Landing in Tokyo Narita airport was an eye opener, or perhaps more accurately described as one of those landings best experienced with eyes closed. The pilot’s eyes might as well have been closed as they couldn’t see anything at all. Thanks to the (very) low cloud and mist, we were only aware of the runway when we touched down. An interesting way to arrive. A long taxi and then a Japanese predilection for paperwork meant that it took a fair time to get out of the airport to the station. Narita airport is then a fair way out of Tokyo and so we booked onto the express train which would take us right through to Shinjuku station, but even that took around an hour and a quarter.
Once at Shinjuku we decided to get a taxi to the hotel and finally arrived around 10.30pm – a long run, but actually not too bad in the circumstances. Check-in at the hotel was through screen-based kiosks (with the help of the check-in staff) and we were just given a pin number for the room. To input this we had to hold our hand over a panel on the door so that the kep pad lit up and then input our pin number. This is the final confirmation that pin numbers have taken over our lives ….. But … it all worked …. After a fashion ….
The final challenge of the evening though is the toilet. With apologies at debasing the conversation completely, we do have to talk about Japanese toilets. For anyone with technophobia, the panel beside the toilet would have been very alarming – actually it was quite alarming anyway! The first shock is that the toilet seat is heated. This is very nice, but perhaps far from essential and slightly disorienting. The toilet seat then also has (as the panel says) “… a water cleansing function for your rear …”. This is really too much for our delicate western sensibilities and when further investigation reveals options for front and rear (ladies and gents …) and then additional options for pressure (ouch ….!) and deodorizer (perhaps more useful!), this can all become a little more than one can stomach (or perhaps this is an unfortunate expression in the circumstances!).
The next morning we awoke fresh and raring to go – well ok this may be over-stating it, but having seen nothing of Tokyo the previous day, we were looking forward to getting a sense of what it was like. In fact, as we are based in Shinjuku, we decided just to wander around this area. First stop was the Tokyo Government Metropolitan Building. Probably not the most obvious first stop, but on the 45th floor at the top was an observation deck with all round views of the city. The views were great even though it was still a little misty. The ambience was enhanced by the tinkling of the ivories and after a while we realised that it was a public piano – people were queueing to play – and the music was certainly varied. One person gave us an interesting rendition of the Wellerman, while another stuck more classical with Fur Elise.
From there we made our way gradually via the shopping streets to the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. This looked like a nice green area in the city, but we didn’t realise that this was the destination of choice for the half of Shinjuku residents who weren’t out shopping! The reason …. The cherry blossom. The blooming of the cherry blossom trees is deeply culturally embedded here and to many people it symbolises human life, transience and nobleness. They celebrate and cherish the cherry blossoms trees during the limited flowering period in March/April even to the extent that many people hold ‘flower watching’ parties known as Hanami. There certainly seemed to be a lot of Hanami going on in the gardens today with people flocking to the cherry trees and competing for space for their picnic blankets underneath them.
The blossom was spectacular and is apparently one of the premier spots in Tokyo for seeing it with over 1,000 trees of about sixty-five different varieties. The most popular variety is called Somei Yoshino and this is the predominant variety in the gardens. The prominence of this in Japanese culture dates right back to its appearance in the Manyoshu anthology of poetry in the 8th Century and its importance continues today with the Prime Minister hosting dignitaries from around the world at the cherry blossom viewing party.
The gardens themselves, aside from the cherry blossom, were lovely with a native Japanese garden and with a tea house in the middle of the Japanese garden – well – it was crying out to be tried. A matcha tea with a white peach Mochi (pounded rice with white peach inside) really hit the spot while Anne tried the fig and white cheese Mochi – also apparently very good …..
