January 19, 2008

Tokyo (JAPAN)

Konoe Treasures at the National Museum, Touring Ueno, and Wandering Ameyoko

Historically, Japanese culture was shaped separately amongst Japan's three powerful, yet markedly different classes: the aristocracy, the samurai, and the merchants. So, in a continued effort to better understand the culture surrounding me, Kumagai-san and I made a trip to Japan's National Museum in Ueno, which was hosting a special exhibition with never-before-seen treasures from one of Japan's noblest of families: the Konoe family. Coupled with an earlier visit to the Tokugawa exhibition, where I saw the kind of treasures valued by the samurai class, I am now 2/3 or the way done.

It is currently the dead of winter in Japan, so the trees that normally make Ueno one of the most pleasant parts of Tokyo today gave it a sense of ominous desolation. Coupled with the blistery winds that made my words come out in a slurred mess of confusion, I didn't feel like wasting any time as we hurried from Ueno station on through the park. Fortunately, we made an early start this morning, arriving at the museum just after its 9am opening, and once more I benefited from being a Tokyo Tech student with a massive discount. We wasted no time in heading straight for the special exhibition section of the museum, and what followed was a three hour history lesson provided by the hardly-famous yet fully deserving of world acclaim, Kumagai-sensei.

Since most people probably don't care to know all the details of the exhibition, I will summarize what I saw (pictures were prohibited): a collection of poems - both haiku (three 'lines' of 5-7-5 syllables) and waka (five 'lines' of 5-7-7-7-5) varieties, painted scrolls, important documents (eg letters from emperors), cha do sets ("the way of tea," or Japanese tea ceremony), intricate dolls and other toys for children, and finely embroidered cloths. All this did in fact stand out in stark contrast to the samurai swords and other symbols of power, which were so highly revered by the samurai class. A point worth making in regard to the Koneo family is how the family stayed powerful for well over a century, despite numerous changes in power: they made themselves the focal point of Japanese aristocratic culture, and by separating themselves from those vying for the "power positions" they were able to perpetually protect their position as (arguably) the most highly esteemed aristocratic family.

By the end of the visit I was exhausted, but I quietly endured more touring of the farther reaches of the museum so Kumagai-san could see a collection of Japanese paintings and women's wear - hardly captivating stuff. Afterward, we set off in search of lunch and ended up at one of Japan's oldest gai-jin restaurants, Seiyoken, which opened in 1876. (Afterward, I found an actual New York Times review of the restaurant.) We both ordered the specialty curry-rice dish along with an appetizer of fried clams and side salads. While the food was obviously tasty, the most memorable aspect of the restaurant was the view over Ueno Lake, which was to be our next destination.

With a map provided by the restaurant, we decided to make the most of our trip out to Ueno by embarking on a walking tour of the area. By this time in the afternoon the weather was slightly warmer, and the walk was more enjoyable than I was anticipating. The first shrine we visited was positioned in the middle of a lake, and with flocks of seagulls swarming as young children threw birdfeed there was a good atmosphere to the area. I performed the customary hand-cleansing ritual at a water stand near the shrine, and then climbed a set of steps to ring the large gong hanging overhead. Embarrassingly, when I tried pulling on the heavy rope (to hit the gong) it took the shape of a distorted noodle, and the small pings that ensued  were hardly inspiring.

Next, we continued on through the park in search of the famous Saigo Takamori bronze statue. While that name probably means nothing to most people, in fact he was the inspiration behind the hit-film The Last Samurai (featuring Tom Cruise) - Saigo Takamori was, quite literally, the true last samurai.

He is depicted to the left in fairly casual clothing, and although he remains Japan's most famous samurai, he doesn't exactly look like the kind of person who struck fear into the hearts of his enemies based on his physical appearance. Maybe it is just the dog that ruins it?

With Kumagai-san doing all the navigation, we set off in search of the famous Ameyoko market (full name: Ameya Yokocho), which is located underneath the Yamanote train tracks between Ueno and Okachimachi stations. Ameyoko was originally the place for buying black market goods following World War II, and it is even believed that Ameya came from the name America because so many illegal American products were available. Today, there are more standard items for sale: clothes, accessories, bags, various knick-knacks, souvenirs, spices, and both dried and fresh fish.

The fresh fish ended up being what caught Kumagai-san's attention, and she bought ankimo, which despite being angler fish liver is actually a good-tasting Japanese delicacy, or chinmi. The ankimo is shown in the central picture, below.