Day 4 (Thursday): Ueno + Akihabara

I ventured out this morning looking for a new cafe and found one called Caffe Veloce just a minute from my hotel. I ended up spending the rest of the week having my breakfast here. I'd usually get the same thing everything morning, an apple flaky like thing and a cup of hot chocolate or cocoa latte. Once in a while, they decorated the froth with a heart. They once gave me just a latte which was fine even though I don't drink coffee.

This morning was going to be my first real taste of the Tokyo Subway/Rail during the rush hour period. I got on the subway around 9:00AM to head to Ueno. It was crazy. Even the most packed subway ride in Toronto I've been on doesn't come close to how tightly packed people were. Just when you think the subway is full (but still tolerable) and no more people can get on, it gets worse. That's when people then start to push in and those few inches of body space you had between you and the next person are gone. You're actually into negative space now because everyone's bodies are physically digging into each other. I had my man purse looped around my neck and shoulder and by the time the train started moving, the strap was still around my neck but the bag was body surfing on top of someone's shoulder about two bodies down from me. I couldn't do anything to get my bag back so I just let it surf until the next stop. Despite being so tightly packed, getting off isn't so bad because there is a high volume of people getting on and off the train at most stops allowing you to have a breather albeit temporarily. The stops are not all that far apart either within the heart of Tokyo. Sometimes, the stations are so close, I wonder why they even bothered building one. During my stay, I never encountered any of those women-only train cars.

I got to Ueno Park quite early. It was still about an hour before the Tokyo National Museum opened. Along the walk up to the museum, I passed by a monument commemorating the Real Last Samurai.

I also saw these dog signs tied to trees.

I'm not sure if they are like poop and scoop signs or what have you. I passed by the National Science Museum and there were classes of school kids outside the entrance waiting to enter. On a whim, I decided to buy a ticket and look around. There wasn't much English signage and it reminded of the type of museum you had to go to during grade school where you had to complete an assignment by finding and reading the appropriate exhibits. I didn't get much from this museum. I mainly remember bones and bugs and various other species on display.

The Tokyo National Museum contained various artifacts from around the world but primarily held Japanese pieces. It seemed like a very large museum to go through so prepare to do some walking. What I liked most about the museum were the many long Japanese scrolls containing calligraphy and drawings. Some of these scrolls were so long in length they could only scroll out and display several meters worth at a time. I'm glad I went to this museum but I don't know if it aroused my interest as much as say the MOMA did. If artifacts, ancient culture and history are your thing though, it's definitely worth checking it out.

After the museum, I headed back down Ueno Park. Parks are where funny enough Tokyo's homeless call home. Not that being homeless is funny. I'm just saying that homeless people still have somewhere they call home even though they might not physically have a house. They are usually sitting or sleeping on park benches. They don't panhandle nor did I ever see anyone with a cup or hat out asking for change. They just stick to themselves.

I headed toward the Tosho-gu Shrine and like the War Shrine I visited yesterday, there was a Torii the pathway leading up to it was flanked with lanterns.

The water in the cleansing area was turned off and there was no incense lit in the pit outside the shrine where you waft the smoke over your body and places that ail you. There was an old but very kind looking man at the booth outside selling admission to the Shrine, omikujis (fortune slips) and emas. An Ema is a flat piece of wood that you write your wishes on. You then hang it on a rack amongst a sea of other people's ema.

I believe they are hung for a year and then burned. I bought an ema and wrote my wish using the black fading marker he provided. I wanted my wish to not only be a personal one but one for everyone to follow. I spent some time at the ema rack reading what I could in English and Korean. There were so many emas written from people all over the world, some general but some that were very personal that spoke of happiness, loss and pain.

You could probably spend an entire day reading all of them and you wouldn't get bored.
Once you pay admission to the shrine, there's a pathway that winds around it that eventually leads to its entrance or main hall. Along the way, I passed, for the lack of a better description, several structures or altars that seemed to be mini places of worship in their own right. At one of these mini-altars, I saw a middle-aged woman standing there alone, facing it with a very tense and lonely look on her face. As I passed her, I kept glancing back. A lot of people you see at shrines are tourists or locals passing by who wish for good fortune and then are quickly on their way. This lady was different though. I could tell that she wasn't merely passing by but that there was something specific and troubling in her life that brought her here today. I wish I knew why she was there. I truly hope that whatever she wished for came true. I don't know why but I thought about this lady for days and weeks after I came back home. The Toshu-go shrine itself is black on the inside and gold leafed all around the outside.

It was the first one where I actually entered its hall and took off my shoes and said a quick prayer. I think this shrine was my favourite. It was the most beat down and low key looking shrine I went to during my trip but something about it was very old world-ish and personal. It was more quaint and seemed to not be touched by commercialism/tourism that some of the bigger shrines fell victim too.
I walked West through a string of red torii's and past another smaller shrine which seemed to the source of the periodic gong I was hearing in the distance earlier.

Just past the shrine was the exit to the street and across the street was the Benten-do pond. The exit/entrance was adorned with a large stoned torii and sakura trees that were starting to bud.

I walked along Benten-do pond for a little while and then headed back to the Subway station from where I came.

South of the Subway station was Ameyoko Arcade, a street adorned with little open shops on each side selling all sorts of food and grocery items and more.

It kind of reminded me of Chinatown. I had my 2nd sighting of fruit here. Fruit seemed like a rarity in Tokyo. When I got to the end of the street, I was really tired and hungry and I had been looking for food and fruit along Ameyoko Arcade but came up empty handed. In addition to fruit being rare in Tokyo, it was super pricey. The price of an apple was a couple of bucks. There was a KFC right there and so I convinced myself, OK, just this once. KFC by the way (at least the chicken sandwich combo) tastes exactly the same as it does here. After finishing my combo, I went upstairs to use the washroom. After finishing up, I couldn't for the life of me find the flush button. It was one of those bidet flush toilets and along the left side was the control panel. I looked over the icons carefully and couldn't decifer one corresponding to flush. I stood there for like a minute trying to figure out what to do. I didn't want to press the wrong button and have a stream of water laser me in the eye. I risked it and didn't flush and left quickly and luckily no one was waiting outside to the use the restroom and luckily it was only a #1 I did. Looking back, the flusher was probably right where the flusher was suppose to be, separately on the tank, but I was so caught up with the control panel I panicked.

A short subway stop away was Akihabara, aka Electronic Town (it's the district for electronics, video games, anime and all things Otaku in Tokyo). Otaku is a word used to describe a person who is into that whole nerdy and geeky culture of anime, videogames and such. I think being an Otaku is cool though and not derogatory in any way. I wish I was one! After getting out of the station, I was met by Cafe Maids (basically women dressed in short skirt maid outfits in public handing out flyers to cafe's they work at). I made my way to the UDX Building and to the Tokyo Anime Center.

It really isn't a museum or anything like that. There were lifesized figures, a few exhibits, a large screen with seats (sort of like a mini-theater), a sound/mixing booth (periodically, they will have guest voice actors from anime shows and movies), and a really cool gift shop selling all your favourite anime inspired items from ties, shirts, cups, toys, etc.

They had several Astroboy (Mighty Atom) ties that I thought would be so cool to wear but none of them unfortunately passed my test of being first and foremost, a fashionable tie. They were all kind of blah with a picture of Astroboy on it. I was feeling tired and although there was still a lot to see in Akihabara, namely the arcades, I headed home to get some rest first before returning in the evening.
It's a lot more fun visiting Akihibara at night than in the day. Everything is lit up and it's a buzz with people looking to play and spend money. Just outside the subway station, there were a couple of girls in sailor outfits performing and singing songs over a mic and speakers (kind of like buskers but I don't think they were asking for money). The main singer was not very good but I think the whole point was to be doing something zany. People watched and applauded at the end of her song.
I visited several arcades not far from the station. In Tokyo, arcades occupy entire buildings! Each floor is usually dedicated to a certain genre or game title. For instance, first floors were usually reserved for more interactive games where you play to win things like stuffed animals. I was in one arcade where every machine on one floor was Street Fighter and another floor was all Tekken. They were all very smoky and mainly male dominated. I thought about playing some games but was content to simply watch the pros. Hey! Arcade is the main one that people mention but there was another one just before it that I thought was better (can't remember the name). I asked the attendant in Hey! Arcade if it was OK to take a picture (I always did this wherever I went, to be polite and it also gave me a chance to say something in Japanese which I liked doing as much as I could) and he politely said it was prohibited using the customary "no" sign of crossing his two index fingers to make an "X". I guess I could have taken a picture incognito but I felt like as a guest of the country, I should respect their wishes no matter how big or small. Just like how entire buildings were dedicated to arcades, there were buildings in Akihabara that were entirely dedicated to selling anime. An Otaku's dream.

I'm talking buildings 7 stories tall of just anime (or should I say manga because that's what they mostly sold). Inside, I could tell judging from the crowd whether the material on the floor was male oriented manga or female oriented manga. I always figured that anime/manga was a more male-oriented interest but to my surprise there were just as many females browsing anime as there were guys and of all ages as well. Most of the floors were all manga but they usually also had a floor dedicated to anime music/DVDs/toys. At the top of each flight of stairs, I noticed these poster ads placed along the walls. It reminded me of a wanted or classified board. They had small individual square flaps of paper covering some kind of private information I assume. I saw a girl lifting one of these flaps and reading what was underneath and I really wanted to know what the hell those things were. I don't know why I didn't go over and look myself not that I would have understood what was written. I'm counting on someone reading this who knows to tell me some day! I think the basement was usually reserved for adult XXX anime stuff. It was pretty much a rotation of arcade, anime and electronics buildings walking in Akihabara and after soaking in enough, I decided to head back to the hotel. When I got to Akihabara station, there was a police car outside with its lights on. The lights on top of police cars actually extend up into the air so that they are floating above the roof of the car.
Thanks to Google Maps, I was able to revisit and find the names of restaurants I went to but didn't remember like this nice burger joint in Akihabara called Beckers:

 
 I thought I could go the entire trip with a single charge on my iPod if I rotated between that and my cellphone for my music needs. I ended up using my iPod exclusively though because it was easier to carry and more convenient to use. So on the way back to my hotel, I decided to stop in at the Apple Store and pick up a wall charger. I didn't have to worry about plug conversions or anything like that as all my North American chargers fit in the plug outlets. It was a tired day of walking and it felt so good to collapse on my bed and take the weight off my feet. There was a 24 hour convenience store across the street so I usually stocked up on orange juice, water, lemon water (the best thing ever) and Dars chocolate bars on the way in. I had plans to eat at the New York Bar and Grill on Saturday night and wasn't sure if I had to make reservations or not. I decided to give them a call and hoped that making a reservation in English wasn't going to be a chore. It turns out it wasn't. They spoke English well and recommended that I make a reservation even for single seat.