Tokyo Day 1: Luke and Kaniela
Today marked the beginning of our exciting journey exploring Tokyo, Japan, as part of PAAC’s 2024 Japan Freeman Study Tour. Our day started early, with most of us waking up at 4:30 AM, jet-lagged from the 19-hour time difference and a VERY turbulent flight the day before. My roommate, Luke, was still fast asleep, so I joined the first group of early risers for a morning walk around the neighborhood, led by chaperones Carol and Rosa. We were charmed by the unique architecture and infrastructure, including a Harry Potter-themed mega office complex with its cafe, courtyard, and subway station. On our way to a small park, we stumbled upon a Lawson konbini, where we eagerly bought our first konbini breakfasts with our freshly exchanged yen. I opted for a multicolored dango pack and a bottled latte, though the latter was not to my taste. At the park, we enjoyed the urban scenery, swung on the swings, (reminisced about times when our hips fit on the swing seats), and admired the manicured rose garden. Rosa, as her name should suggest, was obsessed with the roses, and was tickled by the variety of pretty flowers she could take selfies with. After returning to the hotel, the second group, including Luke (who awoke from his beauty rest), went on another walk at 8 AM, exploring a massive urban park surrounded by corporate office buildings near Akasaka. The park had a gorgeous pond, lush, perfectly manicured foliage, and streams running through it, providing a serene refuge in bustling Tokyo.
Our first planned activity of the day was a visit to the Reuters office in Japan. Guided by Satoshi Sugiyama, we learned about Reuters’ role in providing accurate, speedy, and balanced information as a global wire service, particularly their coverage of the Ukrainian-Russian war. We toured the newsroom and saw the real-time work of translations, transcriptions, and story writing. Having Satoshi as our guide was not just inspiring because of his own experiences and stories, but the fact that he was Carol’s classmate at Roosevelt High School in Honolulu is just a testament to the power that making connections with people has and where they can lead you in your future endeavors.
Our final destination was the Sensoo-ji temple, a popular and crowded site. We explored the market area, participated in wish rituals, and received our fortunes. Despite Ella’s bad fortune, we learned that tying it up on a rack could help us forget about it :D Walking around the shrine and soaking in the market was a great way to turn our legs to jelly, but the best was the 1+ KILOMETER WALK to our dinner location ๐.
We ended the day with a traditional Japanese dinner at Kazunoya Oiwake, where we enjoyed authentic dishes and live performances of Japanese music. Ayaka, Tatsumasa, Hana, and Haruka entertained us with their impressive skills on the drums and shamisen, creating a fun, memorable, and authentic cultural experience.
Today was an incredible introduction to Tokyo, blending the city’s technological advancements, rich information landscape, and deep-rooted traditions into one very PAACked day ๐... As representatives of PAAC, Luke and I are grateful for this opportunity to explore and learn from such a vibrant and dynamic city and look forward to geeking out about more Japanese quirks, anime billboards, and solutions to solve world conflicts for the duration of this trip from Tokyo to Fukuoka.✨
✌️,
Luke and Kaniela :D
AMAZING!!!! Looking great everyone!!! Ganbatte on keeping your energy up and the aloha flowing. Love the first blog post (with video too! woot woot!). Can't wait to see and read more. With aloha, Niki
ReplyDeleteGreat to see you all healthy and safe -- that is Priority No. 1! Akasaka is part of the "High City" -- notice "hills" and it is away from the harbor -- the "Low City" or "Shitamachi". Akasaka had more nobility in the Edo Period and large estates (one daimyo or lord's house/garden became a park -- Arisugawa Park near Minami-Azabu). During the Edo period the Shogunate distrusted the "western" daimyo and make many leave their families in Edo/Tokyo (hence, the large homes). If interested, see my late friend's history of Tokyo -- entitled (of course) "High City, Low City" (Ed Seidensticker). That's Part 1 (Up to the Great Earthquake of 1923 -- when my father-in-law was 6 months old he was taken from the family house in Kyobashi -- burned down -- and he lived among lions and elephants at the Ueno Zoo!) -- Part 2 is entitled " Tokyo Rising" (figuratively -- through the Pacific War firebombings to the reconstruction of Tokyo and the 1980s "Bubble" Economy when just the land underneath the Imperial Palace was worth more than all the land in California! Note: Not anymore). Now you begin to understand how Tokyo functions -- a maze, yet connected to each "neighborhood" district (Shibuya is quite different from Akasaka -- although only a few miles away!) via very efficient transportation systems: trains and subways. In Tokyo they say "If you have time, take a taxi. No time, get on the subway/train." Many of the subway systems (and trains) are built by conglomerates with department stories, real estate development, even logistics and fashion. The Shibuya area is dominated by Tokyu -- and so there are train lines that connect to huge Tokyu-developed residential areas in the western suburbs. Keio has a department store chain, plus a train line -- again in the western suburbs -- similar to if there was a train line built first FROM Waikiki to Ala Moana (the highest daily DaBus ridership) then to Downtown and there was a line going out beyond the Airport to the "western" suburbs (Waipahu, Gentry, Ewa) -- BUT HART built it going the "other" way IN. See https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/07/a-what-if-scenario-for-honolulus-rail-project/ And you must realized that at a busy terminus like Shibuya, you "walk out" into a department store (plus you could get dry-cleaning, your shoes fixed, a hair-cut, and even study English conversation -- all within a train "station" -- this is called "Development-Oriented Transit" or "Transit-Oriented Development" (TOD) -- you can "live"within walking distance of a train station in the Tokyo western suburbs, then take the train into Shibuya, then transfer to your office stop. You don't need a HUGE refigerator since you can buy small fresh produce every day -- so you have a "fresh" food diet. But you have to walk, walk, walk. I walked every day a half-mile to my subway stop, my transfer was another half-mile, and then a half-mile to my office -- during the summer (humid!) I would be soaked through. The Island of Oahu has 950,000 residents (plus another 30,000 tourists daily) and 650,000 cars and trucks.
ReplyDeleteNotice the tiny trucks in Tokyo traffic? We had a car -- which we used only on weekends and holidays -- so I did drive on the right-hand (it is not as difficult as you may imagine). I used to drive from the middle of Tokyo all the way to Narita Airport -- maybe 70 miles. In Tokyo it takes a lot of money to go to designated driving schools in order to get a driver's license -- and then if you want to buy a car, you have to get approval that you actually have a off-street parking lot for the car (of course, both dis-incentives for driving/cars would cause riots in Honolulu! Of course there are "ways" to get around this car parking requirement (in Japan), since dealers want to sell cars -- but you can see the "thinking" and logic behind this. If you present obstacles in car ownership, you must have a great transportation system -- and that's Tokyo. However, if you looked closely, Tokyo transportation is very hard for kupuna, strollers (although there are elevators), and mobility-challenged residents. But think of Honolulu -- if you can't drive or don't own a car -- it is very difficult to get food or do errands to get to work (and then, if you do work Downtown -- paying >$200 a month is not financially feasible just for parking!). And look at the per liter cost of gasoline. All oil imported to Japan is priced in US dollars -- so gasoline went up during the past year due to yen decline vis-a-vis US dollar (recall I was in Japan when it was 360 to $1 and also at <90 to $1! In my childhood, a can of Hawaii pineapple was a rarity -- and prized -- as was one imported banana. Now (you went to a top Italian restaurant) ALL global cuisines are represented in Tokyo -- and the pizza is great, even donuts, hamburgers, ice cream, pastries, bread -- all do not exist much in my childhood in Japan. As you go to Kyoto -- remember that among all the cities you visit, Kyoto was not bombed during the Pacific War. Tokyo was so flattened, my former colleague played football in a field in front of Tokyo Station! My wife's aunt -- in her early 90s and still living by herself in Kagurazaka (now a neighborhood filled with exquisite French restaurants due to a French school nearby) -- still remembers the firebombing in 1945 when she was a teenager. Imagine one day walking with your friend to school and that night she and her entire family were gone, the entire neighborhood burnt down. That is why so many streets are so jumbled in Tokyo -- people rebuilt so quickly, there was no planning (but you would think there was a LOT of planning everywhere!).
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