The Tokyo Traveler

Curry and rice is one of the most common dishes eaten in Japanese homes today and is considered a perfect comfort food.

It is said that the first Japanese person tasted curry on board a ship on its way to the United States in 1871. The following year a recipe for curry was published in a “Guide to Western Cuisine”. This came at a time when the Japanese were eagerly trying to absorb western culture but curry was considered a gourmet dish as it was very expensive due to the fact that the curry powder used to make theses dishes was imported from the United Kingdom. The first Japanese curry powder was introduced in 1923 and the dish became more affordable. Check out the whole story on the S&B Foods website.

Curry is often eaten plain with rice but it is more commonly seen in restaurants as a stew with beef, carrots and potatoes. It’s delicious, reasonably priced and widely available in restaurants so give it a try sometime!

For more great posts on Japanese food visit Thomas at Noodles & Rice.

Photo Credit: Personal Collection

The word Geisha literally translates to “arts person” or “one trained in arts” (gei = art, sha = person) and Maiko translates to “dancing child” (mai = dance, ko = child).

A Geisha is a woman trained in the traditional arts of Japan which include dance, song and the playing of musical instruments. A Meiko is an apprentice Geisha who must train for approximately 5 years to be able to be considered a full fledged Geisha.

Geisha are paid entertainers but are not prostitutes as is commonly assumed in the west. This misunderstanding seems to stem from the post World War II occupation of Japan when the U.S. service men would tell stories of their experiences with so-called Geisha who were often normal Japanese prostitutes posing as Geisha to attract customers.

It is difficult for lay people to tell the difference between a Geisha and a Maiko. There are subtle differences in make-up, attire and hairstyle that only an expert would be able to identify.

Contrary to what you might thinks seeing a Geisha (or Maiko) walking down the street in Tokyo is not a common sight. While out sightseeing a while back I felt very fortunate to be able to snap this shot. I looked up and there she was - thankfully my camera was out!

Photo Credit: Personal Collection

Eating out can be a bit intimidating in Tokyo. If you can’t read Kanji then you may think that you are out of luck and will need to find a friend who can speak and read Japanese. That’s rarely the case as most restaurants offer menus with photos of the dishes served. So all you have to do is find something that looks appetizing and point!

If a picture menu is not available there are often plastic replicas of the food served in the front window and if all else fails you can take your waiter or waitress outside and point!

Photo Credit: Personal Collection

The Tanuki or Raccoon dog is famous in Japan as a symbol of protection from fire and theft and is said to be able to help businesses flourish. They are also know as very mischievous and fun loving creatures and as a result you will often find statues of them outside bars and restaurants. Some people even have them at the entrance to their homes for protection.

The formal name for the Tanuki is Otanuki-sama which translates to “Sir Raccoon Dog” and the origin on the name dates back to 1872 when a steward at the Sensoji Temple in Askakusa got permission to enshrine a statue of the animal in his garden with the intent of protecting it from the mischievous antics of the animals that had taken up residence in the area.

Festival rites are conducted at the shrine on March 16th and 17th every year.

Photo Credit: Personal Collection

Staring on March 28th and running through April the 15th you can get your fill of art in Tokyo during Marunouchi Art Weeks. The three week event will be staged at eleven galleries and the group has prepared a walking tour to make it easier for visitors to get around the area.

Some of the highlights of the event include an exhibition of 45 works chosen from graduation exhibitions of major Japanese art colleges at Art Award Tokyo and Art Fair Tokyo 2008 which is Japan’s largest trade show selling works from over 108 galleries.

The exhibition that I am most looking forward to is the interactive ‘Foret de bambous’ by Ante Vojnovic. Here is an excerpt from a review of the exhibit in the 2008 Spring Edition of Kateigaho International Edition, an English language magazine detailing the art, culture and lifestyle of Japan:

“As visitors wandered into the forest of white painted bamboo, they were enclosed and engaged in direct communication with their surroundings. That was exactly the way Vojnovic intended for viewers to interact with his work: “To feel the shape and existence of objects with all five sense,” the artist says.”

Check out the Marinouchi Art Weeks walking tour or get some more detailed information on the exhibits from the Marounouchi Art Fair PDF Guide.

Asakusa is known for it’s old town atmosphere and historic Buddhist temples. It’s a fun area to explore and the center of most of the activity is around the centuries old Asakusa Kannon Temple, or Sensoji.

The first thing that you notice when you get to Asakusa is the Kaminarimon Gate. Take a moment to wander around the gate itself to check out all of the ornamentation and then pass through it and your will be on the Nakamise, a quaint shopping area that leads to the Sensoji itself.

Make sure you take some time to explore the various shops on the Nakamise as you can take care of most of your souvenir shopping in one place. Everything from postcards to Japanese snacks, masks, dolls, toys and even happi coats (short Kimono style coat) and Yukata (casual Kimono, usually made of cotton) can be purchased here.

At the end of the Nakamise is the second gate (a smaller version of the Kaminarimon) which leads to the temple itself.

To get to the Asakusa area take the JR Yamanote line to Kanda from the Tokyo Station. Transfer to the TokyoMetro-Ginza line and take that train to the Asakusa station. Travel time is approximately 18 minutes and the train fair is Y290 or just under $3USD. Set aside at least half a day to wander through all the sights in Asakusa - there’s a lot to see!

Photo Credit: Personal Collection

My Japanese skills are very limited but it I have always found that a smile, a few words, pointing and a lot of patience get me through most situations.  A few phrases will really come in handy should you ever visit Japan so with that that in mind I here are some basic greetings:

Japanese (English phonetic pronunciation) - Translation
Ohayou gozaimasu (OH-HI-O GO-ZI-MAS) - Good morning
Kon’nichiwa (KO-NI-CHI-WA) - Good afternoon
Kon’banwa  (KONE-BAN-WA) - Good evening
Oyasumi nasai (O-YA-SU-MI NA-SIGH) - Good night
Sayounara (SIGH-O-NA-RA) - Good-bye

Lastly, here’s one that isn’t included on the top of many lists but one that I think is very important:

Toire-wa doko-desu-ka (TOY-RAY DO-KO-DE-SU-KA) - Where is the toilet/bathroom?

The unit of Japanese currency is the Yen. Coins are available in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 yen and bank notes in denominations of 1,000, 2,000 (rarely seen), 5,000 and 10,000 yen.

The conversion rate for the past few weeks has ranged from 100 to 114. What does this mean? It means that for every one U.S. dollar exchanged you will receive between 100 and 114 yen. That means that Y10,000 is the equivalent of about $93-100 USD. With numbers like those everything looks expensive in Japan!

Imagine telling your friends in the United States that you paid a thousand Yen for lunch. That sure sounds like a lot but it is actually only about $9.25 - 10 USD and is a common price for a set lunch in Tokyo which includes a drink. It’s definitely not as expensive as it sounds.

Photo Credit: Personal Collection

Most international flights arrive at Narita International Airport which is located approximately 60 kilometers from the city.

Flight times vary due to the time of the year but can ranges from 8 ½ hours (From Honolulu) to 14 hours (from New York). On top of the flight you also have to deal with the time difference and the resulting jet-lag. Tokyo is ahead of Honolulu by 19 hours and New York by 14 hours.

Once you arrive and get through customs you can arrange to have your luggage shipped to your hotel or residence for between Y1690 and Y1950 ($15-20 USD) per bag. This is a good solution if you plan on taking the train into the city as it will be very difficult to get your luggage across the terminals and on to the trains. Also, if you have to transfer to any of the commuter lines in Tokyo large luggage is generally not permitted. Delivery is usually the next day so you will want to make sure you have what you need with you in your carry-on bag. If you want to take advantage of this service just look for the counters at the airport.

Now that you’ve decided what to do with you luggage you have some options on how you will get into the city:

By train: Multiple options with travel time ranging anywhere from 53-83 minutes and cost ranging from Y1,000 – Y4,430 ($10-45 USD).

By Bus: 80-110 minutes at Y3,000. ($30 USD)

Taxi: 90 minutes at Y25,000 ($250 USD)– yep, it takes longer and it’s more expensive but you can bring your luggage with you!

For more information on your transportation options from the airport check out the transportation page at Yes Tokyo!.

Photo credit: flickr, A300B4-600(JA8162) approach

Tokyo is the capital of Japan but that wasn’t always the case and the city wasn’t always known as Tokyo either. Over 400 years ago the city was named Edo and the capital of Japan was Kyoto (capital city). Edo stared as a village in 1603 and was the center of the government and culture with a population of over a million people by the end of the 18th century. In 1868 the city was renamed Tokyo (eastern capital) and succeeded Kyoto as the capital of Japan.

Interesting Facts:

• The image on the right is the Kanji (Japanese script) for Tokyo.
• Tokyo is the most densely populated prefecture in Japan with approximately 12.5 million residents as of October 1, 2005. These residents all fit into an area of 2,187 square kilometers (1359 square miles)
• Tokyo is the third smallest prefecture in Japan by area. The area of Tokyo is 0.6% of the total area of Japan but it is home to 10% of the total population of Japan.
• The National Census in 2000 lists the daytime population of Tokyo as 14.667 million people, which is 2.650 million more than the nighttime population figure of 12.017 million.
• Tokyo is positioned approximately in the center of the Japanese archipelago which consists of almost 3,000 islands and is almost 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) long.
• Tokyo is made up of 23 special wards (ku in Japanese), 26 cities (shi), 5 towns (cho) and 8 villages (son).

For more information take a read through the Overview of Tokyo presented by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Photo Credit: Personal Collection