Blue Man Group in Tokyo

We finally had a great day in Tokyo! For the past few weeks, it seems we've been having a lot of 'learning curves,' and today WAS NOT one of them! The entire day went perfect!

Awhile back, Tim and I decided a great thing to do would be to see the Blue Man Group with William. They have a theatre here, and even though it's in Japan, they don't speak, so it doesn't matter! (It's worth noting, if you've ever seen a BMG performance before, that they still do the reader board... and even though you can't read it, they do: 'the guest who will now sing the national anthem' and spotlight someone (Tim remembered this).

There was a map for directions on the internet. But, when we came out of the subway, Tim had to turn it upside down to coincide with the map at the subway station. You soon learn that the Japanese don't use north as a guide for up on a map. So, it's kinda like trying to figure out where you are by comparing streets. It worked.
There were no cameras allowed inside, but they work the crowd right afterwards. If you've never been to a Blue Man Group performance, it is drumming and situational comedy, with video, lazers, strobe lights and black lights to help out the multi-media format.
William really wasn't sure about meeting this guy, but he finally decided it would be okay.

POLA Museum

I have been hankering for some time to see some art. I miss Chicago and Paris. I had heard of the Pola Art Museum up in Hakone. It is 90 km. and 3 hours of driving, if you go along the sea, which has fewer toll roads.
Eventually, you end up near Gora in the middle of a wooded drive, and in the middle of nowhere is the Pola Museum. It costs ¥ 500 to park.
It costs ¥ 1800 for entrance, and ¥ 200 to rent an English recorder guide. I printed a ¥ 100 off coupon from the internet.The light inside was nice. Eating here is lovely, has a wooded view, and is expensive.
Escalators between floors help you get around. It isn't that large, but I thought the collection of impressionists was very representative. Suzuki of the Pola Group collected, and then after his death in 2000, the Pola Museum of Art opened 2002. Below is the brochure they gave me. I was also quite taken by some of the Japanese artists from the impressionist time. They have many very good artists who studied the Western Styles of the times, like this lady from the back.

There is Asian ceramics and a large Western Cosmetics Utensils collection. Art Nouveau style. I really like paintings. The Sugiyama piece of the oxen in the water is HUGE. This artist is impressive, and has modern day images from places all over the world, including the Middle East. It's neat to see large scale art.

Of course, I did my shopping at the museum shop. There's a larger shop, but I could photograph this one, myself.
All in all, it was worth it to me. They have a nice collection, and it is a beautiful museum.

Japanese garden flowers

Okay, I'll admit it, I'm a flower freak. I try to paint flowers, but I mostly just take pictures. This is a weed in our lawn. I was entranced by these little suckers, and have let a few live. Actually, I allow as many weeds to live as possible. My favorite sign is: Free Weeds Pick All You Want!
Viewed from the top, they look like a flower!
This was along the walking path, in front of the neighbors facing us. The Tokuras.
I bought roses to put in our yard, and chose a deep red one, like my mother's favorite.
A varmint got one of the buds. It still opened up. Looked pretty funky with each petal having a bit out of it.
My tea rose bush is growing. It blooms during the summer and in December.
These have bloomed several times. It looks like one of the clover varietals.
This flower was at the nursery. How cool looking are these? They'd be perfect at Christmas!
Along the walking path, again. There are so many pretty flowers here!
This looks more pink than it actually is. These roses are ours, and are more of a mauve/purple.
These little flower plants in my garden have bloomed several times, and are quite hearty. They look so bright and cheery!
These stuck through the fence into our yard. The next-door neighbor has so many unique flowers. This one bloomed late spring, and I loved the creamy yellow.

Signage and Sodas

Okay, sometimes you just HAVE to take a picture. I have NO IDEA what this was for. It was on a box, and it just cracked me up.
EMERGENCY ROAD -- Closed in the event of MAJOR EARTHQUAKE. I wonder what they consider an emergency around here?
I am a diet coke addict, so I already drank this. But, it has green tea flavor. The finish tastes like green tea. It's actually quite pleasant!
Last year, the Pepsi summer flavor was blue (ramune?). This year, it's shiso. Shiso plant looks a bit like mint. It is from the same family of plants, but has a cinnamon taste. So, this tastes a bit like cinnamon Pepsi. It's an herb they use a lot over here, and not every American likes it. The only time I've cared for it is fixed tempura style (deep fried, everything tastes good), and with the rotted bean curd, natto. It kind of kills the nasty taste at the end with a stronger taste.

Our Little Sumo Wrestler

Seika Yochien (Preschool/Kindergarten) has a Sumo Day each Spring. William was asked to raise the flag (hata) for the event.
The sumo warmed up, and all the little sumo as well. William is looking at that guys butt (or so it seems). The raised square for the circle ring, the dohyo, is made of dirt like sand. I don't think William wanted to sit down on it.
This is my absolute favorite picture of William, framed in the rikishi's warm-up routine. Double click on the pic if you'd like to enjoy it as much as I did. William's blonde hair just stands out.
The mawashi William is wearing is a piece of diaper-type cloth, about 3 meters in length. I had to go twice to learn how to tie it, and then that day, a Japanese lady did it for me. I accepted the help graciously. William ran around in it for about 4 hours, and it never sagged or bagged, so she did an excellent job!
Seika has a Sumo Stable send a couple of wrestlers (rikishi), and they begin by doing a demonstration match.
The smack of their bodies when they first hit is amazing. They are hurtling themselves at each other at full force.
These guys were pretty well matched, so we got a respectably good show. William's in the pink blanket. They told me AFTER the day that I needed the Japanese kids towel. There are plastic snaps on it to 'snap it up' and around the kids. Pretty cool invention. I just LOVE finding out about these things afterward...
This guy won by picking up the other guy, and taking him out of the ring. If you get picked up, pretty much, it is over. :) Tim thought it was interesting that the loser has to bow and acknowledge at the end that he's lost, then he has to push the winner across the ring as a show of apology. I guess there's no giving up in Sumo.
The school chose 10 of the kindergarten level boys to have a tournament. At first, I was disappointed William wasn't one of them (there are too many in the kindergarten level for all to wrestle, 37 I believe). However, I know how hard it is when William loses, that I didn't want to deal with the crying. It was a fun little tournament. Then, the winner got to take on the sumo rikishi winner. They always bow to each other at the beginning.
This is another pic worth double clicking on. The little guy's name is Motohira, and he's so intense going against the big guy!
The tides did turn, and the rikishi playfully picks him up. The referee is laughing at it all. Very fun!
In the end, Motohira gets the 'best' of the rikishi.
And they say sumo isn't rigged...
The Seika's main lady, Encho Sensei (she began the kindergarten 62 years ago, with help from the Americans) has to walk on a mat to be on the dohyo (she's a woman), to give Motohira his 'trophy.'
William's little group that gets to go against the #2 rikishi.
I think this will always be such a great memory of Japan. They really have fun with letting the little boys push and shove, and show them how to use their power in a respectful way.
William really got into it, too! He's actually not trying to hit the guy, but running after him to grab onto him.
William was always near the front to shove the guy, and having a ball.... okay, maybe the rikishi's mawashi is a bit better tied than that...
So the rikishi just picked William up and ran around backwards with him!
Again, fortunes turned to the little rikishi tide, and they put all their power into it, and.....
VICTORY!!!! William has won a sumo match! He is our little Sumo Wrestler!

Miyajima

On our last day in Hiroshima area, we put our backpacks in a locker at the train station, and headed out for Miyajima (Miya Island). With the many shrines, pagodas and temples, Tim started calling it: Shrine Land.

William was keen on taking more tram cars in Japan, so we took a tram to Miyajima Guchi, and got on a ferry bound for the island. We had purchased sodas from a vending machine to drink during the crossing. William's soda (in an aluminum bottle) shot out when we tried to open it. We had the Japanese fellow next to us about on the floor from the comedic 3 Stooges routine that Tim, William and I were doing trying to save the soda, clean it up, and doing all the contortions necessary not to get the sweet stuff on us.
There were deer on the island, and they were everywhere. Their poop was everywhere, and smelly. You're not supposed to feed them. I did see professional photographers with grain in their pockets to get the deer to pose in pictures. I also observed a deer stealing a lunch out of a bike basket, and another eating plastic. Yikes!
It is a short walk from the ferry to the torii gate and shrine. We took the ocean route, as there is less souvenir shopping and people to negotiate.
The O-torii gate is considered one of the most photographed and picturesque views of Japan. We got there about 10 o'clock, so we got a few photos before the sun was directly overhead and flattening out all the light!
William posed for this picture only after I bribed him with icecream. His modeling fee is reasonable. He ended up settling for shaved strawberries and ice with sweetened condensed milk on it. Nummy and refreshing!
One of the things William loves here are the ropeways, or gondolas. We followed the signs (it's in katakana, 'ro-pu uuayhay,') and I think that it should be noted that it would only take 7 minutes if you are a Medal-winning Steeplechase Olympian. For the rest of us, it takes a bit longer. Plus, there were many idyllic places to photograph. Japanese are very good at making little zen gardens, which I enjoy.


I even hiked a bit extra off the beaten path to get a pic of Tim and William on the bridge. It is a sunny day, yet you'll see umbrellas like the one this lady has. They use it as portable shade, and since they don't have to be wind and rain resistant, some are very parasol-esque with beautiful edges. I priced them, and they begin at $50, so I just use my regular umbrella.
Okay, so this could be a picture from home. I guess that's the point!
There were two ropeways. The gondolas had an 8 person maximum (6 if American) for the first part.
Then there was the 30 person one to the top. Well, the faux top. It's an additional hike to the actual top of Mt. Misen.
Since we had a shinkansen to catch in the afternoon, we declared this the top. BTW, we got to the platform only 6 minutes before the shinkansen left. It was a close shave, but it all worked out. Instead of the tram back (70 mins.), we took the train (40 mins.) and got our bags out of the lockers, got an eki-ben (bento lunch bought at the 'eki' or train station) and walked fast to the tracks.
Mt. Misen looking down. It reminded me of the Aegean.
If you double-click on this pic, you'll see the monkey warnings. It reminded us of the Group Health commercial (Abunai) and the many videos we see on America's Funniest videos. There was a sign at the top that said the monkeys were already in the forest, foraging for food. We have our own 5-year-old monkey in tow, so that was okay by me.
Itsukushima shrine. If you double-click, you'll see the white heron in the water. By the time we got back from the 'top' of Mt. Misen, the tide was in, and the shrine was again above water, versus mud.
Only 300 Yen to enter, and on stilts (originally built this way to ensure the island wouldn't be defiled by footprints), it was an interesting shrine. The red lacquer here is far more orange than I had previously believed.
The view of the torii gate from the shrine.
5-storied pagoda from the shrine.
There was a wedding going on. The female Shinto attendants are giving the bride something to drink (the groom also has his turn to drink). The hat she is wearing is traditional. Apparently, this is to cover the HORNS on a woman until after the wedding. Women can be devils, and the man must not know this until after the wedding. I didn't wear a veil at my wedding, so I guess Tim knew what he was getting into!

I thought the music was quite interesting, so rolled some video. That third instrument must be a flute-like instrument as well, but it was quite funky!