やった！！
I have had one of the most fabulous weekends of my life! Spring is officially here and I feel refreshed and ready to face the world. We had a 3 day weekend and on Friday night Aussie Jen and I decided to head up to Tokyo and Kamakura for the weekend. Saturday I stayed around Tokuyama and got some Spring Cleaning done. Also, all the new baby tea leaves have sprung up and the tea harvest has begun! The tea is such a vibrant green it’s like a tangible living presence. Looking out at it, it seems as though the whole mountain is alive. This week will be the first clippings of the season, and the best quality (most expensive) tea of this season. When I drove down to see Jen, I had to stop and take pictures of the view!
My village is alive with green tea.
Jen and I woke up early on Sunday morning and took the local train into Tokyo. Along the way we saw Fuji peaking out between the houses. No matter how many times I see it, I still get chills. No picture can convey how it looms on the horizon. It’s considered good luck to even get a glimpse of Fuji-san, so we took it as a good omen for the trip.
Once into Tokyo we dropped our bags at the hotel and we proceeded to molest the little figures outside Bandai studies. Anpanman was on display. He’s a ridiculously popular character here in Japan. He is made of Anpan which is this sweetbread filled with red bean paste. At least once every episode he either is forced to eat/sacrifice/destroy his own bread head and then get it “re-baked” all in the hopes of defeating evil. The statue wasn’t nearly as tasty as real Anpan. Also, you’ll notice me posing with my future husband who is made of metal and will rid the world of evil. We make a nice couple, ne?
Cuteness overload.
It was the most magnificent day outside so we headed to Shibuya for people watching and shopping. We meandered over to Yoyogi Park to listen to the bands busking. Yoyogi Park is a massive park next to several large Japanese recording studios. Because most of the record execs have to walk through the park to get to work, many bands set up and play in the hopes of getting scouted. Even established artists still head out on weekends to keep up their fan base. We stopped for a bit and watched the drum circle and 2 ridiculously cute boys play guitar. They were goofy and sweet and had the best smiles ever. The boy sans glasses may have the cutest smile I have ever seen… Evidently they have a record out, and their voices were remarkably good live, so I’m thinking of picking it up. Their name is Grimm Clover (グリムクローバ)… and I found some of their songs and radio appearances on this online Japanese music site.
One of the best parts about the Yoyogi and Harajuku area are the bizarrely dressed people. While Harajuku is filled with ridiculously clothed Cos players, somehow the 50s greasers where the coolest. They just chill in the park like everyone else, but they drive old Cadillacs and blast old rock and roll. BIZZARE.
The park was also filled with college kids selling their old clothes and random furnishings on blankets for cheapo prices. I didn’t need anything so we got the most delicious Yakisoba ever and people watched for an hour.
We cut through some back streets towards Shinjuku and as we passed a hair salon, I got this random urge. It’s starting to get hot here and I just couldn’t bear to imagine summer in Japan with long hair. So even though I have been putting in the effort to maintain long hair, I decided to dump the whole charade and chop it off. Aussie Jen was a good sport about it and chit chatted with the other hair dressers while I got my locks chopped off. Afterwards, we headed to Tokyo tower as the sun was setting.
My hair is all gone!!
As we chilled out in this old temple getting some pictures, we ran into some other foreign girls studying in Tokyo. We chatted and exchanged numbers for about an hour and a half, but they had to get back to their dorm. We were going to invite them for drinks but oh well. Jen and I decided we could make fun by ourselves so we headed back into Asakusa and toured to arcades to find food. We headed into this delicious とんかつ (Pork) restaurant and proceeded to stuff our bellies with pork and Japanese beer. おいしい！！
Of course since we had to pass by more ridiculously cute statues, drunk Mandelina had to molest them again… nothing was safe that evening.
What kind of animal is this?!?!
Once back at the hotel we crashed and burned because tomorrow we had to get up early. After getting up at 8 we headed into Kamakura for the day. Now, I have to say even though Kamakura is not very big or have quite the expansive history and sites at Kyoto, it has now become my new ABSOLUTELY FAVORITE place in Japan. I can't even begin to tell you how marvelous it was. Maybe because my day there was just perfect, but I will definitely be heading back there in the summer to go to the beach and explore to mountain temples.
Those who don't know about Kamakura I'll give you a brief rundown.... it was the first capital of Japan when the Shogun took power and the Emperor became a puppet ruler. There was a war of the roses style fight between two warring houses and the victors (the Miyamotos I think??) where stationed in Kamakura. It is a genius city strategically because it is surrounded by mountains on 3 sides and the ocean on the other. The new Shogun was a big patron of Buddhism (especially the new Chan/Zen Buddhism from China) so many temples sprang up in the area.
Anyway, as we headed out of the station Jen spotted a place to rent bikes for the day. So after some finagling in Japanese we got our bikes, a map, and some brief directions and headed out to explore. The smell of the ocean was magnificent, people flying kites and kids and dogs running around enjoying the sun and sea. I forgot how much I missed the beach! We headed to the Daibutsu, which is the reason I wanted to come here in the first place. The Daibutsu is a statue of the Cosmic Buddha. And when you have to make a statue that is supposed to represent the entire cosmos within a person, what do you do? Well, you make it has big as humanly possible. So I present to you the Daibutsu in all its glory…
You can actually go *inside* the statue and walk around. It was so cool!! It has lasted through countless earthquakes. Afterwards, Jen and I went to lunch and got Sakura ice cream. Yes, cherry blossom flower ice cream. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
After wards, we biked over to Hasedera. This temple has a 30 foot high gold leafed wooden statue of the 11 headed Kannon Buddha (the Buddha of Compassion). Unfotunately, you can’t take pictures of it, but I bought a post card. It is unbelievable. Only one other time I have been rendered speechless with awe and wonder and that was in the Cathedral in Chartres, France. This was just about equal. I was mesmerized and no amount of quibbling about it here will convey how meaningful it was for me, so I’ll just keep it locked up in my memories and take it out on rainy days. Suffice to say that you should visit if you get the chance. We ended up biking around and soaking up the sunshine before heading back home to Shiz. It was my best weekend yet, and I look forward to many more! This weekend is the Hamamatsu Matsuri, so be on the lookout for another post soon!
I'll leave you with some random pictures from Kamakura... こんばんわ！
My village is alive with green tea.
Jen and I woke up early on Sunday morning and took the local train into Tokyo. Along the way we saw Fuji peaking out between the houses. No matter how many times I see it, I still get chills. No picture can convey how it looms on the horizon. It’s considered good luck to even get a glimpse of Fuji-san, so we took it as a good omen for the trip.
Once into Tokyo we dropped our bags at the hotel and we proceeded to molest the little figures outside Bandai studies. Anpanman was on display. He’s a ridiculously popular character here in Japan. He is made of Anpan which is this sweetbread filled with red bean paste. At least once every episode he either is forced to eat/sacrifice/destroy his own bread head and then get it “re-baked” all in the hopes of defeating evil. The statue wasn’t nearly as tasty as real Anpan. Also, you’ll notice me posing with my future husband who is made of metal and will rid the world of evil. We make a nice couple, ne?
Cuteness overload.
It was the most magnificent day outside so we headed to Shibuya for people watching and shopping. We meandered over to Yoyogi Park to listen to the bands busking. Yoyogi Park is a massive park next to several large Japanese recording studios. Because most of the record execs have to walk through the park to get to work, many bands set up and play in the hopes of getting scouted. Even established artists still head out on weekends to keep up their fan base. We stopped for a bit and watched the drum circle and 2 ridiculously cute boys play guitar. They were goofy and sweet and had the best smiles ever. The boy sans glasses may have the cutest smile I have ever seen… Evidently they have a record out, and their voices were remarkably good live, so I’m thinking of picking it up. Their name is Grimm Clover (グリムクローバ)… and I found some of their songs and radio appearances on this online Japanese music site.
One of the best parts about the Yoyogi and Harajuku area are the bizarrely dressed people. While Harajuku is filled with ridiculously clothed Cos players, somehow the 50s greasers where the coolest. They just chill in the park like everyone else, but they drive old Cadillacs and blast old rock and roll. BIZZARE.
The park was also filled with college kids selling their old clothes and random furnishings on blankets for cheapo prices. I didn’t need anything so we got the most delicious Yakisoba ever and people watched for an hour.
We cut through some back streets towards Shinjuku and as we passed a hair salon, I got this random urge. It’s starting to get hot here and I just couldn’t bear to imagine summer in Japan with long hair. So even though I have been putting in the effort to maintain long hair, I decided to dump the whole charade and chop it off. Aussie Jen was a good sport about it and chit chatted with the other hair dressers while I got my locks chopped off. Afterwards, we headed to Tokyo tower as the sun was setting.
My hair is all gone!!
As we chilled out in this old temple getting some pictures, we ran into some other foreign girls studying in Tokyo. We chatted and exchanged numbers for about an hour and a half, but they had to get back to their dorm. We were going to invite them for drinks but oh well. Jen and I decided we could make fun by ourselves so we headed back into Asakusa and toured to arcades to find food. We headed into this delicious とんかつ (Pork) restaurant and proceeded to stuff our bellies with pork and Japanese beer. おいしい！！
Of course since we had to pass by more ridiculously cute statues, drunk Mandelina had to molest them again… nothing was safe that evening.
What kind of animal is this?!?!
Once back at the hotel we crashed and burned because tomorrow we had to get up early. After getting up at 8 we headed into Kamakura for the day. Now, I have to say even though Kamakura is not very big or have quite the expansive history and sites at Kyoto, it has now become my new ABSOLUTELY FAVORITE place in Japan. I can't even begin to tell you how marvelous it was. Maybe because my day there was just perfect, but I will definitely be heading back there in the summer to go to the beach and explore to mountain temples.
Those who don't know about Kamakura I'll give you a brief rundown.... it was the first capital of Japan when the Shogun took power and the Emperor became a puppet ruler. There was a war of the roses style fight between two warring houses and the victors (the Miyamotos I think??) where stationed in Kamakura. It is a genius city strategically because it is surrounded by mountains on 3 sides and the ocean on the other. The new Shogun was a big patron of Buddhism (especially the new Chan/Zen Buddhism from China) so many temples sprang up in the area.
Anyway, as we headed out of the station Jen spotted a place to rent bikes for the day. So after some finagling in Japanese we got our bikes, a map, and some brief directions and headed out to explore. The smell of the ocean was magnificent, people flying kites and kids and dogs running around enjoying the sun and sea. I forgot how much I missed the beach! We headed to the Daibutsu, which is the reason I wanted to come here in the first place. The Daibutsu is a statue of the Cosmic Buddha. And when you have to make a statue that is supposed to represent the entire cosmos within a person, what do you do? Well, you make it has big as humanly possible. So I present to you the Daibutsu in all its glory…
You can actually go *inside* the statue and walk around. It was so cool!! It has lasted through countless earthquakes. Afterwards, Jen and I went to lunch and got Sakura ice cream. Yes, cherry blossom flower ice cream. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
After wards, we biked over to Hasedera. This temple has a 30 foot high gold leafed wooden statue of the 11 headed Kannon Buddha (the Buddha of Compassion). Unfotunately, you can’t take pictures of it, but I bought a post card. It is unbelievable. Only one other time I have been rendered speechless with awe and wonder and that was in the Cathedral in Chartres, France. This was just about equal. I was mesmerized and no amount of quibbling about it here will convey how meaningful it was for me, so I’ll just keep it locked up in my memories and take it out on rainy days. Suffice to say that you should visit if you get the chance. We ended up biking around and soaking up the sunshine before heading back home to Shiz. It was my best weekend yet, and I look forward to many more! This weekend is the Hamamatsu Matsuri, so be on the lookout for another post soon!
I'll leave you with some random pictures from Kamakura... こんばんわ！