Sunday in Tokyo: Monday in Hiroshima

Sunday was more of a travel day although we did manage to spend half of the day in the Daiba area of Tokyo, which is a series of huge man made islands in the port area of the city. We began the day packing and vacating our apartment.  They have a very interesting luggage delivery service in Japan called Takuhaibin and the largest company in this business sector is Yamato Transport. You see them everywhere and their symbol is a black cat on a yellow background on a turquoise banner. They are similar to UPS. But they have outlets in 7-11's, train stations and airports, and you see their workers  using wheeled pushcarts to deliver and pick up packages up and down the narrow streets all over the country. If you do not wish to shlep luggage, you simply call them and they will arrive at your location, take your luggage which is delivered to your destination late the same day or in the case of far away Hiroshima, the next day. Although we packed relatively lightly, we still had one medium size suitcase each (for three weeks of travel) and as Hiroshima involved a couple of train changes on the Japan Rail pass, we decided to try this service. They took our two suitcases, generated the paperwork, charged us about $30 and we said a silent prayer hoping that our total worldly belongings (including our precious kosher food) in this far off place would actually resurface sometime Monday mid-morning in Hiroshima.  And so we had the better part of half a day till our 4 PM train to explore more of Tokyo. 

   It was a bright sunny day tho still cool, and we headed by subway and monorail to Daiba.  The location, off the port area, puts you at a vantage point where you are now looking back at the entire skyline of the city, quite impressive. The man made islands are served by a monorail and a free shuttle bus that allow you to get around the large area but since it was a nice day and we needed to work off the large Shabbat meals, we went for a long exhilarating walk around the promenade along the water. 

  The islands are host to Legoland, Disney World Japan, SEGA, Madame Tussaud's, Sony's headquarters, and four or five huge shopping malls. There is also a fascination with America here so you see The Statue of Liberty, Krispy Kreme and other USA landmarks around the island. It is really a shopping and entertainment center but on this very clear and cool day, allowed us the get out of the city and still be close to our train for the very long 5 hour bullet train ride to Hiroshima. 

As this was the first JR train ride for us, we went into the JR service area at the Shinagawa station where the attendants speak manageable English and they printed out our reserved seats and clearly explained how we reach our desired track. The stations are huge and bustling with people, and they are also hubs for shopping centres to service the large crowds. But at every station (and by now we have been at many) there are knowledgeable officials who are eager to assist you if you do not know exactly where you are going. We have not travelled much by train in North America and a limited amount in other parts of the world, but here we are exclusively getting around by train. One thing that we thought was quite unique was the amount of time that your train is in the station. Our first leg was scheduled for 4:17 PM. I asked the JR attendant what time we can board. He replied that the train arrives in the station at 4:15 PM, and I thought I did not hear him correctly.  When we got to our track at 4:05, we watched as two extremely long and rapidly moving bullet trains pulled into and out of the station on our track in advance of our train, which was in the station for about two minutes. You literally do not want to miss the train...but if you blink, you can and you will. And the trains better be on schedule because there is not much wiggle room for one train to leave the station before the next one comes barreling in.  Seats are comfy, leg room is very generous and there is a lady with a refreshment cart that regularly walks up and down the train from car to car. As she and the various conductors walk in and out of each car, they stop at the doorway, turn to face the passengers and take a deep bow, before going to the next car. There is much bowing going on in this country.  When we arrived in Hiroshima, we exited the station and hopped into one of the many cabs that were waiting and showed him our printed directions in Japanese. We arrived at the Rihga Royal Hotel in minutes and after much bowing by the staff who greeted us, we got to our room on the 26th floor. It was a lovely spacious hotel room right in the center of Hiroshima and as I had emailed the hotel to tell them that this special trip was in celebration of almost 48 years of marriage, there was a vase with flowers and a card wishing us a Happy Anniversary. 

It was not till the morning that we were able to appreciate the amazing view of the city. Hiroshima is in a valley surrounded by mountains. In front of us was the Hiroshima Castle and many modern buildings that make up this bustling city of over one million people.  Monday's schedule consisted of visiting the epicentre of the atomic bomb that ended WWII and the various memorials surrounding it, in the morning; and then travelling to a picturesque island called Miyajima off the coast in the afternoon.  It was quite cold and cloudy with occasional sunshine breaking thru when we began our walk to the Peace Dome just a short walk from our hotel. On the way there, we were able to walk thru a number of department stores and underground subway station tunnels lined with retail stores that allowed us protection from the cold outside.  In 1945, the US made a strategic decision to drop the first atomic bomb ever on the city of Hiroshima. The city was chosen because it was an important port and there were 40000 military personnel in the city, and the clear skies over Hiroshima allowed the US to clearly see the effects of the bomb. The bomb was supposed to be dropped on a nearby bridge, but it missed its target by 800 feet and was detonated just above a nearby hospital and the exhibition hall.

The blast killed everyone nearby instantly, about 70000 people, and the effects of the bomb killed another 70000 for a total of 140,000 people out of a total population of 300000 people. Because it was detonated just above the dome of the exhibition hall, the blast was dispersed in all directions and the dome was the only building that remained standing. All the rest of Hiroshima was turned into ash. The dome stands as a stark reminder to all visitors of the devastating effects of war and as such was designated by the rebuilt city of Hiroshima as the centrepiece of its peace memorial park.

The park includes an eternal flame, a children's peace exhibit, assorted memorials and tall pillars with peace written in 49 languages.  Below are the pillars with the 49 languages and in the next picture you can see Shalom which is the third row on the lower panel.

It was very cold and we were scheduled to visit the picturesque island of Miyajima off the coast of Hiroshima. We were wavering whether to push it off for Tuesday morning, but since the sun was breaking thru, we decided to go for it. It was good that we did as Wednesday morning began with fog and snow and it would have been impossible to go to Miyajima then. So we ate lunch at our hotel, hopped on a train for the 20 minute ride to the ferry boat ride to Miyajima. 

Miyajima Island is one of the most visited sites in Japan, mainly because of its picturesque Torii gate that seems to float on the water at high tide. There are also tame wild deer freely roaming the island and a very quaint old town. There are numerous shrines and temples and a number of very picturesque pagodas. 

 

The sun was shining but it was very cold. We spent a couple of hours walking thru the very picturesque island and when the skies began to get dark and we felt the first raindrops, we decided to head back to town. We had an early night and packed our bags for the next leg of our journey beginning on Tuesday afternoon.  More to come All the best  Fran and David    

Our Shabbat in Tokyo

On Friday afternoon in Tokyo, we took a cab to the Chabad Centre in Minato Takanawa early enough to arrive before candle lighting time. That meant that we would be at Chabad quite early as they do not begin Kabalat Shabbat till about 6 PM and candle lighting was set at 5:14 PM.  There were a couple of other people already there, one Japanese fellow who was interested in converting, an Israeli who had been living in Japan for the past month or so and an Israeli businessman from Petach Tikvah.  I specified Chabad Minato Takanawa, as there are two Chabads in Tokyo. Apparently, one is authorized by the headquarters in NY (the one we were attending) and one is not; a so called "mushroom" Chabad, as it sort of grew by itself with no connection to the parent body. We gathered that the two branches do not get along. We had met the Chabad rabbi, Mendi Sudakevitch, originally from Kfar Chabad, earlier in the week when we visited the restaurant. He and his wife Chana, moved to Tokyo 13 years ago, as newly marrieds, and they now have 6 children. Rebbetzin Chana was away this week visiting two of her children who are attending school in Israel.  Rabbi Mendi is an outgoing happy-faced individual and it is said that he will go out of his way to help anyone who needs it. Since arriving in Tokyo, he has created a community and has built the shul, the restaurant and the adjoining mikvah. In fact, this week was the first week that they were going to try to launch a Monday and Thursday minyan. In the roughly one hour that followed candle lighting about 15 men and a few women arrived and we began davening Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv, with much singing and leibidikeit. It was clear, from the warm hugs that the men were giving Rabbi Mendi when they arrived, that he is much loved by his community. When we finally went upstairs for the first Shabbat meal, there were four full tables and we spent some time meeting the locals as well as visitors from Canada, the USA, England, Israel, Izmir (Turkey), Shanghai; a true United Nations of Jews. As we had experienced in other Chabads over many trips, Rabbi Mendi called on each of us to stand and say something about ourselves, about the Parsha or about our travels in Japan.  The meal was delicious and plentiful with a lot of interesting cross table conversation. At our table was a young couple who recently arrived in Tokyo. She is teaching at a local university and he is posted at the American Embassy. We walked home with them; our walk was about 25 minutes and theirs about 50 minutes.  In the morning, tefillah began at 10 AM and we had a few more than a minyan. In total, there were about 15 men and a few women. I was given the honour of davening Shacharit and maftir. They had an excellent Baal Kriah, a local, originally from NY, who works together with a friend of ours from Hashmonaim. There was also another young couple (who had not been there the night before) who just moved to Tokyo for a few months to launch a product of theirs; and if the product would be successfully received, they would likely remain in Tokyo for a year or two. The husband is the one who has pushed for the launch of a Monday Thursday Minyan.  Our friend from Hashmonaim also introduced us to a friend of his, who is a bit of legend in Tokyo. As you may know, there is a very famous fish market" in Tokyo called Tsukiji, where the daily tuna auction is held at 5 AM, and where tuna can go for over a million dollars. In fact, a 222 kilo bluefin Tuna was sold in 2013 at Tsukiji Market for a record 155 million yen or $1.8 million, over $8000 per kg.  The organizers of the daily auction have traditionally been a very closed circle with outsiders seldom allowed in.  David Leibowitz, originally from NY and Miami, developed an interest in the tuna industry some years back and was one of the only outsiders accepted into this very unique and exclusive circle. See the following article about David that appeared in the Japan Times: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/02/07/our-lives/american-tuna-trader-shares-passion-born-in-tsukiji-with-the-world/#.VTbfIvDyqrU David now runs a very successful tuna business and ships all over the world. He is the exclusive supplier of fresh tuna to Costco in North America. He is a staunch supporter of Tokyo Chabad and we enjoyed meeting him over Shabbat and spending time with him. He is a very passionate and outgoing person, with tremendous love of Israel and everything Jewish. After the meal, we davened mincha and I was able to add Japan to the long list of countries in which I have lained the Torah. We walked home and had a good Shabbat rest. After Shabbat we walked up to the Roppongi Hills area and being the centre of the expat community in Japan and home to many foreign embassies, the streets were filled with people enjoying the hundreds of bars, restaurants and sushi spots that dot the area. After almost a full week of being in a subdued, quiet, refined Japanese atmosphere, this was the first time that made us feel like we were not really in Japan.  We were back home early to complete packing for our Sunday afternoon train ride to Hiroshima.  No pictures in this post, as it was Shabbat. More to come from our last day in Tokyo and our trip to Hiroshima. Fran and David    

 

Friday in Tokyo

Friday morning was forecast as sunny, with not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was supposed to rise to 10C and continue to rise over the weekend.  it was a perfect day to go and look at the Tokyo skyline from the observation deck of some tower. In the city of Tokyo there are any number of towers to choose from and to the visitor it can be quite confusing as to which is the best. The tallest tower is a CN Tower clone (Tokyo Skytree) and there are a number of other observation decks atop office buildings, an Eiffel Tower look-alike (Tokyo Tower) etc.  So to help me decide which one to choose, I looked at Trip Advisor which is used regularly to identify hotels, restaurants and tourist sites. The beauty of Trip Advisor is that you are generally reading unbiased reports of regular tourists just like us.  A number of respondents recommended Bunkyo Civic Building. This is what we saw in guidebooks as the view from the top of Bunkyo...not my picture, but what I hoped we would see.

This is not a very tall building, it is just 33 storeys tall. But it is situated where you can see from one side of the building the Tokyo Tower and from the other side a concentration of skyscrapers with snow capped Mount Fuji peeking out from between the buildings, if you are fortunate to catch a day when Fuji is not covered in clouds. And the bonus of Bunkyo is that it is free.  When we got to Bunkyo, there was a flea market going on in the basement of the building which is attached to the subway. There was a variety of items available for purchase, some new, some old and it was a good opportunity to interact with locals on a one to one basis. As we circled the market, there were two young ladies playing beautiful music from matching organs and a table set up with women running a "chug" (Hebrew for activity) creating cards using the Japanese art of origami. As soon as they saw us, they asked us to sit down and participate. But knowing that it was clear outside (the first such day since we arrived) we did not want to squander the "Kodak moment" awaiting us on the 32nd floor, and so we told them that we would return after our view of the skyline. The origami that they were doing was very basic, not at all like what our son Ari does, (see the picture of Ari's work)

but the idea of interacting closely with locals when we had zero common language appealed to us and we really intended to return. We took the elevator up to the top observation deck and when we saw the view, we were a) pleased that the Trip Advisor reviews were very accurate and b) amazed that there were so few people seizing the opportunity.

We had read that the lines on a clear day at places like Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Skytree (where admission costs range from $10 to $30 per person) were packed, and here where it was free, it was empty! And one of the advantages of Bunkyo over Skytree is that from Bunkyo you can take a picture of the skyline which includes the very distinctive Skytree Tower. 

We spent a bit of time enjoying the magnificent views and even managed to catch snow capped Mount Fiji in the distance, and then headed downstairs again. 

Our origami women were waiting for us. And we created our cards, which was cute and fun, but the better part was communicating with these Japanese women. And Ari, please do not laugh at our creations! 😀

When we finished, we walked over to listen to the wonderful organ playing by the young Japanese girls. I filmed it and loaded it on to my site on YouTube (give a listen...it is worth it):

http://youtu.be/fyDQ-5WS23o

We were told by a number of people that Kappabashi was an amazing area of town if you enjoy the culinary arts as we do, and so that was our next stop. This area has been called Kitchen Town because for numerous blocks, every store is dedicated to some aspect of cooking; kitchen utensils, fake food used as samples outside restaurants, ceramic bowls and serving dishes, knives made by families that have been creating the finest cutting tools for centuries (think Samurai swords). As Fran said, this is a chef's dream, a true Gan Eden (Garden of Eden) for those who love cooking. 

It requires no map to know you have arrived at the street. All you have to do is look up and see the sculptured Chef and Coffee Cups on the face of the building. 

We walked into the first store (Niimi's) which has been there for over a century. If you think that Cayne's on Doncaster is the one stop centre for kitchen utensils in Toronto, come here and you will be astounded. Every conceivable kitchen utensil that has ever been created is available here in multiple styles, qualities and sizes. Here is a picture of some knives that are more than $400 each.

And some of the fake food that you use to display your restaurant's menu.

It was Erev Shabbat and these looked like perfectly good challahs, but they were fake. The real ones would come later that evening at Chabad. And when you then begin to walk down the street thru the hundreds of stores dedicated to some aspect of cooking, you are truly amazed. It may seem weird that tourists will use their travel time to visit this area, but it is really amazing.  We were watching the clock all the time we were in the area, as Shabbat would begin at just after 5 PM and we would need time to get to Chabad, so we decided to try and get back by 3:30 latest to prepare for Shabbat. On the way back, in the subway, we saw a shoe repair shop and Fran had walked so much in the first week that she decided to re-heel her shoes...15 minutes while you wait...and they even supply slippers and a blanket to keep you warm while you wait.... Usual preparations for Shabbat...check to make sure that the fridge light is off...get the Shabbat belt ready as there is no Eruv....set the lights for Shabbat and we were off by cab to Chabad.... We will post our entire Shabbat experience in an upcoming post All the best Fran and David

Thursday in Tokyo

Thursday was verrrry cold! The high was forecast to be about 4 degrees and that would not be till the late afternoon. So we decided to try and do as much as we could indoors to stay warm.  Late on Wednesday night on the way back to the apartment, we saw a glasses place where Fran saw frames that she liked and the price was quite reasonable (not at all like China but certainly cheaper than North American prices). So we began Thursday with a visit to the optician and we ordered glasses. 

We then headed to a section of town called Roppongi Hills, close to our apartment. This is a fairly upscale area and it contains many foreign embassies; as a result you see many Westerners in the area. The tallest building in the area is the Mori Towers, a 54 story skyscraper named for its builder Minoru Mori. It has a floor space of over 4 million square feet making it one of the largest buildings in the world. There is an Art Museum on the 53rd floor and an observation deck (one of many in the Tokyo area) on the 52nd floor. It was still quite

overcast so we opted to save our visit to an observatory for a clear day and instead went to the art museum. There were two exhibits; one of Rembrandt, Vermeer and their colleagues and one modern art exhibit. We chose the Rembrandt exhibit which had art pieces on loan from major galleries around the world.  It was a very beautiful exhibit and we spent a few hours marvelling at the numerous paintings by the Dutch Masters.  When we emerged from the museum, the sun had come out and even tho the temperature had not improved, the heat of the sun made walking quite pleasant.  We walked back to our apartment, ate lunch and then headed by subway to Ginza, one of the most famous

and most expensive shopping districts in the world. It is not the names on the stores but the very distinctive architecture of the buildings that amazed us. And as night fell, there was an exceptional neon display on all the buildings. 

We had arranged with Kyle, the chef from Chabad to prepare an authentic Japanese meal for us and had set a time for dinner at 7 PM. We were the only diners that night and Kyle had prepared a miso soup as well as three types of sushi; fresh tuna, fresh salmon and fresh sole. He must have thought that we were very hungry because this was the largest amount of sushi that we had ever seen; about 20 large rolls for each of us. We could not finish it so we gave whatever we could not eat to one of the local Chabad people. Here is Fran with what was on her plate after she finished eating!

After such a large meal, we decided that walking back to the apartment (about 35 minutes) would be a good idea and we staggered into bed after a very busy day. Tomorrow, Friday, as it is expected to be clear and much warmer, it is off to Bunkyo Civic Centre and its observation deck for a chance to get a good pic of the Tokyo skyline and perhaps a peak at Mount Fuji in the distance.  All the best  Fran and David

Wednesday in Tokyo Japan

We had a great day on Wednesday in Tokyo. But first the weather...it is cold here! The forecast had predicted 10 degree weather for the initial part of our trip but it has been hovering between 6 and 8 with zero sun and those few degrees coupled with heating in homes and stores below what we are used to in Canada means that even we Canadians are feeling the cold. So we are wearing more layers and looking forward to the weekend when it is supposed to be brilliant sunshine and 10 - 12 degrees. Yesterday, Wednesday, we spent the first part of the day with our personal one-on-one guide Takehito Minagawa.

We found him on line and he is part of the Tokyo Free Guide organization. They have a number of members who enjoy meeting foreign travelers and who use the opportunity to practice their spoken English. He is 61 years old and is the director of the Public Health Center in his neighbourhood in Tokyo. From the way he described it, it appears to be what we would call a medical center, consisting of a number of doctors, dentists, pharmacists etc. He works 4 days a week, and has off Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday.  He said that he guides people about once a month on Wednesdays. We had discussed by email our interests and his recommendations and we finally decided on a walking tour through the areas of Tokyo called Omotesando Hills and Takeshita Street which would lead us to the Meiji Shrine and then ending at the famous Shibuya Crossing.  He met us at our apartment at 10 AM and we began walking toward the Azabujuban Subway Station.  On the way to the subway, on a wide boulevard not far from our apartment, Takehito stopped at a stairway with a Torii Gate in front of it. He explained that this was a Shinto Shrine. The two main religions in Japan are Buddhaism and Shintoism. 

  A Shinto shrine is a structure whose main purpose is to house (or enshrine) one or more Shinto Kami. Kami is the Japanese word for deities or spirits that are worshipped in the Shinto religion.    Kami can be manifest in multiple forms, in rocks, trees, rivers, animals, as well as spirits of revered deceased people such as charismatic leaders like the Emperor.  A Torii Gate is the traditional Japanese gate commonly found at the entrance to a Shinto Shrine where it symbolically marks the transition from the profane to the sacred.    At the entrance to the shrine there is a place where you can wash your hands to remove any impurities and you also drink a bit of this water and gargle with it.

   

There is a vending machine where one can purchase a piece of paper which contains your fortune; it could be good or bad luck, and then you tie this to the bar at the shrine.   It is estimated that there are more than 100,000 Shinto Shrines in Japan.  We had explained to Takehito that we do not enter shrines and he explained all of this to us from the outside where we took a picture in front of the Torii. We continued to the subway and rode a few stops to the Omotesando station. As we emerged from the station, it was clear that we were in the middle of a very exclusive shopping neighbourhood. All the big names were here, Bulgari, Fendi, Louis Vuiton, Dior, etc. And all of them in architecturally striking buildings. 

We walked for a bit on this very high end shopping street, and then took a left turn to Takeshita Street, which is a shuk like street that is a favourite hangout and shopping location for young Japanese.  Along the street, we saw for the first time the fake food that we had read so much about. Japanese restaurants present samples of the food that they serve which are sculptured presentations that in many cases look very real. These are outside a crepe and ice cream place.

We walked the full length of the street and arrived at Harajuku Station which is right in front of the Meiji Shrine. The Meiji Shrine Is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife Empress Shoken, who were the great grandparents of the current emperor. The shrine is located in a 170 acre evergreen forest, which consists of 120000 trees of 365 different species.

It takes about 15 minutes to walk from the huge Torii Gate through the forest before arriving at the shrine.  On the way we passed a large number of what looked like vats stacked up on one side of the pathway. These were vats of sake (Japanese Rice Wine) that had been offered to the spirits by the various sake manufacturers in Japan. 

Prior to entering the main area of the shrine, there is a large billboard upon which on New Years Day, the Emperor and his wife inscribe a poem for the year. This Year's poem basically said that one can choose the good path or the bad path and one should be blessed to choose good pathways for themselves, or something to that effect. 

Once again there was the washing basin and there were facilities for writing out your request for yourself and family. 

There was something additional here; tablets of wood where you can write with magic marker your requests. These were hung up on a structure just outside the shrine.

While we were there, we noticed a young woman dressed in the traditional kimono and we asked her why she was dressed like that. We were told that she had reached a certain age milestone, 20 years of age, and that this was a birthday to celebrate by coming to pray at the shrine. 

On the way out of the forest, we saw loads of school children who were taking a class trip to the shrine. What struck us was that all the kids were wearing a uniform. They were all dressed neatly.

We had explained to Takehito that we could not eat lunch with him as we kept kosher and he conveniently found us a food court at the Shrine visitor center where we could eat our lunch and where we could buy lunch for him as well. We explained a bit about our kosher rules and also our general observance.  When we finished our lunch, we took a train to the next stop which was Shibuya. Shibuya is a major Tokyo shopping district and is also the site of the famous Shibuya Crossing. If any of you have been to Kikar Shabbat in Jerusalem, where the lights all turn to red and pedestrians are permitted to cross in every direction simultaneously, think of Shibuya Crossing as Kikar Shabbat on steroids. You see, at the main crossing, 5 or 6 streets intersect and when the lights all turn to red allowing the pedestrians to cross, the sight is amazing. Here is a short 1 minute video that allows you to experience the crossing without travelling all the way to Tokyo:    http://youtu.be/QXtOdSgf6Ic

At this point, Takehito said he had to get back home as he had a guitar lesson and an English lesson that would fill the rest of his day. And so he carefully explained to us how to get back to our area and we thanked him for an excellent day of guiding. We took some time to explore the area around Shibuya and then took another subway ride for one more stop to get to the Ebisu Garden Place, a gentrified area of the city that Takehito referred to as futuristic. 

 

 

It consists of about a dozen buildings and skyscrapers with a mix between commercial and hi rise residential. It is built on the former site of the Yebisu Brewery that had been there since the 1890s. The area was redeveloped to afford the local residents a total living experience and they truly did a remarkable job. The central shopping area is covered by a glass dome and the signature French restaurant on the site is housed in a building that was constructed to resemble a French Chateau.

 

We finally headed back to the apartment, quite tired from a long day of walking. We have no idea how far we walked but we had been on our feet for about six straight hours and it was good to sit down to a delicious freshly prepared vegetable soup that we cooked from scratch and a TV dinner that we had brought with us. 

 

All in all, a very good second day in Tokyo. 

 

Before we sign off, for those who are interested, we did a little research on Japanese religions and there are a number of articles that speak about similarities between Judaism and Shintoism and the possibility that Japan might have been a destination for one of the lost tribes of Israel. Quite a fascinating theory and a very fascinating article.

 

http://www.biblemysteries.com/library/tribesjapan.htm

 

More tomorrow, Thursday.

 

All the best

 

Fran and David

     

Tuesday in Tokyo

On Tuesday morning we decided to join one of the many free walking tours available in Japan.  While setting our itinerary for this trip, we came across many groups that offer free walking tours in many of the popular tourist locations in Japan. Some of them are actually one on one custom tours which you coordinate with the guide as to the time of the tour and the location you wish to visit, and your only financial obligation is to pay for their transportation, lunch and admission costs, if any. Others are set tours with a set meeting point and are available to all who show up. They are all run by volunteers and at the end of the tour, you are free to reward them with a tip or gratuity.  This morning (Wednesday), we have one of the personalized custom tours where we are the only participants. The guide has arranged to meet us at our apartment. We will report on that one tomorrow. But yesterday we took one of the set tours. It was a 2 hour walking tour of the Imperial Palace Gardens and we were to meet at 10AM at Tokyo Station in the centre of town.

 We are using a number of apps to help us navigate around town on the subway system. We have tried a few and have now settled on one where you input your beginning location and your destination station and it gives you the choice of fastest route and cheapest route.  There are a few subway stations within a ten minute walk of our apartment. The trip to Tokyo station took about 25 minutes and required one change of trains in the middle.  A few words about subway travel in Tokyo. 

• Subways are spotlessly clean. 
• Although a number of our trips in the first day were on packed cars, subway riders are almost eerily quiet. 
• Riding the escalator is very orderly with those standing, all in a straight line on the left, and those walking using the open right lane. 
  
• There are posters, some cartoon like, around the subway which highlight various rules of travel.
• Actual talking on a cell phone is extremely rare and if you manage to see someone doing it, it is inevitably with their hand covering their mouth and they are whispering rather than talking out loud.
• Every station has one station employee, dressed immaculately in a uniform complete with crisp white shirt and tie, who can speak English and who is pleased to answer your questions with a smile and a bow.
• Stations can be huge, stretching for a few blocks, and they have multiple exits which take you underground to your closest destination above ground. So when planning your trip, it is good to know where you want to go and the station employee will happily tell you which exit to take. 

And so, our first experiences, especially with the assistance of the apps, have been stress free and quite easy to navigate.

 

We arrived at Tokyo Station and as advertised, there were two women wearing kimonos who were holding the Tokyo Free Walking Tour flag. We were the first to show up and it was 9:45 AM. But by 10 AM there were about 20 of us.

 

The leaders (now three of them) told us that Tokyo Station is one of the oldest stations in Japan, opened in 1914. It is also the busiest station in Tokyo in numbers of trains passing thru per day (3000) and the third busiest in terms of number of passengers (500,000). 

Tokyo Station at night 

 

The busieststation, Shinjuku, has an average of 3,500,000 passengers per day, making it the busiest station in the world! 

That is more people in one station per day than the total population of the City of Toronto.

Tokyo station was almost totally destroyed by B29 Bombers in WWII and it has since been rebuilt and modernized. It is possible to walk totally underground to 5 other stations with a distance of over 2 Kms. 

 

We walked a short distance from the station to the outer gates and moat of the Imperial Palace. The palace is built on the site of the former Edo Castle whose former residents, the shoguns, were hereditary military rulers of the country from 1192 to 1867. The palace now houses the Emperor of Japan and his family. It is a ceremonial position and is passed down from father to son. 

The palace, which cannot be visited, is surrounded by enormous gardens smack in the centre of the city. The size of the gardens is about one third the size of Central Park and is free to the public. Surrounding the gardens is the original fortified defensive wall complete with moat, guard towers and bridges. Upkeep of the gardens is the work of a large staff of people, but volunteers who wish to commit a minimum of 5 days can assist and their reward is a "wave" from the Emperor and his wife. 

 

There are many pine trees on the grounds and this symbolizes longevity as the leaves of a pine tree stay on the tree forever and do not fall off the tree in autumn.  Although the large open area in the centre of the garden was still straw coloured (it turns green in a month or so), we were fortunate to see the beginnings of the famous Japanese Cherry Blossom season and the blooming of the apricot trees as well in a number of locations in the garden. 

 There were also beautiful traditional Japanese Gardens complete with giant koi goldfish in reflecting ponds and despite the overcast grey skies, the view was breathtaking and a true "Kodak moment"!

At corners of the outer wall were strategic guard towers to ensure that the palace and the castle before it were safe from any intruders or enemies.

 

When we completed the tour, it was now past noon and we went to a local Starbucks store to warm up and to eat our lunch. It was filled with office workers from the surrounding office buildings. As on the subway, they were all neatly dressed, and the noise level in even this casual meeting place was muted with people talking in low tones. We noticed on a number of instances, how people would motion to a friend or business colleague to come closer, as he had something to say and would not speak loudly across the table or the room. 

As we were about 100 metres walk to the National Museum of Modern Art and because it was still quite chilly, we decided that an hour or two indoors would be a smart thing to do and so we were off to the Museum. 

We headed back to the apartment for a bit of a rest (hopefully getting rid of the rest of our minor jet lag) and then were off to dinner at Chabad Tokyo. 

Tokyo Chabad is housed in a low rise narrow building with the shul in the basement, a newly opened restaurant called Chana's Place and a social hall on the main floor, one floor which is rented out and the top levels for the Rabbi and his wife. The restaurant consists of about three small tables and the kitchen area which is the domain of Chef Kyle, originally from Australia. 

Fran with two men facing each other thru the window

There is a limited menu and Chef Kyle will prepare a totally authentic Japanese meal for you on order with notice of 24 to 48 hours. 

There was a couple just leaving and there were three other diners during the time we were there, two locals and one person who used to be local but who now lives in Australia and commutes back to Japan for business. 

We ordered the daily soup and an order of shashimi grade tuna steak with spicy salsa and a side of veggies. It was very good and cooked to just past medium rare. The other diners were all having the chicken dinner and they were very pleased. 

We ended up staying there for quite a while having a lively conversation with two of the other diners and with the chef. Before this job, chef Kyle only knew about Judaism from studying comparative religion in school. He has been at Chabad for quite a few years and he is the person with whom we reserved our Shabbat meals. We quickly met Rabbi Mendi who popped his head in to say hello. 

We now headed back to the apartment for some well deserved sleep, hopefully longer than our first night in Tokyo.

More to come, all the best

Fran and David