Saturday 5/22: Sight-seeing in Tokyo

I decided to burn up some of my remaining money on renting a laptop for the evening, so I will finally finish the blog entries for the last few days.

Saturday was our only full day in Tokyo, so I tried to take advantage of it and go to as many places as possible. First, I went with Sirocco and Trang to Harajuku, which is a very famous shopping area in Tokyo. That was definitely one of the funnest places I have been to in Tokyo. The street I was on was completely packed, and there were a ton of super cheap stores that werent for the most part sketchy. Most of the stores were selling the more girly fashionable things- pink dresses, flowy skirts, etc. However there were several punk stores, hip hop stores, and a few cosplay stores where you could get Bo Peep or Maid costumes (maid costumes are very popular here in Japan). It was exactly like being in the most amazing mall ever :)

Immediately afterward, we walked over to the Meiji shrine which was only 5 minutes walk from Harajuku, but an entirely different world. The area, instead of crowded and cramped and loud and busy, was large and wooded and a very beautiful bit of nature in a city of 20 million. There were a lot of people there though, many people from the US Navy for whatever reason. Some curious things there: There was an area where giant barrels of sake and wine had been placed as offerings to the Gods- I wonder if they're still full? Also, there was a special gate at Harajuku Station for the Emperor's exclusive use, should he decide to take his private train to the Meiji shrine which was built by his great-grandfather. However the gate looked mostly abandoned- apparently the emperor usually prefers to go by car. Also we got to see a wedding procession at the shrine- apparently you have to be very rich to be married at that shrine (imagine marrying at, say, Notre Dame Cathedral) and the party had a ton of guests (all of whom will get a ton of presents). Weddings seem perhaps even more expensive here than in America- the wedding kimonos are almost always rented because theyre about $5000 each I think, and the wedding receptions are much larger here than in America. Oh, and Catholicism's got NOTHING on shinto when it comes to funny hats.

While I'm thinking about it, lemme just quickly mention how Christianity is completely commercialized here. It's sort of funny really. I have seen about 10 churches in all scattered around Japan, and met only maybe 2 christians (they're the only ones that wear wedding rings). However, in the wedding ads (this is wedding season) the ceremonies are usually shown at beautiful churches, or with a cross faintly in the background. I also saw at Harajuku a bracelet with a Virgin Mary charm on it, and a few crucifix necklaces at other stores. It's strange, and a little sad, that what most Japanese have gotten out of Christianity is all the commercial stuff, and they only use it for fashion purposes really.

After eating at a Tempura place in Shibuya, I spent a little bit of time at the Imperial Palace grounds in the heart of Tokyo. It was a very anachronistic experience because in the background you could see the Japanese equivalent of Wall Street with its huge modern skyscrapers, and then within the palace grounds it was entirely older Japanese buildings. I couldn't fully appreciate the area- I was getting dehydrated so my vision was pretty blurry and I felt really tired- but I truly hope that I can return someday.