Japan 2020: One Morning, Three Districts in Tokyo

One of my life’s truths is this: there was life before Japan, and after Japan. My return flight to Toronto landed two days before airports closed for travel at the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic. I suppose it’s taken me nearly a year to write about this trip for a reason!

From Haneda Airport, I took a single train to the hostel where my G Adventures group was staying. While waiting for the train, I spotted my first piece of Japanese artwork that featured cats, which also just happened to have a smiling Qusumi (creator of Kodoku no Gurume) waving back at me. Given that deliciously offbeat show is one of my all-time favourites - and that’s saying something, with all the English-subbed Japanese TV I watch - I think everything’s off to a good start!

After meeting our fantastic local guide, Kumi, our group headed out for dinner and settled at a nearby restaurant called Ootoya. I’ve looked forward to my first meal in Japan for ages. Itadakimasu!

I’m a fan of order, and the discipline to keep things as they should be is a character trait I’ve always admired among the Japanese, perhaps because it’s at odds with the culture I grew up in. Filipino people, no matter where they live, are rather prone to adding a ‘twist’ of some kind, particularly when it comes to food.

The next day started with a visit to Yoyogi Park. It was February and there was a light chill in the air, with a couple of cherry blossoms starting to bloom.

I spotted a truck that sold dango 団子, chewy rice flour dumplings grilled over coals and coated with a sticky glaze. The walnut miso was very good!

We continued to the grounds of the Meiji Jingu Shrine, completed in 1921 to commemorate Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shoken, at a garden they often visited in the heart of Tokyo. Over countless hours of watching NHK World, I learned about the Meiji Restoration, essentially the period that led to Japan’s rapid westernization. Japanese history just fascinates me.

There were so many beautiful barrels of sake!

Walking up to the main shrine, I noticed the first thing everyone now had to do differently - chōzuya, or temizuya (手水舎), the water cleansing ritual performed prior to entering a temple. Instead of the communal water basin, visitors could ritually purify their hands under a length of bamboo pierced with holes for water to flow through.

Next we headed to Takeshita St. and the iconic Harajuku district, even then still filled with tourists. Mango flavoured kitty ice cream cones - kawaii!

Finally we reached the famous Shibuya Crossing in time for a quick sushi lunch and caught a fraction of its “regular” crowd. I wonder what it will be like when I get the chance to visit next?