Day #5, April 5th: Chidorigafuchi Imperial Palace Moat

 
It was another early wake up at 5:00.  Art and Dennis decided it would be a good time to get some laundry done since the machines would probably be open.

Then there was another re-examination of what we'd need to send back to Narita, what we'd be sending to Beppu (our stop after Sendai) and what we'd be carrying in our one suitcase.

I was able to make sure pre-arranged posts were going up on my blog.  It worked fine all the way until Blogger decided to make changes in their set-up.  Now nothing goes up until I manually publish.  Sheesh.... Anyway... back to the trip.

Art also had to constantly check the weather conditions so everything he planned would go smoothly and whether he had to switch to alternatives for bad weather.

We then took a walk in our Hiroo area near the New Sanno hotel to view more cherry blossoms.  The warmer weather was coaxing the blossoms to put forth their show.

The photos I've been posting have been taken by either me, Art or Dennis.  I know this was Dennis' photo.

A little before 1:00, our friend, Sam arrived.  He helped to send off two of our suitcases via Yamato takkyubin to Narita and two to Beppu.  You normally cannot store your bags with the takkyubin service for such a long length of time, but Sam had worked his magic so that we'd be able to travel with far fewer suitcases.  We then caught the train to Chidorigafuchi which is the moat outside the Imperial Palace...

and was totally blown away.  It was spectacular, and it wasn't even in full bloom quite yet.

There were a lot of people, but we could walk around with ease.  Sam told us that two days later it was so crowded that it was difficult to find a good place to view the blossoms.

The lane leading to the gate had gorgeous branches of cherry blossoms forming a floral canopy.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, Sam got us ice cream cones.

We kept trying to capture the incredible beauty of each blossom.  I never did manage to do it justice.

Mom enjoyed talking to the people at the Information table to learn more about the cherry blossoms.  I know they were happy to see her interest.

And yes, there were other flowers there too.  I loved the pattern on this iris.

We then traveled by train to the Gaienmai area where Sam and Keiko treated us to an amazing tofu dinner at a restaurant called Ume no Hana (Flower of the Plum).  Almost everything they served was created by some form of tofu.  It was fantastic!  We loved every single morsel.  We couldn't believe the sort of epicurean magic they could create with tofu!

When we returned home, Sam and Keiko had tangerines, strawberries and bananas for us.  We would have it for breakfast the next morning to the chagrin of the New Sanno's Emporium restaurant staff who thought we would be coming.

Hachiko

Sarah of Brit Gal in the USA recommended a movie called Hachi A Dog's Tale quite a while ago.

This evening, I told Art I was getting cabin fever from doing so much scanning. I needed to do something different. We hadn't seen a movie in such a long time we decided to go down to Blockbuster to rent a movie. We looked through the aisle and nothing grabbed me until I saw Hachi A Dog's Tale and remembered Sarah's recommendation. I told Art he should choose a movie, too but he couldn't find anything he wanted to see.

When we went to check out the DVD, I was shocked that it now cost $5.00 for one DVD for 5 days and $1.00 extra for each additional day. Wow! I'm glad we only rented one movie. No wonder there were so few customers in the store.

When we got home I told mom about the movie we were going to watch, but she wasn't especially eager to watch a movie in English. However, I did some heavy convincing, "Mom! I paid $5.00 for this and you have to watch it to make it worth my while!"

She grumbled a little and sat down in my favorite chair to watch it. Well, she quickly got into the story with very little translating from me. It was beautiful! Yes, I did have to wipe my eyes several times, but it was worth it. And... hmmm... I could swear I saw Art wipe a few tears from his cheeks as well. Mom loved it. To my credit, I didn't say I told you so.

Hachiko is a true story. This American version with Richard Gere has adapted the actual event but stayed true to what happened. It tells the story of a dog's loyalty. I wrote about him a long time ago when we went to Japan.

I just copied this off of Wikipedia:

"In 1924, Hidesaburō Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo took in Hachikō as a pet. During his owner's life Hachikō saw him out from the front door and greeted him at the end of the day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Professor Ueno did not return on the usual train one evening. The professor had suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage at the university that day. He died and never returned to the train station where his friend was waiting. Hachikō was loyal and every day for the next nine years he waited sitting there amongst the town's folk.

Hachikō was given away after his master's death, but he routinely escaped, showing up again and again at his old home. Eventually, Hachikō apparently realized that Professor Ueno no longer lived at the house. So he went to look for his master at the train station where he had accompanied him so many times before. Each day, Hachikō waited for Professor Ueno to return. And each day he did not see his friend among the commuters at the station.

The permanent fixture at the train station that was Hachikō attracted the attention of other commuters. Many of the people who frequented the Shibuya train station had seen Hachikō and Professor Ueno together each day. They brought Hachikō treats and food to nourish him during his wait.

This continued for nine years with Hachikō appearing precisely when the train was due at the station."


When we went to Japan this spring, we took my aunt to see the Hachiko statue at Shibuya station.

There's something about the Hachiko story that is so powerful.

Art left to take a shower and before he left he said, "Good choice, Sweetie."

Japan: Day #2

September 22, 2008 Monday

Our room at the New Sanno is wonderful. It has many helpful amenities but because it is a hotel for U.S. military personnel, there is an armed guard at the entrance which always makes me stop to look as I pass by the entrance.


With the 1 day, 5 hours difference, we woke yesterday at 1:00 AM. It didn’t matter that we were tired, we were up and ready at 4:00 AM. Therefore, Art decided to switch our plans and we took the train and trek to Tsukiji Market to see all the seafood being brought in to be auctioned and distributed around Japan.


The cacophony of sounds with the little delivery carts around us scooting through narrow aisles wet with bloody fish water was quite an experience.


After taking tons of photos, we stopped at a little counter and stool restaurant booth. It was the first time I’ve ever had fresh sashimi (raw fish) and ikura (ikura) for breakfast over a bowl of rice with miso soup. I’m not a fan of sashimi but it WAS delicious.


We returned to the hotel, took a tiny nap and were ready to meet my uncle who is a retired High Court Judge at 10:00. He led us to Meiji Jingu on more trains as well as the Harajiku which is Japan’s version of New York’s Fashion district.


We watched a bride and groom having their photo taken in the Meiji Jingu temple courtyard.

Our next stop was to my uncle and aunt’s beautiful home to relax and wait for the arrival of our friend in Tokyo who came to pick us up in his VW.

He took us to a very fancy Japanese restaurant where he had rented a room for all of us and his large extended family. I gulped to realize that he must have spent too much on this luxurious meal. The meal consisted of course upon course of exquisite delicacies, delicious and beautiful to gaze at.