Exploration in Japan
I’ve had a lot of fun here in Japan. On Wednesday, Greg and I went to Asakusa, which is an area where there are some really cool temples. When we got to the main temple there was a ceremony in progress. There is an area for people to throw coins, which almost everyone did. The atmosphere was totally amazing with the constant clinking of coins and the loud deep drumming. Incense was burning and people were praying. It was pretty awesome.
It was also blisteringly hot. I think that the high in Tokyo was 37 degrees Celsius which, I think, is around 98 or 99 degrees Farenheit. It was also extremely humid. The conditions eventually sent us back a little earlier than we expected but that was good because when we got into the subway the lights were going in and out and the trains were really delayed and packed. Fortunately, there was no disaster as far as we could tell but it took us an extra half hour to make it back to the hotel.
Today we went to downtown Chiba and rode the monorail to just get a sense of life in the city. Then we walked for a while and found a great park with a Japanese folk museum in it. The museum was almost entirely filled with war materials — from swords to armor to painting of battle. It was pretty intense. Again, we headed back a little early but decided to make a stop at a grocery store to try out some different food. So far everything we’ve tried has been pretty good.
The really interesting part of this whole adventure is just getting around. It’s Japan, so everything is in Japanese, which I can’t even begin to read or speak. And it isn’t like Europe where you can sort of sound things out and grasp familiar looking words. I think that it is great to sort of have to figure everything out but I have asked for help a few times and each time the person has been extremely nice.