Tokyo Sob Story
Apr. 1st, 2023 03:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
steepholmVia a strange chain of events, I'm back exploring Japan on my own* - at least for the next couple of weeks. It wasn't meant to be this way.
It was three and a half years ago that I first laid plans to take my daughter and her boyfriend on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday to Japan, as a way of a) being nice, b) getting a store of happy memories to while away my stay in some future nursing home, and c) showing my appreciation of them (and especially her, of course, because she's had to put up with me for much longer).
That trip was kiboshed a few days before take-off by Covid-19 and the consequent lockdown. I got my money back, but it was a great disappointment, and it was only last year that I thought it might be possible to revive the plan - which I did, booking various hotels, a ryokan, activities, and contacting friends in Japan. It would have been a lot better than plan A.
Except, on Sunday W discovered that he had lost his passport. He was mortified, but there was nothing to be done about it - we all turned his house over, and found nothing but a pile of zilch. There was no time to get a replacement. And, because my daughter couldn't stand the thought of sending W fun photos of me and her doing things he was left out of, she ultimately felt she couldn't come either. We're going to try again in 2024, with no chickens counted till we touch down safely in Narita.
However, I'd already got lots of things in place, and besides, I was hardly going to turn down a holiday I'd booked and paid for and had set aside a fortnight of annual leave for. So, I've come alone. And I fully intend to have a great time, though the knowledge that I should and could have been doing it with C and W will no doubt shadow me throughout. There are so many things here that I'd love to be able to enjoy for the first time, if only vicariously through them and their reactions. Such is the vampirism of experience.
Here I am yesterday in Shinjuku Gyoen, being brave and thinking about the transience of the sakura, which indeed bloomed early in Tokyo this year, and is now well past full bloom.
All the same, I dipped deep in the pink waters of the cherry blossom well. There were quite a few people in Shinjuku, but this was nothing compared to the scene in Nakameguro later, where I went to see the blossoms lit up along the Meguro River. Considering that they've been in bloom for well over a week, it was heaving - although I think it's rained quite a few days recently, so perhaps they were saving it up for Friday evening. A festive, indeed, festival atmosphere reigned.
Then today it was the Ghibli Museum with Satomi and her partner Akira (whom I was meeting for the first time) and her friend Chisato, who wanted to meet me because of my critical writing, especially on Diana Wynne Jones, of whom she's a superfan. As always, the inside of the museum must remain a photograph-free mystery, though we got a photo with the Laputa robot on the roof. The short film which visitors are allowed to watch - Yado Sagashi (Looking for a place to stay) was being shown for the first time today, as Satomi pointed out, so we felt honoured. It was a really charming, Going on a Bear Hunt style story of a young woman's journey through several terrains, with all sound effects produced by various human voices:
And so to a lunch of monjayaki and okonomiyaki, a tea of matcha floats and shiratama, and a supper of sushi at Satomi and Akira's, all punctuated with some very pleasant Kichijouji moochery, including to a second-hand bookshop where I bought a reprint of The Butterfly's Ball. Altogether it was a lovely day, and although I'm too tired to sum it up in more than a bland phrase, it was a lot better than that suggests.
Not much to report yet by way of cultural observaions, but I will add that I noticed on the first evening I got here that only about half the people in the street were wearing masks. The following morning, however, about 90% were. The Japanese government has encouraged people to stop wearing masks outdoors, but this observation suggests that a lot of the masking is provoked by considerations of sontaku rather than health. No need to wear a mask when you think no one's looking, or are too drunk to care what their reaction might be!
* Except for a wide variety of friends, who'll be making guest appearances in the days to come.
It was three and a half years ago that I first laid plans to take my daughter and her boyfriend on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday to Japan, as a way of a) being nice, b) getting a store of happy memories to while away my stay in some future nursing home, and c) showing my appreciation of them (and especially her, of course, because she's had to put up with me for much longer).
That trip was kiboshed a few days before take-off by Covid-19 and the consequent lockdown. I got my money back, but it was a great disappointment, and it was only last year that I thought it might be possible to revive the plan - which I did, booking various hotels, a ryokan, activities, and contacting friends in Japan. It would have been a lot better than plan A.
Except, on Sunday W discovered that he had lost his passport. He was mortified, but there was nothing to be done about it - we all turned his house over, and found nothing but a pile of zilch. There was no time to get a replacement. And, because my daughter couldn't stand the thought of sending W fun photos of me and her doing things he was left out of, she ultimately felt she couldn't come either. We're going to try again in 2024, with no chickens counted till we touch down safely in Narita.
However, I'd already got lots of things in place, and besides, I was hardly going to turn down a holiday I'd booked and paid for and had set aside a fortnight of annual leave for. So, I've come alone. And I fully intend to have a great time, though the knowledge that I should and could have been doing it with C and W will no doubt shadow me throughout. There are so many things here that I'd love to be able to enjoy for the first time, if only vicariously through them and their reactions. Such is the vampirism of experience.
Here I am yesterday in Shinjuku Gyoen, being brave and thinking about the transience of the sakura, which indeed bloomed early in Tokyo this year, and is now well past full bloom.
All the same, I dipped deep in the pink waters of the cherry blossom well. There were quite a few people in Shinjuku, but this was nothing compared to the scene in Nakameguro later, where I went to see the blossoms lit up along the Meguro River. Considering that they've been in bloom for well over a week, it was heaving - although I think it's rained quite a few days recently, so perhaps they were saving it up for Friday evening. A festive, indeed, festival atmosphere reigned.
Then today it was the Ghibli Museum with Satomi and her partner Akira (whom I was meeting for the first time) and her friend Chisato, who wanted to meet me because of my critical writing, especially on Diana Wynne Jones, of whom she's a superfan. As always, the inside of the museum must remain a photograph-free mystery, though we got a photo with the Laputa robot on the roof. The short film which visitors are allowed to watch - Yado Sagashi (Looking for a place to stay) was being shown for the first time today, as Satomi pointed out, so we felt honoured. It was a really charming, Going on a Bear Hunt style story of a young woman's journey through several terrains, with all sound effects produced by various human voices:
And so to a lunch of monjayaki and okonomiyaki, a tea of matcha floats and shiratama, and a supper of sushi at Satomi and Akira's, all punctuated with some very pleasant Kichijouji moochery, including to a second-hand bookshop where I bought a reprint of The Butterfly's Ball. Altogether it was a lovely day, and although I'm too tired to sum it up in more than a bland phrase, it was a lot better than that suggests.
Not much to report yet by way of cultural observaions, but I will add that I noticed on the first evening I got here that only about half the people in the street were wearing masks. The following morning, however, about 90% were. The Japanese government has encouraged people to stop wearing masks outdoors, but this observation suggests that a lot of the masking is provoked by considerations of sontaku rather than health. No need to wear a mask when you think no one's looking, or are too drunk to care what their reaction might be!
* Except for a wide variety of friends, who'll be making guest appearances in the days to come.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-04-01 04:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-04-01 11:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-04-01 06:16 pm (UTC)That's a really great picture of you!
I am glad the sakura lingered for this trip. I hope next year you can show it to C and W.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-04-01 11:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-04-01 06:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-04-01 11:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-04-02 11:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-04-04 11:42 am (UTC)