People kept telling me that if I wanted to see some culture, then Asakusa was the place to be. Plenty of temples, greenery and traditinonal Japanese stuff. So, off I went with visions of mountainous landscapes and samurai warriors riding by in my head.
Well, the first thing I saw when I exited the station was this. A giant, golden piece of shit on top of a building. It's actually supposed to represent the froth of a beer, as this is the Asahi (a Japanese beer company) building. What the hell does this have to do with ancient Japan? And where are the samurai and geishas?
I never did find the samurai and geishas, but I did find these. Hundreds upon hundreds of pigeons. The place was absolutely infested with these little pests and like any other pigeon you would find back home, they are totally unafraid of people. *sigh* So many pigeons, so few recipes.
Well, I should have seen it coming. Where there is shit, there are pigeons, and I just saw the biggest piece ever on top of a building 5 minutes ago.
My first thought at seeing this was that I had finally found the culture and so forth that I had been looking for. Man, was I in for a surprise.
It turns out that beyond that arch is nothing more than thousands of little shops that sell crap. I didn't know it at the time, but I had just landed myself in the middle of what is perhaps the biggest tourist trap in Tokyo.
All the way down this street, you can buy "Japanese" souvenirs that were made in China, India and Indonesia. And what's more, this is only one of the hundreds of streets in this place - all identical. After a bit of walking, you will find yourself in a place that looks exactly like the place you left and soon, you will be completely disoriented.
As there is no real definitive center or edge to this place, you can walk seemingly forever in one direction and essentially, still be in the same place. For three hours, I felt like I was in some crazy episode of the Twilight Zone.
By some stroke of luck, I found my way out of that nightmare and ended up in front of this shrine. Finally, a piece of old time Japan. I couldn't get too close really, the place was packed with people and they don't allow photos inside. I decided to hang around a bit longer anyway, as I wasn't looking forward to diving back into the maddening labyrinth behind me just yet.
I see these things at each shrine. I wonder what they are. I suppose that if I actually bothered to ask someone what they are, I would know and stop wondering, but Life needs its little mysteries. Once you take all the excitement out of Life, then you find yourself doing really weird things like trying on wigs and snickering while watching Entertaiment Tonight in your parents' living room.
Sadly, this is a sample of the wares that were being sold in the little shops. I like the Godfather of Soul as much as the next guy, but what does he have to do with Japan?
Here's something you don't see everyday. Baby with a mohawk.
Well, this is an early warning signal for a life of crime if I ever saw one.
Welcome to Ueno. This is where I will have to go to catch the train to the International Airport in a few days. Figured that I would scope it out now, rather than wait until I am in a rush to try and figure out the complex system of corridors and tunnels they have running in and out of this place. And I'm glad that I did cuz this place is just mind-bogglingly enormous.
I'm supposed to meet Em here at 6:30pm. As you can see, I'm 2 hours early, but Asakusa sucked so much that I just left early. I met Em and we had a heck of a time finding her friend, but after a little bit of wandering, we found her staring quietly out at the street. Japan does that to you.
The following are some photos of the sights around Ueno.
This is a koban, or police box. You come here if you are lost and need direction, or if you happen to know the face of one of the guys on the wanted posters.
Damn you, metal signpost. Damn you to hell.
Em pointed this out. Yoshinoya.
Yoshinoya. Obviously, someone was sleeping on the job at the business name registration office.
After some light shopping, we decided that we were hungry and stopped in at this tempura joint to grab some dinner. Here's Em and Coral looking through Em's make up case for some Tylenol.
Coral's also from Canada and apparently knows one of my highschool friends, K, pretty well. They're family friends. Weird. Anyway, it was lots of fun meeting her. Too bad she's only here for a few days before she jets off to see other parts of Asia.
They didn't have English menus at the restaurant (surprise surprise), so being the chivalrious gentleman that I am, I suggested that the girls go outside and point to the plastic models of food to order. I asked them to order something for me too, while they were at it.
After dinner, we walked around the Ginza area and I found myself back at the Tokyo International Forum. Neither Em nor Coral had seen it before, so I dragged them inside for a look. They didn't seem too taken with it, and didn't seem to get my Death Star reference.
Doesn't this look like a rocket ready to be launched at some large metropolitan area by a crazy super villian? The girls were more interested in this couple sucking face on the 4th floor than the architecture.
This is a shot of the courtyard. The leaves look great with the illumination.
Another shot of the trees. I love this place.
I had to pee like you wouldn't believe so I excused myself and headed to the little boys' room. My fascination with Japanese bathrooms will never cease.
Tell me, what is the point of the hand rails on a urinal. I mean, they make total sense on the toilet, but what disabled guy is going heave himself up on these to take a piss? And besides, he won't have a free hand to aim his nozzle or to shake off the excess at the end.
Well, it's about time to start heading home. There's lots more to see, but the subway schedule forbids it.
I bought this gum on the recommendation of a co-worker. It's not bad, but this is the only gum I have ever had that actually gets progressively more foul-tasting as time goes on.
Usually, after you chew a piece of gum for a while, it just loses it's flavour and you end up chewing what feels like an eraser. But near the end of a piece of Black Black, it's like chewing a dirty sweat sock. At least you'll never swallow it accidentally.