I met Haruko outside the Ueno train station, and we headed across the street for Ueno Park. First, we visited the Toshogu Shrine, where I learned about the rituals associated with Japanese shrines and temples. This is one of Tokyo's most tastefully preserved shrines.
Often there are ema boards near the shrines, where one writes down their prayers or wishes, and then hangs them on a larger board. At some point, the small boards are taken down and burned. Haruko and I decided to share an ema board and write in Italian about our wish to live in Italy and have a happy life there. It was great fun to share this with Haruko!
Another place we visited was the Imperial Palace, where the Emperor of Japan lives.We couldn't go inside the Palace, of course, but enjoyed walking around the grounds and park outside the palace. We'd bought some food for lunch and ate it in a quiet spot near a park filled with cedar trees. After perusing the parks, we walked through the Ameyoko market, one of the great bazaars in Asia.
Though most Japanese wear Western clothes, and business attire is usually black suits, it is not uncommon to see people in traditional dress. This next photo was my first chance to capture a woman in traditional dress on a street in Ginza, the business district of Tokyo. We were on our way to have a cappuccino at a cafe appropriately entitled, "Pronto." Italian food and fashion are very popular in Japan, as are French food and fashion. Unfortunately, there are also way too many McDonalds and KFCs in Japan. (Jesse tells me that going to KFC on Christmas day is popular in Tokyo...so popular that Japanese people line up for blocks to get in!)
As luck would have it, there was a famous Kabuki Theater performance that evening, and it would be the first time for both Haruko and I to see this unique form of Japanese theater. I was able to follow along with an English translation via a transistor radio transmitter, and thoroughly enjoyed the performance. Here's a photo of the theater, Kabuki-za.
Jesse met up with us after the performance at Kubuki-za, and the three of us went to a traditional Japanese restaurant for dinner, which turned out to be quite unusual and expensive. (I wanted to treat them to a special meal, but I couldn't read the prices, so was unaware of how expensive it was getting.) Haruko and I shared crab liver patè, along with grilled eel and chicken, among other things, while Jesse, who is a vegan, had tempura and udon noodles. Jesse had beer, I had plum wine and Haruko had a popular Japanese liqueur made from yuzu. The yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit which about the size of a tangerine and is quite sour. For dessert, we had ice cream and sorbet made from black beans and sweet potatoes. Like Italians, the Japanese make good use of fruits, vegetable and all parts of the fish that they eat. I prefer this style of eating over the usual American diet. (There are exceptions to this, however. At one market, a vendor was selling grilled sparrow, which seemed to be popular, but made me feel queasy...no way I could eat it!)
After dinner, we made plans to meet the next morning, and parted at the train station, where Haruko headed west and we headed northeast. All in all, I had a splendid day in Tokyo.
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