Asakusa!

[lydamorehouse]

 
Image: Sensou-ji, a Buddhist temple in Asakusa

So... I wasn't going to do another one of these so soon, but I MIGHT be a little addicted. 

A friend of mine in Canada alerted me this morning that a company called Ebisuya was doing a walking tour of Asakusa, a district in Taito City, Tokyo. I signed up and let rachelmanija know, in case she wanted to join us. 

Our guide this time was an amazingly charming young Economics major named Nae-Nae (I'm not sure of the spelling, but Nae is a Japanese girl's name, so I am guessing it's just hyphenated?? Could be Naenae, or Maemae, too.)  She was very forthcoming that this is a part time job for her, and that previous to the pandemic she used to be a tour guide for this company, Ebisuya, in-person. 

It was apparently very cold in Japan today (tomorrow,) though I can't remember what Nae-Nae said the temperature was. In the 20s F?

Like most of the guides, she started us at the train station. Rachel asked to see a 7-11 or a Lawsons, (a combi, aka a convenience store, the type of which Japan is famous for) and by chance there was a Lawsons just there at the corner. She took us inside... only to be promptly shooed out by the owner for filming inside the store! It was pretty hilarious, honestly.

We also saw a huge line for melon pan at one of the restaurants in the covered ally she took us down on the way to Sensou-ji (Tokyo's oldest Buddhist temple.) We were all briefly confused by how long the line was until I remembered that it was noon in Tokyo. (Nae-Nae apparently lost track of time too.) It was just a long lunch line!

Most of the tour was on the temple grounds.



Image: Entrance to Sensou-ji.

Nae-Nae had to have been the most chatty of all the tour guides so far. She was really amazing at keeping up with all the chatter in the comments stream. Though, I don't think there were as many people on this tour as there was Yusuke's Fuji tour, for instance, so maybe it was a bit easier. I kept my own chatter going both with my friend in Canada in WhatsApp and on text with Rachel. 

I have to admit that I sometimes forget what it's like to be absolutely new to Japanese culture. I mean, I laughed out loud when NaeNae asked us if we'd "heard of samurai," because I sometimes live in my own head in a version of the geek relationship fallacy, except it's an otaku fallacy, where I just assume of course we're all Japan nerds here. This is why I am totally 'that guy' in the chats, who is trying to drop in helpful wikipedia links to things that NaeNae discussed in passing, like wabi-sabi, but probably coming off like a raging a$$hole. 


Image: If you squint you can see the koi.

Like, there was this one person in chat who did not get what Nae-Nae was saying about koi. To be fair to this commenter, I was them once, long ago, and I need to remember that because I really, really wanted to jump into the comment stream and explain it all. I held back, but it went like this: our guide was trying to explain that koi has a double meaning in Japanese. The Kanji for the the fish (鯉) and 'love' (恋) are homonyms and so are pronounced the same but are different words, right? So it is considered lucky to see a koi fish with your koi, as it were, your love.  I managed to explain it pretty concisely, but, like, getting into Kanji is a whole thing? I had not known the words were homonyms until today, but, having studied the language long enough, I was totally primed for the idea that Japan is rife with homonyms. Rife. Like overly abundant in them. 

Anyway, my point is, I need to remember to practice patience in the chats on these tours. I mean, the joy of having a couple of friends on other chat lines means I can snark to them. 

It was fun, as always to see the people on the street. We saw a lot of people very dressed up in yukata, including one amazing woman who also had cat ears. She was hiding her face from Nae-Nae's camera, however, so even though I wish I'd taken a picture, I'm glad I didn't. 

You will probably be seeing more of these? I will try not to flood my journal with nothing but HeyGo tours, but, MAN, these are addictive. I'm going to go broke bleeding out all these tips, a few bucks at a time.


More temple grounds

Comments

[yhlee]

I couldn't make it to this one but I love the pics and report, thank you for sharing! I hope I can join y'all on the next one.

[lydamorehouse]

If you want me to email you like I did Rachel, I will. But, if nothing else, I will keep trying to post the links here in advance.

It's fun to know that other people are on the tour with me. It really adds to the sense that I'm really there, which I guess I am? I don't know why I feel the need to qualify the experience. I am walking down the streets of Tokyo, just via the internet. We don't say we're not "really" in a meeting on Zoom, after all.

[naomikritzer]

The "have you heard of Samurai" question reminds me of this story where a writer (nonfiction writer Mary Roach, I think) was talking to someone from the Japanese astronaut training program about this task they'd assigned all their astronaut candidates. The Japanese person said, "I don't know the word in English, but it's a paper folding craft?" Mary: "Oh, Origami?" (The candidates were put into tight quarters with a stack of paper and instructed to fold 100 paper cranes and string them on a piece of string, as a test of how well they could do something kind of fiddly and repetitious under difficult circumstances.)

[lydamorehouse]

OMG, that's hilarious.

To be fair to Nae-Nae and the astronaut, there are also things I would ASSUME everyone knows about America that some people don't. I've told you about my Italian pen pal who wanted to know my stance on guns because she assumed I had one, right?

[sabotabby]

I'm happy for you! Also, I love koi.

[lydamorehouse]

It's so fun, you should join us.... JOIN US..... :-)

Koi are cool. I long wanted a koi pond in my backyard, but it's not really big enough.

[sabotabby]

I'm likely just going to get really sad because I was supposed to go to Japan last summer. Virtual things that replace real things make me more depressed. (As opposed to, say, the RPG, which was always online so the fact that it's virtual doesn't replace anything.)

[lydamorehouse]

Ah, you told me this already, I'm sorry that I forgot. Yes, do NOT make yourself more sad!!!

Well, if it would make you happy, we should just do more silly writing RPGing or something. I know you also don't have a lot of free time, also, but I am all about MAKING HAPPY HAPPEN. Do you like letters in snail mail, postcards?? I could add you to my postcard list! It's a fun, silly thing that happens in real life.

[sabotabby]

I'm not sure what would make me happy at this point, tbh. Happiness seems vaguely obscene to me, as does any sort of optimism. I dared to feel any sort of hope and then *gestures vaguely to spending my entire supposed winter break trapped inside and unable to do anything except more work because my workload quadrupled from pre-pandemic levels*.

But yes, I do like snail mail and silly RPG writing.

[lydamorehouse]

Well then, I will find some way to shed a tiny ray of light into your life! You have posed a challenge to me, my friend!!

I am very sorry about all the extra work. That sucks.

[sabotabby]

<3 <3 <3

I guess it spares me from boredom? That seems to be a problem others are facing.

[ihavenoarms]

nice photos

[lydamorehouse]

Thank you so much!

[oracne]

That sounds really cool!

[lydamorehouse]

These are soooooo cool. I can't even explain how fun it is to have someone walking around showing you things in a new place.

[sartorias]

There's one through Dubrovnik at eight my time I want to try, if I can get on top of chores.

[lydamorehouse]

Do it! So, so fun!

[rachelmanija]

Let us know if you try it!

[rachelmanija]

It was so fun! I only wish I could have eaten something.

I also enjoyed when the guy asked if masks were mandated and she said no, they didn't need to be because only a crazy person wouldn't wear one! And then said she occasionally saw someone not wearing one on the train and everyone edged away from them.

[mindstalk]

C'est moi.

I'd read that Japan doesn't have formal mandates -- for all its power, the Japanese government seems oddly weak in a pandemic, like they can't do lockdowns either, "can't" not "won't" -- but it was nice to get some native confirmation.

[mindstalk]

From manga reading I would guess her name is 'Nene' in romaji. JDIC doesn't disagree: http://nihongo.monash.edu/cgi-bin/wwwjdic?2MDJ%A4%CD%A4%CD

Impossible to guess how she would write it; JDIC lists 62 different writings!

[lydamorehouse]

Makes sense. Thanks!

[mindstalk]

Huh, heygo tours can "sell out", I guess a capacity limit. No Todaiji now for me.

[lydamorehouse]

You can join me at a different shrine in an hour, if you have time: https://www.heygo.com/tours/the-first-shrine-visit-of-the-year-kasugataisha-nara

[mindstalk]

Just did that one, wanted to see the big temple. Or the big temple crowds, which should be diminishing...

[lydamorehouse]

Alas!

[opalsong]

I'm really enjoying these!! I'm not sure I'd have the patience to actually go on one but I love getting your pictures and write up!

[lydamorehouse]

Opalsong! Look at me remembering you!! *wink*

Also, I am sad that I missed one yesterday, but my writers' group spontaneously decided to meet. I will keep posting!