Long Time no Blog....

Eek, sorry guys. There's been a distinct lack of post activity. So these next couple of posts will serve to catch you all up on my time here in Tokyo. My goal is to create a post everyday for the next week. Let's see if I can do it.

I'm close to the three-month mark of my time here. And I still can't decide whether I like Tokyo or not. People keep telling me that it's not really indicative of Japan. That Tokyo has it's own culture and attitude that doesn't really mesh with the rest of the country. I hope so because, honestly, there are times when I want to get the heck out of here. But there are other times when I feel like this is a great place to be.

For example, times when U.Va. friends come to visit. Catherine, a recent graduate from U.Va., came to see me in Nihon back at the end of May, and we went to Yasukuni Shrine together. Unfortunately, maybe, I dunno, we entered from the back, so we saw the shrine and the grounds from back to front. Which was okay, but once again, Japanese people don't tell you when you're making a mistake! So we had no idea that we did that until we got to the front gates and were all, "Oh, oops, this is the front..."

Yeah.....

The day was kind of overcast, but it was still pretty. This is the shrine in the picture here. If you don't know the backstory on Yasukuni, I'll fill you in. So, Yasukuni is a shrine in Tokyo to honor Japanese who have perished in war. This includes WWI and WWII. The latter war dead are why this shrine is so controversial today. Whenever a new prime minister is instated into office in Japan, it's always a big deal whether or not he goes to the shrine. Korea and China see it a big f-you so to speak, as Japan committed some serious atrocities in both countries, some, such as the comfort women in Korea, that it won't fess up to or apologize for. So this seemingly innocuous place is steeped in controversy and international tension.

Also, it's not really a tourist hot-spot. Catherine and I were the only foreigners that I saw who came to visit that day. It's definitely one of the more reverent shrines, which makes it all the more controversial. When you first enter (through the front anyways), as with all shrines, you're supposed to wash your hands and cleanse your mouth. Left first I think, although I could be wrong. Then you enter through some really big gates and walk up a path to the shrine.

In the previous picture of the shrine, all you can see is concrete and gravel. But really there are quite a few trees on the grounds. Tied to some of the trees are small pieces of paper with prayers or wishes written on them. There was also a museum on the property but since it cost money to enter it, we decided to forgo that.

After the visit to the shrine, we met up with some of Catherine's friends and went to Ueno. Unlike Yasukuni, this place with teeming with foreigners. It actually made me a bit uncomfortable. And I wonder if it was because there were so many foreigners in one place and foreigners get a really bad rap here or if it was due to some other reason of which I'm not wholly cognizant. Hmm, I'm not sure. But I was really glad Catherine came to visit. It was like a little slice of home had made its way to Japan.