Day 3 (Wednesday): Imperial Palace +

Due to the whole chafing situation caused by the day before, wearing jeans was out of the question. As a result, I wore my dress pants and shirt and shoes today. I hardly got any sleep the night before either, just a few hours. I went out for breakfast at my usual time around 6:30-7:00AM. I went in search of another cafe instead of Starbucks and found that there were many in the area. I got another taste of Japanese neat and cleanliness this morning. I went to this cafe where they had a number of items on display such as danishes and croissants that you would pick up yourself and then bring to the cashier. The lady in front of me picked up a croissant with a pair of tongs and then proceeded to the cashier, with tongs in hand. I was like what the hell!? Why are you taking the tongs? So I followed her and pointed to the tongs and asked for them. She kind of look at me weird and then gave them to me. I picked up a croissant myself. When I went to set the tongs down, that's when I noticed there was a whole rack of tongs just below the trays of food. When I got to the cashier, there was also a whole rack of tongs behind the counter. That's when I realized the tongs are to be used once and then given to the cashier to be cleaned or sterilized. I felt the oversized anime sweatbead drop from my head. I asked for a hot chocolate on this day but got coffee instead. No big deal.

I had reserved a spot before leaving Toronto to take a tour of the Imperial Palace which was across from Tokyo Station. The Imperial Palace Grounds itself are quite large and access is mostly open to the public but access to the actual Imperial Palace area is only open to the public twice a year, or unless you sign up for one of these tours. You can apply via internet and they will email you confirmation with further instructions for when you get there. Instead of taking the subway, I decided to walk it. It probably took about 25 minutes to get there after asking a few people where this particular gate that I had to meet was at. I was the first one there. There was a public washroom just outside the gate where I encountered my first Japanese (or asian) style toilet. It kind of looks like a urinal on the ground but there's no seat so you have to squat if you need to take a #2. I wasn't sure how prevalent these toilets were but I think this was the only one I encountered during my whole trip to Tokyo. Thank goodness for that because I can't squat. I think my legs are too long. I think there were about 50 or so people who showed up for the tour, mainly from Japan and Korea. Tokyo has these parks and beautiful getaways to make you forget that you are in the city. You can tell that great attention to detail is placed in keeping everything looking neat and clean by looking at how well each tree seems pruned.

The Imperial Palace Grounds is surrounded by water or moat and the buildings were partially destroyed by bombs during the war and rebuilt to what they look like today. The tour first starts inside one of the buildings where everyone gathers for a quick orientation video. There's an English Audio Guide available and also a souvenir shop. The walking tour lasted about 1.5 hours and went into the inner palace grounds but not into any of the buildings.

The security guard/guide was always telling people to pick up the pace when the group started to lag from stopping to take pictures. I met these 2 students from Korea on the tour who were visiting on vacation and they gave me a nice fish biscuit. It amazed me again that their English was pretty decent. The weather was beautiful and the temperature kept rising so I had to take my coat off during the tour. I packed for around 5C degree weather with a max of 10C during my stay but I believe it reached 14C on this day and it would remain so for the next several days to come.
Along the moat surrounding the Imperial Palace Grounds is a pathway (Uchibori Dori) that goes all around where I saw a lot of people cycling and jogging, including students who looked to be in gym class.

I tried talking to one kid who stopped running and was walking beside me but he got all shy and stopped to wait for his friends to catch up with him. 

After the tour, I made my way through the Kokyo Higashi-Gyoen (East Gardens of the Imperial Palace). Though the grass in Tokyo was all brown at this time of year, the parks were still immaculately well kept. I also saw that they were pruning the trees around the Imperial Palace. I could only imagine what the gardens and parks would like in about 1-2 months time. I came across what I think was the original Edo Palace which was burnt down to the ground in the Great Fire many years back. All that's left now is the foundation of stones.

I was expecting something at the top but there wasn't anything really to see when I got up there. From the top, I could see various people in the distance lying in the park. I wasn't sure if they were homeless people or people just out to take a nap on the brown grass.

On the way down, there was a school class of kawaii kids making their way down. I tried to inconspicuously blend into their line but I think I stood out.

It was around lunch time when I finally exited the East Gardens and into the Kitanomaru-koen Park section where the National Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) is. This was one of my favourite Museums I visited in Tokyo. Art is so subjective, especially Modern and Contemporary Art, but there were many pieces that I really took a liking too. If I can see that a piece took creativity, skill and a lot of time and effort, I may not like it but at least I can appreciate it. My favourite pieces were a couple of videos, in particular one called "God Bless America" by Tadasu Takamine. Viewers of the museum were mainly younger adults in their 20s and 30s. Around every corner of the museum was an attendant either sitting very still and quiet on a chair or standing. It looked like some of them were about to nod off. I was really hungry at this point but the only restaurant in the area was the one attached to the museum which looked too Westerny for my taste so I skipped it and trucked along. At this point, I was extremely tired, too hungry to feel hungry anymore and my face was already sun burnt.

My next stop was the Bijutsukan Kogeikan Crafts Gallery near the MOMA but when I got there it was undergoing all kinds of construction and appeared to be closed. I stopped this couple to ask about the Gallery and pulled out the "Eiga de daijobu desu ka?" which means, "Is it OK to speak in English?" to which the lady replied in enthusiastic English "Of course!" I found that Japanese people either spoke English really well or didn't speak it at all. There was no in between. This lady had actually visited Toronto, Detroit, and Niagara Falls a few years back. They weren't aware that it was closed but it was pretty evident. I ventured further north through Kitanomaru-koen park and stopped to listen and look at all the crows cawing.

Tokyo parks and crows go hand in hand and it's hard not to notice them at first because they can be quite loud. At the end of the park, there was a rest stop which housed a cafeteria and at this point, I was too tired to go on without any food. Inside they were serving Western food so I had no choice but to get a hot dog. Japanese hot dogs are funny in that they are not like Western ones with a big wiener or ballpark frank. The bread is the same but the actual hot dog is more like a North American breakfast sausage except longer. This particular one had tomato sauce on top also.
The entrance to Yasukuni-jinja Shrine which was my next stop was right across the street from the park entrance/exit. I met a tourist from England who participated in the Tokyo Marathon just a week prior. We were talking about our first impressions of Japan and the cleanliness, levels of services and so forth. He called his wife and told him he was embarrassed to be from England which I thought was funny. The level of service and respect really is on another level here in Japan. This shrine is dedicated to those soldiers who died fighting for Japan. I love the sight of massive Tori's which you will find at the entrance of shrines.

This shrine is the site of some controversy due to some choice wording used in the accompanying war museum to describe history and Imperialism and due to the fact that war criminals were enshrined here also. 

As I approached the Shrine, I stopped at the cleansing/purifying area. This is where you are suppose to cleanse your hands and mouth using the ladle and water before moving ahead to the Shrine.

I read up on how to cleanse before my trip so I knew what to expect and do. First you take the ladle with your right hand and pour water over your left to cleanse it. You then take the ladle in your left hand and pour water over your right. Then you cleanse your mouth by pouring water into a cupped left hand and bringing that to your mouth (don't sip directly from the ladle and spit back into the pool). Finally, you pour water over your left hand to cleanse it again.

At the shrine, there's usually a large box made of wood which has slits along the top where you can offer your wishes and throw money into it. I stepped up threw in my coin (can't remember which domination) and said a little prayer. There's a clap and bow routine that people do when they offer their wishes also. It's funny when you're at this spiritual place that seemingly has a lot of history and then find a gift shop just several meters away. One thing Tokyo has is an abundance of gift shops. You will find them everywhere. I bought an "Omikuji" or fortune slip which was only in Japanese and tied it to the rack of other tied fortunes for good luck.

I took a picture of my fortune and later got it translated by someone on the flight back home and it means word for word: "To achieve your purpose with a noble mind and also be elegant, when do that you can reach 'true manliness'".

I think you are supposed to tie your fortune to the rack only if it turns out to be a bad one but I didn't know what it meant at the time. I guess I should have kept it!

I debated about going to the War Museum. I was quite tired by now and it didn't look like much from the outside. Museum tickets are not expensive in Tokyo and I was here so I thought I might as well. Say what you will about the choice wordings and interpretations used in the museum to describe Japanese War history but the presentation level of this museum was through the roof. Whoever the artistic director of this museum was gets an A+ in my book. The museum is pretty thorough and you could easily spend an entire day reading all about Japanese War History. There are a lot of placards to read (both in Japanese and English) that go into detail about the histories of the various wars and the strategies that you were used on the battlefields. I was a little surprised looking back now that I did not see more school classes in here as I would other museums later in the week. The audience was comprised mostly of middle aged + Japanese. The gift shop had some neat items. I ended up buying an incense holder in the shape of a very tiny bunny which had absolutely nothing to do with the war but it was too damn cute to pass up.

The walk to the Ichigawa Station on the Yurukcho Line felt like the longest walk in history. It was probably only a kilometer away but I just wanted to crash in my hotel room at this point. Thank goodness the Ginza-Itchome Station where I was to get off is directly across from my hotel.
After resting at my hotel for a while, I went out later that evening to find a lighter jacket, some knee high underwear and some suntan lotion. I had planned on it being 5 degrees Celcius during my trip but the temperature was between 10-15 degrees for most of the week. I even developed sunburn on my face. I found that places that were affected by the process of globalization such as Eddie Bauer, Gap, and Apple all had prices that were comparable to the ones I would find in Canada. I found natively produced products however to be expensive. I hit the department stores and went to Matsuya Ginza. I don't know why but I just love this building. This was my favourite department store for the sole reason it looked the best from the outside with the shiny white facade and lights that would change colours.

Tokyo Department buildings are typically many stories high. The 1^st floor is usually reserved for cosmectics or confectionary with the basement usually containing restaurants. Then each floor above will alternate between mens and womens departments. The top 2 floors are usually reserved for houseware and traditional clothing like kimonos. I was hoping to find your typical 3 pack of underwear but they only had pricey singles so that's what I got. I roamed quite a bit looking for a jacket. Department store stuff was really expensive and nothing caught my eye so I went to the Gap but they didn't have anything I liked either. Then I remembered passing by an Eddie Bauer sign a couple of nights ago so I went there and found a jacket I really liked. You definitely would not find the same jacket in a North American Eddie Bauer. While Tokyo EB had the typical outdoorsy, cozy items, they had nicer things as well. The suntan lotion was really hard to find. I finally found a place that sold a tiny 25ml bottle for 1500 YEN. It had an SPF of 50 and was quite different to the suntan lotions I'm use to. This one has no smell and was really liquidy. It seemed to be all SPF with no cream filler.

On my way home, I was scouring restaurant fronts for my dinner. Restaurants will have either plastic models of their dishes on display or at least pictures of their dishes. I saw a white meat ramen dish that looked okay so I went (it turned out to be pork). The menu unfortunately had no English nor any pictures. I had to ask the waiter to come outside so that I could point to what I wanted. Hey, it worked. I asked her what this dish was called since it was tasty and in the event I wanted to order it again in the future. She said it was called Yaki Soba...I thought soba was buckwheat noodles...