Tokyo Adventures

I just returned from 3 days in Tokyo. I was there for orientation for my job with about 30 other people who have the same position all around Japan. Everyone there was just like me: they moved here in ~November for 1-2 years and they don't speak Japanese, but they do speak English.  About 25-30% of the people were from China, 4 or 5 were from India, and the rest were from around the world (Italy, Taiwan, Russia, Australia, Malaysia, UK, and so on).  It was really fun to talk about shared experiences with these people.

The conference was 2.5 days.  The first day was mostly other people telling us about the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and some people who had our position before telling us about how they adapted to living in Japan.  We also learned about this history of the Japanese language (did you know that Japanese is a combination of language from Polynesian settlers in Japan and Altaic-speaking settlers (think Korea or Mongolia) who came later?).

The second day started late (9:30), so I went for a walk beforehand with another guy from the conference.  We found the Imperial Palace, the Inner Moat, and Chidorigafuchi (a park with extemely old cherry trees).

Chidorigafuchi

The Inner Moat

A gate into the Imperial Palace

The second day of the conference, we worked on learning some basic Japanese language, as well as customs that Japanese consider universal.  For example, here people count to 10 on their fingers entirely different than we do in the U.S.  Also, we were told that when grading a students work, if you circle an answer it means it's right and if you put a check on it it means it's wrong.  That's backwards for me.  I guess I'd better be careful if I'm grading a student's work!

After lunch, we started a day and a half of carefully orchestrated sightseeing adventures!  On Tuesday we went to the Edo Tokyo Museum to learn about Japan during the period when the country was ruled by shoguns and samurai, and the Emperor had no power.  This was when Tokyo was called Edo.

Here we are in the elevator in the Museum.  Tightly packed, Japanese-style...

Here are 2 of the cool model recreations from the museum.  The first is a street of normal towns-people's houses.  It takes up the same space as one samurai's house would.  The second is of the port.

Here is a cool photo of a Tokyo water-way today.  Tall buildings are built all the way to the edge of the water.

 

Tokyo was really beautiful at night.  I tried to take a pictures out the bus window, but none came out.  This one was pretty though.

The last day of the conference was super awesome.

First, we went to Ikebukuro Bosai-kan (Life Safety Learning Center).  This place is run by the Tokyo Fire Department to teach citizens how to respond and react to fire and earthquakes.  It's totally free and I think they encourage people just to bring their family whenever it's convenient for them (they're open on holidays).
The earthquake training was under repairs when we were there (tragically), so we spent the morning learning fire safety.  First, we learned how to use fire extinguishers (same as in the U.S.).  Then we learned what to do in case your building is on fire, and we got to practice escaping from a smoke-filled maze.

In the afternoon, we visited Sensoji Temple in Asakusa.  Here is a picture I took as we walked from the restaurant where we had lunch to the Temple.  This photo reminds me of Italy.

Before going into the Temple, we first had a "cultural experience".  We learned how to make Kaminariokoshi (okoshi for short).  Okoshi is a traditional Japanese sweet.  It appears in an encyclopedia that is 1,000 years old!  I had a lot of fun making okoshi (and I took a lot of photos).
Okoshi is basically peanut-flavored rice-crispy treats, but made with syrup rather than marshmallows.

I brought home enough okoshi for Kyle to be happy for at least a week.  And they gave us the ingredients to make it 2 more times!!!

After making Okoshi, we visited the Sensoji Temple, the oldest temple in Tokyo.  There is also a Shinto shrine (The Asakusa Shrine) on the same grounds as the Buddhist temple, which we were told is somewhat unusual.

Here is the side gate we came through.

On the right is the traditional five-storied pagoda.  On the left is the Tokyo Sky Tree, the tallest tower in the world.  It opens in a few weeks...  I bet the view will be great, but I hear it's going to be really expensive to go up to the viewing platform.

Here's the temple's main hall.

Here's the gate to the Shinto shrine.  When you walk through the gate, you're cleansed of evil spirits.

The shrine is guarded by two komainu ("lion dogs").

Our tour guide taught us how to purify ourselves with the water in the shrine.

And how to make a prayer.

Back to the Buddhist part of Sensoji.  The incense here is for good health. You're supposed to pull the smoke towards you.

So that's an overview of my adventure in Tokyo.  I also learned how to navigate the complicated Tokyo railway, monorail, and subway by myself (I only had to ask for directions once).

 

That's all for now!

-Bre (and Kyle)