Of Ueno, shrines and curry

Of Ueno, shrines and curry

Before we get started let me warn you, the title is rather poorly worded. While those three things feature in the tale they are by no means linked to each other except for perhaps geographic proximity.

I intend to go to Nikko tomorrow, I had gone to Hakone yesterday and so I was quite tired by the time I went to bed yesterday and also want to be quite fresh for the journey to Nikko tomorrow. Considering this I decided to keep my travels to within Tokyo for the day. The very first thought that popped into my mind was "Akiba!!!" after which I managed to regain some measure of restraint and decided to go to Ueno instead.

Ueno to Tokyo is what Central Park is to the large apple. Except for the fact that Tokyo has many parks spread out in the various wards and each one is rather large. If put together I would not be surprised if they surpassed Central Park in area. However, by itself, Ueno park is much much smaller. What it lacks in terms of area it makes up for by means of charm but we'll get to that.

I wanted to avoid rush hour on the trains so I decided to leave the hotel around 10. This gave me the chance to catch up on some matters ( bug people on IM ), to follow up on correspondence ( bug people on IM, graciously receive threats of bodily harm from said people ) and to tie up some other loose ends ( commence swearing match and promises of sweet sweet violence once yours truly returns stateside ). Once ten rolled around, I popped out of the hotel and half an hour later found myself in Akiba.

The other day when I had gone to Akiba, I had to come back at noon since my bag was too darn heavy to walk around with all day and it was giving me a horrid backache. Once I reached the hotel in the afternoon tough it was rather difficult to leave again considering the lunch I practically inhaled. At a certain point of my post lunch delirium indignation kicked in, the thought that I had finally made it to Japan and that in the middle of a perfectly good day I was cooped up in my hotel. This indignation made me get right back up and go to Akiba again. At a certain later point of the day though Akiba gets crowded as all hell and it becomes very difficult to do anything especially relating to manga stores since the aisles are so damn narrow to start off with. I exited a gigantic store named mandarake, I wonder if the owners were planning to go for Mandrake when they named it, no clue, sentence over.

Once outside the indignation kicked back in and I was wondering what to do. The only option that presented itself was to return to Shinjuku and the hotel. I was on this massive street called Chuo dori which is the main through fare in Akiba and so I decided to see how far Chuo dori went. I walked and walked and walked. It was quite interesting, night had fallen and the legions of light that decorate Tokyo sprang to life. I saw many cute restaurants and eateries, and a certain coco curry one caught my eye. I saw the ordinary people of Tokyo go about their lives, after a busy day at work, the relieved expressions on entering what seemed like bars or pubs, the inebriated glow on exiting the aforementioned establishments, extremely old men and women buying groceries while throwing glances at the nearby youth who had their beaks immersed in some manga or the other. Two guys who approached me for massages from Japanese girls, which I turned down because I'm allergic to massages. I kept walking and finally I started seeing signs for Ueno and the the park. Since it was late at night I figured that the same rules applied for Ueno as applied to any other park in the world, don't enter if you value life and limb ( also applies to certain women, eeeyohh!! Sorry, that was bad )

I remembered this and turned back to Akiba and to return to my hotel. By this point my indignation was being given the finger by my aching feet, or perhaps I should say the toe.

Back to the present, I got down at Akiba and made straight for Ueno.

The first thing I did once at the park went quite well with the lessons I had learned yesterday and I roamed for a bit with no plan in mind. However at a certain point I saw the Tokyo national museum and curiosity got the better of me and a ticket was purchased and I went in. Initially I was reading every single panel, paying attention to everything that came before my eyes. The highlight was a room detailing Japanese swords and their history. However,  soon my interest waned and it waned hard. I was skimming through exhibit after exhibit and soon I popped out of the museum with quite a bit of regret as to having entered in the first place. I also figured out at I was feeling quite hungry by this point and so I made for the coco curry place I had seen earlier. This was my first solo experience at a Japanese eatery and boy oh boy did I love it.

The fried chicken with veggies and rice and curry was delicious and everyone in the place who had ordered curry was eating it with a spoon. They were also making clinking noises with the spoon on the plate. No longer did I have to be mortified of the cutlery making sounds on the plates, It was accepted, encouraged even. Anyway, I sat there and ate quite an enjoyable meal after which I returned right back to Ueno.

By this point my newly learned lessons from yesterday had returned full force and I well and truly started roaming with no goal in sight. I saw the real last samurai, Saigo takamuri's statue. I saw the tomb of the group of soldiers who resisted the Meiji emperor to the end and were slaughtered except for a few survivors. I saw a Sakura tree by a well about which a little girl had written a haiku and it came to be called after her, Sukushi's cherry tree. I kept walking. Saw a crowded shrine, turned and went in the opposite direction, found the compound wall which I proceeded to inspect for a few minutes before turning in another direction. Onwards!

A shrine! Red torii! Memories of yesterday. I walked through it and saw torii after torii leading to a little shrine, completely deserted. Yes! I walked down the steps through the torii and came up to the shrine. It appeared to be a shrine dedicated to dogs. I made a quick little prayer for health and wellbeing and then saw another shrine attached to this one. As I was making my way there I saw another person who was deeply engrossed in photographing himself very very near a dog statue in various poses. I let him be and kept walking. Those of us who can take the time to capture such photographs to perfection obviously have a much much more advanced understanding of the universe than I do and so I shan't take their time.

The other shrine was once again related to dogs. Once again I prayed. At that point people came streaming down the once tranquil steps. In a way that only tourists can be, these folks were obnoxious. They opened a lamp stand and started mucking about with the lamp wicks inside and then posing for photographs. My mind immediately fled to memories of our own temples from back home where if some person tried to muck about with temple fixtures they would be talked to rather harshly and if that didn't

work we would call in reinforcements to beat them up. Temples and shrines, whether you believe in them or not are believed in by people other than yourself and so you should show the same amount of respect that they do or would. I moved away, climbing back up the steps with an old Japanese lady, both of us shaking our heads disapprovingly at the gaijin.

There had been a building I'd been ignoring right from the start since on some map somewhere I had read that it was exit only and the park could not be re-entered from there. I now found myself face to face with this building and headed right for it. It was past a bridge over swampy water full of large black fish and ducks. The lake or swamp was overgrown with plants and was obviously in need of care unless that was the look they were going for. Once again I walked around the building, looked at the shrines and then as I've been recently doing I just started walking in a certain direction with no real logic dictating anything. I saw a lake with boats on it, girl girl boats being pedaled harmoniously, guy girl boats which were mostly turning in place and guy guy boats which seemed to have the clear advantage in terms of speed even though there appeared to be conflict over who was the captain and who was the engineer.

I saw benches by the lake. I sat on these benches and looked at the lake. A melancholy mood swept over me and I could not quite place it. Eventually I think I came to a basic understanding. Soon I would need to leave this place,leave Japan and I don't want to do that even though I have to. The future is so uncertain, working and staying in the states, wanting to see and live in more places before deciding where to spend my days and so on. Amidst all this noise how can one sit on a bench and simply stare at a lake. I didn't find it easy but eventually my thoughts quieted down and I became calm. I went from side to side of the lake sitting on benches sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for more. The lamps by the sides of the path came alive casting shadows onto the road. Two old women sitting on a bench, throwing crumbs into the water and then squeaking in surprise as a duck leapt up on to the bank wanting to investigate the source of the mysterious crumbs no doubt. An old man, arms outstretched bird seed in them and with at least a hundred birds on him, song bursting forth and enveloping all, blissful expression on his face. A mother with two children, one she carried while the other was having the time of her life stomping through wet gravel making as much sound as possible and grinning widely.

I got back to the park and watched a street performer juggle for a good half hour or so.

At the end of his routine he spoke a lot of words in Japanese no doubt asking for money for some cause. I knew this and yet I did not pay. Not because I'm cheap. No, if anything I spend too much. I did not pay because I wished I could understand what he was saying after he was done, I wish I could have known. I will learn this language, I will return and I hope I will see him again so that this time around I can understand his words and pay him for entertaining us all that evening many moons ago.

I left the park and started the walk back to Akiba.

Popped into a 7-11 store and tested out my debit card, and was extremely relieved when I realized that it worked and I got money.

Saw a tully's coffee and that is where I sit right now, typing this out.

Yet another good day.

Tomorrow has it's work cut out.

Magus.