Arigato Japan

• Travelled in: September 2017
• Cities visited: Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Nara and Nikko

A short note on Japan

Japan was never in our travel radar and it just happened. I dedicate this post to my brother-in-law Mr.Vijayakumar (my wife’s twin brother) and his family for accommodating and tolerating us in many of our travel fantasies including Japan.

Japan requires no introduction. We grew up reading and hearing many interesting and inspiring tales about Japan. Therefore, I decided to deviate from my usual format and attempted to present a different perspective of Japan that probably haven’t got your attention.

As I was fumbling for an appropriate title, I felt apt to thank Japan for showcasing its “utopian vision” that we have read, heard and discussed on several occasions. Hence the title, ‘ARIGATO JAPAN’, ‘arigato’ meaning ‘thank you’ in Japanese.

Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is the largest city in the world both by area as well as by population (37 million or 3.7 crore people). But, what is most amazing is that Tokyo ranks first among the safest cities in the world in spite of its dense population. It is just not Tokyo alone that you will feel safe, but the entire part of the country. I was seriously pondering over how this could be possible. Is it because Japan has efficient administrators or is it because the citizens are law abiding or is there a robust security system that works in tandem?

Its the exemplary passion towards their nation and exceptional moral values embedded in every Japanese citizen that plays a pivotal role in achieving such an accomplishment. I was also contemplating on few other reasons that could possibly work in Japan’s favour, especially when comparing the situation in countries like India or the US. I have listed them below as conceived from my own perception.

• Japan is an insulated island in Pacific ocean and a good surveillance mechanism keeps a check over illegal cross-border immigrations. Nor was Japan open to any refugee amnesty programs any time in the past.
• Japan is the pinnacle in many fields of science, engineering and technology – thanks to the highly skilled and workaholic population, a classic Japanese characteristic that became more prominent after world war 2. Understood from my brother-in-law that in recent times, the Japanese Government had started to intervene and implement regulatory guidelines to divert people engrossed in long working hours. Therefore, Japan per se does not have any compulsion to import skilled manpower. Only after the advent of IT, Japan has opened its gates to tech professionals from other countries especially India.
• Japanese is the only language spoken through out the country and life is not easy for an outsider. My brother-in-law had to visit the nearby electricity office to pay his bill as the website had only Japanese language option. Consider yourself fortunate if you happen to meet a Japanese who could converse in English or any other foreign language. A few 2nd world war veterans and older people speak English, otherwise it is Japanese everywhere. Thankfully, in recent times, Japan has started including English on sign boards in metros and public places along with Kanji and Hiragana (2 different Japanese scripts)
• Japan has lowest income inequality among developed countries and this socialist element reflects in lesser crimes done for monetary gains.
• Minimal presence of minority/ethnic groups, no protest meetings, no protest marches, no chaos and no wonder Japan remains a safe haven on earth.

Japanese etiquettes and social behaviors

A mixed feeling of emotion and excitement sets in me when I start writing about the distinctive social etiquettes that would grab the attention and amusement of any 1st time visitor in Japan. Bowing is a fundamental salutation in Japanese culture- the sales person in any departmental store would first greet you with a bow as you approach him for help. The cashier would exhibit a similar gesture before and after billing. To top it all, while giving coins as change, the cashier would place his/her other hand below our hands to ensure that no coin slips to the ground. As a Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train) or an airport bus gets set to roll, the whole ground team assisting in departures would bow in respect.

There were incidences when local people while giving directions and after realizing that we haven’t understood, just followed us to see if we were taking the right directions. I am sure you would have heard stories after the infamous 2011 earthquake/Tsunami when the citizens stood patiently in queues and picked only a day’s ration to ensure that every other family gets their share. Let me stop here, otherwise I would get overwhelmed and may end up writing only about the Japanese etiquettes and social behaviors.

Temples and faiths in Japan

Before visiting Japan, I was under the impression that Buddhism was the major religion until we heard about ‘Shinto’, an indigenous faith as old as the culture of Japan. Around 65- 70% of the Japanese population embraces Shintoism. Further twist to the fact is that a sizable population of Shintos follow Buddhism too. Thanks to the harmonious amalgamation of these two faiths, it would be difficult for any visitor to distinguish between a Shinto and a Buddhist shrine looking from outside.

Shintoism is more towards worshipping nature like wind, sun, trees, mountains and fertility in the form of sacred spirits called ‘Kamis’. Humans with extra ordinary spiritual lives are also worshipped as Kamis, Buddha is considered as one ‘Kami’ in Shinto.

Meiji Jingu Shrine, Tokyo city

It was during the Meiji period (1868-1912) that the capital of Japan was transferred from Kyoto to Tokyo. More popularly known as the ‘Meiji restoration’, Japan underwent a lot of reforms under Meiji regime as they had to face the pressure of western influences (US and Europe). Samurai (esteem warrior clans) and a few other noble groups vested with political powers earlier by the Meijis, lost many of their privileges under these reforms and Japan was pushed to a state of democratic process with the formation of the National Diet (the present Japanese parliament)

Meiji shrine is a Shinto shrine in the suburbs of Tokyo built in honour of Emperor Meiji. The original building was destroyed in Tokyo air raids in the 2nd world war and what we see today is a restored structure.

Yoyo-ji park close to Meiji shrine is also worth visiting.

Sake (pronounced as sakey) is a Japanese sacred drink offered in Shinto’s purification rituals.’Kazaridaru’ or empty barrels are gifted by the devotees to store the excess offerings of the ritual wine and elegantly stacked at the entrance to the Meiji Shrine.

Zojo-ji temple, Tokyo city

Zojo-ji temple is a Buddhist temple built in the Edo period (1603-1868) by Emperor Tokugawa Ieyasu, a military leader (Shogun in Japanese). The temple is situated in the heart of the city near the ‘Tokyo Tower’ that adorns Tokyo’s skyline. The shrine is a very peaceful place to spend an evening.

Yasukuni shrine, Tokyo city

Yasukuni Shrine is again a Shinto shrine built by Meiji emperor to commemorate the war heros who had sacrificed their lives in the Meiji era especially during World War 2. This also includes honouring a controversial list of war convicts. This temple does not fall under the regular tourist circuit but I had a purpose to visit this temple. Please don’t miss to read about the shrine’s association with an interesting anecdote of an Indian origin in the subsequent heading.

Todai-ji temple, Nara, Japan

Todai-ji temple is a Buddhist temple built in 752CE and declared as a UNESCO world heritage site. It served as an administrative headquarters for many temples around the city of Nara during the early advent of Buddhism in Japan. The temple has one of the largest wooden halls in the world named as the ‘Great hall of Buddha’. A 15metres tall bronze statue of Buddha resides at the centre of the hall. The temple and the adjacent deer park is home to thousands of tamed deer that move around freely but never venture into the main roads. Deer is the sacred symbol and identity of Nara city.

Kinkaku-ji temple, Kyoto city

Picturesque Kinkaku-ji temple is in Kyoto and is translated as ‘Temple of the Golden Pavilion’. Earlier, it was a castle of a Shogun before getting transformed into a Zen Buddhist temple.

Itsukushima (Miyajima) shrine, Hiroshima

Miyajima literally translates to ‘Shrine island’ and is situated in Hatsukaichi city in Hiroshima prefecture. The island houses Itsukushima shrine, a Shinto place of worship and declared as a UNESCO world heritage site. The temple and the Torri (the gateway) built over the sea appear to stay afloat during high tide. The floating Torri is an often picturized icon in Japan among tourists and visitors. The temple has been in existence since the 6th century but the present structure was built around 12th century during the Kamakura period.

There are many Shinto and Buddhist shrines that we visited in Japan. It may sound a little repetitive to read about shrines owing to our unfamiliarity with Japanese history and culture. So before closing, I have listed the shrines we visited with a condensed information.

• Senso-ji Shrine, Asakusa, Tokyo city (Buddhist temple)-the oldest temple in Japan dating back to 645AD and a must visit shrine in Tokyo city. This temple is considered very sacred, most sought after by followers and hence attracts more than 30 million visitors every year.
• Sanjusangendo shrine, Kyoto city – a 12th century Buddhist temple built in the Kamakura period and houses 1001 standing statues of armed Kannons (a Buddhist symbolic representation similar to Bodhisattvas) with names having Sanskrit origin and traces of Indian mythology.
• Ginkaku-ji temple(Silver pavilion), Kyoto city
• Heian Shrine, Kyoto city
• Kasuga Taisha Shrine, Nara city– a shrine for lamps and lanterns.

Beliefs and practises in Temples

The beliefs and offerings observed in the Japanese temples have close resemblance to what we do in our temples in India. People buy envelopes and write their wishes and hang them around the sacred tree in the temple. Scented perfumes are also offered in the altar.

Before entering any shrine, washing hands is believed a sacred customary. Every shrine has a designated area at the entrance with beautiful water sprouts and wooden/ceramic spoons to wash the hands.

Indo-Japanese connection

Renko-ji Temple and Netaji

You might be wondering why I am still talking about temples. Strangely, most of the Indian connections in Japan seem to be concealed in Japanese temples. As Indians, we would have studied about history of India’s independence and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in our schools. We were also fascinated with Netaji’s contribution to freedom struggle and his mysterious disappearance that remains a raging controversial subject even today. And when I heard about the ashes/remains of Netaji being preserved in this temple premises, curiosity grew multifold. Travelling and discovering this remote part of Tokyo’s suburb was in itself an experience.

Renko-ji temple is very small Buddhist shrine tucked in a residential area of Suginami-ku ward in Tokyo. As I walked inside the premises, the sight of Netaji’s bust near the stairway gave me goosebumps. After taking a few snaps, I started exploring the stone placards inscribed with information acknowledging visits of Indian leaders like Mr.Nehru, Mrs.Indira Gandhi, Dr.Rajendra Prasad and lastly Mr.Vajpayee. The shrine looked deserted and appeared as if I was the only visitor for the whole day. I started scanning the visitor’s note placed on a podium and swiftly recorded my mark with great feeling of pride. At this moment, a lady ventured out from the shrine and enquired why I was there. When I expressed my desire to see the urn of Netaji’s remains, she informed that the urn gets displayed on August 18th every year when Netaji’s death anniversary is observed.

There were many questions lingering in my mind as I left the temple.

• What is so compelling for Japan to preserve Netaji’s remains in Renko-ji shrine and thereby force the world to believe that he died in the Taipei plane crash?
• What are the conspiracy theories behind the INA and Subhas Chandra Bose?
• When will the world know the real truth despite many classified documents pertaining to Netaji getting declassified recently?

Let us keep our fingers crossed and remain hopeful that someday, the entire mystery would unfold.

Founder of INA & Indian curry – Rash Behari Bose (1886-1945)

Now that we have read about Subhas Chandra Bose, its time to introduce to you another ‘Bose’ and he is Rash Bihari Bose. He was a young activist and revolutionary leader during the 1st world war and rebelled against the British Raj. He was involved in the ‘Delhi conspiracy case’ targeting the then Viceroy, Lord Hardinge in 1912 and hence was most ‘wanted’ by the colonial police.

He managed to flee to Tokyo in 1915 and continued to be a fugitive for the next couple of years until he took refuge in a local bakery called Nakamuraya. He slowly befriended the Pan-Asian supporters and even introduced ‘Indian curry’ to the maids of the bakery. Eventually he married the daughter of the bakery owner and was known as ‘Bose of Nakamuraya’. He continued his revolutionary battle clandestinely and established Indian Independence League in 1942. He raised an army by enrolling the Indian PoWs captured by the Japanese in Malaya and Burma and thus paved way for the birth of the Indian National Army(Azad Hind). Later, he developed acquaintance with Netaji and entrusted the powers of INA to him. The growth of INA under Netaji’s leadership is ‘history’. 

Even today, the Nakamuraya bakery exists in Shinjuku, Tokyo and the ‘Indian curry’ served here is very popular among the localites.

Hero of Japanese PoW-Radha Binod Pal (1886-1967)

Get set to read another interesting episode of yet another great Bengali Indian, unpopular in India but a celebrated hero in Japan. Amazed and puzzled at how so many Bengalis could develop such an affinity towards Japan. May be, I should have actually named the title as Bengali-Japanese connection.

In 1966, Emperor Hirohito honoured him with ‘Kokko Kunsao’, the highest civilian award in Japan (First class of the order of the Sacred Treasure). And a memorial was installed in Yasukuni Shrine after his death in 1967 (hope you remember about an Indian connection I mentioned in Yasukuni shrine). In 2007, when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited India, he expressed his desire to meet his family members and met his son in Kolkata.

Who is he and what made him so famous in Japan? Please read further.

At the end of world war in August 1945, Japan surrendered after the devastating bombardment of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Allied forces wanted to try the war leaders including the then Japanese prime minister Hideki Tojo. International Military Tribunal for Far East(IMTFE) was established with 11 international jurists representing the allied countries. The day was 12th November 1948, the final proceedings of ‘Tokyo Trials’ were going on in the outskirts of Tokyo and twenty-eight people were identified as Class-A (crimes against peace) war criminals. If proven, the only punishment that would be meted out would be ‘death penalty’. All the jurists announced their judgement and pronounced “Guilty”…. “Guilty”…. “Guilty”. Suddenly one thundered, “Not Guilty!”

And the lone dissenter was Radha Binod Pal, a jurist appointed to the tribunal as an Indian representation.

Born in 1886 in the Kumbh of East Bengal, his single mother made a living by taking care of a household and their cows. Radha helped his mother by taking the cows for grazing near a local primary school. When the teacher teaches, Radha used to keenly listen from outside. One day, a school inspector from the educational department visited the school and asked a few questions to test the students proficiency. When the students could not answer, Radha called out from outside the classroom window and answered all the questions one by one. The Inspector was so impressed with Radha and instructed the head of the school to admit him and provide a small stipend. And thus began the education of Radha Binod Pal. After passing the school final with distinction, he was admitted to Presidency College, Calcutta to study mathematics. On completing a post graduation in mathematics from the University of Calcutta, he pursued law and went on to do a doctorate in the same field. When asked about his contrasting interest, he replied humbly, “law and mathematics are not so different after all.”

Coming back again to the ‘Tokyo Trials’ – in his convincing argument, Radha signified how the Allied forces had also violated the principles of restraint and neutrality of international law by forcing Japan into war and how they had ignored Japan’s surrender hints and went on to massacre two hundred thousand innocent people by deploying nuclear bomb. His 1200 pages judgement with dissenting arguments were so convincing that the other jurists were forced to drop many of the accused from Class-A to B saving them from a sure death penalty.

The inclusion of Radha binod Pal in the International tribunal has been a disputed subject. Initially, India tasting its newly attained Independence status tried to disassociate from Radha Binod Pal’s judgement probably fearing a backlash but later conferred him with a Padma Vibhushan in 1959. ‘Tokyo Trials’, a Hindi movie starring Irfan Khan was produced based on the story of Radha Binod Pal but unfortunately did not make much headlines.

Ward Chuo museum, Ogikubo, Tokyo

Close to the ‘remains of the man’ who believed in ‘freedom struggle through blood’ stands the ‘statue of the man’ who cascaded to the world the philosophy of ‘freedom struggle through Non-violence’. Least said soonest mended-Mahatma defined Netaji as ‘Patriot of Patriots’ and Netaji always regarded Mahatma as ‘Bapu’.

The 1st statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Japan is installed in the gardens of Ward Chuo library in Ogikubo just three metro stops away from Renko-ji temple. My zeal overtook my fatigue as I set upon my journey towards Ogikubo so as to complete the virtuous cycle of India’s independence struggle. After paying obeisance to Mahatma statue, I entered the library and found a small separate section reserved for books on Mahatma. On further enquiring at the reception, I was directed to the basement and saw a wonderful exhibition of photo stories and newspaper clippings relating to India’s Independence struggle. As I walked out of the library, I had a great feeling of pride and ecstasy.

Hiroshima- a pheonix in reality

From school days, I always related Hiroshima to a delusion of a ghost city. Hiroshima lives today to show the world that ‘impossible can still be possible’.

And at 8.15am, August 6th 1945, an American B29 bomber dropped 50kgs of Uranium packed in ‘Little boy’ (code name for the atomic bomb) over Hiroshima and spelt the doom’s day in the history of modern world. Despite only one kg of Uranium undergoing fission and exploding 600metres above the ground, the atomic bomb caused extensive devastation killing more than 2 lakh (200 thousand) men, women and children instantly and affecting scores of people with residual radioactivity reigning over many more years.

The explosion generated fireballs with temperatures hovering around 2000°C and propagated shockwaves that travelled faster than sound. The impact of the explosive unleashed a ‘mushroom cloud’ (1st picture above) raising dust and burnt debris up in the sky and mixing with suspended moisture in the air to fall back on the ground as radioactive ‘Black rain’. The second picture above shows a residual imprint of a man incinerated while sitting on the steps of a bank to open on that fateful day.

All the buildings in the 2kms vicinity from the hypocenter were crushed to rubble and burnt by the worst ever holocaust in the history of mankind. People who survived fled the disaster zone with blood stained, tattered and charred clothes and burnt body parts exposed to thermal radiation.

A-bomb Tomb

The building seen in the 1st picture above is ‘Hiroshima Prefectural Exhibition hall’ crowned with a distinctive green dome. The bomb detonated 160 metres from this exhibition hall killing all the occupants inside. Though subjected to an extensive damage, this building was one among a few buildings that withstood a complete collapse. Prior to bomb blast, the building served as an icon of Hiroshima city but now stands as a sad reminder to the world conveying the horror of using nuclear weapons.

In December 1996, the A-bomb Dome was registered in the World Heritage List as a historical witness and as a world peace monument appealing for lasting peace and total abolition of nuclear weapons.

Peace park and Children’s Peace Monument

‘Peace park’ is a sprawling lush green park cushioned between the A-Bomb Dome and the Hiroshima museum thus shielding the dilapidated structure of A-Bomb Tomb.

I am reproducing below, a heart-rending extract from the information board of the Children’s Peace monument in the Peace Park.

“This monument stands in memory of all children who died as a result of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The monument was originally inspired by the death of Sadako Sasaki, who was exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb at the age of two. Ten years later Sadako developed leukemia that ultimately ended her life. Sadako’s untimely death compelled her classmates to begin a call for the construction of a monument for all children who died due to the atomic bomb. Built with contributions from more than 3,200 schools in Japan and donors in nine countries, the Children’s Peace Monument was unveiled on May 5, 1958.At the top of the nine-meter monument, a bronze statue of a young girl lifts a golden crane entrusted with dreams for a peaceful future. Figures of a boy and a girl are located on the sides of the monument.

The inscription on the stone block under the monument reads: “This is our cry. This is our prayer. For building peace in this world.” .

Hiroshima museum brought tears in our eyes. There were a few visitors who could not hold their emotions and quit the hall halfway. The exhibits and artifacts were so diligently arranged that you would feel like literally boarding a time machine travelling back to that doom’s day. The best part is nowhere did the Japanese express any hatred or accusations against any country nor was there any justification for their actions.

Everything in Hiroshima was like a melancholic symphony resonating and echoing just one word to the world and that is ‘PEACE’.

Safety and Infrastructure in Japan

Staying resilient to nature’s fury-Japanese mantra

As discussed in the beginning of the post, Japan remains safe in terms of social structure. But sadly, Japan faces the brunt of nature’s fury in many forms- earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons and volcanic eruptions. How can we forget the 2011 earthquake that ripped the North-eastern part of Japan and the Himalayan Tsunami that followed and engulfed the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant almost sounding a death knell to Japan. Striking a magnitude of 9.1 in Richter scale, this ‘Great Tohuku Earthquake’ is considered the 4th most powerful earthquake in history.

Please watch the following video for a quick recap of series of events that unfolded after the earthquake.

Kobe and the Great Hanshin earthquake

Kobe, a port city in southern Japan was rocked by a massive earth quake (measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale) on 17th January 1995. Often mentioned as ‘The Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake’, it unleashed a chain of unprecedented devastation and literally brought Kobe to its knees.

Please watch the following video for some rare and terrifying footages of Kobe earthquake.

Kobe Harbour was badly damaged and ships anchored were completely wrecked following the earthquake.

‘Great Hanshin earthquake memorial museum’ was established in Kobe city to commemorate Kobe earthquake. Japan also setup the ‘Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution’ close to the earthquake museum. The museum has interactive shows, games and experiments to educate visitors about earthquakes and ways to stay safe and mitigate damages.

Nothing can deter the confidence of the Japanese- Kobe was rebuilt even more stronger with an extended area realized through reclaimed lands (land gained by dumping fillings in sea). Kobe was a busy container port and Asia’s top port earlier but had a to pay a heavy toll post devastation. Some day, hope Kobe would reclaim its glory with many heavy industries like Kawasaki Heavy industries, Kobe steel and many more manufacturing plants blooming around leading to better logistics and improving economy.

What to see in Kobe

• Akashi Kaikyo Bridge – Longest suspension bridge in the world (longest main span length) constructed in 1998 to connect the main land Kobe with Awaji island.
• Merikan Park – a water front park overlooking the port
• Kobe port Tower – A drum shaped tower, the icon of Kobe in Merikan park. One gets an enchanting view of Kobe city and port from the top of the tower
• Kobe Maritime museum in Merikan park
• Kawasaki museum

Contigency and rehabilation management

‘Disaster preparedness’ is a 250 page holistic disaster management manual provided to every family living in Tokyo (Picture 5). The book is extremely informative covering all aspects of disaster management- just to mention a few contents such as remaining safe during disasters, helping neighbours during emergencies, reaching evacuation centres and etiquette/discipline to be observed in relief camps. The book has a separate section dealing with psychological trauma that could set in post-disasters especially in the eventuality of losing loved ones. To me, this looked the highest degree of maturity and responsibility any country could express towards its citizens.

And its mandatory for every household to place an ’emergency kit’ near the front door for easy access (picture 3). In the eventuality of a disaster, the kit needs to be carried while moving out for safety. The ‘Disaster preparedness’ manual also lists the items that needs to be packed in the emergency kit (picture 1) which includes thermal bedsheets, raincoats, safety pillows to be worn around the head (picture 4), biscuits, bandages, torch, batteries, whistle (needed when struck under rubbles) and radio etc.

Children in school are educated and trained with mock drills in staying safe during grave emergency situations.

No wonder Japan is referred to as ‘The Land of the rising sun’. Japan may appear to sink in every disaster but fights back with a thrust and rises from the ocean of miseries. Japan is a great inspiration to the whole world.

Toilets

It causes no embarrassment to talk about ‘Japanese public toilets’. In fact, they were too sophisticated that many times we felt the urge to read an instruction manual before answering nature’s call. The closets are equipped with digital panels fixed in the arm rest (picture2) or hung on the wall (picture 5) with push buttons to enable the following functions-

• warming toilet seats
• operating inbuilt bidets with separate selections designed to suit males and females
• playing soft music in case one feels a little awkward with strong bowel movement
• emitting fragrance so as to present a better atmosphere to the next immediate user
• Flushing after use. Some toilets had even sensors panels on the wall and just waving a hand would flush (picture 4).

A few toilets had seating arrangement for a lone mother to fasten her child and get relieved peacefully (picture 6 – and for those who are curious, my wife helped me with this photo). And mind you, all these facilities were found in public toilets absolutely free to use and were located at all convenient locations.

An innovative water conserving concept is implemented in many Japanese residential toilets (picture 7). A wash basin is designed on the top of the flush tanks and water gets recycled in front of our eyes. Started as a space saving option, the toilet-sink combo also reminds us to wash hands and stay hygienic.

Other remarkable infrastuctures unique to Japan

Tactile paving for visually impaired persons are not uncommon, but in Japan, this facility exists in all public areas across the entire country (picture 2).

And the presence of ‘Automatic External Defibrillator’ (AED Picture 3) at every nook and corner of Japan is quite astonishing. Instructions for usage are stuck on the wall next to the AEDs and just by reading them, anyone can help a person with a cardiac emergency until an ambulance arrives. The local fire department also engages in training and providing ‘Resuscitation kit’ (picture 4 and 5) to employees of corporate companies and government organizations.

Community parks

Every community park in Japan invariably has a clock tower, a toilet (picture 5- remember the toilet facilities I was mentioning earlier) and an automatic snack vending machine that supplies cold drinks during summer and hot drinks during winter (picture 4) . The parks in Nishi Kasai, Tokyo’s Little India (popular among Indian immigrants) were theme based such as Pyramid park (picture 3), Rainbow park (picture1 and 2) and so on.

Inspiring Landmarks of Tokyo

Shibuya crossing

Shibuya crossing is the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing located in front of Shibuya station on the ‘Hachiko exit’. It was a great amusement to watch people waiting patiently at the screen corners and surging into the crossing the moment the pedestrian signal turns green. More than 3000 pedestrians cross this junction at every green signal during peak hours.

We wish to share our excitement that we experienced in ‘Shibuya crossing’ and request you to watch our video footage below (Duration: 1min 53secs).

Shibuya crossing has turned into a tourist attraction and has also featured in many world movies including the Hollywood blockbuster -‘The fast and the furious’.

Hachiko-a heart warming true story

Professor Ueno living in Shibuya, Tokyo adopted a Japanese puppy and named it as Hachiko (‘Hachi’ means numerical eight in Japanese and ‘ko’ is a salutation in Chinese??). The professor worked with a Tokyo University and had to commute daily by train from Shibuya station. Hachi had the habit of greeting his master every evening at Shibuya station when the professor returned back from work. On May 21,1925, Professor Ueno unfortunately suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while at work and sadly never returned. And for the next 10 years, Hachi continued visiting the station everyday exactly at the train’s arrival time, hoping to see his master. His soulful visits ended when he was found dead in a Shibuya road in 1935.

A bronze statue of Hachi is installed at the entrance of Shibuya station honouring the most devoted and loyal pet in the world. The exit on this side of the station is named as ‘Hachiko exit’. An American movie, ‘Hachi-A Dog’s Tale’ was produced and starred by Richard Gere in 2009 based on the Japanese movie Hachiko Monogatari (1987). The Japanese movie replicated Hachi’s true story and the English version was slightly modified to suit American modern context.

Bonsai Village, Omiya, Japan

Bonsai and Origami are the traditional art forms of Japan. We were a little disappointed as we did not see Bonsai anywhere during our stay. On searching the internet, we learnt about ‘Omiya Bonsai village’, a small town 40kms north of Tokyo. The ‘Bonsai Art Museum’ in Omiya has some exclusive collection of bonsai display. We walked around the village streets and observed many residential houses adorned with beautifully crafted bonsai trees. There were many private gardens and exclusive nurseries selling these artistic miniature trees and some were offering courses in learning the art. We interacted with an European enrolled in one such course and he was kind enough to demonstrate us a few intrinsic techniques involved in Bonsai cultivation (like pruning, wiring and training). One needs to have immense passion, patience and dedication to master this art and no wonder it comes easily for the Japanese.

Tokyo Tower and Skytree Tower, Tokyo

An exact replica of Eiffel tower in Paris, Tokyo tower is a communication tower in the heart of Tokyo. Tokyo tower measures slightly taller (333metres) than the Eiffel tower (324metres) and houses 15 floors.

Tokyo Skytree is a broadcasting and observation tower located in Sumida,Tokyo. It’s the tallest tower in the world(634m) and 2nd tallest structure after Burj Khalifa.

Pets and Petting zoos in Japan

Having read the touching story of Hachi, I dont have to elaborate on the Japanese love and bonding for pets. The popular dog breeds in Japan are ‘Shiba Inu’ and Japanese spitz, very petit and cute. Hachi was an ‘Akita Inu’ breed that tends to grows a little bigger. The Japanese prefer to carry their pets in bags or cuddle them in hands. There are exclusive beauty salons for pets to groom hair and nails.

Please click the video link to our you-tube channel and watch the activity in a Japanese store selling puppies (Duration:2minutes).

The puppies seem to enjoy a better care/dignity than many humans do, except for being in captivity and hopefully they would find a good master soon.

We also visited a petting zoo in Gyosen Park, NishiKasai, Tokyo. It was fun to watch the kids interacting and petting the animals.. Please click on the link below to watch the video that we shot in this petting zoo (Duration: 1min 52sec).

Edo wonderland, Nikko Edomura (160kms North of Tokyo)

Edo wonderland is a theme park showcasing life, culture and art during the Edo period (‘Edo’ is the old name for Tokyo). Also known as ‘The Tokugawa period’, the Shogunates (military dictatorship, popularly known as ‘Shoguns’) ruled Japan between 17th century and early 19th century AD.

Many scintillating and lively shows, dramas and martial art demonstrations happen in the streets and theatres in this theme park. ‘Ninja Karatu Goten’– a show on Ninja martial art was just mind blowing.

‘Geisha’ are popular woman folks in Edo period trained to perform as entertainers in different Japanese art forms (I could immediate relate this with the Devadasi system in India). They are characterized by long hair, typical Kimono apron, super high-heeled shoes and whitened faces.

Please watch ‘The Parade of Geisha’ enacted in the street of Edo wonderland that we filmed (Duration: 2min 40secs)

If you have time and interest to learn more about the lives of Geisha, we suggest you to watch “Memoirs of a Geisha” a 2005 Hollywood movie produced jointly by Steven Spielberg based on a novel authored by Arthur Golden with the same title.

The Tobu World Square is also in Nikko and close to Edo wonderland. Tobu World Square is an architectural museum with skillful reproductions of 102 world-famous buildings on the 1/25 scale, including 45 World Heritage Sites. Combo tickets for Edo wonderland and Tobu square are available.

Imperial palaces and Gardens of Japan

Tokyo Imperial Palace

Tokyo Imperial Palace stands pristine in the heart of the city in Chiyoda ward of Tokyo. Earlier known as the ‘Edo castle’, the Imperial palace spreads around 1.15 sq.km sometimes touted to be more expensive than the total real estate of California (ref:wikipedia). Visitors are allowed to visit only the Imperial Garden.

Kyoto Imperial Palace

Kyoto Imperial Palace served as the residence to Edo Emperors in the early ‘Edo period’ and was slowly abandoned when the administrative capital was moved to Tokyo during the Meiji era. Here, the visitors are allowed to go around the palace building unlike in Tokyo. A visit to ‘The Sento Imperial Palace’, an integral part within the Kyoto Palace and the garden annex with well pruned plants and trees is a rejuvenating treat to eyes.

Food, drinks and the secret to longevity

Japan has the second best life expectancy in the world (very close to Hongkong that ranks first in the list). As per 2020 statistics, average life expectancy among Japanese is 84.67 years (average Indian life expectancy is 69.73years). Japanese women live longer with an average life expectancy of 87.32years against men averaging 81.25years. And its time to explore how such stupendous longevities happen among the Japanese. First and foremost – good food gives good health. We believe that a unique combination in Japanese food culture does the magic.

Rice is the staple food in Japan as with the Chinese, Koreans and many Asian counterparts. Japanese rice is glutenous and turns very sticky when cooked owing to high starch content (amylopectin). People mostly consume ‘white rice’ but brown rise is also found in abundance. In brown rice, the bran is left intact and hence is considered even more healthier.

If you happen to see a rice variety sold as ‘Sushi Rice’ out of Japan, probably it is the regular Japanese rice mixed with vinegar.

Seaweeds are inseparable component in Japanese daily diet and they use a wide range of seaweeds directly in cooking. Nori is dry processed ‘seaweed sheet’ used to wrap ‘Sushi’- the globally famous Japanese dish.

‘Onigiri’ (picture 1,2&3) is a plain cooked rice ball with a meat or vegetable stuffing in the middle and packed in Nori (sometimes in plastic covers too). Just one rice ball would suffice for a meal and is available everywhere-a lifeline for the people on the go.

Sushi, the most popular Japanese dish has four components- Rice, Vinegar, Nori (for wrapping) and either raw fish or vegetables served with Wasabi, a seasoning side-dish like the pickled ginger and soya sauce.

‘Sashimi’ is another popular cuisine serving only raw fishes.

Tempura is a form of grilling or deep frying flour-dipped sea foods, meat or vegetables. Prawn Tempura was our favorite.

Sake (pronounced as Sakey, Picture 8). Earlier, I had mentioned about Sake and its sacred offering in Meiji Shrine. Sake is an ancient alcoholic beverage basically a rice wine brewed similar to beer. More popularly known as ‘Nihonshu’ in Japan, Sake mostly looks clear like water or could be light colored and turns effervescent when served.

Bento-box (picture5& 6) is a very popular, compartmentalized lunch box for easy carrying of a complete meal. There are many type of Bento boxes to suit different dishes.

Food models- The Japanese have a penchant to display food models or ‘fake food’ (picture4) in restaurants and food outlets. They were looking so natural and precisely designed to convey the texture and portion of the dish that one would get on ordering. We could not believe our own eyes when we learnt that they were made of plastic, wax and resins. Kappabashi street in Tokyo is lined with shops that sell these artificial food displays.

Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo is the largest wholesale fish and seafood supermarket in the world. The inner circle serves as an auction house in the early morning hours. It seems the auction process is a very interesting event to watch. We could not make it to the auction event as very limited passes are issued for visitors. We went around the outer circle that had a lot of retails shops and restaurants serving Sushi, Sashimi and other Japanese cuisines, a delight for sea food lovers.

Sayonara

Japan was absolutely stunning and the experience would keep reverberating in our minds forever. I hope to have given some justification for your time and patience as I tried to steer you through an offbeat trail of Japan.

And until I meet you in another post, its time to say ‘Sayonara’ (Good bye) and ‘Arigato Gozaimasu’ (Thank you).

THE END