Great Tokyo Experience

First note, I now have a Flickr account where one can see all my pics instead of having to look at my slideshows or random single pics. I will put my flickr addy under "The Who" on my blog's side bar so in case someone doesn't use bookmarks it will always be there.

Unlike the previous days we did a complete day of walking around and doing things, meaning we didn't take a break back at the hostel or anything. We started by hopping a train to Roppongi which famous for it's night life. From there we walked about half a mile to the rather large Tokyo Tower. It's actually taller than the Eiffel Tower but weighs half as less. It's the largest self supporting steel structure in the world and serves as an antenna for about fourteen local radio and television stations. You can pay just to go halfway or you can pay about 6 bucks more and it allows you to go to the very top as well. We of course paid for the top, and when we got into the elevator for the top we were crammed like sardines with about 10 other people in a rather small elevator. Steve seemed like he was kinda freaked so I asked if he was scared in Japanese and he said ya, about the same time the Japanese people started saying they were scared. Then a message comes on in Japanese and English stating that you should not be alarmed by the weird sounds that might emanate from the elivator are merely safety devices activating which kind of seem odd to the both us.

When we reached the top we were treated with a spectacular view of the city. Seeing the city from that height really put into perspective why this is one of the largest cities in the world. I literally could not see the end of the city as you can tell in some of the pictures. Unfortunately I still could not see Fuji and haven't yet, but Steve says on a pretty day from certain spots in Kofu it can be seen.



After leaving the observation deck we somehow thought it would be a cool idea to walk back down the stairs from the midway point, I somehow feel now that was a mistake as my calves still hurt a day later. We grabbed some Baskin Robbins ice cream and headed on to find something else to do. Didn't have much direction so we jumped a train to Shinjuku (pretty much the main station point for trains and buses in Tokyo) and walked around. I found a Krispy Kreme and even in the middle of the day there was probably a 30+ minute wait for the sugary goodness so we immediately passed and tried to find other sources of sustenance. We walked around the station and stumbled upon something Steve hadn't seen yet in Japan, a Wendy's! This was my first beef experience in Japan and I have to say that it was lackluster, the beef seems to be of a lower grade and was only so-so. The fries and Pepsi at least were good!

By this time it was time for us to start the true purpose of the day, begin our trip to the Studio Ghibli Museum in Mitaka which is on the outskirt of Tokyo. It finally had to happen after three days, we got on the wrong train! It wasn't too big of a problem because I noticed it before Steve and we got off really quick. Because of this it made us about 10 minutes passed when were supposed to be there. Luckily the museum is not a tour and we only hurt ourselves by being late, meaning we just had less time to look around at everything. The biggest downer to the museum is that we could not take pictures inside. Besides that, the Ghibli Museum is a must see for any tourist in Japan. Being I want to make movies one day, although probably not animated, I have huge respect for Miyazaki (creator of Studio Ghibli). It was like a kid in a candy store with some much to soak up. The best exhibit inside I wish I could have taken pictures of was a mock up of Miyazaki's studio which was incredible with all kinds of drawings and storyboards from a plethora of this films.




After hitting the outside exhibits and getting pictures we journeyed back to the first floor where every 20 minutes there is a fifteen minute short film (which is impossible to find outside of Japan) which we were treated to. There are a number of these short films and the museum rotates them around every so often. My reading is bad and Steve's isn't great but he said the title was something along the lines of "The Day I Received my Planet".

The following is a description of the short film and is kind of long, so if this kind of thing bores you then skip past to the next paragraph:
I could understand a vast amount of the dialogue save a few heavy parts. It's a story about a boy who seems to have lost his way or perhaps is a runaway and he begins to stay with an older lady helping out with tasks such as farming and selling huge daikon radishes at the market. On his way to the market his motorbike breaks down and he assisted by a mole and a from who take the radishes in return for helping and also give him a seed for a planet. After getting back home he rushes to plan it in a pot and then goes to sleep. When he awakens the next morning he finds that hovering above the pot is a small ball of dirt hovering just over where he planted it. It also had a few satellites (or moons) going around it. The child then notices a rolly polly bug on the new planet and leaves it be, always showing this great care for life. Another day seems to pass and the child goes to the market and makes it all the way there this time and sells his goods, we see the Frog and Mole again but they leave the child be. The whole while this is happening the woman the child lives with "Ninia" seems to be trying to find the child a home. The boy returns from the market with a perfume bottle of water and gentle sprays the ball of dirt and a cloud begins to form around it and electricity lightly shocks him and he laughs. After the clouds form around completely it begins to rain on the small planet. The next morning he find the planet looking like the real thing, and he finally shows what he's accomplished to Ninia. At that time a family comes to finally take the child away, and the child leaves the care of the small planet which is now inhabited by a small family of rolly pollies with Ninia. Shortly after while staying in his new home he is visted by the Frog and Mole yet again and they say he has to come quickly with them or he's going to miss something important. He tags along and is brought to a place in space where there's a river of stars and planets running through the universe as if this were the birthplace of all things. Ninia is seen waiting for him in a dress holding his planet. They tell him that he must releas the planet into the galaxy so that it can one day become a true planet and sustain more life than just the small bugs. The frog and mole tell him he can return in sixty years to see how his planet has progressed because the river flows back through. The child is happy for his planet and releases it, but tells Ninia that they will never meet again because it's so far into the future. Ninia then tells him she has been alive over 200 years because she's a magic user (witch might be too harsh). The boy departs with the Frog and Mole and the film ends.


The visuals and music alone were moving enough to make me cry. While the story isn't sad so much the message and the care for all life we must have really impacted me even in short fifteen minutes of time. Steve said he felt like that was also one of the most moving things for him as well. After the film we exited the museum and made our way back to the hostel.

We woke up this morning checked out of our hostel and headed back to Kofu. We made it safely back, and I finally had my first piece of actual Japanese food, Melon-pan (melon bread). It's basically sweet bread that is actually really awesome. I'm now hiding in Steve's room until he gets back from taking a placement test or whenever the landlady leaves for the day, whichever comes first. I think we're going to explore Kofu a little bit and grab some eats later, but I finally get to reveal to Yamanshi University that I'm in Japan (Only one staff member knows I hid out here for two days and wanted to keep it a secret) and move into my dorm room which I think will be next door to Steve. I've already made a new friend, albeit from America, named Patrick. He admits that I have a little more Japanese under my belt but I'm still glad to have someone around who also has minimal Japanese language because Steve's knowledge is somewhat intimidating to me as of now. I'm sure we're both going to do fine and catch up quickly! Hope everyone enjoyed this HUGE freaking entry but there was a lot to pack in!