River and Garden Tour - Hanami Like You Mean It

Allegedly, one of the best ways to see the cherry blossoms in Tokyo, the Sakura guides said, was to see them from a boat on the river.  You start at the detached garden, Hamarikyu, then take a boat up the Sumida River to Asakusa.  Yeah, yeah. 

We usually do this route when we want to have tea at the Conrad Hotel, which is across the street from the Detached Garden.  A great experience by the way.

So in our ongoing Hanami quest, we packed a picnic, and some rose, and headed to Hamarikyu.  Truth be told, there weren't that many cherry trees, and the best ones were at the entrance.

Cherry trees at the entrance across the street from the Conrad Hotel.

But I did like their sign.  Apparently they take Hanami here very seriously, in the more traditional sense. In the traditional sense you're supposed to sit under the cherry trees and reflect upon the fleetingness of life and resolve yourself to treasure what time you have here on earth to the fullest.  

We do that too.  We just do it with rose and tonkatsu finger sandwiches.  What's wrong with that?!

What I like about this sign is you're not allowed to make any noise.

What about breathing?

Even though there wasn't the cataclysmic spectacle of hundreds of cherry trees blossoming at once like we had seen in Chidorigafuchi or Meguro, the carefully placed cherry trees around the sparkling pond with the Tokyo metropolis in the background was inspiring.  I love Hamarikyu exactly for this reason - the juxtaposition of ancient and new - 17th century Shogun garden in front of 21st century city.

This cherry tree is probably older than America.

Nice

And of course the garden itself is always beautiful.  Unfortunately, they were overhauling the tea house, which is usually one of the most picturesque sights in the park.  Oh well.  They still had the requisite arched oriental bridge to admire.

Gotta have the bridge.

We selected a picnic spot close to the prettiest blossoming cherry tree in the park.  It was a great spot for Hanami and an even better spot for people watching.  

Our tree.

Love the dappling.

Hey Russell. If you look over there, there's a cherry tree.

This way I can pour the rest of the rose into my glass without you knowing.

My view, looking directly up from our tarp.

Ok, time to go.

From our picnic spot we walked to the boat ramp and the park and waited, along with two hundred other people, for the Sumida River boat.  We've been on this ride several times, but never during cherry blossom season.  Usually we marvel at the bridges, everyone is different, but this time we marveled at the trees.

Ok, that's nice.

Pretty.

They seemed to go on forever.

When we got close to Asakusa the new Tokyo Sky Tree came into view.  We've been watching it being built since we moved here.  It opens officially this May. It's the highest tower in the world, until China builds a new one.

You know this is going to be a standard postcard in the near future.

Asakusa was crowded as usual, and even more so along the river, because the entire riverside park was covered in frothy pink cherry blossoms.  It reminded me of the Sumida River Fireworks.  Not a single space near the river was un-tarped and it wasn't even the weekend.  Salarymen were laughing and drinking beneath the trees. It was a happy sight.

Suddenly I had a craving for sakura ice cream.  The Hanami continues....

Only the walkway was un-tarped.

Light filtering through the blossoms.

Enjoy it while you can.

Oh What a Night!

So there we were Saturday afternoon, just Russell and me and about two million Japanese people, all vying for a place to sit to watch the 2011 Sumida River Fireworks, allegedly one of the best fireworks displays in the world.  We had considered leaving first thing in the morning to camp out but our neighbors told us that would not be necessary.  "Just head over there in the afternoon," they advised.

When we got there around 3pm, it was already pandemonium.  It seemed like everything was blocked off.  We had strategically identified two parks that run alongside the river as possible viewing locations.  But a large portion of these were blocked off and were being used as police staging areas.  That's not right.
Thousands of people were just milling about, a lot of them wearing colorful kimono's.  It was a cacophony of colors.

We kept walking, bustled along by the throngs around us.  Finally we seemed to be beyond the police barricade and to a section of the park open to the public.  It was packed, not a sliver of grass showed through the multi-colored patchwork of blankets and tarps.  What are we going to do now?!  We looked on dismayed.

But then something miraculous happened.  As we were walking down the stairs from yet another impounded area, a kindly Japanese man smiled at us and made a comment in excellent English, "Hard to find a spot isn't it?"  Truer words could not be spoken.  Russell and I both wholeheartedly exclaimed, "Yes!"  And then he said, "Why don't you come sit with me and my family."  Russell and I looked at each other in shock.  "Really! You sure you don't mind?"  "Absolutely!" he encouraged.

And suddenly we found ourselves following him across the patchwork of tarps and blankets to a premiere viewing location, right next to the river.  He explained how his oldest son, who lives in Tokyo, had come the night before with one of his friends to secure this location.  We could not believe our luck.

His family could not believe it either.  Look whose coming to dinner! Suddenly I felt like Sidney Poitier.  The looks we got when we showed up were comical to say the least.  I don't know who looked more shocked - us or them.  Russell broke the ice.  "We brought wine!"  That seemed to get a chuckle out of those who understood English.

Our host showed us where to sit and introduced us to his sons and wife.  Everyone seemed to call him Papa.  Although he told us he was over 60, like so many Japanese, he looked at least ten years younger.  The fact he was dressed rather hip in white jeans, a designer silver gilded shirt and a smart cap belied his age as well.  He had a great smile and an easy laugh.  He translated our conversation to his younger son who seemed very interested in us and where we came from.  Russell opened a bottle of rose we had brought and soon we had a lot of new friends wanting to try this strange vintage.  I didn't know if they were interested in the wine or the surprise American couple now sharing their hard sought space.

One bottle turned into four and soon we had made friends with several of his family and friends, even his wife seemed to abide us.  They had sequestered a pretty large space, right next to the fence along the river.  Their area was barricaded off with ice chest after ice chest filled with Japanese canned mixed drinks.  When our wine ran out we switched to these delicious canned concoctions. They were dangerous because they tasted like peach or grape sodas but were laced with soju, an Asian kind of vodka.

The middle of the space had low tables each piled high with Japanese snacks.  At first we felt uncomfortable eating their food, especially when we discovered his wife had stayed up all night making it especially for her family and friends.  But soon we were tipsy and decided we better eat something.  So we ate and it was great.  It was so interesting.  His family was so gracious.  His own son and his female friends served us both personally. They actually made us each a plate, carefully selecting the choicest food, as opposed to the American way, aka, the serve-yourself-you're-on-your-own-pal.

As we sat enjoying the homemade food, I couldn't help but muse how different the fare would be if we were at a fireworks display in America.  Instead of eating squid jerky (awesome btw), sweet egg omelets (Tomago) and rice wrapped in fried tofu, we'd be eating chips and salsa, cheese and crackers, sandwiches and maybe some potato salad, probably bought at CostCo.  Would we invite a random Japanese couple walking by?

The fireworks, although spectacular, were secondary to the experience we were having.

We truly had an amazing time!  I'm still in awe when I think about it.  I've always thought I lead a charmed life and this experience was just another testament to that but more importantly, it served as a lesson in how generous and gracious the Japanese are.  As we rode home on the train later that night we still couldn't believe it and we were grateful.

Thank you to Papa and his family and friends for giving us this gift.  The memories will last a lifetime.

Our host and his youngest son. 

That's my hat.

Russell with our host's daughter-in-law (on the right, in the hat)

and her friends, holding the rice wrapped in tofu

and sparkling shiraz!  Both super yummy.

His younger son and his friends.

Oh yeah, there were Fireworks

Over an hour and a half of them

Shot off from two locations

My new friends.  

I think my hat may look better on her.

Asakusa - Sounds like God Bless You!

Another weekend adventure, this one in Asakusa.  Asakusa has the oldest and most popular temple and dates back to 628.  628?!   Does that mean before Christ?   The story goes, two brothers fishing on the Sumida river caught more than fish here, a tiny golden statue of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy and happiness.  According to legend she can release humans from all suffering.  Where do I get one?  I know a couple of people who could really use it.

So they built a temple in her honor but apparently never show her to the public.  However, they do allow you to shop here.  She, being female, would have liked this I think.  The street preceding the temple is called the Nakamise Dori and is basically a walk street lined with souvenir shops.  Can you say "tourist trap", sure you can.  But it's actually rather fun and they sell a lot of Japanese treats, which keeps the husband interested.

First things first however.  I can't get Russell to sight see without feeding him first.  This is Asakusa's best known noodle shop, probably because it's listed in the tourist guides.  It's called Namiki Yabusoba.

See the gaijin in line, including Russell?  Usually a bunch of gaijin at a restaurant means two things:  English menu or they don't know any better.  The food, cold or hot soba, was quite good, despite the sneaker wearing diners.   I noticed they sat the Western folks at the tables where they could keep their shoes on and the Eastern diners sat at the mat tables.

There was a pretty little fountain in front of the noodle place.  

Something to stare at while you waited, which is nice.

This the gate leading to the shopping street, leading to the temple.

Nice lantern.

I want a ride.

This is the shopping street.  The fake cherry blossoms are a nice touch.

There are these little side streets that sell everything; not just souvenirs.

Tourist shop hocking t-shirts and sunglasses.

There were a lot of rice cracker shops.

A multitude of phone charms.  

I thought these old buildings with banners hanging in front were kind of neat.

I tried to get Russell to buy one of these cool jackets, for me.

I think they're beautiful. Maybe next time.

Like I said, I would be happy with one of those coats.

This was a little side shrine leading up to the temple.

Five story pagoda based on one from the time of the third shogun in the 17th century.

This one was built in 1970.

Gate leading to the shrine.

Russell, snuck into the picture. Geez!

No his head is not steaming. 

That's an incense burner in the background.

This rope thing is called Nawa and sacred places are usually marked with them.

I found this out from this very helpful site about shrine rituals.

http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/shrine-guide-2.shtml

As with all other shrines you must cleanse or purify before you pray.

I better take a bath in it.

I need a sink with these dragon spouts.

This is an incense lighter.  Not a cigarette lighter.

Giant lantern just in front of the shrine.

The shrine itself.

This view is from the shrine looking back towards the gate.

It was crowed as usual.

These giant lanterns are neat.

And you can buy your very own smaller version.

Not to mention a wig.

Pretty Kimono. 

Time to feed Russell again.