Sunday Stroll: Imperial Palace Grounds and Kagurazaka

Meganebashi (Eyeglass Bridge) at the entrance to the inner Imperial Palace grounds.

Kokyo Gaien, the outer palace grounds overlooking Marunouchi, Tokyo's financial district. One of the very few places in Tokyo you will find this much open space.

Reconstructed watchtower. Almost all the structures in the palace complex burned down during the U.S. firebombing of Tokyo in 1945.

Afternoon tea at Paul, a French bakery chain...brought back memories of studying in France :)
Kagurazaka is a neighborhood known for its French influence.

Adorable (read: pricey) produce store

Waseda dori in Kagurazaka closed off for Sunday afternoon strollers like us

Quirky statues outside the Tokyo University of Science.

Sweet little house in one of the back alleys

Our (approximate) route

Climbing Mount Fuji

「登らぬ馬鹿、二度登る馬鹿」

“He who climbs Mount Fuji is a wise man, but he who climbs it twice is a fool.” - Japanese proverb

The iconic mountain, as seen from Hakone in February

Mount Fuji is a well-known symbol of Japan around the world celebrated for its majesty and beauty. At 12,390 feet it is the tallest mountain in Japan and almost perfectly symmetrical, lending itself well to artistic interpretation and reverence. Climbing the sacred Fuji-san (as the Japanese call it) is not technically difficult;*only* 4.2 miles up and about 4800 ft. of elevation. Anyone that is relatively in shape, with a bit of hiking experience and proper gear can do it. Hundreds of thousands of people, young and old, Japanese and foreigners, climb it every year during the official climbing season of July and August. Still, it's no joke--it's a mountain, not a walk in the park. Regardless, this year there will likely be a record number of climbers due to Fuji-san's designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site. 

To be honest, when we arrived in Japan I had little interest in climbing Mt. Fuji. I was perfectly content to look at it and admire it, as the Japanese have done for thousands of years. Well, when I saw that there was an overnight trip on my birthday I thought--maybe--just maybe--it would be wonderful to reminisce: "On my 33rd birthday I saw the sun rise from Mt. Fuji." And for Igor, it would be a chance to make it to the top. In 2006 he didn't make it up to the summit due to bad weather. So if the proverb holds true, then I am a wise (wo)man and Igor is a fool for climbing twice! ;)

My expectations were that the trip would be a a tough uphill/downhill slog through a harsh landscape devoid of greenery (and shade), with no guarantee of viewing the sunrise. Ultimately, it turned out to be about the journey and not the destination--and such a uniquely memorable Japanese experience. That being said, I'm never doing it again--my legs will thank me!

Our Route (Yoshida Trail):

July 21, 2013: The Hike Up

Fujiyoshida Sengen Shrine - the original "trailhead" at the bottom

Our trailhead - Yoshida 5th Station, elevation 2305 m (7562 ft). There are 4 main trails to the summit and this one is the most popular due to its proximity to the Tokyo area.

Walking sticks for purchase. You can get them branded at each station.

We're going all the way up there?

Starting out around 9:30 am. The people coming down did not look very happy!

Switchbacks and mountain huts

Contemplating the view. A little hazy the first day.

"Bulldozers" used to bring supplies up and down the mountain...and if you get hurt you're coming down on one of these too. For 30,000 yen ($300).

Going through the clouds in a really rocky section

Above the clouds

Resting at one of the many mountain huts

Approx $3 for a Snickers bar. Captive audience!

Resting in the moonscape

So close but so far...

All tucked in for the night at the Fujisan Hotel (3200 m/11155 ft) after a hot meal. The 40(!) mountain huts can house 7,000 people. Just crazy.

July 22, 2013: Up to the Summit and Back Down

Getting ready in the morning to catch the sunrise at the top - 1:30 a.m. I slept 4 hours at the most.

Bathroom break? That'll cost ya 200 yen ($2) each time. Really, though, what does it tell you about the volume of people that they have these kinds of facilities??

Basically a back to back single file line all the way to the summit 1200 ft up. We were lucky to have perfect weather--not raining and just above freezing temps.

Patiently waiting in line. This is when Igor started getting vertigo - a symptom of Altitude Sickness. He managed to hike through it, but others weren't so lucky.

 What a surreal experience.

We make it to the top just before sunrise around 4:30 a.m. - about 3 hours after we started climbing. It wouldn't be Japan without souvenir stands and vending machines!

 Enjoying our breakfast cocoa. At this point we thought it might be too cloudy to see the sunrise.

Waiting for the moment with thousands of our closest friends at 4:41 a.m.

The sun starts peeking through the clouds--cameras and phones up!

 We were happy to see a glimmer of something at all.

Everyone gasps "SUGOIIIIII!!!" (Coollll)

A gorgeous start to my 33rd year!

Shrine at the summit

Land of the Rising Sun

Yatta! (We did it!)

The crater...the mountain last erupted in 1707.

Line of people still climbing to the summit

Lots of wind so you can't hear anything that I'm saying. Oh well, you get the idea :-/

Breathtakingly beautiful

Starting our descent - tired and ready to get off the mountain

The descent is mostly shuffling down a steep slope of several inches deep slippery pumice. You will get cut you up if you fall. The one thing I wish I would have brought but didn't was a rag or face mask...very dry and dusty. I had a dust mustache!

 Downhill. UGH.

I look a lot happier than I felt! Starting to remove layers of clothing due to the temperature change. It's around 85-90 degrees F at the bottom.

Back where we started at the 5th station! Feeling relieved I didn't slip and break my ankle on the way down--Happy Birthday to me! :)

Post hike udon at 9:30 a.m.-- never tasted soo good! I thought I looked really tired but I realized it is just all the dirt under my eyes!

These boots were made for walking. Indeed.

The Dreaded NHK Man

Hashi: "I am not watching NHK. Only YouTube videos!"

I feel like we were pretty prepared before moving to Japan. I'd read a lot of stuff, learned a little Japanese, and visited several times (well, once for 7 months, ha!). File this under "totally random stuff I had no idea about before I moved to Japan."

Anyway, I read Japan Today (Japanese news in English) on a daily basis to keep up with what's going on in Japan. Usually it's filled with stuff about crotchety old people and crimes that wouldn't even make the news in the U.S. Every once and a while an article about the NHK fees come up and there are a flood of comments from expats about "the dreaded NHK man." I thought well, that is strange, but it sounds like maybe we'll see someone eventually so I know what to expect.

NHK (Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai or "Japan Broadcasting Corporation") is essentially the equivalent of PBS in Japan. PBS solicits funds in the U.S. through pledge drives, etc. while NHK requires anyone (per the latest court ruling) that has a TV-equipped device (TV, computer, smartphone, Nintendo DS) to pay the equivalent about $260 per year even if you don't watch NHK , no exceptions. Seriously? Seriously.

Domo is the NHK mascot...he's cute but tenacious. Grrrr!

However, the catch is that there is no way for them to force you to pay...and since we are here with the military (SOFA) and not residents of Japan we definitely don't have to pay the fees. Oh, but that didn't stop them from trying! I am so glad I was informed as one day a few months ago "the dreaded NHK man" in the form of a diminutive lady showed up at our doorstep from NHK trying to inform us that we needed to pay the fees. Saying "nihongo"(Japanese) crossing hands (meaning "no") and "gomen nasai" (sorry) didn't work. She had come prepared with a pamphlet in English (albeit wordy and confusing). Things were slowly starting to make more sense...I had read about this online. We needed to get rid of her before she saw the TV in our living room! Never mind that we only use it for streaming video of f the internet...

We called our realtor to help translate but the NHK woman refused to talk to her...I had also read about this. You have to verbally enter into this idiotic contract yourself. We kept stalling and pretending to be confused. She asked if we had smartphones and computers (I think) and I lied. Eventually after about 10 minutes of awkward interaction with the "baka gaijin" (stupid foreigners) she gave up trying to talk Japanese at us and left the pamphlet. I think we got off easy. I have read sometimes the NHK people are really rude and try to force their way into your house to find your TV while making (unenforceable) threats of legal action. Some people pay the fees and some people don't. We'll be some of the ones that don't!

At least now if someone comes back we have a killer attack dog--yeah right! :)

Stereotypical Foreigners in Japanese Commercials

So Japan is about 98.5% ethnic Japanese or something like that, making it one of the most ethnically homogenous countries in the world. However, it is very common to feature foreigners (外人gaijin - literal translation: "outside person") in advertisements and commercials. Also, note that "foreigner" almost always means "English-speaking, white, and (usually) blond-haired and blue-eyed." 

Here are some annoyingly stereotypical commercials that have been popping up frequently when I've been watching stuff on YouTube recently. The one below is for a home baking appliance called SuiPanDa by Toshiba ("pan" being Japanese for "bread"). Big fake nose, blond wig, bad accent, and exclaiming loudly in English? Must be one of those crazy gaijin!



The next one is an older commercial. It's for a detergent called Bold by Procter & Gamble. Many commercials in this series, I discovered. The woman has a laughably bad Japanese accent, which is obviously intentional.  Hilarious and cute...right? Right. :-/



I'm not suggesting that you never see commercials like this in the U.S. but usually if you do, there's an uproar and someone's gonna get fired and/or sued. I just read recently that GM pulled a car ad based on the background music having racially stereotypical language. So am I an overly sensitive American for thinking this kind of advertising is tired and lame or is it just all in good fun? Doesn't really matter since I'm not the target audience. I'm the minority here in Japan!