Perfect Monday in Japan
February 4, 2008
I spoiled myself for lunch when we arrived in the Shiodome area that afternoon. I had something I think is called chirashizushi - sushi rice with a variety of sashimi on top with some egg (tamago, not to be confused with the neighborhood of Meguro), miso, and egg custard for dessert. John had an incredible spread of sushi - much too much to finish.
During the Edo Period, Japanese feudal lords (daimyo) lived in Hama-rikyu gardens, although it wasn't called that at the time. During the Meiji Restoration, the northern part of the gardens served as the palace for royal families and was officially named. There are two duck hunting ponds, a tidal pond, a couple of sites where former teahouses stood, the tea house we visited, and a 300-year old pine tree in the garden. The tea house was a pretty tranquil experience. From the woman raking the gravel zen garden, to the tatami warmed by the sunlight breaking through the wide windows, I think we did feel quite serene. Tea and cake and relaxing conversation set the mood for a wonderful day.
On a mission to find some pretty specific souvenirs for cousin David, John had researched the habitat of the rare Gloomy Bear. We only knew that Gloomy Bear lives in a department store called OIOI (pronounced marui or marijuana ichi), but OIOI has four or five stores in Shinjuku and we worked pretty hard to find the right one. En route, we were sidetracked by Krispy Kreme, where there was an hour-long line to get the soft gooey donuts and some coffee. We waited in line before it got too long, got a free sample donut that satisfied both of our cravings, but were guilted into standing in line for another 20 minutes to make a purchase. I bought a seasonal special - the heart-shaped donut with pink frosting and freeze-dried strawberries on top. Not good, actually. Thank goodness we had backup original glazed donuts, too.
Then we spent way too much time in an addictively hodge-podegy store called Tokyu Hands. I compare it to Target, except that it is nine stories high. We saw everything from Halloween costumes in February to curry flavored sodas (which we tried and loved!) to lovely luggage costing about three hundred dollars. Our prize from TH that day - shoe insoles for our aching feet. What a great invention...
Then we continued on the hunt for Gloomy Bear. To our disappointment, however, we only found Gloomy accessories. I did see a coin machine that dispensed toys David had shown me online. When the machine took my JPY 300 and froze up, the cashier was on her hands and knees, unlocking the machine and routing around for either my money or the toy. After a few minutes, she had another employee pass her some money, and she handed me the toy I had paid for. The hospitality is unbeatable here.
Earlier, we asked for a magazine called HESO at the cashier of a busy bookstore in Shinjuku. The diligent salesperson came back, suggesting we check the foreigner section of the store. Before troubling us to take the elevator from the Magazine floor to the Foreign Books floor, he insisted we let him confirm the magazine was upstairs. Five minutes later he returned, apologizing profusely for the unavailability of the magazine at their store. It turned out that HESO is a free paper, available in select cafes. Would we like him to look up each cafe in Shinjuku that carried Volume 10 of HESO magazine? Rather than allow him to so enthusiastically waste the next hour of his life serving my simple souvenir scavenger hunt, we declined and hoped to find a HESO in a cafe before I left Tokyo.
We had Okinawan food for dinner (ancestrally distinct from the country of Japan, although now a Japanese prefecture). The seafood was fresh and beautiful, the salad was made from a plant unique to the island, and the pork was extremely similar to one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes. We savored our exotic dinner, had great conversation, and across from us, a group of three young Japanese women having a fun girls' night out, added their laughter and chatter to create a warm memory.
Later on, John and I ventured into Shinjuku's famous "Red Light District" of Kabukicho, where there were menus of men and women outside the businesses. You could choose your host or hostess by face and name and pay a set price for a certain amount of time. John pointed out that the people on the street corners, cajoling and chatting up passersby, were the same faces on the menus. Randomly, we passed a vegetable market and an arcade amongst all the rated X-ness. We concluded that a patron might end a night of debauchery by picking up some groceries and a toy for the kids.
I spontaneously strolled into the arcade, and was greeted by three friendly faces - Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch. My brother and the Japanese love this little violent alien), Gloomy Bear (whom we'd been hunting all day), and the love bunny from the night Tall John and I played darts in Shibuya.
The arcade owner watched me throw a couple of hundred yen at the machines. I dwelt on Love Bunny for a while, since I felt she was a very realistic endeavor. The owner started coaching my claw strategy, and he was right on. When the claw grabbed hold, it was a moment of pure joy. I felt my adventures had come full circle, since arriving in Tokyo. Even though it was a short stay, one major goal (albeit a silly one) was accomplished: I had conquered the Japanese skill crane. Hiyah!
To truly commemorate this special day in Japan, John and I went to a jazz bar. Even though there were no performers this Monday night, there was jazz trumpet playing in the background, exposed brick walls in the cozy narrow space, my newly acquired bunny, and green chartreuse on the rocks for John.
A perfect Monday. Thanks, John.
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