure out how to get them back to the
U.S. without going over my weight limit, hehe.
The buffet lunch was followed by a fascinating honor for us. We had
the opportunity to hear the opinions and views of two members of the
National Diet of Japan - Yuji Tsushima and Wakako Hironaka. These two
members of the Diet were from opposing parties, and the dialogue was
interesting to say the least! When the time opened for questions from
our teachers, I was a little shocked and disappointed that a few of
our teachers asked more then one question (when they were told to ask
just one) and that a few had a tone that in my opinion was
disrespectful given who these individuals were, and the honor they
were showing us just by being there. True to any politician, though,
they handled all questions with great candor and adaptability.
The early evening was a presentation of the classical Kyogen form of
theatre in English and Japansese. It was truly a wonderful experience,
and we are all eager to see more of the traditional Japanese arts
today!
This evening was a fun outing by a group of 8 teachers to an area
knows as Harajuku. This is a modern shopping/eating area with
traditional Japanese stores and other more familiar stores like a huge
GAP! We jumped on the JR line train (above ground - not a subway) and
in 10 minutes were standing at our destination. We proceeded through a
very crowded small alleyway to the main streets, and then, to our
great dismay, it started pouring rain! This is the rainy season, but a
few of us were not prepared. I had an umbrella, though, as did a few
others, and we were able to manage.
We visited first a shop called (oddly) Chicago, that dealt with used
clothing. The reason we went to a used clothing store (think Salvation
Army or something similar) was that they also dealt in used Kimonos! A
few of the group bought a full outfit for reasons unknown to me, but
they got a very good deal.
We then ended up searching for restaurant in the rain for 20 minutes.
We ended up going up some stairs by chance and came across a tiny
Japanese food place which was happy to take us in! No English spoken
here - no English menus - so we had a great time even figuring out
what to get! It ended up being a wonderful experience though, and
there was even another party of Japanese there with a retiring teacher
(they spoke a bit of English and our limited Japanese got the job
done). What a wonderful people the Japanese are. They are so warm and
welcoming, and their reaction to ANYTHING we said in Japanese was
absolutely the best.
More to come!