Halloween in Harajuku

Hi again! I just thought I'd share with you all some photos from my day yesterday. I figured, it's Halloween, why not go to a place where the fashions make it Halloween every day anyway, and see how they do it? So, I ended up in Harajuku on Halloween! That's the high fashion district of Tokyo, for those of you unfamiliar with it. It happened to be on Sunday anyway, and that's generally Harajuku's big day. The place was pretty packed.

Entrance to the main street

Busy intersection

Store that sells the 'Momo' fashion that's kind of stereotypically big right now, pale pastels and floral prints reminiscent of late 1800s tea parties, I guess? I dunno, I saw a lot of shops selling this stuff, but admittedly not too many girls actually walking around wearing it.

Please, oh please. I have a great need for storage space for all my waterfowl.

But of course, the real show-stealer was the costumes!!

Okay, this wins. Your argument is invalid.

Other honorable mentions:

I guess a group of Husky lovers dressed them up and brought them to Harajuku for Halloween, they were very popular.

I went to the Meiji Jingu shrine right next to the big square in Harajuku afterwards, and stumbled on a festival! I love Tokyo. It was apparently for something associated with Aomori, the northernmost prefecture on the main island. I didn't quite catch what, though. Anyway, it was fun to watch!

People doing a Mikoshi procession, that was kind of cool. From Wikipedia:

"A Mikoshi is a portable Shinto shrine. Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle of a divine spirit in Japan at the time of a parade of deities. Often, the Mikoshi resembles a miniature building, with pillars, walls, a roof, a veranda and a railing. Typical shapes are rectangles, hexagons, and octagons. The body, which stands on two or four poles (for carrying), is usually lavishly decorated, and the roof might hold a carving of a phoenix.

During a Matsuri, or Japanese festival, people bear a Mikoshi on their shoulders by means of the two or four poles. They bring the Mikoshi from the shrind, carry it around the neighborhoods that worship at the shrine, and in many cases leave it in a designated area, resting on blocks, for a time before returning it to the shrine. Some shrines have the custom of dipping the Mikoshin in the water of a nearby lake, river or ocean. At certain festivals, the people who bear the Mikoshi wave it wildly from side to side."

So it says. I find that article to be lacking a certain feel of the procession. The bearers are shouting and jumping in rhythm the whole time, the procession is basically an organized party slash cheer section. I could see it being absolutely exhausting to be carrying on (heh) like that for hours at a time. Looks like fun, though!

This did happen to be the kind of procession where they waved it wildly from side to side. Nice! This procession was all girls - there was one sturdy young woman who braced her back against the bottom of the shrine as they were swaying it. That looked like a workout.

The entrance to Meiji Jingu

This was something else associated with the festival - they had small performance groups demonstrating traditional music, and THIS monstrosity: It was a gigantic structure that looked like a Mardi Gras float, but stationary - Lavishly decorated, bits of it hydraulically actuated, and it blew smoke from several nozzles. Pretty fantastic.

They had this giant lit hollow statue, too - I guess it portrays a traditional hero from Aomori. That's a rabbbit he's stepping on, by the way.

So yeah, pretty amazing display!

More scenes from the square between Harajuku and the Meiji Jingu shrine

I thought it was kind of funny - the kids who were dressed up wild on the bridge in Harajuku had kind of an 'on' area and an 'off' area. When against the railing of the bridge proper, photos were apparently encouraged, but when they left the bridge on one side, I guess it was understood that they were just hanging out with their friends, because whenever someone tried to take a photo in that area, they would turn their back. Huh.

The lanterns represent sponsors of the shrine and the Aomori event. Each one has a company or group's name on it. Asahi and the Coca-cola bottling plant were big contributers.

Performance stage area

Well, a fun day all in all! I think that's my best one here in Japan so far. Hopefully, that is the start of many more. So far, I'm liking my decision to go enjoy myself a bit. There's a song from 'Avenue Q' that sums it up nicely, and I've had it in my head for the last few days:

There is life outside your apartment

I know it's hard to conceive

But there's life outside your apartment

And you're only gonna see it if you leave

There is cool sh*t to do

But it can't come to you

And who knows dude, you might even score

There is life outside your apartment

But you've got to open the door!


I'll leave you with this, I saw it on the interweb the other day and it cracked me up. Peace out, I'll post again soon!

Week 2 revelations

Hey again all! Happy pre-Halloween! Ed won the Brownie point last week, Go Ed! Brownie point total plus one. This week saw a lot of work on my part, studying Japanese, applying for jobs and whatnot. And I was looking forward to a bit of unwinding this weekend with seeing how Shibuya handles Halloween, but LOOK AT THIS NONSENSE!

Now, some of you remember that during my last trip to Japan, my trip to Mt Fuji was interrupted by a category 4 typhoon. You know, I don't know how often Japan experiences category 4 typhoons, but I'm starting to think they're a dime a dozen around here! Whine whine, gripe gripe. Anyway, I figure there will be other party opportunities where I don't have to brave high winds and blasting rain, so I'm just gonna batten down the hatches tonight and chill with some friends I've made in the apartment complex. Boring, but temporarily necessary.

Here's some eye candy of just standard sights on the streets of Tokyo.

The weather's been pretty cruddy lately - October is the rainy season, as the cold fronts move in from out of China. So the grayness you see in these photos is, yeah, pretty indicative. Kind of oppressive, really. I have visited Shinjuku pretty regularly this week, though, so that's been a good time. Shinjuku station is still obscenely full of people. They didn't change that.

Outside Ikebukuro station - I guess if you've seen one glowing, psychadelic electro-canyon, you've kind of seen them all.

Update on the job hunt - no, still haven't been contacted back. I've applied for all the jobs in Japan with American companies that I can find, and even finding a place to apply for jobs on websites of Japanese companies is not often feasible. I figure my odds of finding a job here is pretty slim at this point. However, I've kind of contemplated on my situation this week, and made a discovery. I'm not at all sure that I want to work in Japan anymore. Sad but true. The little things about this country really get to you after a while, and life is really quite a bit more difficult when all is said and done. And that's for a native, that's not even considering how much more work I would need to do to solidify the language, and build up a reputation for myself, which is hard for a foreigner. And the daily conveniences of America are not to be sneezed at. It really is amazing how much you take a clothes dryer for granted until it's gone. And in civilized countries, you only have to MAKE the bed, not disassemble the stupid thing and put all the pieces in a closet every day. Bottom line, being in Japan is fun, but life in Japan is kind of a struggle, especially for a Gaijin. And I compare that with the kind of life I could have in the States after I get a masters degree, and the two really don't compare. So... I guess what I'm saying is that for now I've decided to stop applying for jobs. I've already applied to several, and some of them looked promising - if I actually hear back from one, then I'll do a re-appraisal of my situation. It's also entirely possible that I'm just frustrated from a period of re-acclimitization, and it's all uphill from here, but at the moment, I'm just that. Frustrated. So I'm'a say forget it with the job hunt for a few days, and just go HAVE FUN IN TOKYO! I know, what a crazy idea.

Starting tomorrow. Tonight, weathering the storm.

First week - being a social butterfly

Hey all! So it's been an eventful first week here, just trying to get things in order so far. Haven't done much sightseeing, but thanks to Sakura House, the company I'm renting an apartment from, there have been plenty of social gatherings to go to! It's been an interesting ride coming back on to the culture after three years away and ten months since I looked at the language, but I'm surprised at how much things are coming back after only a week here. I'm feeling more comfortable already. Now, on to the photos! Kind of a sparse batch, but there will be more.

The view from my apartment balcony

Down the street

Party in Ikebukuro two days after I got there - met a lot of good people. Sakura House throws get-togethers very regularly to make their tenants feel more at home, and it's very much appreciated. It's fun meeting some of the locals and people from far-flung areas of the world in one setting. So far, I've met people from Washington state, Missouri, Sweden, Norway, England, Spain (lots of Spaniards for some reason), Italy, Austria, and of course Japan. Lots and lots from Japan.

Same party, fun times

An apartment party on Friday - the company paid for all the drinks, as well as the food at the Pan-Asian restaurant we went out to that evening. Gotta love that Asahi Super Dry, tastes even better when it's free.

At the restaurant

Some of the neighbors - Jordi and Carol, brother and sister from Spain, and Remy from Norway. Backdrop is a little nightclub strip in Shinjuku.

Intimate party at the Sakura Hotel Jimbocho this evening. Paul from England hates having his photo taken for some reason. Maybe it's the soul-stealing thing. The other three are Ayako, Sabina, and Brigitte, the latter two from Austria.

Well, as I say, I haven't been sightseeing much, and I always feel kind of strange taking photos just walking down the street by myself. I promise to conquer that weirdness this next week, though. Lots of environment photos coming!

Just for fun: Here's the layout of the Tokyo Metro subway lines. Exercise - plan a route from Shin-egota to Jimbocho.

Here's a hint: Shin-egota is on the Oedo line, and Jimbocho is on the Shinjuku line. First correct answer gets a brownie point.

Location in Tokyo

Hi all! Just a quick post to let you know where I am. Haven't had much time for going around taking photos - been too busy getting things in order. Hopefully I'll get to that before long. For now, though, here's maps showing where I am to the unititiated. Click on the photos to get more detail.

That should give a good general idea. Google maps lets you zoom in on street level, too, if you want a sneak preview of photos. :-)

Met a couple of the neighbors last night, they seem to be good guys. Andrew from Washington state, and Remy from Norway. Tonight, I'm attending a get-together for Sakura house residents city-wide, should be pretty cool. Making connections!

I hope to post again soon. Good times so far!

Safe arrival!

Well, I made it here alive! Thanks for all your support, everyone who helped get me this far. It has been a chaotic few days, which has certainly NOT been helped by my arrival here so far. Wow, I'd forgotten all the booby traps that this country could lay for the unsuspecting foreigner. On getting in yesterday afternoon, all I wanted to do was to check in at the headquarters, take a shower, and sleep for about 12 hours. All three of those activities have met with tremendous resistance. Finding a place to withdraw additional money from a foreign bank account at 8:00 in the evening was a challenge. So was trying to figure out my gas water heater - that one actually defeated me. Cold shower for Caffery last night. And now, my body's not even letting me sleep. Stupid internal clock. Anyway, though, despite my griping, I'm here and glad to be here! Today, hopefully I can purchase some more things for the house (if Bank of America doesn't decide to freeze my account due to unfamiliar location) and meet some of the neighbors. I'll start when it's not 3:10 in the morning anymore. Resuming attempts to sleep now.

Nara

Hi guys! Sorry this post was postponed for so long. I got pwned by the postponed post. Postponed post-pwned. I just wanted to give one last highlight from my trip - the post from Brigg and my trip to Nara during spring break, as promised. Better late than never. It being spring, the sakura were in bloom, and we hit Nara just about at the ideal time. There were a LOT of tourists there, so while we didn't exactly blend in, at least we weren't the only ones wandering around with sparkles in our eyes. There will be many Wiki links in this post, as I try to outline everything we did. Here's a basic one of the city.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nara%2C_Nara

Let's go to the photos!

Like I say, we went at a great time of year. This is Nara park, just entering the historical district. One of the main things about Nara is the deer. There are tame deer that walk all over the place in the historic area. Well, I say tame, but there are vendors that sell shika sembei - deer crackers - that you can buy and feed to the deer, and that promptly turns the deer into aggressive, ravenous lunatics. This photo was taken just at the entrance to the park, so no deer yet, but they soon show their face.

This is a warning sign - don't piss the deer off, man.

Feeding frenzy for shika-sembei.

This is me, feeding the deer. Brigg is recording. Yay, my first video!

The first thing we saw was this temple, I guess it was famous or something, but it wasn't one of the bigger ones in Nara, so it wasn't in the guidebook. It did have this really nice draping sakura tree, though. Most sakura are just of the puffball variety, but some form streamers that hang down, which is considered special and especially beautiful.

Closeup of the stone dog and the draping sakura. People tied fortunes from that temple to the sakura streamers like they do at other temples on wires and strings usually provided near the place to buy fortunes. Those are the little pieces of paper tied to the bottom of the strands.

The first big thing we hit was Toudai-ji, or "Great Eastern Temple," which is reputedly the largest entirely wooden building in the world. Here's the wiki link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%8Ddai-ji

There was a long walkway up to the temple, along which we were assaulted by several more deer. It contained this gate, which is gigantic. Look at the people passing through it to give some sense of scale. It contained two guardians off to the left and right side.

Here is the actual temple. It was pretty massive. Again for scale, those are people walking through the doors.

The reason that the building is so big is that it houses the Daibutsu - an enourmous statue of a seated Buddha. This is a photo - one of its fingers is human-sized. Sometimes they have to dust it, so a priest goes out onto the statue, and stands on its outstretched hand. It's pretty phenomenal.

One more cool thing about Toudai-ji was that there was a pillar in the back that had a hole drilled through the bottom of it, and story goes that if you can get through the hole, you will be blessed in your next life. So, I gave it a shot.

I was successful. Woot. ^_^ Next life is gonna be a blast.

Next thing we did was the Kasuga Shrine, which is the most famous Shinto shrine in Nara. Shinto shrines are not as common as Buddhist shrines - Nara is the ancient seat of Buddhism in Japan. Here's the Wiki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasuga_Shrine

It doesn't say in the entry, but Princes of the Imperial family were also tutored here. Fun fact!

The avenues leading to the Kasuga shrine are lined with thousands of stone lanterns. We were looking forward to seeing them, and they were breathtaking.

Yay! At one point, we saw a small child playing hide-and-seek with a deer among the stone lanterns - the deer would wander slowly away, and the kid would follow, peeking between the lanterns. I really wish I had gotten a video.

Last thing we saw that day was Koufuku-ji, another Buddhist temple of many in Nara. It was a big enclosure, which contained this huge five-story pagoda. Nice peaceful way to round out the day, and just chill and rest our aching feet for a while. Here's the wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8Dfuku-ji

Well, that's about it. If you've been reading this, thanks for your patronage! I have further adventures in Osaka and Takasaki, but odds are, you've been reading this because we can't talk in person, and most of the people I wanted to keep in touch with are actually talking with me these days. So, I probably won't continue this blog unless I get specific requests for stuff. If you WOULD like to see something, please post a comment, and I'll hook you up. Otherwise,

AbediabadiaThat's All, Folks!

And that's the way it is.

You stay classy, San Diego.

And knowing is half the battle. (Yo Joe!)

Good night, John Boy!

Help control the pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered.

I am Mr. Ed.

Sit Ubu, sit.

Grrooowl! Rowl!

（おわり）

He's BAAAAaaaaack...

Yo everybody!! Well, I have returned to the land of civilized people, who cook their meat and know about things like carpeting and central air and sofas. I'm ready and rarin for action, except for the fact that now I'm gonna go sleep for about 20 hours. See you on the morrow. Look for new postings when I get my act together. Feels good to be home.