'If you go to Tokyo, I think it becomes very obvious that there's this almost seamless mixture of popular culture and Japanese traditional culture.'
Kazuo Ishiguro
It's been a busy two days and we have covered a lot of ground, but not even scratched the surface of the world's largest city. Quite some time ago, my family lived in Shibuya at an Air Force base neighborhood called Washington Heights. The Air Force has long since been out of there and the Japanese repurposed it as housing for athletes in the Tokyo Summer Olympics. I am told one example house still remains today. But Paul and I decided to go to Shibuya to see the Meiji Shrine, the Shibuya scramble and to visit the Blue Note Jazz club. Is it possible Paul visited a Japanese vinyl store? I will leave you to answer that for yourself! (Hint: our living room)
The Meiji Shrine was completed in 1920 and has become Japan's most famous Shinto shrine. Meiji Jingu Shrine is dedicated to the souls of Emperor Meiji (1852-1912) and his wife, Empress Shoken (1849-1914). The 15-year-old Emperor Meiji ascended the throne in 1867 as Japan saw the violent end of over 260 years of Tokugawa rule and the Meiji Restoration ushered in a period of industrialization, urbanization and colonial expansion as Japan began to attempt to catch up with the major Western powers.
After their deaths in the early part of the 1900's, Meiji Jingu Shrine was built to venerate them. Meiji Jingu Shrine became a meeting point for Japanese right wing radicals leading up to World War II, in which it was destroyed by American bombing in 1945 and rebuilt through public donations in 1958.
The two torii gates at the entrance to the shrine are 40 feet high. When you pass under, you are symbolically entering a sacred place and leaving behind the everyday. The long path to the shrine buildings is lined by large cedar trees.
One of the most beautiful areas in Meiji Jingu Shrine is the Inner Garden which in late June is filled with over 150 species of irises in full bloom. Unfortunately, we missed that and would have loved to have seen it as the iris is the state flower of Tennessee. It is said the emporer designed the Nai-en Garden himself for the pleasure of his wife. Further in is the treasure museum where the royal couple's clothes and personal things are kept. Of course, it is closed on Thursday, which is the day we visited.
The park that surrounds Meiji Jingu Shrine is a forest of some 120,000 trees of 365 different species. The trees were brought from all over Japan and now the forest is a haven for many species of birds. And an endless supply of crows which seem to be nearly as plentiful and much louder than people in Tokyo. You quickly forget you are in the world's largest city in this oasis surrounded by urban development of Shibuya. We saw a couple of weddings and ceremonies taking place in the garden.
From this peaceful garden, we moseyed to one of the least peaceful places on the planet: the Shibuya scramble.
There are several ways to view the crossing. Probably the best would be to combine it with a visit to the Tokyo Tower. We found out "the hard way" that you need to book tickets in advance. But there are several free places to see it as well. We chose the Hikarie Sky Lobby on the 11th floor of the building, but you can also try L'Occitane Cafe, or Shibuya Station bridge to Mark City. It used to be possible to use the Starbucks there, but they actually closed on October 31, 2023.
From here, we wandered around the hustle and bustle and neon called Shibuya for awhile before seeing a performance at the Tokyo Blue Note by a trumpeter/vocalist named Toku who performed works of Roy Hargrove.
The next day, we were off for a guided tour of the Tokyo War Dead Memorial and Yushukan Museum which is a historical museum of the wars of Japan.
The guide encouraged us to "act Shinto" for the day and say a prayer. To do this, you first perform the Shinto ablutions at the gate, then approach the altar area. You give the deities a coin. "Give 10 or 20 yen, 50 or 100 is too much," said Izumi, our guide. Apparently good deeds are done dirt cheap in Tokyo! Then you bow twice and clap twice. The clapping is to summon the gods. Then you pray, bow once and get the heck off the platform because a big line of Japanese people formed behind you saying, "What are these white people doing here?" Actually, it was nice to get to say a prayer for several friends who have lost loved ones and who have had surgery recently.
From here, we were off to the war museum next door. The guide pointed out that it was a weird set of neighbors.
Japan's military history is long and complicated. I am not sure I understand it all even now, but this museum made a valiant effort to explain it. Here's a highly abbreviated summary. Feel free to skip if you aren't into that sort of stuff.
Famine, drought, disease, pestilence, and dirty politics forced total civil war on the Japanese people from 900 CE to 1600 CE. Mercenary groups of samurai were bought and sold as private armies; with the right deal, even changing sides mid-battle was common. The situation forced peasants into supporting these armies with goods and services above their own needs. The imperial court (based on the Confucian model) and the emperor (believed to be divine) after a short time became a figurehead. Maintaining law and order, day-to-day governing, and collecting taxes were delegated to mid-level samurai aristocrats with their private mercenary armies at the provincial level. There were plenty of power struggles and changes. In 1192, the northern Kanto provinces far from the capitol began to rebel. The imperial court/regent was forced to establish a local military-led shadow government (bakufu) to keep the peace. Leadership was a samurai general (shogun) and a retired emperor for a perceived legitimacy. Then came the Mongols but they were unsuccessful in defeating the Japanese. In 1543 the Portuguese arrived, complicating matters by bringing Christianity and trade with the West. They also introduced firearms and cannons. These firearms changed the face of Japanese sword and hand-to-hand warfare and eventually allowed a resourceful samurai to unify Japan into a nation. The constant warfare brought religion (a syncretism of Buddhism and Shinto) to the forefront, becoming a means of emotional survival for both commoners and aristocrats alike. Some saw the new Christianity as a means of solace, while others saw it as a way to get better trade deals with the Portuguese Jesuits. In 1571, Oda Nobunaga joined with the Toyotomi and Tokugawa samurai families, intending to unify Japan through the triumvirate. Instead, a long thirty-year war ensued. Enter Hidoyoshi at the end of the 1500s who saw the Japanese as a "superior race," and decided he needed to unify Asia. (Sounds eerily familiar...) Japan attacked Korea as a base for making China next, but didn't succeed. A few assassinations took place resulting in about 300 years of peace. Gotta love that! Then enter the Americans in the form of Commodore Matthew Perry who basically forced Japan to open its doors to the outside world. Since the first visit of Commodore Perry to Edo Bay in July 1853, Japan lacked industrial and military power to prevent western coercion with unequal treaties that took advantage of Japan who had antiquated and decentralized military forces. The feudal lords were pressured into signing multiple treaties now known as the Unequal Treaties with the Americans. Japan was determined to avoid the fate of other Asian countries which were colonized by Western Imperial powers. The Japanese people and the government with Emporer Meiji realized that in order to preserve the independence of Japan it had to modernize to become an equal of the western powers. Japan set out to "gather wisdom from all over the world" and embarked on an ambitious program of military, social, political, and economic reforms. Japan quickly transformed in one generation from an isolated feudal society to a modern industrialized nation and an emerging power-player. Japan was the last major power to enter the race for global colonization. It expanded rapidly, with colonial acquisitions, from 1895 till 1942. The Empire of Japan was one of the largest in history. It included colonies in Manchuria, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Indochina, Burma and many Pacific islands. In 1937, Japan had one-sixth the industrial capacity than the USA. The Japanese industry was dependent on the shipment of raw materials from Japan's overseas territories and foreign imports. The need for imported goods, particularly oil and iron, were the factors that ultimately fueled Japan's decision to declare war on the United States. In 1941, the US which supplied over 50% of Japan's oil supply, imposed an embargo after Japan took over numerous airfields in Indochina in a series of brutal attacks. There were some attempts to negotiate between the US and Japan, but ultimately, Japan declared war on the US. The emporer issued this statement: “It has been truly unavoidable and far from Our wishes that Our Empire has been brought to cross swords with America and Britain… They have obstructed by every means Our peaceful commerce and finally resorted to a direct severance of economic relations, menacing gravely the existence of Our Empire. Patiently have We waited and long have We endured, in the hope that Our government might retrieve the situation in peace. But Our adversaries, showing not the least spirit of conciliation, have unduly delayed a settlement; and in the meantime they have intensified the economic and political pressure to compel thereby Our Empire to submission.” The next day: Pearl Harbor. The attitude of Japanese soldiers in WWII was it would be an honor to die for Japan. There were many letters from soldiers to their families and these individuals were certain they would die and seemed resigned to it with pride. I obviously left out a lot but these 1700 years are covered in the museum. We had a guide which helped a lot, although much of the museum thankfully had signage in English.
From here, we crossed the street to a museum that covered the Showa period of Japan which included the postwar era. There were many funny throwback items such as old washboards and irons that operated on hot water instead of electricity, but there were also poignant photos of bombed out neighborhoods and many war orphans estimated to be about 112,000 in number in Tokyo after extensive US bombing.
It was interesting to see the Japanese perspective on the war and learn something more about events leading up to it. The Japanese obviously still have a lot of national pride---just like we do. We saw a Japanese father and his two sons delivering a military style salute in front of the zero aircraft for a photograph.
These museums reinforced my belief that war is a terrible, terrible thing and that there is no runner-up. Thankfully, Japan has mostly risen from the ashes.
After seeing these museums, a walk seemed in order. We saw the We went to the Outer Market which is a large area that typifies an open air Asian market. The tuna sales were long past and take place at 5am. We were, however, able to see plenty of fishmongers and small stalls selling all kinds of foods and wares. We wandered off to the Tsukiji Honganji buddhist temple. After so much warmongering museum fare, a visit to a church was welcome.
The exterior is very ornate and the interior of the temple resembles a Catholic church with gold altar, stained glass windows and a pipe organ.
We continued our walk down to the Hamarikyu Garden, a beautiful area on Tokyo bay where we wandered aimlessly enjoying seabird life and hundreds of jumping fish. They garden also has some wonderful flower beds. This was a welcome respite from war and the dead !
As only Paul can do, he managed to find a very tiny, obscure and wonderful restaurant for dinner. The Apartment has only six seats at a counter and is meant to look like someone's apartment. The chef is Japanese but trained extensively in Italy and served a fusion-type menu ending in 5 types of handmade pastas. We enjoyed two of the pastas, but some people ate all five! He paired each course with an Italian wine and it was all pretty amazing.
The entire restaurant! 6 seats. The dishes are all cooked over wood fire, hence the wood on your right.
Paul's Ponderings: As you can see, it has been a very busy couple of days here in Tokyo with a lot of variety in terms of sightseeing, food and drink, music, and more. While we are in no way experts on this city, which is super complex and broad, I think we've kind of gotten a bit of a bead on it. Our ability to get around is pretty smooth now and we've learned that like most big cities, it's all about neighborhoods. One thing I've noticed food-wise is that there are a lot of small restaurants with lines or limited availability and also a lot of "short term" event type places that are around for a few weeks/months. The dinner last night was pretty off the charts quality-wise and in a sort-of hidden setting. Soon we will be hiking and leaving city-centric stuff behind, but it has been a pleasure while it lasted.
Excellent history lesson-amazing experience! Blaine
ReplyDeleteHey Blaine. We learned a lot from yours, too! I think you and Jean would enjoy the Kumano Kodo trail which we are on now or the Kiso Valley section of the Nakasendo. Wherever you venture, enjoy!
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