March 30, 2006

• Japan At Last! Part 5- Asakusa by day…

  Continuing on with the visiting of places I have been before in Japan,
  Andy and I decided to visit Asakusa next, home of the bargain shopping,
  temples, delicious street food and the like.
  
  riksha’s at asakusa are actually not worth the money, as it is far more
  fun to walk around on your own terms, but these guys still made a cool
  looking pic
  
  here is a pic of andy and I beneath the famous lantern at Asakusa. Yes, I am flashing the peace sign again. I do that.
  
  here is the main thoroughfare of asakusa temple. Asakusa is the actual
  neighborhood, but the touristy part is this street of shops leading up
  to the temple of kannon which can be seen in the distance
  
  the inside of one such stall in the marketplace…
  
  and here is a tasty snack purchased from another such vendor…fried bean cakes!
  
  a toy store…a very expensive toy store
  
  a pagoda at asakusa kannon temple
  
  The temple of kannon at asakusa, so named when two local fisherman
  fished (duh) a statue of 42 armed kannon out of the river and brought
  it back to the village
  
  A fountain outside the temple where you purify yourself with washing your hands and mouth before entering
  
  this is the way we wash our sins, wash our sins, wash our sins…
  
  Next we did one of the big touristy things at asakusa and paid for
  our fortunes…it costs about $1, and you shake the box until a stick
  falls out. Then you look at the number on the stick, find the
  corresponding numbered drawer, and PRESTO! INSTANT FORTUNE!
  
  
  click on the pic for a larger view. We got a regular fortune..not
  too good, not too bad, the future is what you make of it…as it should
  be

  If you like you’re fortune, you are supposed to tie it in a little knot
  to one of the nearby poles, at which point the monks will come around
  later and burn it with prayers, and hopefully it will come true
  
  Next we stopped at a tourist booth on the way out and made some origami paper cranes while we waited for friends to meet us.

  …Well, Andy made paper cranes. The man is an origami whiz, and
  quickly had the japanese oohing and aahing in appreciation as he made
  single cranes, kissing cranes, double flying cranes, and an origami
  tank. I, however, am origami retarded, and could not fold my way out of
  a paper bag

  However, with the assistance of only 3 other people, i was able to make
  a down’s syndrome crane (yes yes, i’m going to hell, get over it). Now
  the story behind the cranes in japan and why they are so popular is
  that when you fold a crane, you are supposed to make a wish, and it
  will carry your wish up to the ears of god (well, one of them anyway)

  Therefore, the more cranes you make, the more likely it is supposed to
  be that your wish will come true. There is a famous statue in Hiroshima

  

  This one.

  It is of a girl who contracted some disease after the bombing, and made 1000 paper cranes in hopes that she would get well.

  For more pictures of Josh’s trip to Japan 2003, CLICK HERE

  
  Eventually, we met up with a few of my friends from the med
  school…barry, on top right is a friend the other two, but a nice guy
  for all that ;-P Steve and Phil are my fellow sufferers in the
  wonderful world of medicine. Phil’s nickname is the machine, because he
  is just that damn competent
  
  Yeah, that’s right.
  
  We decided to go grab a bite to eat at a local do it yourself cookery…
  
  deee-licious! thinks steve.
  
  
  
  
  Steve: golly gee willikers barry, this is fun!
  Barry: Sure is, steve!
  
  Josh: It’s out of control!
  Andy: Why do i keep letting iron chef Josh do this to me?
  But at last! okonomiyaki! aka japanese pizza…don’t worry, there is no lactose involved so i can eat it without imploding

  After a hearty meal we decided to wander around asakusa a little more
  
  This is what Asakusa is famous for to Japanese people…these tiny
  little red bean filled cakes come in different shapes and sizes, cost
  about a buck for a bag of 10, and are delicious enough that you feel
  you must have done something wrong by getting them
  
  A statue of the bosatsu Jizo. I always find these oddly
  compelling/beautiful whenever i see them. Jizo is the guardian of
  children and and the unborn, and is supposed to help escort them to the
  next world. The red cloth this statue is wearing means some mother lost
  her child either pre or post partum, and put the bib on the statue as a
  prayer to guide her child to the next life.
  
  Samurai Warriors The Machine, The Josh, and Steve
  
  
  What would Phil and I look like as geisha? it is for pictures like this that digicams were invented…
  
  The Asahi building… designed to look like a giant glass of beer with a foamy head.
  
  And after such a large glass of beer, how about some tasty golden building. MMMM. now that hits the spot!

  Finally we left Asakusa and decided to head to SHinjuku to do some shopping at everyone’s favorite Mall…
  
  
  
  
  The view from HMV, a 12th story music store in the takashimaya
  times square window where i purchase my fix of Japanese punk and
  hardcore rock…and Phil gets video game soundtracks
  
  
  shogun dolls…and i thought I had an expensive toy collection...
  
  
  Finally we decided to go our separate ways, as andy and I had
  seperate dinner plans than the rest of the gang. While they were off to
  meet a relative, Andy and I had another uniquely Japanese food
  experience awaiting us hidden deep in shinjuku…

  -J

  Fun Fact: In the Dutch language, the restaurant idiom “let’s go American” means to not leave a tip

  • 8:26 pm
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