So it’s Friday morning, now, and my Japan Rail Pass Misadventures continue to continue. I forgot to wrap up the related events for Thursday: basically, I got home that night to discover an empty mail box and an email informing me that my package had been put on a delivery vehicle to send to my door before being returned to the post office due to an incomplete address. Again.
How?! Why?! I’d given them the correct address twice, and the second time I sent it in both English and Japanese just to be safe, to no avail! So Friday, because of the jet lag, I woke up super early and hatched my plan.
This time, I was instructed to call the post office rather than email the corrected address. The problem here is that I didn’t have the ability to call Japanese numbers, or any numbers at all, for that matter, because my SIM card did not work in Japan. So, I had to download a WiFi calling app and then pay for Japanese calling credits and then wait for the call centers to open at nine. I woke up at around 5:30, so this left me a lot of worry time. I wanted to take a bath, but I couldn’t calm down enough for that.
Long story short, I was miraculously connected to a woman who spoke wonderful English and was able to take down my address (in the exact same format as my first two attempts), and then she said my package should arrive that same day.
By some stroke of luck, a knock came to my door literally two minutes before I was going to leave. I had everything packed and ready to go and was filling my water bottle when the knock came. The FedEx man told me, “Next time, please put street,” and he pointed to the first two address labels. I nodded my thanks and awkwardly watched as he recorded my email down as my name, and then I did a little happy dance.
The frustrating thing is that in the first two address labels, it was clear what the problem was: the address was literally just cut short. Both labels stopped in the middle of the name, “Hodogaya,” where the first one ended in “Ho,” and the second gave up after, “Hodogay.” This is problematic since the street name came even after this. So it was all a mess and it was not my fault and I was angered, but at least I had my rail pass in hand, finally.
I celebrated with a quick bite to eat.
And then I counted out my over twenty dollars’ worth of change that was weighing my purse down.
And then I was off! I grabbed a milk tea for the road. All it was missing was the boba.
I peeked into a bookstore once I got to the city and was a bit dazed by how full the covers and spines were with characters. Most books had more word space than art space. Very interesting.
I had a bit of a mishap at the first transfer station. I was trying to be crafty by bussing instead of training so I could save about fifty cents, but I got turned around and exited the massive station on the wrong side. I thought about weaving back through the station, but I decided it would be more pleasant to just go around.
I was wrong.
It just wasn’t very easy to go around this colossal thing, and even if it had been, it probably would have been better to try clockwise instead of counterclockwise. It seemed the station just never ended, and when it finally did, there was no place to cross the tracks. It took so long to get around that I got hungry again and finally stopped into a 7-11 for another to-go meal. I ate it in a park surrounded by high school students who weren’t in class for some reason. Oh, and there was a natural history museum with this whale outside. I like full-scale whale models.
Finally, finally, finally, I made it to the bus. I didn’t arrive to my destination, Asakusa, until about three in the afternoon. Oops.
The first stop was the Sensoji Temple. The temple had a funny mixed atmosphere because there were a lot of people, but it was still somehow calm and peaceful because of the presence of the temple.
I think this area came the closest in feel to all of the outdoor markets in Taiwan, so that was fun and familiar. Lots of little trinkets and fun snacks were being sold.
While I was perusing some of these stalls, I heard a European accented voice call out, “Young lady! Take my picture! Young lady!” It took until the second, “Young lady!” for me to realize he was talking to me, and then we had quite the photo sesh. Pretty cute.
I also got a great view of the Tokyo Skytree from here.
So tall. So tree.
The gates and side buildings of Sensoji Temple were just as glamorous as the main temple building.
After passing through the main gate, I was spat out onto Nakamise Dori, a long, skinny shopping street.
When I came to a stall selling matcha ice cream, I couldn’t help but get one for myself.
Soooooo delicious and creamy. Yummy. Yummy. Yum. This was the start to a sort of daily ritual for me.
At the other end of this shopping street was the Kaminarimon Gate. I honestly liked the one on the first end better, but I guess this is the famous one.
I was astounded and tickled to find that the main street beyond the gate was riddled with rickshaw drivers. I can’t remember where I first read about rickshaws – I want to say it was The Good Earth, but I could be wrong. Basically, imagine those little carriages that attach to the backs of bikes, and you can pay the cyclist to drive you to your (nearby) destination. The only difference here is that there is no bike! A poor, spandexed man with a sun hat has to hold your carriage by the two wide handles and literally run you to your (hopefully even nearer-by) destination. It looked like hard work, dude.
At one point, I walked by an African American woman who seemed to be literally laughing and pointing at a couple of the rickshaw drivers. I was immediately aghast that she could be so rude, but then I realized she was standing next to a third driver and he was smiling and laughing with her. Then I heard her say to him, “You’re the best out of all of them! Y’all are so sexy!” His face was flushed in a dark red, whether from the forward compliment or the hard work, it was hard to tell.
Next, I explored a bit of the surrounding area as I made my way to the train station.
The train I took was part of a brand new private line, and it was fancy fancy. The length I rode was entirely above ground, and it gave amazing views of both the city skyline and the water.
I was on my way over to Odaiba, a modern, if not futuristic, neighborhood on the water in Tokyo.
I was dropped off in Palette Town, a multi-leveled shopping complex containing a giant Toyota display center.
I’m honestly not super into cars, but this place was pretty cool. Standard cars, racecars, futuristic cars, and cars with their insides exposed were all on display for anyone’s free viewing pleasure.
I was a big fan of this tiny one-seater. This is seriously all I need in my life! Something to get me to the bus stop or the grocery store without lugging all the weight of my tired self or my grocery bags up the hill, and I’d be happy as a clam.
Come on. You can totally picture me in that driver’s seat. Admit it.
Oh, yeah. There were also these little doohickies that are kind of reminiscent of a Segway or one of those Hoverboard things.
Not sure how much I’d like driving one of those…
After this fun little excursion, I was met with a choice. My cousins had recommended this modern digital art museum, teamLab Borderless, and it was right in this neighborhood. I had originally counted it out just because it seemed a bit out of the way and hard to get to, but now that I was a five minute walk away, that excuse no longer applied. My next issues were these: the entrance fee was about $30, and closing time was in about an hour and a half. These are both concerning because $30 is a heck ton of money for a museum. I think I’ve paid $25 once before, and that hurt. The time limit was also concerning because I reeeeeaaallly like to take my time in museums. When the average person spends two hours at Harry Potter Studios, I spent seven. When someone else might get bored of the Louvre after an hour and a half, I spent nearly nine hours there in a single day.
But! I would likely not get a chance to come back here, to this part of the neighborhood or maybe even to Tokyo or Japan, so it was (rushed and expensive) now or (maybe) never! I chose the former.
It was definitely the right choice.
This was no ordinary art museum. Everything was digital, which meant that lights, sounds, and sensations were projected on the walls, floors, ceilings, and spaces around every room.
Where’s Lizzy? Did she become a flower? Is she becoming one with that colorful wall? Indeed. Indeed I am.
And that was only the first space! Other spaces were interactive as well as beautiful.
This space was called the Athletic Forest. The main room was a rollicking mess of uneven floors and moving lights that made it hard to orient oneself. Then tucked into the side walls and corners were different games, activities, and jungle gyms for adults and children alike.
The first one I checked out was a giant trampoline that behaved like a colorful ocean out of some fantastical nightmare. The idea was that the jumpers were creating a solar system with their energy, and eventually, a supernova would occur, signaling the end to that group’s jump time. Pretty cray cray.
This space was made up of a bunch of hanging planks that were sometimes connected to others and sometimes free-hanging. As junglers climbed around, the hanging poles would click and clack into one another as they swayed, eliciting giggles from the adults and making people forget to stay out of the “under 100cm” area of this obstacle course.
Okay. I really liked the next room. This one was basically just crammed with a bunch of light-filled balloons. Seems simple but is somehow so fun and beautiful.
Okay here are more pictures because they’re all so great and looking at them makes me happy.
Wow. Balloons are great. You’re great. Everything is great.
But anyways. I got a kick out of the next area, which was actually just many long tables with coloring pages and crayons. Nearly every seat was taken.
Kind of fun how being surrounded by art, color, and movement can make people feel young and inspired in a way they don’t normally feel on a day-to-day basis. #art.
The next spot looked like another beautiful and messy array of light bulbs, but it was actually another jungle gym. Each “light bulb” could actually be used as a foot- or hand-hold, and they were all attached to floor-to-ceiling poles. Like that other jungle gym, there really wasn’t an objective here besides playing with your surroundings and having fun. This one had a line though, so I admired the fact that the climbers were immediately lost to the piece once they entered the jungle, and then I carried on.
I honestly can’t remember how I even found this room, but the next adventure was a small, dark room filled with these digital water lily type creatures.
Some were taller than me, and others didn’t even make it to my knee. They swished and swayed on their spindles as we walked among them.
So cool.
The layout of the museum was just as unique as the museum itself. At the entrance, there was a little safety video that informed visitors that some rooms were extremely hard to find, and it’s no wonder. Some rooms had doors, others had dark curtains, some were stationed along hallways and others were hidden inside other exhibits. I got turned around multiple times and kept returning to the same exhibits by different entrances, but I did manage to find plenty to explore.
This next space was soooooo glamorous. I could have stayed here a lot longer, but since this one was in a small, enclosed room, there was a line and a time limit for visitors. Hanging lamps filled the space and slowly changed colors from purples to reds to blues to yellows.
And that was just my view from the outside!
From the inside, I was able to see that the floor, ceiling, and walls were all mirrors, reflecting back the colorful lamps tenfold and transporting viewers to another world full of light and color.
I was a little sad that the lights stayed this orangey-yellow the whole time I was in the room, but it was still gorgeous and glamorous, so I don’t have too much to complain about.
The music playing in this room was also so soft and calming that when we were finally (and too quickly) ushered out, I felt distinctly like I was leaving behind a sort of Neverland.
The next space was nearly as magical, though, and in a much fiercer way. Tall, skinny tubes of LEDs hung from the tall ceiling all the way to the mirrored floor and the lights moved with the sounds around us.
Sometimes, it felt like I was walking through a violent storm. Other times, like I was drifting through quiet hyperspace. And other times, still, I felt nothing more than the compelling notion to stand and stare up in stillness.
There were some serious photoshoots happening in here, and I can’t blame them (or me, tehe).
This room also didn’t have any sort of time limit, so I stayed until I was dizzy with the lights and noise.
By no intentional means, I found myself back in the first space again, lovingly titled, “The Flower Forest.”
Soon, though, I found myself in a small viewing area. It was kind of shaped like a long “U,” and we watched from the opening of that “U” as lights and colors came toward us and then swirled away in front of us on the curved walls.
I was confused why we were all standing at the opening of the space instead of being inside the space like the other rooms, and then a girl voiced the same thought before tromping into the center. I followed her, along with a couple of her friends. We made it all of about four feet before we were quickly beckoned by the hidden employee who had been kneeling in front of the onlookers to keep the space clear. Oops. Some spaces are more interactive than others, it turns out.
I believe the most hidden space I found was located behind a curtain so smooth and so black that it blended perfectly with the surrounding walls in the hallway. I only found it because I had been trailing my hand along the soft velvet fabric on the walls when I felt the curtain give way to my touch.
The space was dark and quiet with the soft sounds of marching solders and distant calls. Dozens of screens were lined up with faint, colorful projections of little ancient men displayed on their surfaces. Mirrors lined two of the four walls to make the space seem to stretch far beyond its true boundaries. I was alone in this space save for the one solemn, wandering employee.
The last new space I explored was this wide, cavernous room that seemed to be filled with a digital waterfall.
I was astounded at my perfect timing when, at seven o’clock, the announcement for closing time was called. Turns out I had just the right amount of time to explore. On my way out, I visited the Flower Forest one last time, partly because it was so pretty and partly because I honestly could not find the exit.
When I came outside, the sun was nearly set.
I picked up some dinner and wandered the shopping centers a bit.
Then I made my way to a large park and shopping center called Diver City, famous for its life-size Gundam statue. I’m not entirely sure what Gundam is, but he was pretty cool and was reminiscent of a Transformer or one of the super-sized Power Ranger fighting figures.
I arrived to the area right around 8:30, just in time for the song and light show.
After I ate my dinner, I wandered the park a bit.
Soon, I had a great view of the bridge to the rest of Tokyo with the Tokyo Tower in the background.
Then, just a little ways away, there was a Statue of Liberty replica!
This meeting was definitely a moment of redemption for me since I’ve now been to New York twice and have not properly seen Lady Liberty up close.
So pretty! The weather was perfect, too, so I kind of just hung out in the area for a while, marveling at Lady Liberty and the view across the water before heading back into town and then back to Yokohama.
I’ve also noticed (what I think is) a very strange phenomenon here in the Tokyo area which is that rush hour seems to last well past nine o’clock!
Such crowds! I’m not sure if people are actually working this late, if people are finishing dinner up at this time, or if there’s some other special happenings that wrap up around 9:30, but every day these crowds have taken me by surprise.
When I got back to the apartment, I decided, yet again, that I was too tired to take a bath. I packed all my stuff up, set my alarm, and slept the night away with plans for Osaka on the horizon.
私はあなたに最高を祈ります/ best wishes,
-Lizzy-wa