I'm very surprised that I'm not jet lagged. I just assumed that I would be affected because it's my first long distance flight. Of all the places for my first trip out of Hawaii, it had to be a place that was 19 hours ahead of Hawaii.
I couldn't go back to sleep, so I decided to take some pictures from my room. I couldn't believe how busy the Shinagawa station was at 6:00 a.m. All these people trying to make it work. But I thought work started at 9:00 a.m. for most people. I guess I was wrong. Tokyo seems like a city that never goes to sleep. There's always something going on when most are asleep. It's very different from Maui. Everything usually closes by 10 p.m. at the latest. Not much to do outside of the house at night on Maui.We all head to the Shinagawa station to go to the Tsukigi market. As we enter the station, an announcement comes from the P.A. system. Yoko translates the message for us. She says that there is a delay in the trains because of a suicide. Although Confucius Lives Next Door talks about low crime rates in Japan, there is high stress that leads to suicide both in businessmen and school kids. Is attempted suicide a crime in Japan? Many things went through my mind when I heard this. Was it a salaryman or a student? If it was a salaryman, did he lose his job or did something to disgrace his family? If it was a student, was it because of ijime? Isn't it traumatic for the train conductor to witness the suicide?
How can someone go through with suicide? I think it's different in Japan than America. In Japan, it's all about shame. It's better to be dead than to be shamed the rest of your life. Plus, it's not only you that will have to endure shame, the rest of the family is shamed because of you. So much stress is placed on a person. In America, it seems like an escape from the struggles they are enduring.
~The NTT Docomo building in the distance from the hotel. Japanese architecture is amazing!
Tsukiji fish market was a great sight to see. I know my dad and grandpa would have loved to see this place. There were so many different fishermen with their booths selling what was left from the auctions that occurred earlier in the morning. The walkways were so narrow that we were scolded by one of the workers for blocking the aisles. All the delivery vehicles, bicycles and people all seemed to move in a routine way. It was amazing that there weren't any accidents. Everyone knows their right of way. I wish people on Maui could learn from Japanese people.
While most of the group waiting in line for sushi, some of us went around the wholesale area. You pretty much can find everything you need for your grocery shopping. There are places that sell just souvenirs. We even saw a place that sold old scales and calculators. In the end, I found Hello Kitty. Who would have thought they would make paraphernalia of Hello Kitty for Tsukiji? I had to go get it.
~(left) Cleaning the eel. (right) All the fish packed and ready to go to the restaurants and stores.
Before we leave Tsukiji, we stopped by the small temple to pay our respects. Here the fishermen pray for a good journey out to sea.It's time to leave Tsukiji and head toward the Imperial Palace. I wish I could have seen the fish auction. It's too bad that some people have to spoil things for others.
The Imperial Palace is so beautiful. So many events that surround this area of Tokyo. There were so many battles and assassinations that are linked to the palace.To think, people believed that the emperor was a divine being. Why did he later take away that belief and say he is there to serve them? Does that mean my ancestors put faith into a lie? So many questions, but not enough time for the answers.
The Imperial Palace is so serene. It's seems so calm compared to the noise from the cars that are only about 100 meters away. Such a big piece of property, and yet the public is only allowed to see a few bits of it. I wish I could be there for the emperor's birthday. That's the only time when the public is allowed to enter the palace grounds.
As we leave the Imperial Palace, we see a group of school children on a field trip (かわいい!). It's amazing that there were only 5 adults for all those children. It would have been a madhouse if it were like that back home.
Next stop, Odaiba. I can't believe that this area was once a landfill. Seeing all the buildings and the Rainbow Bridge, it's hard to picture a landfill in the area.The area has so many beautiful buildings. Architecture in Japan is amazing. It's amazing how they figure out how to construct all these buildings with open spaces in them. The FujiTV building is one of them. Then there are buildings where majority is made out of glass and yet it looks emaculate. Those window washers sure work hard in Japan. At least they know that there will always be a job for them. Plus they do it with such pride. You don't see that in America.
There is so much to do here. There isn't enough time to do it all in. Bev, Aja and I spent the 5 hours of free time looking around the two shopping complexes, Aqua City and Decks. We didn't even have time to go to Palette Town. There wasn't time to see the FujiTV building up close. The only reason I know about the FujiTV is because of SMAP. That's pretty much why I wanted to go there to buy some SMAP items.
What I noticed about Japanese shopping malls are that everything is open, you don't have to open a door to get into the shop. The only door you have to open is the entrance to the building. Plus, there aren't those security gates because nobody dares to steal. I also expected to see security roaming around, but I didn't. It's so different than America.
As we were shopping in Decks, I came to a Sanrio outlet store. I couldn't believe that there was an actual Hello Kitty shrine outside of the store. I wish it was for sale! Is Hello Kitty that big around Japan? That's a dumb question for a Hello Kitty addict to ask It's just amazing the things I have seen so far. It's only the 2nd day and I've found a Hello Kitty Shrine (しんじられない!)
~Rainbow Bridge late afternoon
~Rainbow Bridge at night
1 comment:
Erm Mi-chan, I am kind of scared now, the suicide at the subways trains systems (I don't remember hearing about that at the Shinagawa station, did Yoko really mention this,,..I can't believe I did not hear about it) happened on the same dreadful-day of Friday, the 13th!! I don't know but its pretty creepy. ::twilight zone music in the background::
Well, all I know is that it is quite the tragedy, and I hope whoever committed suicide and is at a better place. I also would like to think that it was not a student, because they have their whole life in front of them and to throw that away with suicide, under the pretense that they are shaming their family or the society is not worth it. And the thought of Ijime saddens me as well..it not only exists in Japan, its all around the world, even in America. But the severity of "bullying'would be found in Asian countries like Japan.
I once saw a Japanese film documentary on " Japan's education system" for my anthropology class. And I felt aghast at how the Japanese ran their education system. The headmasters and teachers let the little kids 'rough play'(includes : ijime) each other and cause chaos and mayhem while turning the other cheek, and they say eventually, the kids will mature and will figure what is right and wrong. I don't know how old that documentary film was, but if the Japanese early education system was anything like that, no wonder there is bullying.
I guess we will always be clouded with the mystery around that suicide. Maybe if we were in Jpan still, the news might talk a bit about that..?
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