Tokyo Day 5 and 6 – Back to the future and books from the past

Wow sorry it really has been a long time since the last post in this series. Once again I’ve been getting steadily more and more busy. With publishable results comes, as one might expect, the need to publish. Most of the writing of my journal article is finished however it would seem that about 90% of the battle is getting the figures done to a reasonable standard. Anyway that’s not what I’m writing this blog for so I’m going to finally finish off this Tokyo visit series.

Now much though I do love my parents there are times when I’d like to do things at my own pace so we agreed to do a half day break from each other. With plans to meet each other later on at Roppongi hills I got myself up early to get back to Odaiba and finally visit Miraikan (未来館).  

Mirakan is the National museum of Emerging Science and Technology, the naming is a shortening of “Nihon kagaku miraikan” which is a bit of a mouthful, and houses many of the latest big developments in Japan’s research. As a member of RIKEN it would be rude of me not to go really since my organization probably contributes to some of the displays.

The first stop was the Dome theatre, a dome shaped planetarium. I have a strong sense that Japanese people have a real fascination with the stars, there are so many planetariums in this country, and you know what I’m not complaining because I love them to. This one was particularly special as it has 3D projectors and 270⁰ screen meaning you really feel like you are in amongst the stars. The best 3D I’ve ever seen hands down.

After a 20-minute movie I strolled around the exhibits. The top half of the museum is dedicated solely to real ongoing scientific research in an exhibit called explore the frontiers. It was quite nice to read about all the varied research going on across the country with nice little cornered off sections like; Our Solar System, The Universe, Life, Medicine and so on. In fact over half of the floor space was dedicated to something space related but I’m not complaining too much.

The section that impressed me most was definitely the Earth Environment space, called more specifically – Earth, Environment and Me. It showcased some of the wonderful things currently being developed right now that are moving towards making our exploits on the planet more sustainable. The exhibits were colorful and well laid out, god bless the Japanese propensity to the aesthetically pleasing, and the English was excellent. In fact I think it’s the most informative of all the museums I’ve been to as most of the Japanese information was well translated. Further more whilst there is a lot of stuff for children there is also a lot of extra information available if you want to delve deeper, and that is also translated.

 

Some of the displays themselves were really impressive in their ability to convey their message. I loved all the Rube Goldburg machines that illustrated things like the flow of carbon or the changing of the ages of earth. Besides these some other displays that stuck in my mind was the genomic harp, a series of light panels representing the 23 chromosomes of the human body. When you pressed a button corresponding to a particular trait lights would flash showing the corresponding genes positions on the chromosomes, very cool.

In between the 5^th and 3^rd floor is a giant suspended, revolving sphere, called Tsunagari. Onto it is projected a map of the world that can be changed to display maps colour coded for various different global trends. Alongside this is a walkway that is lined with images of all the Astronauts who have ever been sent to space, ordered by the year they were up there. Have you ever heard of Valentina Tereshkova? I know I hadn’t but she was the first woman in space, way back in 1963.

 

The third floor is a little less based on hard science but it is nonetheless interesting. This area is called “Create Your Future” and is focused on where we are headed in the next century. My favorite area, besides the robots because who doesn’t love robots,  was “The drive force of innovation”, a display devoted to where ideas come from. There is a large mural displaying some of the best human inventions from ancient times to the present day as well as area exploring the different ways in which we come up with new ideas. Mixed in there are also some amazingly inspiring quotes about the human mind.

There is much more I could talk about as this place really is the best museum I’ve been to in the country easily. I could feel the pride for Japan’s scientific frontiers without and of that creepy nationalism I got in the natural history museum. It was very cool and I was even treated to a dancing robot display before I left to meet up with my parents.

So out of Odaiba and off to Roppongi. Unusually I was bang on time and I met up with my Mum and Dad without any problems. I think being able to be in touch constantly this time around really helped a lot, my lesson had been learned from 2 years ago.

The plan for the evening was to check out the Mori art gallery near the top of the Roppongi hills tower complex. The complex is massive and the art gallery on the 50 something floor is equally expansive. The reason for us going there was an exhibition of works by Alphonse Mucha, of whom my dad is a big fan. I’ll not pretend to be particularly knowledgeable on Art Nouveau but Muscha is one of the big names so I’ve at least some of his work before. I’m not going to embarrass myself by trying to play art critic so I’ll just say I enjoyed the exhibit.

 

Afterwards we went up to the sky deck for some very spectacular views over Tokyo. Up is always better if you want to get a good impression of this city. What amazed me is the diversity of architecture across Tokyo. Sure it is mostly a concrete jungle but every now and then you see some wonderful curves to contrast those hard angles and some lush green to offset the dull greys.

For my final day in Tokyo I wanted to visit a friend out in Tsukuba, I think travelling to visit friends is something I will make more of a habit of when I return to the UK it’s such a rewarding pastime, but first there was one place I’d been longing to visit for quite some time.

It is no shock, I’m sure, to learn that I have a supreme fondness of the written word in any language. I’ve spent much time over the years wandering aimlessly through libraries and second hand book stores so when I heard there was a place in Tokyo where there were a ridiculous number clustered close together, I had to go.

Jinboucho (神保町) in Chiyoda sits neatly in between several of the major Tokyo universities and for this reason many of the big Japanese publishing houses set up shop nearby. Now we all know that your average student is pretty strapped for cash and so I’m sure it’s not surprise to learn this place has become known as “Book town” due to the approximately 150 used bookstores that line it’s main high street.

 

There really are books of all kinds here. Reference books, magazine stores, antiques, battered old novels, you name and you can probably find it in Jinboucho. Many of the shops have so many volumes in stock that they quite literally spill out into the streets, with boxes and shelves strewn willy nilly. It is a bit of a far cry from the usual pristine order of many Japanese establishments and I’ll be frank it was a welcome change.

I could have lost myself there in the musky smell of ancient tomes for over a decade but sadly I did have other things to do. Now knowing this place was home to a lot of th old Japanese publishers I wanted to check out some Ukio –e (Japanese wood block painting) prints for my parents. The best place for this is undoubtedly Ohya Shobo, one of the oldest stores in Jimbocho. The place is lined wall to wall with prints and originals, as well as some very old maps and books dating back to the 18^th century. I think I could have emptied my bank in that shop but instead I settled on a couple of copies for my parents. I think I’ll go back to get a few more before I leave.

 

After that I set out on a separate mission. This time I intended to find some books of old Japanese fairy stories (In Japanese of course). Not really being able to read too much kanji I was a little bit handicapped but I did eventually come across something and I’m currently reading it for practice, and personal interest of course. I do love a good folk tale and these are all centered around a particular area in northern Japan called Kurobe, home, besides all the crazy creatures in the stories of course, the world headquarters of zipper producers YKK apparently.

I eventually had to tear my self away and go visit my friend, my backpack was starting to get a bit heavy and if I didn’t leave soon I was going to have spent all of my money for sure. That being said on the way out I did make one final purchase. I came across a bookstore selling English books very cheap and picked up a copy of the Han Solo adventures, once a star wars geek always a star wars geek.

Well that about does it for my Tokyo adventures. I still need to write up some stuff about Okinawa so have that too look forward to, then hopefully once I have my paper and Japanese language proficiency test (eep) done and dusted I’ll hopefully be off on more adventures.

 

Mata ne.

Tokyo Day 4

So the initial plan for today was to check out the sumo museum with my Dad but I sadly flaked out and decided to explore Ginza with Jane and Jonathan. I kinda regret doing this, it was a bit crap of me to leave my Dad hanging, but I was just excited about seeing my friend again I guess.

Arriving in Ginza I was once again just blown away by the scale of everything. Unlike Osaka, which is a bit of a concrete Jungle, many of Tokyo’s district are surrounded by not only huge but also very beautiful buildings. In fact it is clear that a lot of thought has gone into their design as each district seems to have it’s own look and feel.

What was Ginza’s feel you ask? I can sum it up in one handy phrase from back home. “It’s ded posh innit.” Seriously though it is very swank again the high street is lined with all th big brand names from around the world. Looking down at my primark t-shirt and shabby shorts I felt like a bit of a pleb.

After the initial shellshock had worn off it occurred to me that I hadn’t actually arranged an station exit to actually meet Jane at. Blunder since as I’ve learned there are so many places to get off the underground that we literally could have been on opposite sides of the district. As I had no means of phoning here I just decided to wonder a bit and take in the sites until she phoned me.

About 20 minutes later (it’s always 20 minutes isn’t it) and a little bit of confusion on my part we met up outside of the Sony building. It was an 8 storey exhibition hall of all Sony’s latest products and it opened at 11am. Convenient really as we managed to fn each other at 10:55.

Inside it was pretty interesting, the whole place had a sort of marine theme running through it, with gentle ambience music filtering through every floor and many images of marine wildlife. In fact, which surprised me a little given the experience I’d had with Japan and animals there seemed to be  a strong theme of conservation.

Anyway whilst there were many products on display I believe the thing they were really trying to push forward was the new 3D technology. It was very impressive and we had some un messing with the different 3D video recorders. Something else that really impressed was the new shake correction features on display, I would love to know how they worked.

 

The top floor was a large cinema displaying the Okinawa Churaumi aquarium in 3D, cheaper than flying out to Okinawa I guess. To be honest 3D mostly just hurts my eyes and there were so many people crammed in there that the effect was a bit ruined so we moved on to the neighbouring department store.

Moving down to one of the bottom floors we found many an interesting trinket that would make excellent gifts for people back home. My favorite was definitely the clockwork Llama, not sure why you’d need one but it was excellent. Jane also pointed out a rather wonderful tea strainer that was shaped like a yellow submarine, yeah alright I know I hate the Beatles and proclaim it all the time but yellow submarines still have a place in my heart.

Our final stop in Ginza was to JUSCO. JUSCO, which stands for Japanese United Stores Company, is essentially the Japanese Primark, or maybe Topshop, although in terms of price it might be somewhere in between. Either way Jane had a friend back home whom was obsessed with the place so she wanted to have a look. Jane didn’t really find anything she liked but I got myself a much needed new t-shirt.

All done with Ginza we moved on to Tokyo tower. I’ve decided I’m going to try and visit all the major towers in Japan if I can, gotta have a goal right. I think I’ll need to do a bit of research to figure out where they all our but I’ll definitely be planning some weekend excursions I think.

It was only a few stops away and didn’t actually take us very long to get there. On the approach I was really taken aback at how huge it was. I mean I knew it was big but pictures never give you a real impression. In fact it’ so large it incorporates a small amusement park, many restaurants and souvenir shops and even a small, shudder, aquarium.

After a bit of queuing we took a lift up to the 1^st viewing floor, 150 meters up. There was a second floor at around 250 meters but it was an extra 600yen and an hour wait so we felt it best to jibb. The views around Tokyo where still excellent from here. My Dad had said the previous day that the only way to really see Tokyo is from on high and he was definitely correct.

After we’d gotten snap happy and soaked up the horizons we proceeded to exit the tower via the stairs. You don’t really get an impression of how high up you are until you are walking down stairs. Before reaching the base of the tower we stopped on a small plaza that had many coin operated kids rides. I couldn’t resist a go in one of the ‘giant’ robots I was in Japan you have to ride a giant robot once it’s the law.

At the base of the tower again we headed into what seemed to be some sort of pokemon related event. I can only quess that it was promoting the latest game although it is hard to tell as Pokemania is still alive and well over here. There were people of all ages battling it out not only on their Nintendo DS’s but also via the card game, in fact I’m pretty sure I saw a 10 year old battering a rather bemused looking middle aged man. Creepy or quaint, you decide.

Leaving the tower behind we moved on to Roppongi Hills where I had agreed to meet up with the Parental unit. Due to a misunderstanding they seemed to have been waiting for me again, I really am sorry you guys. Not for long however and had headed to the top of the Roppongi hills tower a whopping 52 storeys high. As it was 2000yen I opted not to follow them up though I regret this now.

Jane’s sugar levels where starting to dip and she said something along the lines of, if I don't eat something soon it’s going to get ugly. We went over to a nearby Ice-cream place, I don't remember the name but I d remember the annoying and incessant singing of Disney songs y the staff. After a bit of a cuffufle over her Gluten allergies and the staff losing the allergen chart Jane and Jonathan were fed and appeased.

It acctualy took so long that my parents were almost done and it was time to meet them outside the tower, next to a giant spider. I said my goodbyes and that I would hopefully see Jane before she flew to Oz tommorow and met up with mum and Dad.

My Mum had been reading up about a comedy hall in Ikebukero that she though might be entertaining. Dad was done for the day and opted out of our excursion but we happily set off on our way. Lttle did we know it would be a bit of a nightmare.

Ikebukero it seemed was about 3 degrees hotter than anywhere else in Japan. It’s pretty interesting as a place but very encroaching with densely packed buildings and a lot of seemingly busy people. Finding the comedy club was a pain, nobody seemed to of heard of it by the name given in the tourist information. In fact when we did eventually find it the place was tiny. My mum decided she’d had enough for the day and didn’t fancy sitting in a little comedy club where she wouldn’t understand anything for 2 hours, I agreed.

Heading back to Ningyocho we looked for someplace to eat at for the evening. It being a Sunday and also getting on for time places were fairly limited. I picked out a restaurant that I thought seemed alright but in fact turned out to be a rather up market Izakaya, essentially just very expensive. The food was so so as unfortunately their specialty seemed to be crab and shrimp, not so great for me. It was a bit of an anti-climax to what on the whole had been a good day. Admittedly the bemused look on both my Mum and Dad's faces as they tried to work the electronic ordering panel was worth the weak food.

Dewa, mata kondo ne.