Tokyo Tower- day and night, plus world-class art at Mori Art Museum

We enjoyed the art of Tokyo today both in architecture and in art. Among the incredible skyscrapers in Tokyo is the Tokyo Tower, a replica of the slightly smaller (and more sophisticated) Eiffel Tower. During the day, the tower is red, and at night, beams white lights, making it a familiar and identifiable landmark in the city's landscape. It's especially helpful in finding our location.

After touring the base of the tower and the surrounding garden and cafe, we went to the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo's highest museum on the 53rd floor of the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower. The museum featured a state-of-the-art gallery with an innovative exhibit on "Love" of renowned artists from all over the world such as Marc Chagall, Jeff Koons, Robert Indiana, Salvador Dali, Auguste Rodin, and Frida Kahlo. We were amazed to see such a variety! The museum has unusually long and late hours, so we went at 7 pm, we were able to see the city when it was setting and then when it was dark with all the lights lit. (like most cities, Tokyo "sparkles" more at night, hiding the city concrete- but unlike most cities, Tokyo is very clean- no graffiti, no trash, no dog poo, and few bums allowed to hang around).

We especially liked Rodin's The Kiss (reminded us of when we went to Rodin's house and museum in Paris) and Indiana's Love, first published for the MoMA's Christmas card in the 1960s. The museum also had a city view observatory where we easily spotted the Tokyo Tower, the ferris wheel, the bay, and bridge connecting the island. We got a real visual experience of the incredible things the city has to offer.

  Auguste Rodin's "The Kiss" (1882-87)      

 

Robert Indiana's "Love" (1966)

First day touring around- Meiji Shrine

Today was our first day exploring Tokyo. Still overwhelming and looking forward to learning more Japanese with our language program. :) The hardest part is finding things and how to get where we want to go, and obeying all the Japanese "rules" of etiquette. The people are very nice and helpful; they seem to feel committed to helping us when we ask for directions. Two escorted us all the way to the places we wanted to go, going considerably out of their way. Few know much English. We're learning to ask the police men or younger people.

With the sunny, warm weather, it was an ideal day to go to the Yoyogi Park and Meiji Shrine, along with the many other locals enjoying the weekend. The park is an amazing forest with 170,000 trees and over 260 different species, all donated and planted by Japanese volunteers in the 1920s. It's different than most parks in that there is no grassy area for picnics or lounging. There are two main paved boulevards that go through and around the dense forest, offering shade and tranquility just steps from crazy-busy shopping and non-stop subways. The center features the Meiji Shrine which has the temple (a courtyard really). There's a gift shop, restaurant, and cafe on site too.

Kelsi at Yoyogi Park entrance

Keri, Yoyogi Park

Meiji Shrine

Drum inside Meiji Shrine

 

Kelsi paying respect to the shrine- washing up

 Takeshita Street- busy pedestrian-only shopping street

For a snack, we ate at a sushi restaurant that had a conveyer belt of sushi and sushimi. We choose the plates we wanted as the plates rolled by. We liked how we could see what we were getting before ordering. It was delicious! Complimentary green tea powder, rice tea powder, tea cups, and an instant hot water spiguet was in front of each diner. Other condiments included a pot of pickled ginger, soy sauce, shichimi (Japanese seven-spice powder), and of course- chopsticks.

Sushi conveyer belt- yum!

 

Arrived in Tokyo!

We arrived safely in our apartment after 26 hours of non-stop travel! Phew! The flights (Atlanta to Los Angeles, and Los Angeles to Tokyo) passed with naps, reading, and two movies, multiple meals such as chicken salad for lunch, teriyaki chicken and white rice for dinner, ice cream sandwiches (3 for each for us just by asking the flight attendants for seconds!), and breakfast. Arriving in Tokyo and getting to our apartment with one train and two subway connections was challenging, but all the Japanese have been so friendly and helpful. The Japanese themselves get confused about the train/metro line; two of the women we asked for directions had to pull out their iphones to help us with directions.

We settled in our apartment at 9pm and quickly unpacked. We have a bed and futon (a thin mattress and sheet) on the floor, a shower with hot water and decent pressure, washer/dryer, and mini kitchen with a rice maker and hot water maker for instant coffee. We've learned that coffee is a luxury with maybe one cup in the morning and then tea for all the meals. We walked a block down the street to eat dinner at a busy and authentic Japanese-family run restaurant. The sashimi was so fresh and beautifully arranged. The family encouraged us to stop by again soon for their lunch specials. About to sack out... phew!

Japanese Language School- Genki JACS

Of all the different Japanese language programs offered, we chose to study at Genki JACS (Japanese and Culture School), an accredited and internationally recognized school. The school has two locations, a newly opened one in central Tokyo and one in southern Japan, Fukuoka. We'll be in the new center in Tokyo which is located near Shinjuki Station, the world's largest train and subway station. The location sounds great, but the busy hub makes us a little apprehensive with over 60 exits in the station alone. (We've read that there are even train packers to push people in the train during rush hour, so it will be literally packed like sardines.)

The school specially tailors to Western English-speaking students and so far the staff has been excellent in communicating with us. (Our guess is that the main administrator is an American- his English name Evan is a good clue; but the main director is Japanese). The program runs yearly and offers language, culture, and conversation classes each week. We'll be there four weeks, starting class July 1-26, so we may have different classmates each week. Our schedule will basically be four 50-minute classes per day, usually from 9:30am to 2:30pm, five times a week.

slippers for class

classroom

Pre-trip butterflies!

Our adventure to Tokyo begins in just four days! We're going to study beginning Japanese in a language program near Shinjuku Station, the heart of Tokyo, during the entire month of July. We've secured an apartment (tiny!) with a small bed, rental futon, kitchen, and bath, about 20 min metro from our school. During the week, we'll attend five hours of class each day and then experience the language in action by touring the city and enjoying the Japanese language, food, and culture.

These last few weeks, we've poured over six guidebooks, watched youtube videos about sushi-making, and then even made our own sushi! (practice still needs to be done on that one :)). We plan on trying all kinds of food, like takoyaki (street food favorite of octopus dumplings), and okonomiyaki (savory pancakes where customers choose their ingredients and cook the pancakes themselves at the table), and of course, sushi and sashimi. We'll be discovering Tokyo not just in the museums but in the aisles of combini (24/7 convenience stores or 7-Eleven equivalents), the basement of 'depatos' or department stores where gourmet food and groceries are sold, the counters of sushi restaurants, to the sitting on tatami mats in specialized restaurants, like soba-only restaurants.