American Girl in a Tokyo Scene

PREFACE: My sister and I have wanted to visit Asia together since we were 12 years old. In March 2006, we planned a trip for June around her husband's business trip. After a four-month countdown of planning and research, my sister, who is at the time, five months pregnant, backs out of the trip the night before our flight is scheduled to leave. Here's the most important part of this story: I went by myself anyway and am so glad I did.

"Harijuku Girls" - Gwen Stefani
"I'm fascinated by the Japanese fashion scene
Just an American girl, in the Tokyo streets
My boyfriend bought me a Hysteric Glamour shirt
They're hard to find in the states, got me feeling couture."

Having been slightly obsessed with Asian cultures for many years, my eight day stint in Japan not only fulfilled every expectation, but was enhanced by the fact that I pretty much went it alone. I arrived in Tokyo and took a bus to a hotel where I got a taxi to drop me off at a friend's house, where my brother in law would join me the next day. My friend's wife, who is from Taiwan, was the most gracious host, giving me a tour of the grounds built in 1939 and escorting me to the fish market the next morning. After smelling raw fish for a couple hours we quickly scooted through the marketplace where I put things in my mouth that I normally wouldn't even pick up off the floor. Free samples in foreign countries are great.

Then we went to Harijuku, because as a huge fan of Gwen Stefani I had to see what all the fuss was about. I mean, if these girls are on her tour and her album, this place must be worth visiting. It was a shopping trap. My credit card will never be the same. We also went to the Roppongi Hills area where outdoor advertising is king. Since it happened to be the World Cup, crowds gathered beneath TV screens the size of billboards to watch the games at every hour of the day.

When my brother in law finally arrived we went to the WWII museum. I was dying to see what all the "controversy" was about but it looked like a regular museum. No big displays that told about how Japan won the war - just walls of photographs of those who died. A white notebook hung below one of the display cases with page after page of personal letters from kamakazi pilots who wrote their loved ones for the last time. One letter in particular from a 23-year-old apologized for being sentimental and for making his parents worry more than he should have. He hoped his life's contribution would make a difference in the war.

That night we went to the Park Hyatt Hotel where Lost in Translation was filmed. Wow. Quite a view from 52 stories up. I've never seen such a condensed amount of city lights before. The floor to (very high) ceiling windows along the entire restaurant make you feel like a very small person in a very large room in a very tightly packed city. The scallops I had for dinner melted in my mouth. And I doubt I'll be able to find this again, but I had a martini made from Green Tea and White Chocolate liqueur. Yum-mie.

On Sunday I decided to leave Tokyo and spend a couple nights in Kyoto. Well, because I could. I booked a room on Expedia at Hotel Grandvia, since it was located inside the train station which was connected to the subway. I expected Kyoto to be more rural. The only countryside I got to see on my entire trip was from the view of my window on the JR (Japanese high speed train - a 2 and a half hour ride from Tokyo). I hit a bookstore and a tea house before dinner and went to bed early. For an American who doesn't speak Japanese, the bookstore may seem pointless. But consider these two facts: more design elements, movie trends and fashion elements have come out of Japan than you can shake a bamboo stick at. I got the scoop on what my friends in L.A. and D.C. will be wearing several months from now from the uber-cool magazines. No translation required.

The next morning I went to Sanjusangen-do - a temple where 1,001 life sized bronze statues stare you down as you walk past them to the two-story high buddha sitting lotus style of course in the center of the building. A monk in an orange robe sang his prayers while jasmine incense filled the 13th century temple.

On the other side of town I got an English tour of the Imperial Palace, which in June is nothing to write home about. After trekking it to the Golden Temple (painted in gold leaf) and Ryoan, the stone garden, I caught a taxi back down to Gion Corner - aka Geisha Town. I ate dinner in a back alley restaurant, saw a play and went back to my hotel, exhausted. The play was mandatory. Simply shopping and eating your way through a foreign country does not count as an international experience.

The weather in Kyoto was in the 80's, muggy and sunny. Just how I like it. It rained in Tokyo the entire time and none of the flowers were in bloom - note to self, next time visit Japan when the cherry blossoms are blooming in the spring or in the fall when the leaves are all different colors. Also note: Nobody speaks English, even if they secretly know how.

Even the other foreign tourists I ran into on my trip, only one of which was American, spoke Russian, German or Spanish only. Add that to the intimidating nature of being surrounded by Japanese lettering everywhere (even on menus) and you begin to understand why the film L.I.T. had such an alienating effect.

In the end, I'm actually glad my sister didn't make it. Walking barefoot through ancient temples and shrines, smelling the musty incense and meditating on the arrangement of stones, trees and flowers is a Zen-like experience that can only be attained through silence and inner reflection. Of course, while everyone was extremely polite and helpful, I should have learned more phrases than just domo arigoto ...or however you spell it.

So, how was Japan? I'll put in the best American expression I can think of:
Train to Kyoto $135.
Sushi dinner of unknown origin $25.
Learning that the Japanese tattoo on your back from college really means what you think it does: priceless.