Tokyo (Nippori) December 22, 2009
Posted by drutang in Japan, Tokyo, Travel.Tags: tokyo, japan, temple, Tokyo-to, Akihabara, Buddha, Evisu, Ueno, Saitama, 日本, Nippori, Nippori Station, Nishi-Nippori, Nishi-Nippori Station, Narita, Narita Airport, Keisei, Keisei Skyliner, Narita Express, cemetery, Yanaka Cemetery, Buddhist Temple, seated Buddha, cherry trees, Tennoji, Tennoji Temple, Fabric Town, Tokyo Fabric Town, Fabric Street, Tokyo Fabric Street, fabric, izakaya, Edwin, 秋葉原, さくら, 成田, 日暮里, 西日暮里, 日暮里駅, 西日暮里駅, 上野
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Nippori Station
Nippori is an overlooked area of Tokyo. Most people who do venture to this area will more than likely pass straight through it. It can be considered a focal gateway to Saitama, a residential city to the north of Tokyo. There really isn’t much for the regular tourist, but there area a couple of interesting things to see and do that could warrant a visit. The first would be the Fabric Town, and the other would be the Yanaka Cemetery. The other main reason to visit Nippori is to head to Narita Airport. It’s a popular transfer point for those on the west side of Tokyo who want to save some money by taking the Keisei Skyliner instead of the Narita Express.
Tennoji Seated Buddha
The first thing to do in Nippori, would depend on your purpose. If you want to see the cemetery, I’d recommend heading there first. It’s a large area with a long history. If you head to the southern exit, you will be near the central entrance of the cemetery. From here, it’s a short walk up the hill to reach Tennoji Temple. This is a nice little temple with a seated Buddha inside. It’s actually a bit of a surprise as the outside appears somewhat modern and inside is a quaint little Buddhist Temple. It’s a nice place to go and relax for a few minutes, but the temple itself is pretty small. From there, you can head straight into the centre of the cemetery. The entire cemetery is lined with cherry trees. It is very beautiful in the spring as the entire area is bathed in pink from the cherry blossoms. In the autumn, it’s the same, but with colourful leaves. Yanaka Cemetery is also one of the most famous cemeteries in Japan with various writers, poets, politicians, and scholars.
Fabric Town
Fabric town is located on the opposite side of Nippori Station. It’s a short walk from the station, and a little difficult to find. Look around the main entrance of the station, where all the taxis park, and you’ll find a few signs pointing you in the general direction. You have to walk past a major street before you enter Fabric Town. While it is called Fabric Town, it’s more or less of a street. There are very few shops located off the street that sell fabric, so don’t worry about venturing off the main street. Here, if you love to buy fabric of any type, this is the place to be. You can find various patterns, colours, thread, accessories, and so on. The fabric can come in silk, polyester, cotton, and even leather. If you love arts and crafts, enjoy sewing, or just looking for a good costume idea, this is a great place to get started. Metres of fabric can start at 100 yen each. Often, there are spools of fabric just sitting in bins in front of each shop inviting you to enter. Once inside, you’ll have to decide what you want, how much you are willing to spend, and how to bring it home. Husbands beware, if your wife loves sewing and crafts, you might want to drop her off and head over to Ueno for a little shopping, or even Akihabara to look at more electronics.
Someone's grave.
Other than that, there really isn’t much to see or do around the station. There are a few shops to visit, some izakayas and restaurants, but other than that, it’s a pretty boring place. The only interesting shop would be the Edwin store. They have a large shop located in front of the station where you can buy all of their latest jeans. Edwin is a Japanese jean maker whose headquarters are located at the end of Fabric Town. It is akin to Evisu jeans, although Edwin is not as big, nor as popular as Evisu. Either way, happy shopping.
Nippori Information:
Nippori (An article about an area that I barely visited in Nippori): http://www.nihonsun.com/2009/06/01/nippori-shopping-street-a-shotengai-worth-a-visit/
Nippori: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nippori_Station
Yanaka Cemetery: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yanaka_Cemetery
Fabric Town Blog Post: http://www.askingfortrouble.org/crafts/2007/11/02/tokyo-shopping-guide-tomato/
Edwin Jeans: http://www.edwin.co.jp/index.html
このblogは英語のblog。もし私の英語は難しい、日本語のquestionは大丈夫。
Tsukiji December 15, 2009
Posted by drutang in Japan, Tokyo, Travel.Tags: tokyo, japan, Tokyo-to, fish market, Odaiba, 日本, 東京, 台場, 東京都, Tsukiji, Tsukijishijo, Tsukiji-shijo, chef, restaurant, sushi, sushi restaurant, Tsukiji Fish Market, Tsukiji Market, Tsukiji Station, Tsukijishijo Station, Tsukiji-shijo Station, Naoto Nakamura, middlemen, fish auction, auction, vegetable auction, meat auction, market, sashimi, 築地, 築地市場, 築地駅, 築地市場駅, 日比谷線, 大江戸線, 魚, 大台場
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Dangerous gas powered dolly
Tsukiji is one of the most well known places in Tokyo, if not Japan. There is only one thing to do while in Tsukiji, visit the Tsukiji Fish Market. In reality, when you head there, you can’t really do anything else. The area itself is very small and there isn’t much else to do but look around. If you venture in on your own, you can expect to spend at most, one hour walking around. It’s unlikely that you will want to spend an entire day, and unless you are a chef or restaurant owner.
The chaos of Tsukiji Fish Market
The fish market itself is located fairly close to the station. If taking the Tokyo Metro subways, the Hibiya line’s Tsukiji Station is the closest. However, it isn’t the closest station to the market. For that, head on the Toei Oedo line and get off at Tsukijishijo Station, which literally means, Tsukiji Fish Market Station. From there, follow the signs and you’ll be right outside the fish market. Finding your way in is one of the most difficult things to do. It looks like a large mess of trucks going in and out of the market. There is no specific passenger entrance and everything looks chaotic. Take your chances and just walk in from any entrance. There are various places around the market itself to take photos, but do remember that flash photography is frowned upon inside the market. If you are looking for a guided tour, there are various people who offer tours, but by and far the best looking one is by Naoto Nakamura (link below) who takes you on a two hour tour of the fish market starting at 4am. This is great on the first day of your trip, especially if you are jet lagged. You’ll be able to visit the various auctions and also see many of the middlemen selling their foods. Do note that due to many tourists abusing their privileges, the market was closed at the end of 2008, till early 2009 to tourists. While this was localized to only the auctions, it was still sad to hear about this. It is now completely open to the public, aside from restricted areas, and you can freely watch the auctions. See the information in the links below for more information.
Fish for sale at the Tsukiji Fish Market
As mentioned, the entire fish market feels chaotic. You MUST be careful. There are a lot of sites with information on what to wear and how to be prepared. It is necessary to read them, but the basic run down is this: wear shoes you don’t care about, and no high heels or sandals; don’t dress too stylishly; no flash photography, especially in the auction areas; and look out for any and all moving vehicles. While the market is open to the public, everyone should be reminded that the market itself is still a place of business.
Many of the men on the dollies are racing to get the fish from one end of the market to another, or even outside the market. If you step in front of them, they will not stop. It’s important that you don’t block the street, and finding out where the street is can be a challenge in and of itself. Some areas are clearly marked, but others aren’t. Thankfully, most of the dollies and trucks are gas powered, so it’s easy to hear them, however, even in the middle men market area, the trucks can appear out of nowhere.
Restaurants in the Tsukiji Fish Market
Inside the market, there are several shops selling sushi, sashimi, donburi, and various kitchen tools. It can be easy to miss, but it’s nice to just walk around a little. The shops tend to be slightly overpriced, and busy. If you go on the weekend, there could be a long line-up. I would recommend waiting until you leave to eat any sushi. Just outside the north side of Tsukiji Market is a small shopping area with various sushi restaurants. This area itself is reasonable and you can get a lot of good food that’s on par with other shops inside the market. If you looking to buy sushi and take it home, or to your hotel for a late morning breakfast, the middlemen inside are more than happy to sell a large amount of fish to you. Do note that the days after the holidays can be the best to get the freshest fish, and the days before the holidays can be the cheapest as they have to sell everything. Buying fish should be done after 6am, especially if the auction is held until around 6am. Usually, I found arriving around 8am is a good time. You can check out all the food, although a lot has already been sold, and you can still get a good breakfast after all the regular workers have eaten and headed to work.
Delicious Donburi Shop outside Tsukiji Fish Market
In the last several years, there has been talk of moving the Tsukiji Fish Market from its current location to a location closer to Odaiba. There have been lots of vocal people protesting against this. While it’s true that a move will likely destroy the history and atmosphere of the current Fish Market, it feels almost inevitable due to the government wanting a more controlled setting for the fish market itself. Moving it would allow things to be modernized and flow smoothly. Plus, the current plot of land is worth a lot more as residential and commercial buildings than as a fish market, regardless of being a tourist attraction. I myself am indifferent, but as a tourist, I would want it to stay in the current location. As a worker inside the fish market, I would probably want it to stay as well. In fact, the move has been delayed indefinitely as the future site is contaminated with various toxic materials. For those who were worried about missing this fish market in the near future, don’t worry too much. It will be several years yet before they move.
Information:
Tsukiji Fish Market (Official Site – English): http://www.tsukiji-market.or.jp/tukiji_e.htm
Tsukiji Fish Market (Official Site – Japanese): http://www.tsukiji-market.or.jp/index.html
Tsukiji Fish Market (Japan Guide): http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3021.html
Tsukiji Fish Market (Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukiji_fish_market
Tsukiji Fish Market Tours (By Naoto Nakamura): http://homepage3.nifty.com/tokyoworks/TsukijiTour/TsukijiTourEng.htm
Tsukiji (Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukiji
Tsukiji (Wikitravel): http://wikitravel.org/en/Tokyo/Tsukiji
このblogは英語のblog。もし私の英語は難しい、日本語のquestionは大丈夫。
Happy Holidays December 7, 2009
Posted by drutang in Tokyo.Tags: tokyo, japan, Ginza, Christmas, Christmas in Japan, bonnenkai, year end party, christmas party, Roppongi Hills, Tokyo Midtown, 日本, holidays, 東京, 東京都, 六本木, 港区, 銀座, Happy Holidays, Japanese Christmas, Holiday Season, Holiday Season in Japan, office party, Year End, Christmas Lights, Christmas Illumination, Illumination, Marunouchi, Lightopia, Art Intelligent, fireworks, Tokyo Dome, Showa Kinen Park, Lalaport, Toyosu, Artelligent, クリスマスイルミネーション, クリスマス イルミネーション, イルミネーション, クリスマス, 千代田区, 丸の内, ぼねんかい, 六本木ヒルズ, 中央区, 花火
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Last year was my first year with this blog and I talked about the differences between a Japanese Christmas and a Western Christmas. It’s a little early for Christmas, but with December having started already, it’s the holiday season. The actual Christmas season starts on November 1st, and gets into full swing on December 1st. It also signals the party season. If you have ever visited Japan in December, it’s highly advised that you be careful when taking the trains after 10pm. In fact, you should always be careful after 10pm. It is this time when people start to make their way home after a night of drinking. The end of the year is a very important time for Japanese people to celebrate the end and have one last party.
Bonnenkai is essentially a Christmas Party, or for non-secular people, a Year End Party. Offices typically have at least one party at this time, but depending on the company, this can increase significantly. In North America, there tends to be an average of three Year End Parties, at least from my own experiences. There is usually one for the department, one for the company, and possibly one with friends. Sometimes, this is the only time to meet old friends as people can be busy with their work and their own personal lives. On the extreme end, people could have up to three parties each week, or about 12 in the month if they have to have a bonnenkai with their customers. Needless to say, this can put a lot of stress on a person’s liver. Typically, restaurants are busy over the weekend, and there are always special bonnenkai deals to be had if you book ahead. Be aware that sometimes they are not better than ordering on your own.
Other than bonnenkais, the only thing that happens during the holiday season is to head around town and see all of the Christmas lights. It has become very popular for different shopping areas to have their own light display. As always, Ginza is a hot spot for lights, although it’s not spectacular. Roppongi is generally a more interesting area as they have the Tokyo Midtown, the Roppongi Hills areas for lights. This year, there will also be another Lightopia event in Marunouchi along with the typical Marunouchi lights. If you have seen the Christmas lights in the last few years, especially in Tokyo, there won’t be too many new displays. Each year, there tends to be one major new light display, while the others are only slightly updated. The general designs tend to be the same. Below will be a link showcasing the major areas where you can see some lights.
Information:
Christmas Light Locations (All of Japan): http://www.rurubu.com/season/winter/illumination/
Christmas Light Locations (Tokyo): http://www.rurubu.com/season/winter/illumination/list.asp?KenCD=13
Note: The three boxes in the key are, in order, “There is a Christmas Tree”, “There is an event”, and “There are fireworks”. Unfortunately, the events will depend on the location, and I am not sure when the fireworks might be. There are only three places where there are fireworks: Tokyo Dome (December 14th at 7pm for about 3 minutes), Toyosu Lala Port (December 24th at 8:10pm), and Tachikawa’s Showa Kinen Park (December 19th and 24th at 8pm for about 5 minutes).
Tokyo Dome Illumination Information: http://www.tokyo-dome.co.jp/event/illumi/index.htm
Tokyo Dome (English): http://www.tokyo-dome.co.jp/e/
Lalaport Fireworks Information: http://toyosu.lalaport.jp/special_event/
Showa Kinen Park Winter Illumination Information: http://www.showakinenpark.go.jp/2009winter/wvi2009.html
Showa Kinen Park (English): http://www.showakinenpark.go.jp/english/index.htm
Mapple Ilumination List (Tokyo page, you can surf to the Japan list page): http://www.mapple.net/sp_illumi/list.asp?PREF=13
Nihon Kanko Illumination List (Tokyo page, you can surf to the Japan list page): http://illumi.nihon-kankou.or.jp/list/result.php?m=1&c=03&c2=13
Note: All sites are Japanese unless specified. If you are curious about locations in a specific area, please feel free to ask with a comment. I’ll do my best to provide a small list based on these sites.
このblogは英語のblog。もし私の英語は難しい、日本語のquestionは大丈夫。
Maps December 6, 2009
Posted by drutang in Japan.Tags: Chuo-ku, Ginza, Harajuku, japan, Shibuya-ku, Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, tokyo, Tokyo-to
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From time to time, I’ll be adding new maps to go along with my older posts. I won’t be reposting my old posts, but I’ll be updating this post and making it the top post whenever I make add a new map, or whenever I update one significantly. Hopefully this will help you to understand each area that I describe in my posts, and maybe you can find it helpful if you ever visit one of these places.
Dru
MAPS:
Jingu Stadium (2009-12-06)
Japanese Baseball: Tigers VS Swallows
Otaru (2009-11-28)
Otaru
Otaru Snow Gleaming Festival
Shinjuku (2009-11-15)
Part I
Part II
Part III
Japanese Football aka Soccer (Urawa Reds VS FC Tokyo) December 1, 2009
Posted by drutang in Sports, Tokyo.Tags: Ajinomoto, Ajinomoto Stadium, Chofu, diamonds, FC Tokyo, Football, J-league, J1, J2, japan, Japanese football, Kawasaki, Keio, Keio Line, League, Liverpool, Mitsubishi Motors, professional football, red, Reds, Soccer, Stadium, Tobitakyu, tokyo, Tokyo Gas, Tokyo Verdy, Tokyo Verdy 1969, Urawa, Urawa Diamonds, Urawa Red Diamonds, Urawa Reds, Verdy, Verdy Kawasaki, 川崎, 東京, 浦和
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Ajinomoto Stadium
This year, 2009, I have had the luxury of attending two football games in Japan. Last year, I wrote about my experiences to see football for the first time. This time, I had a different experience. I was lucky enough to introduce a couple friends to FC Tokyo, and more recently, I was able to see a game as an Urawa Reds fan. Generally, my first experience with FC Tokyo was how things were in 2009. When attending a game, once you reach the stadium, you have to head into the stands where you’ll get your seat. Then, just wait and enjoy the game. FC Tokyo still runs “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and they still salute the crowd after every game, regardless of the results. Since I was in the visitors side for a game this year, this post will reflect the feelings and emotions of the opposing time.
Half Time
On November 8th, I headed into Ajinomoto with a friend of mine. We were meeting a couple of Japanese guys who are big Urawa Reds fans. Since it was Urawa, the entire visitors section was full. It was all red and black, the team colours. There were the die hards sitting in the front row behind the goal and a bank of over 10 huge flags. There were also various flags of other countries flying in the main section. Essentially, if it was red and black, it was flown. The flag of Yemen, or the old German flag, was also flown because of the colours. The significance of the country itself wasn’t important. Getting to the stadium early, as in any other game, is important if you want to get good seats. Roughly an hour before the game starts, the cheering starts. There are a few dozen different chants that the crowd does. There is generally a leader in the main stands along with a drummer to keep the beat. There may be more than one drummer. There are a few basic cheers and everyone has to stand and do the cheer. The Japanese guys I was with were a little sad as the cheering had been started a little early for their tastes. You need a little energy for the game as well.
Fans Pre-game
During the singing of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” for FC Tokyo, the Urawa fans went crazy. Lots of comments talking about how stupid it was to sing the song, and when they talked about FC Tokyo, they cheered and whistled as loud as they could. It’s nice to see that they’ll do anything to support their own team. Upon the kick-off, the cheering subsided so that the fans could watch the game. The flags were down and only basic cheers could be heard. Everyone was at the edge of their seats hoping a weak Urawa would be able to beat FC Tokyo. To give a little insight into the game, both Urawa and FC Tokyo were in trouble. Urawa is in a sort of rebuilding season, and FC Tokyo’s main ace was injured, and their top foreign player left to play in the Middle East, for more money. However, FC Tokyo had recently won the Nabisco Cup, so they had the advantage of momentum. The first half of the game was pretty boring. FC Tokyo dominated the game with several shots on goal, but Urawa was limited and trapped in the mid-field. For the second half, the game remained the same, but Urawa made one excellent play where a couple of strikers broke free of the defence and scored. The crowd was ecstatic and the cheering was deafening; soon after, FC Tokyo also scored, but it was an off side goal. By the end of the game, Urawa kept their 1-0 lead and won the game. Obviously, the Urawa fans stuck around and saluted their players.
Autumn provides beautiful sunsets during the game.
In general, the FC Tokyo fans are never very loud. They enjoy the games and they cheer on their players, but I think the visiting teams are always louder. They tend to be more focused compared to FC Tokyo. I’m sure the FC Tokyo fans are also louder when visiting other stadiums, but at home, it’s sad to see they aren’t close enough to shake the stadium. I still highly recommend going to an FC Tokyo game. It’s very close to Tokyo itself and the team is still pretty good. If you have a free afternoon/evening, it’s only 20 minutes from Shinjuku Station. You don’t need to buy tickets ahead of time, but do wear blue. Avoid any other colours or you might have to buy your own jersey.
Information:
Ajinomoto Stadium (Japanese Homepage): http://www.ajinomotostadium.com/
Ajinomoto Stadium (Event Schedule – Japanese): http://www.ajinomotostadium.com/schedule/index.html
Ajinomoto Stadium (Access – Japanese): http://www.ajinomotostadium.com/access/index.html
FC Tokyo (English Homepage): http://www.fctokyo.co.jp/english/index.phtml
FC Tokyo (Japanese Homepage): http://www.fctokyo.co.jp/
FC Tokyo (Schedule): http://www.fctokyo.co.jp/english/index.phtml?schedule=1
FC Tokyo (Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.C._Tokyo
Urawa Reds (English Homepage): http://www.urawa-reds.co.jp/index_e.html
Urawa Reds (Japanese Homepage): http://www.urawa-reds.co.jp/index2.html
Urawa Reds (Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urawa_Red_Diamonds
