Christmas In Tokyo

Every holiday I make a list of things Russell and I should do to ensure we make the most of each season.    The list is especially important for Christmas.  I find if we don't make an effort to get into the holiday spirit, the season will just pass us by, and come Valentine's Day, we'll be sitting around wondering what the hell happened.  How did February get here?  Where's my chocolate?

In the States our list looks like this:
*Decorate Christmas tree while sipping eggnog spiked with Jack and listening to annual holiday playlist
  courtesy of the E.I.C. (Elf in Charge, aka, me)
*Dress up fancy for holiday tea at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills
*Go ice skating and drink hot chocolate spiked with Schnapps
*Go to Roger's Gardens - a gardening shop in Newport Beach which decorates for Christmas
*See a performance of the Nutcracker
*Host annual Duffy boat cruise to see the Christmas lights on Naples Island with friends
*Spend a couple of days at a cabin in Big Bear with Ranger the Wonder Dog in hopes of being
  snowed in.
*Spend the day after Christmas snuggling in front of the TV on sleeping bags, stuffing ourselves with
  goodies from our stockings, while watching old holiday movies all day long in our pajamas.

Since this would be our first Christmas in Tokyo, heck, our first Christmas away from our families, it would be interesting to see how many, if any, of these traditions we could uphold.  Maybe we could adopt some new traditions, traditions only for Tokyo.  I started investigating.

The season started with a work party.  They don't call it a Christmas party. They don't even call it a holiday party.  I can see why.  When Russell worked for Chiat Day before, they were notorious for their Christmas parties.  No one really showed up till after 9 pm and no one really left till after 1 am.  The dress code was always "creative black tie" which meant pretty much anything goes.

In the thirteen years Russell worked there before, I've seen it all: fringed cowboy coats, hippie chicks, scottish kilts and full-on kimonos.  One year Russell and I went as a couple from the 1950s.  This was pre-Mad Men so we were pretty original for our time.

Party baby!

We're both wearing vintage thrift store garb.

Yes, that's a ruffled shirt he's sporting.

This party was very different.  People showed up on time and left early.  It was a kid fest.   They were everywhere.  They had lots of fun activities for parents and kids alike.   Tarrot card reading - adults,  blow up pools filled with candy - kids, picture taking - both, face painting - both?   It was like a carnival, not a Christmas party.  There was alcohol and they did drink - a lot.  There were costumes but they tended towards the furry side: pandas, reindeer, snow men.  Santa was there.  We know him.  We like to call ourselves F.O.S. (Friends of Santa).  Santa must have been sweating profusely because in true Japanese fashion it was about 85 degrees in the agency.

There were fabulous prizes however.  Each agency employee received a raffle ticket and towards the end of the party names were called and prizes bestowed.  There was even a power point presentation to go along with the raffle.  At one point a picture came up on the screen of what looked like a kit. I asked our friend Luis standing next to me, who also happens to be our neighbor, what it was. He said it's a traditional Japanese rice cracker set.  It's a very common Japanese gift for the end of the year.  No sooner had these words escaped his lips when Russell's name was called.  Rice crackers! Nice.  I would have preferred one of the Apple iPods (they have the Apple account, as well as, Nissan) but I was happy we got anything.  Luis started cracking up.  Ten minutes later he won a rice cracker pack too.  We all laughed then.

We actually ended up having a great time and were one of the last to leave.  Partly because we met a fun Japanese couple.  Partly because we appeared to be the only ones who actually followed directions and kept our photograph appointment time when clearly no one else did.  The photograph wasn't worth waiting for.

Santa's belly looks more like a chest goiter. 

It's a tad too high. He agreed.

Note the Panda and Reindeer assistants.

Russell telling Santa what he wants for Christmas.

What I love about this Santa is he rides a Harley!

One thing we learned right away.  The Japanese retailers can decorate!  It's very competitive. Like in America, Christmas lights show up right after Halloween.  Crazy!  But they don't call them Christmas lights.  They call them "Illuminations."  Every major shopping complex or city center seems to have them.  It's a big deal and advertisements for them are posted in the Tokyo metro, luring shoppers to come.  I made a list of all the big ones near us and Russell and I made a point to visit them.

The shopping mecca, otherwise known as the Ginza, was decorated of course.  But it wasn't the Illuminations that impressed me.  Although they were nice. It was the store windows.

An example of the Ginza decorations.

The street was lined with lighted Christmas trees

and the buildings glowed with pretty illuminated patterns.

One jewelry store, called Tanaka, boasted a Christmas tree worth two million dollars.  That's because it was made of 26 pounds of gold.  I had to see this!  There were two security guards posted but they were unusually friendly.  They waved us in enthusiastically but refused to have their picture taken.

All Gold, worth two million dollars.
I wonder if they melt it into a heart for Valentine's day.

The store front windows were beautiful!

 

Like a dream.

  

Course it's always Christmas at Harry Winston's.

Even the Cupid statue in front of the Waco Department store was gussied up.

Roppongi Hills was all about the shopping.

Pretty.  Oh and the trees are nice too.

This is what I call "shopping in style"

I told Russell this should be us.

This was a beautiful illumination on the pond,
 in the park adjacent to Roppongi hills.

Even the Roppongi Theater got into the spirit.  First a Christmas tree made of champagne glasses and then windows filled with Christmas trees.

I'll have a glass please.

I think they're multiplying.

In Roppongi they have two unbelievably high-end pet stores.  "Joker" for dogs and, get this, "Diamond Kitty" for cats.  It is aptly named for they had a cat there for sale for....wait for it...$13,920 (or 1,160,000 yen) !!!!  OMG!

The $13,000 cat. 

It must talk for that amount of money.

Cheap kittens.  Only around $3k each.

This dog loves having his photo taken.

But then Japanese dogs do accessorize.

They have bigger wardrobes than I do!

Say "treats"

But by far, when it comes to "Illuminations", the Tokyo Midtown shopping complex was the best.
Not only did they have elegantly clad musicians playing soothing-make-you-spend-more-money holiday tunes, but they had the most amazing "Illumination."  It wasn't an Illumination, it was a full blown light show, set to music with lasers, that would put Disneyland to shame.  It was dazzling.  We went back to Midtown three times just to see it again.  Apparently last year was the first time they did it.  It was only for one night and it drew 60,000 people.  This year it was on every night, every ten minutes, through Christmas.

Made me want to drink champagne and buy, buy, buy!

Amazing.

Every floor of the Midtown complex seemed to have something special going on.  From a Christmas tree made up entirely of individual Santa ornaments, to musicians, to light show.  It was magical.

All the bakeries and candy stores seemed to have their own version of the gingerbread house.

I'll have a snowflake if you don't mind.

Christmas tree made up entirely of different Santa Claus ornaments.

As far as traditions go.  We didn't buy a real Christmas tree because the few we found were over $400. Yikes!  So we settled for a two foot fake tree and instead of egg nog, we drank sake when we decorated it.

Our little, fake but loving it, tree

We did try to go ice skating.  We found an outdoor ice rink at the TBS complex called Akasaka Sacas.   It was way too crowded and the line to get in exhaustive, so we just watched.

But we did take advantage of the TBS center.  

There was an instant noodle shop where you could 

pick from about twenty flavors, plus it included this photo op.

I thought these guys were especially cute.

Russell reverting back to childhood.

He said he knew this big guy then.

Ultraman?

I don't know who is cuter.

Is this supposed to make me eat pork?  It is cute.  

Hmmm.  I am kinda hungry.

We did make it to a performance of the Nutcracker put on by the Tokyo ballet.  It was wonderful.  They had a unique beginning where they added a scene from modern day Tokyo.  At first I thought they were going to modernize the whole thing, which would have been interesting, but the modern scene soon dissolved into the familiar classical ballet.  

Me in front of the tree at the Tokyo Ballet.

Last but not least, we discovered a new tradition.  But one that will be good all year long.  

And that is... the Whiskey Ball.   Oh yeah!  I'm loving it.

I never much liked whiskey.  But then a couple of years ago I went to the Kentucky Derby.  The night before the Derby we went to a bar that specializes in bourbon and whiskey.  They had over 200 brands.  I became a fan that night.  

And well, I have to admit, Japanese Whiskey is really, really good.  Add one of these hand carved Whiskey Balls and it's damn right transcendental.  They actually hand carve the ball to fit each glass perfectly.  Because it's fit to the glass it doesn't melt as fast and it mellows the whiskey perfectly.  At least that's my theory and I'm sticking to it, and this new tradition.  I'm thinking it should become a weekly thing.

The perfectly carved ice ball and the perfect whiskey.

Merry Christmas to me.

Our ice ball carver and whiskey master.

Also the manager of the L bar in Roppongi where

you can experience this for yourself.

Why hasn't this caught on in America?

Hmmm, we may be on to something.

The Emperors Birthday - A Lesson In Order

I couldn’t understand what the old, grand, Japanese woman wearing the full length mink was saying, but I did catch the word “gaijin” and the disdainful look she cast could not be misconstrued.  Roughly translated I’d have to guess she was saying, to her equally well dressed husband, "What the hell are foreigners doing here?  Are they even allowed?" I have to confess I was impressed.  Not with the fur coat, once the weather dropped under 50 fur was everywhere, I was impressed with Russell.  He actually got out of bed early to go to the Imperial Palace with me to wish the emperor Happy Birthday. There are only two days in the entire year the plebes are allowed into the private grounds of the Imperial Palace.  I mean sure they’ll let you into the East gardens, which are lovely by the way, but the minions are only invited to the Emperor’s place twice a year.  Once on his birthday, which is December 23rd and then again a week later on New Year’s Day. Russell and I weren’t sure what to expect but we thought, hey why not, we’ve seen the President of the United States, let’s go.  We did expect crowds and there were thousands.  But we were completely caught with our mouths open at the militaristic order,  the supreme organization, and control of the event. We took the subway at 8:30 in the morning.  We got out at Hibaya station, bickered over which exit to use, and made our way to ground level.  The Tokyo subway system is a marvel.  Like a vast groundhog community with various tunnels that lead you to important destinations and watering holes up top.  Things like the Imperial Palace, the Ginza, and of course, the Peninsula Hotel – one of my favorite watering holes. We popped our heads above ground at exit number seven, expecting the worse.  But what to our wondering eyes should appear, but throngs of well dressed Japanese, streaming calmly through the carefully placed partitions and cones.  We followed in transfixed facination.  Is this really happening? Elaborate system of cones. Looks like a DMV obstacle course. There’s gotta be over two thousand people here.   But there was no pushing, no shoving, no cussing.  No one was trying to cut.  No fights broke out.  As we got closer to the palace grounds volunteers handed everybody paper flags on plastic sticks. Everybody was happy and excited.  It felt like the Fourth of July.  The elaborate partition system funneled us to the security check point where both of us were frisked.  And I mean frisked.  This was no half ass TSA search.  The woman attendant literally felt my ass.  Yep, nothing hidden there but a few extra pounds.  I noted they took a lot longer searching the gaijin than they did the Japanese, maybe because we're larger and therefore offer more area to search. Afterwards we were funneled into numbered holding pens, where we stood in the cold thin sun, like winter cabbages, admiring the orderly regiments of devoted Emperor fans.  The Emperor was to make three appearances.  The first at 10:20 which I thought for sure we would miss.  But at 9:30 the gate opened and thousands paraded in quietly, respectfully, elatedly into the private grounds.  Traditional Japanese music wafted over the crowds from strategically place speakers throughout the grounds.  The music added an air of celebration and formality to the event.  Nice.  I thought.   Orderly throngs of happy Japanese and dumbfounded foreigners  waiting to be admitted into the private palace grounds The massive procession marching happily inside. Crossing the bridge, under the heavily guarded Tori gate. Looks like a toy soldier. Looking back at the crowds behind us. The whole process took just 15 minutes.  Russell and I couldn't believe it.  If this were Los Angeles we'd still be stuck in traffic, suffering from road rage, most likely close enough to see the palace but still an hour from actually parking and an eternity from assembling in the actual viewing area.  We've been to Dodger Stadium for a Madonna concert; we've experienced the worse. I couldn't believe how close we got to the viewing platform.  Or should I say display case.  The area the Emperor was to appear reminded me of the Popemobile.  But it wasn't on wheels.  It was more like a glass box protruding from the formal residence, like a bullet proof doll case. The display case. The press waiting to shoot. Flags of anticipation The crowd waiting excitedly, warmed now by the closeness of others both physically and inspirationally.  We couldn't help ourselves.  We were caught up in it as well.  We couldn't stop grinning. We watched expectantly. At the first flutter of the curtains heralding the entrance of the Emperor, the crowd burst into enthusiastic applause, flags were waved furiously, and iPhone cameras recorded the event for social media. The royal family. The Emperor is the one with is hand up. The Emperor, accompanied by his family, waved appreciatively. He and his sons wore dark morning jackets and ties, with white gloves.  The empress wore a demure silk suite while the princesses were dressed in Easter colors, resplendent with Jacki-Onassis-esque pill hats and suits.  The emperor gave a speech and by the approving murmurs and shouts from the crowd it must have been a good one.  Of course, we couldn't understand a word.  I thought maybe they would translate into English, like they had the other announcements.  But they didn't.  And then the speech was concluded, flags were lowered and everyone exited calmly and orderly.  Wow.  We were in awe.  That was cool.  We were glad we woke up early to participate.  That was a once in a lifetime experience. What now? What could we possibly do to complement what we had just done today already.  I had a brilliant idea.  Why don't we go to the Peninsula for breakfast.  Halfway there I thought we're probably not the only ones with this brilliant idea.  After all there were thousands of people there.  But apparently we were the only ones who had this idea.  The Peninsula lobby, where they serve breakfast, was close to empty except for the compulsory wedding.  There always seems to be one going on in that place.  I never tire of watching them.  This one was Western style, although a lot of the guests were dressed in formal kimono. The Peninsula lobby. Are those flowers for me? After breakfast and a tour of the Graff jewelry store (not for the faint of heart, or those making less than eight figures), we thought we better keep this party going and we descended upon the Ginza like everyone else the day before Christmas Eve.  It was packed.  Russell and I meandered through the wonderous department stores marveling at the goods, those displayed in the store and on the patrons.  It was a veritable feast of wealth. The Santa Clan taking a smoke break. All I want for Christmas is a cure for lung cancer.  Christmas tree made entirely of Teddy Bears. Where's the tree made entirely of chocolate - now THAT would be something. On the Ginza we saw strange things: a clan of Santa Claus's, (or is the plural word "the Santi" a la "the Jedi?"), taking a smoke break.  Cats left by their owner on a sign just to gather a bewildered crowd.  When he approached the cats jumped onto his shoulder and he sauntered off into the crowd with a Grinch-like grin.  His heart grew three sizes that day.

Christmas cats.

They don't look merry, festive bow or not.

Their devoted fans

We both found our Christmas presents that day.  A necklace for me.  A watch (shocking) for him.  We carried our packages home, walking in orderly fashion with glee.  What a great day before Christmas Eve.

Backstreets Hakusan - More Like Back to Nature

I wore the wrong shoes and my antiperspirant stopped working under my right arm.  Why just my right arm?  I hate when that happens.  Perhaps they need right and left arm formulations?

I was really excited about the Backstreets Hakusan tour because the guide was Kit Nagamura.  The very same Kit who had revealed the pleasures of Shibamata and fried insects.  I knew it would be good, and it was, aside from the hiking.  The description mentioned we would be visiting the Koishikawa Botanical Garden, but I didn't think it meant we would be trekking down treacherous paths damp and perilous with fallen leaves.

Since everyone else dressed appropriately I had no right to complain.  Plus it was so cold pretty soon everything, including my feet, were numb.

The tour started with a Christmas story...

Kit told us how Christmas is a very important evening for Japanese young men.  In fact it's probably the most important day of the year.  Very important because they might get laid.   Doh?  Basically if a Japanese man asks a woman out for Christmas it means he's expecting to get some.  Yep.  They plan it for weeks.   His success depends a lot on the way he plans the night.  Everything must be perfect.   He is expected to book the best restaurant, the best hotel room and shower his date with the best gifts.  Hey, sounds like Prom.    No wonder it's impossible to get a reservation on Christmas.  Geez.  Who knew?!

This explains why every store in Tokyo is selling Christmas costumes.  Yeah, I wish I had a picture but basically there are more Christmas costumes for sale in stores than there are Christmas decorations.  Although I guess you could say the costume is the decoration.  They tend to be red velvet, short, skimpy and trimmed with fur.  You get the picture.

Hmmm. I wonder if Russell's getting me one?  Certainly gives new meaning to "gift wrapping", "stocking stuffers" and my personal favorite - "Ho, Ho, Ho!"

But I digress.  Our first destination on the tour after exiting Hakusan station was an origami gallery. We were warned first.  Beware these guys are nerds.  No really.  They're not friendly.  They don't like noise, or people, for that matter.  No, you cannot take pictures.  We walked in as quietly as ten expats can - which is not too quietly.  They didn't acknowledge us.  There was no customary welcome, unlike all other shops in Tokyo, who bend over backwards to welcome and thank you before you even cross the threshold.

But we didn't really need to be silenced.  It happened naturally when we observed the intricate origami designs on display.   They were amazing.  From dragons to Yoda to anime figures.  Even the seven dwarves were depicted.  Apparently the head designer, Makoto Yamaguchi, is considered one of the best origami designers in the world.

Next we visited a tiny sweet shop called Matsuemon.  It was so small I wondered how the place stays in business.  But after I tasted the sweet potato confection I knew.  He had more in the back.  And I wanted more.  They were addictive.  I bought a couple.

Then we visited the Hakusan Shrine.  According to Kit it's one of the wealthiest in Tokyo.  She taught us you can tell by how many treasure troves they have. This one had a lot, as well as, anatomically correct statues.  Which is nice.

Pretty roofing on the shine.

Even prettier leaves. 

This could be a postcard

Anatomically correct Shishi lions which ward off evil spirits.

There is a male and female but I thought it would be impolite to take pictures of their private parts.

They are fearsome.

Why is this one's mouth open?

Must be the female.

At the entrance of the Koishikawa Botanical Garden they were giving out bags of Ginko nuts from the garden's trees.  Kit explained how easy they are to make so I gleefully grabbed a bag and stuffed it into my purse.  We started our trek through the garden.  At first the path was wide and even. But then Kit took us down the path less traveled - up a steep rock path that required hand and eye coordination. Eyes to see and hands to balance against the imminent slip and consequential fall.  But going down was worse.  She chose a path just for me and my ill chosen shoes.  That'll teach me to choose fashion over utility.  Is she trying to make me fall?  This path was a combination of rocks, logs, tree roots and mud.  I had to concentrate hard, leaving no room for talking, or breathing.  Somehow, probably due to fear of embarrassment, I made it down in one piece.  But I thought these new boots are ruined for sure.

I had just purchased them on my trip to the U.S. for Thanksgiving.  They were more than I had wanted to spend, but time was precious, and I was desperate.  They claimed to be weather proof.  Ha.  I think not.

The Fall leaves were glorious.  It was a photographer's paradise.  I felt unworthy.  Everyone else had real cameras with large telephoto lenses and shutters that made professional sounding clicking noises.  Like the audio mnemonic from the Intel commercials - the sound their cameras made was very satisfying.   I have a Canon Power Shot - aka amateur camera, a step above my iPhone camera - maybe.

The nut bearing ginko tree

This looks like a Beatles album cover

This is a crane with a crayfish in its mouth.

But more importantly it's not my picture.

This was taken by Kit and her professional camera.

This was taken by my camera.

Imagine what this would look like with a real camera.

Just an example of the roots trying to trip me.

Pretty leaves artfully arranged by nature on the path.

Believe it or not this is all one tree.

Note the gorgeous graduation of color from yellow to green.

Vermont eat your heart out!

The oddly eclectic museum

This is a great shot, shitty camera and all.

The garden was beautiful, but truth be told, we were all relieved to get out of the cold and into the Koishikawa Annex of the University Museum of Todai.  The Annex is an odd looking building which used to be the first hospital for the poor and was designed based on what the architect imagined Western buildings looked like in the 1800s. It was clear he had never seen one.  The building was an odd, eclectic mix of pseudo Western and Asian architecture.  Now it was a museum of oddities, the contents of which were equally eclectic.

Old telescopes and taxidermy accentuated the displays of high tech fashion from designer Naoki Takizawa.  His designs were like the North Face on steroids.  An outerwear jacket that doubles as a tent was just one of his pieces on display.  The funny thing is, we could see one of his designs on the balcony of the museum overlooking the botanical park.  From the botanical garden it looked like a table umbrella.  Turns out it was one of his high tech pieces of outerwear.  The cool thing is - he was there.  And apparently he is so popular the prince, as in the Emperor of Japan's son, was coming to the exhibition.  Mr. Takizawa invited us to come back after lunch to see the Prince.

The designer and his monster, I mean, creation

Admittedly, it is really cool.

The tent jacket.  

I may need this.

We never made it back because lunch was so good and warm and indulgent.  Believe it or not, lunch was at a Russian restaurant called Sonia.  We had hot borscht, with big chunks of savory meat, accompanied by freshly made meat piroshkis.  This was exactly what we needed we all agreed when our lips had defrosted.  Well this and some Vodka.  They didn't have any.  No body wanted to go back out into the cold.

In fact, there was only one thing that could lure us into the elements again and it was no prince.  It was chocolate.  Our last stop was a chocolate shop called "Decadence of Chocolate."  And it was good.  Oh yes it was great.  Kit convinced the staff to shell out a sample of their signature chocolate bar.  That sealed it.  We all bought several.  Family members were lucky if any of the bars actually made it home.

The good news is, one bar did make it home to Russell, and so did my shoes.  Turns out they are weather resistant.  Dollars well spent for both the chocolate and the shoes.

Trailing spouses gone wild.

That's me in the hat and the faux fur wrap.

Cool isn't it?  And I got it for $16.00!

Onset of hypothermia