Tokyo for the holidays
So the California Smiths decided to go en masse to visit the Setagaya-ku Smith-Chinen family and introduce themselves to the newest member of the family, Toki, a little more than 3 months old. Of course we wanted to see Toki’s parents too, and visit the sights of Tokyo, which are many and varied. We decided to go at Christmas since Sevan and Nazeli are out of school then. We all booked tickets, got out our warm clothes and jackets, and dreamed of sushi and ramen.
Friday, Dec. 21
We met Jeremy and Narineh and Sevan and Nazeli in the San Jose airport international terminal.
We flew ANA, Jerr and I in premium economy and Jeremy and family in coach. ANA is slightly roomier than United for the same price.
Sat., Dec. 22
Japan is 16 or 17 hours ahead of us, depending on daylight saving time (ours, not theirs). We deplaned at 3 pm after 11 hours in the air. Jet-lagged and drooping, we managed to get through customs and onto the Narita Express for the 1.5-hour journey to Shinjuku, the big train station nearest Matt’s house. Matt met us at the stop and escorted us to the connecting Keio line to Kamikitazawa. Four stops later, we pulled our suitcases the 7-minute walk to his house, where Rina and Toki were waiting. Rina had made Japanese curry (kare raisu), so delicious and warming in the cold weather. Because Jerr and I became germy shortly before leaving home, we were hesitant to hold Toki, but he is a darling, happy baby who smiles and laughs when you talk to him or play with him.
By 8 pm, we knew the crash was imminent, so Matt walked us to our rental about 15 minutes away, an airbnb owned by Chuck and Midori Ueno. Jeremy, Narineh and family stayed with Matt and Rina in the unit on the ground floor of the house Rina designed, set up for them with two double futons.
The unit has its own bathroom too. Our airbnb is very cute, with a cupboard full of nice dishes and two twin beds pushed together, European style. The beds are rather hard, but are up off the floor, which makes getting out of bed easier for the aging knees.
Sun., Dec. 23
At 7 am we dragged ourselves out of bed and tried to figure out how to turn up the heat on the heater unit and take a shower in the wet room. Made it over to Matt’s by 8:30, and spent the next couple of hours catching up and basking in Toki’s smiles and laughs. When he cries at all, not too usual, he’s either hungry, tired, has gas, or needs a clean diaper. He’s very sunny and cute.
We went to lunch at a ramen shop, Koike, which Jerr and I had passed on our walk over to the house.
Like many ramen shops, you order by punching buttons on a machine by the door that rather resembles a laundromat soap dispenser, ordering the kind of broth you want and the optional gooey egg. You get a ticket, which is given to the server, who dishes it up for you. Matt did the ordering (above, in the blue hat, figuring out the machine), as it was all in Japanese. The soup was really delicious—savory broth, great pork, the ramen egg, wonderful noodles. We had to go in shifts, since there were only about a dozen seats, and all were fully occupied.
After noodle slurping, we took a couple of trains to Harajuku and visited the Meiji emperor’s shrine, set in beautiful wooded grounds where some maples still burned orange and yellow.
We saw a wedding recession
and Jerr got his fortune. To do that, you shake a tubular wooden container until one of the chopstick-sized sticks inside falls out of a small hole in the bottom. The stick tells you where your fortune is on the group of little drawers above the counter. All this costs 100 yen ($1 dollar). Jerr got his fortune; it read, To feel no sense of shame before the unseen kami—such is the measure of true-heartedness. This is glossed below as: “One who is spiritually pure feels no shame before the invisible but all-seeing gods [kami]. Hence, such true-heartedness is the source of peace and happiness.”
After leaving the shrine, we walked to Harajuku, a trendy shopping area populated mostly by very stylin’ teens. We looked down Takashita street where all the young people hang out—it was packed with herds of folks squashed in like commuters on a train.
Rina took us around the back streets, but we eventually had to get across Takashita street through the mass of humanity, many armed with umbrellas held at eye-poking levels. (After our return to Palo Alto, we saw in the press that a disgruntled 21-year-old Japanese man, angry about executions of those involved in the decades-old subway gas incident, had driven into those crowds, injuring several, but luckily killing no one. He was apprehended, and the Japanese are very strict about this sort of behavior.)
After fighting through the crowds, we stopped at a French bakery and bought lots of pastries. Sevan and Nazeli were made very happy by this.
We made the train changes to Matt and Rina’s, where Rina prepared a delicious dinner of nabe, a kind of Japanese stew with meat, mochi, and many vegetables in a savory broth, served with kim chee on the side.
Jerr and I found our own way back to our little apartment, as ready for bed as the children. It was no wonder, as my step counter said we walked 8 miles.
Mon., Dec. 24
We dallied around the apartment doing our stretchy bands and taking it easy until 10:30, when we walked over to Matt and Rina’s to find everyone spiffed up and looking fine.
Around 11:30, we all walked a few blocks to Ciuppin, the Italian restaurant reserved for lunch with Rina’s family: parents Kioshi and Chieko, sister Sonomi and husband Hiroki, and their two children, Kannon and Yota. Matt had reserved the whole restaurant as eateries in Japan are usually pretty small.
After being treated to a delicious and very Italian lunch by Kioshi (the Japanese owners had spent several years in Italy learning how to cook Italian, and they had learned well), we all went back to Matt and Rina’s house and enjoyed some time together before Rina’s family had to leave.
For dinner, Rina made us yakisoba, a stir-fried noodle dish. Rina is a very good cook—she whipped it up pretty fast, and it was delicious too. Good thing we are walking all these miles.
We left at 8 pm to seek our little apartment. It’s a little more than a mile from Matt’s, and although small, has good heaters and a very toasty shower. Heaters are important, because it’s pretty cold here for Californians—down in the forties during the day, and freezing at night.
PART 2