Tokyo Edo Museum

Twelve hours after I got back from America, I went on a field trip.

Was it a good idea? Could I stay awake the whole time? Where was the nearest vat of coffee? These were the questions I asked myself on the way to here---

Ryogoku Station, which is known mostly for its proximity to sumo. This neighborhood wrecks the BMI average of the entire country. We saw a couple of sumo wrestlers while walking around, which was pretty cool.

We were a group of ten or so, and luckily, eight of us were Japanese and knew what was going on. The other two of us were the former (her) and current (me) teachers of the class trip's students. They go on a field trip once a year and it was a great chance for turnover.

First, lunch at the Dai-Ichi Hotel Ryogoku. It had a great Viking (which is what the Japanese call a buffet). It also had a perfect view of Tokyo Skytree.

Lunch was a great time to eat and chat. Plus, someone made paper cranes for each place setting, and I ended up with all the cranes at my table, so I have a whole family.

The cranes were just a perk, though. The main event was really the Tokyo Edo Museum. I did not give this museum nearly enough time or attention due to jet lag and interest in the first floor gift shop. I'll return at a later date because the museum is beautiful, and really interactive. I mean, look at all the things you can do!

You can sit in a palanquin:

You can pick up a matsui like an old timey Japanese firefighter:

These were used like guidons, basically it's held aloft so a group can identify its rally point. The guidons at Blake's college were a lot more flag-like and less weird-wooden-triangle-thing. And let me tell you, at the Tokyo-Edo Museum, they really let you experience the weight of history. Literally. This stuff is heavy.

I went over to these buckets expecting a lesson in balance. Instead, I got 50 pounds of rocks on my shoulder. This picture shows the highest I was able to lift the buckets due to the weight and my height. I would have made a terrible water schlepper.

Anyone want more examples of manual labor disguised as a museum exhibit?

Rachel was my lucky passenger. It wasn't much a ride, though, since it was bolted to the floor.

See that stone wall behind us? That's inside the museum. In fact, there's a whole bridge inside the museum. It's a replica of Nihonbashi, which was built during the Edo Period. A new version is still in use today in the Nihonbashi district in Tokyo.

My favorite part, however, was definitely the models.

There were huge tables of beautifully detailed models. Little people so life-like that I'm pretty sure they come alive after the museum closes. I mean, if someone built a whole tiny, little city, it can't be purely decorative, right?

Next time I go back, I'll bring these photos along for comparison. I'm pretty sure the people will have moved. Prepare yourselves for scientific breakthrough.

It was a long day, but I'm glad I fought back my jet lag long enough to visit. Between the food, sumo and history, Ryogoku is definitely worth a second look. It's an area of Tokyo I'd never heard of, and can't wait to visit again.

Ueno Park & Tokyo National Museum

Yesterday, I went to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo... sort of.

I found out I need a special stamp on my passport that will make leaving and returning to Japan easier. I can only get the stamp from the embassy. PSD (personnel services dept) gave me directions and off I went.

I got there (all the way to Tokyo mind you) only to discover that they are an appointment only establishment, even for a simple stamp. They don't do same-day appointments, and there are no appointments on Wednesdays. Awesome.

I decided I might as well do a little sight-seeing so my day wasn't a complete waste, after all, I was wearing sneakers. I decided to go to Ueno Park. It's like the Central Park of Tokyo except it has many more museums. I decided to see the zoo, after all, they have pandas there(!). I successfully navigated my way to the park, and surveyed the map. I had no idea how many things there were to do in this park. It's full of museums and historical stuff. My feminine heart longed for the giant panda bears, but my brain was like, "no, you will take in some history in culture!"

As I walked to the Tokyo National Museum, I went by the zoo entrance. Well, that's not entirely true. I didn't actually see the entrance. No one could. You'd have thought they had a live, fire-breathing dragon in there from the crowd lined up to get in on a Wednesday afternoon. Seriously, it looked like Lady Gaga was giving a free concert inside.

My mind was made up. No way was I going to stand in that line, especially when there was a very appealing alternative. A place where I could study the ancient civilization that is Japan, where I could soak in all the history and educate myself on thousands of years of civilization, a place where there would be no line. The Tokyo National Museum.




There are many buildings, but this is the main one



It was a crying shame that the zoo had so many people lined up and the National Museum had zero people waiting in line. It wasn't deserted by any stretch, but it wasn't exactly a happening place. I did have to stand in line, though, to see the Buddha exhibit.

This was really, really cool. In the 70s and 80s a Japanese manga artist,  Osamu Tezuka, drew a manga series about the life of Buddha (who, by the way was born out of his mother's right side. Her right side. This guy was an independent thinker). So the museum exhibit was about Buddha's life as depicted in the manga with historical artifacts and statues to elaborate the highlights of Buddha's life. The illustrations were amazing and the museum did an absolutely outstanding job of integrating the manga comic and history. Also, even though the room was crammed with people, it was dead silent in there. The whole place was almost painfully quiet.

The rest of the museum was interesting, if a little dry at times (thousands of years of pottery displayed at once can be a little daunting). This place houses major, major historical artifacts and works of art. It's the Smithsonian of Japan, except without the pop culture.

 

 Everything was beautiful, absolutely everything. It was the kind of place you walk around slack-jawed in because these things are old. I mean, these people were irrigating rice fields around 300BC.

It was a truly beautiful place and I'm sure if I went back I would see many things I'd missed the first time.

On a more practical note, the museum was great because they have free lockers in every building. It was really nice to be able to lock up my stuff and walk around unencumbered, especially since I had hit the gift shop pretty early in my trip. What a great country.

And yes, I did have soft-serve green tea ice cream. No sightseeing trip would be complete without it.