Tales From The Biggest City On Earth

January 9th

In the Keio mall at Shinjuku station I used the toilet and it did everything but wipe my cookie for me. I think this is love.

When I entered the stall I had to catch my breath as I came face to face with the thing that made me question my life until now. As I dealt with feelings of intimidation and adoration I hung my purse and bags on a solid three tier brushed finish stainless steel hook. By the time I turned back around to face this monster of modern wonderment I was full of anticipation and a determination to do everything right. Walking across the stall I passed a built in baby seat for mothers on the go when I noticed step one of my perfect restroom experience. A liquid sanitizer used with toilet tissue to wipe the seat of all germs before quickly evaporating into a jasmine mist to cleanse the senses. As I sat down in a cloud of flowers I looked at the control panel to my right and laughed at all the steps left before completion of this mission. Step 2, select seat temperature. Three, urination. Four, select spray of warm water for rinse (hit stop button when satisfied). Five, choose flush option. (How bad was your business?) Other options include...electronic sound of flushing with volume adjustment (for discreet evacuation) and lighter spray of warm water for sensitive nether regions. The red lever? I wonder. Auto eject?

More adventures to come...


January 10th

First impressions...

This city is amazingly clean and the people here are very considerate, yet remote. People move fast and don`t have time for much but getting to their next destination. The cops are considerate. Another thing I noticed is that people obey the walk signals at crosswalks even if the place is deserted. You can feel tension building if there is an extended wait to walk, yet no one crosses out of turn. Even when it`s bitter cold there are few who actually walk against the signal. I did, and almost got hit by a car out of nowhere (not used to cars driving on the left, I guess). Silly white girl.

These people are all about order and following the rules.

The garbage is all separated into recyclable paper, plastics, glasses and cans, combustible and non-combustible items. The trash is picked up five times per week. At every vending station there can also be found a bottle recycling receptacle attached. Now that is responsibility!

I bought a package containing two rice treats. At the counter the man wrapped them in a traditional Japanese art print covered by a second layer of wrapping paper stamped with strawberries and fastened it with an ornate sticker. One word... Presentation.


January 13th

Today I went to a coming out festival for Japanese women when they turn 20. It's called Seijin shiki. The women who participate in this tradition are dressed to the nines in expensive kimonos and they have their hair and makeup done for the event. They looked amazing.

Along the path were all these melting ice sculptures commemorating women.

The festival was held at a beautiful and sacred place called The Meiji Shrine. It's a Shinto shrine. Shinto I learned, is Japan's ancient original religion. It seduced me because it has no founder, no holy book, no concept of religious conversion, just values of being at harmony with nature. Magokoro is a Shinto word which means "sincere heart". They believe divinity is found as Kami (divine spirit). There is an unlimited number of Kami which can be seen in nature and also people. Japanese people who have felt awe and gratitude toward Kami have dedicated shrines to them. The Meiji shrine was dedicated to The Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. After their deaths in the early 1900's people donated 100,000 trees from all over Japan and overseas and volunteered to create this forest which surrounds the shrine. All the trees were hand planted by these volunteers. That's love baby. I could feel it. I'm right on with this Shinto philosophy. It's all about energy. It makes me think of Princess Mononoke. The Emperor and his wife wrote thousands of poems in the Waka style (31 syllables). Here is one of them to give you an idea where their heads were.

The spacious sky
Spans serene and clear
So blue above,
Oh, that our soul could grow
and become so open!

Emperor Meiji ascended to the throne in 1867. Japan was just opening up to the world after a long isolation at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. He took the initiative to promote friendship with other countries. They say he laid the foundations for modern Japan. The Empress devoted herself to promoting well being of the people and woman's education as well as world affairs. The international red cross is still using money she donated to this day. They sound like nice people.

I drew one of these poems from an Omikuji box with the intention of learning to read it. It was beautifully written on lovely paper.

At the Shrine entrance I had fun with a water ritual where you rinse your hands and mouth with water from a spring using a bamboo cup (I mean no disrespect). The water was cold and tasted so good. It felt like pure nourishment.

Further up the path there were many slips of paper folded and tied to ropes. Maybe that's what I was supposed to do with my poem.

I also went to a pretty amazing art exhibit at the Mori Art Museum which is on the 52nd floor of a building in downtown Roppongi. There is an excellent view from the museum itself. Chalo! India. A new era of Indian art was the exhibit. Wow. Through the art I could really feel the issues India is facing. It's original and intense. I think India must be the polar opposite of Japan as far as environment chaos vs. order. Italians on the other hand may be the polar opposite of Japanese culturally. Boisterous vs. reserved. Please pardon these sweeping generalizations. I find comfort in comparisons.

As far as food goes it's rice, rice, and more rice. I'm hungry every couple of hours. My diet is VERY simple. In the morning I have a green tea with pressed white rice mixed with Ketchup and wrapped in egg. Snack..rice crackers. second snack...sticky round rice patty thing with red bean paste. Lunch..sometimes soba noodles, sometimes rice with seaweed and sesame seeds. Dinner some kind of cucumber in hot sauce or small salad and pressed rice wrapped in seaweed and some desert made of green tea and rice. One day I had Indian food. Lentil curry with naan, yogurt sauce, and spiced tea with milk. I felt really bloated and full after that. I wonder if it was from the bread or milk. One of these days I'm going to walk in a joint and get a big fat beef bowl and enjoy the feeling of being full for half a day. Then again maybe not.


January 13th

Last night I hung out with my friend Mugan. He is a Canadian who has taught English here for the past six years.
He just lost his job because the economy. He said the economy is getting pretty bad here too. America's economy has effected everyone. Maybe it's because all the Japanese investments in US markets. Also, the Japanese imports are down because of the exchange rate and American economy. He still has a part time job at a government office.

If I need to make some money here is an idea... Mugan has an Aussie friend that got a job in a bar where Japanese women go to have white men serve them. I'm sure there is something like that for Japanese men who want to be served only by white women. I should apply for a job there. ...NOT!!!

Mugan took me to a couple of places. A smokey bar and a traditional Japanese restaurant with low tables and tatami mats. Because I missed all the trains I had to take a cab home. 63000 Yen ($70 bucks)...urggg. The cab was immaculate and the seats had these doily lace seat covers. The driver wore white cotton gloves. Nice little set up. He had a state of the art gps system. The cab doors open and close for you when the driver pushes a button to let you in and out. You never have to touch anything in Japan.

When I got home I had a sweet treat waiting for me which I had bought earlier and stored next to the window in my room. It's so cold I use this area as my personal refrigerator. It was a little macha green tea sweet cake. Yum.


January 14th

The crime rate is so low here. It's a safe place, especially for a big city. People leave their bikes unlocked with no worries. It's wonderful to feel safe.

The architecture is fantastic. Tokyo has a way of disregarding the old and bringing in the new. It's like this ever changing animal, constantly reinventing itself. Maybe it has something to do with the losses this city has faced. The great Kanto earthquake of 1923, for example. Because it happened at lunch time, while many cooking fires were burning, most of the city was lost to fire. Only a couple of decades later Tokyo was struck by the world war two air raids which devastated the city once again. Few structures remain from Tokyo's old history. Perhaps these tragedies served to liberate Tokyoite sensibilities from attachments to the past.

I went to a Buddhist temple with lots of Bodhisattva statues like that of Jizo, a protector of children. sometimes lined up by the hundreds, and draped with red bibs or other clothing. The red gift is given for the soul of the child in the afterlife or to thank Jizu for saving a child from death. It is really sad to see the tombstones of children. All carefully tended to with fresh flowers and bibs. That has got to be the saddest loss of all in this world.

There are these crazy Uber crows here. That's the only way I can describe them. They're like our crows but bigger, with a different, louder call and huge hook beaks.

I walked through the village of Yanaka to see some other sites. Along with more graveyards and temples.

In Ueno park I ran across a group of young folks who are dressed like T birds and Pinks and dancing '50's style. A type of fashion tribe.


January 15th

This morning I got up at 5 am so I could meet Mizu at the train station and go to set with her. She is doing well. I enjoy hanging out with her. We will spend more time together this weekend. It was freezing cold today and we were outside the whole time. It was a good opportunity to make a new discovery... The Japanese use these palm sized heat pillows in their shoes, gloves, pockets, or attached to different parts of the body to stay warm. I don't know what's in them but it stayed warm all day. The ones in my gloves are still warm and it's 11 at night! Mizu introduced me to the Director and various other people on set. When it was time for lunch I was not invited to partake in their Bento because I'm not part of the crew ( work things are different here) so I grabbed something next door and when I got back they had already shot the scene I was supposed to be in! They are fast! Oh well.


January 19th

Last night I had a blast. Some of my Japanese friends and I got together. We all worked on a film called Sideways (the Japanese version) in Napa Valley. First we had dinner in Shinjuku. Afterward, we went to this smoky little bar that was painted red and played good music. We called Cellin the director of the movie we all worked on together. It was 6:30 yesterday morning in LA and of course he was up. Getting ready to ref. his kid's soccer game. We passed the phone around and each took a turn exchanging greetings. He was all..."Oh brother, what do you girls want?" But we knew he was happy to talk to us! Tough on the outside and soft on the inside like an Oreo. After the wine bar we headed to a little karaoke bar where we stayed until 6 am! There is no time limit on drinking here, no sir. It was great fun. Then I spent the night at Mizu's house. A cute Japanese style apartment. Very nice.


January 21st

I went on a journey to discover many things yesterday. A river,
homeless dwellings, Sumo wrestlers, a museum, and an ancient tea shop
with a history.

Fate was on my side.

Sumo wrestlers galore in Ryogoku. At the stadium there are tickets for sale (nosebleed seats). If you get there at 8 in the morning it is possible to get seats. So, next time I just may do that. The tournament lasts until Jan 25.

The museum was pretty cool. It's focus is Tokyo's history. This day was a field trip day for school kids apparently and there were schoolkids galore. They added a nice energy to the place. A group of young Japanese boys followed me around, giggling. My own little fan club. The best thing about the museum were these amazing old Edo period wood block prints. The whole process was shown. At the world war 2 exhibit I felt slightly awkward and wondered if this is how my German friend Alex felt in high school when we had to watch concentration camp footage in History class.

When I left the museum to start my long path up the river I walked through a crowd of people gathering outside the stadium. Sumo wrestlers were being dropped off by taxi's and making their way into the stadium. People were yelling their names and taking pictures. Fat balls of stardom. Their demeanor is completely different. A difference they all share. Something slow and methodical about their movement, with an almost zen serenity to it. And a kind of confidence which comes with hard work. Working from the bottom up. These guys have to be a slave to the successful sumo wrestlers when they first start and then work their way up form there. I feel the need to find out more about this strange and interesting sports cult.

Walking up the river I discovered the homeless. I was blown away. Their "houses" are an orderly hodge podge of tents and boxes covered with blue tarps. An area, their neighborhood, if you will, is sectioned off with road cones. Each dwelling had a bike parked out front as well as a neatly bagged collection of bottles and cans. Personal belongings such as brooms and shoes were neatly hung or tucked away right outside the entry. All had a laundry line for damp clothes. These were river front bungalows! I would live there!! Unbelievable. The homeless are looked after, not discarded like pieces of rubbish.

I know I have not been here long enough to see the down sides to Tokyo yet, but it seems to me that this is a place where people have a real sense of accountability.

Heading north up the Sumida river toward Mukojima, I was determined to find this old riverfront tea shop specializing in traditional Japanese green tea and sakuramochi (sweetened rice cake with yuki bean paste wrapped in cherry blossom leaves). This area was once famous for it's paddy fields and shogun falconry. Mukojima once had waterways that connected it with the pleasure quarter in Yoshiwara. Naughty husbands would stop off and buy sweet dumplings at these tea shops to bring home to their wives. After a four mile walk I was rewarded with one of my best Tokyo experiences yet. This simple shop displayed no goods and from the exterior gave no indication of being a place for tea. There was just a simple black and white sign written in Kanji. So, of course I couldn't read it...not yet! The first time around, I passed it up. After scouring the area and coming across a closed tea shop mocking me with it's display of unattainable sweet dumplings, I thought there was no hope. But, it's just like me to exhaust all resources before giving up something I really want. So, I walked into this place with the black and white sign (which I thought was a clinic). Jackpot!!! The tea shop I was looking for! Three little old ladies greeted me from behind a counter displaying neatly wrapped packages. Those must be them, I thought. I ordered a green tea and Japanese sweet. She brought it out in a wooden box. Quickly, I went in the bathroom to pee (I had been holding it for the last hour) and wash my hands. There is no way I could eat this special thing with dirty hands. I sat down in the cozy, simple room and started to warm up. I looked around and there were ancient framed papers with kanji writing and pieces of art. I picked up the sakuramochi, examined it, and took a bite. The leaves are cured in salt brine I'm guessing. The azuki bean center was exquisite. So smooth... This was art. A shop that just sells this one thing...and doing it the same way for decades. The green tea was phenomenal too. The old lady came to my table and muttered something, I said...Oichii (delicious). She went back behind the counter and said something to the other women. All I could understand was oichii. They kept repeating that word satisfactorily and smiling. An old man came out and they told him too. I think they were surprised that a white girl like me would appreciate their work. When I was finished I went up to pay the equivalent of two dollars and fifty cents, said good-night, and left. Heading back to the train station, I couldn't help noticing how amazing I felt. Completely nourished, warm from the belly out. Tons of energy and well being. A far cry from when I first walked in.

On the way back I treated myself to a nice dinner of the best damn soba noodles I've ever had and a salad. I learned how to say "I'm a vegetarian" and "do you have any traditional zen monk dishes?" over dinner.

Good stuff!


January 27th

Today I encountered many things including; a monk on the street holding a bowl for money (unless he was a bum with a gimmick!?), early blooms, a rainbow taxi, and a stainless steel catholic church.