Adventures In Japan Pt. IV
September 4th
We woke up relatively early today as we planned to meet up with a friend. This guy was a long time childhood friend that I had not seen in ages. I was very happy to see him. He is currently studying abroad in Japan and planned to show us around. We met up at Akihabara station and headed out towards our first destination around 9. Our first stop of the day was Tokyo Skytree. This building’s primary function is a broadcasting tower but it also contains restaurants, shops, and 2 observation sections, and a connected subway station underground. Tokyo Skytree spans a massive 634 meters tall (2080 feet) and is currently the second tallest structure in the world in terms of absolute height, only after the Burj Khalifa. The tower was impressive at first sight. It was a clean greyish structure, very beautiful too. On the outside of the tower you can see all of its support beams, arranged in an orderly fashion. Up at the top there are two distinct structures both of which are observation decks. At there very top there are many arrays of satellite dishes and antennas for broadcasting.
However before we went up the actual Skytree, my friend said he had put in a reservation at a restaurant at the East Tower of the Skytree. This building was much shorter as it functions mainly as a commercial building. It houses a mall, offices, and restaurants and was a pretty crowded tourist destination. The restaurant, which we were to have lunch at, was on the 32nd floor. The lobby had a very nice view of Tokyo. The elevator went up very fast and I was a bit uncomfortable at first because I am slightly afraid of heights. But after a few minutes, I took out my camera and started taking pictures. This was a perfect vantage point for city shots where the buildings, people, and cars look like toys from this height. After about 20 minutes of waiting, we finally walked inside to our restaurant. There were quite a few on this floor and ours was on the very inside. I forgot what this place was called but it had a very chill vibe. We were ushered to our seats and made small talk to catch up over the years. We were served a 5 course meal: firstly a lobster salad as an appetizer, then I think some kind of mushroom and oyster, I wasn’t entirely sure what the third dish was, but the fourth dish was the entrée. It was steak with bean sprouts, with a piece of asparagus and leek on the side and 2 pieces of peppers, one red, one yellow. There was also a small chunk of wasabi as well as cracked pepper and sea salt on the side for garnish. It also came with a bowl of rice, a small container of pickled vegetables and poached egg. After the entrée we were served dessert on a pea pod shaped plate with 3 divots. The first divot contained a piece of chocolate brownie, the middle divot had a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and the third contained small mango pieces. This entire meal ran us about ¥5600 each, which was like $56 per person and considering there were 5 plates, it was worth every last cent. This was some of the best food I’ve had so far in Japan. After lunch, we slowly proceeded back downstairs towards the actual Skytree.
After we made it back to the ground floor, we followed the signs to the actual Tokyo Skytree Tower. Tour group entrances were on the first floor but for individual tickets, we went up to the 5th. There were two tickets to buy. One was for the observation deck on the 350th floor; the other was on the 450th. Our options were to buy one at a time or buy both at once. There was only a ¥300 difference to buy them separately but I suggested getting the package deal. After purchasing the tickets, the cashier briefed us on where to go and what to do. We were presented with a pass for the 450th floor, tickets, and a brochure on the tower.
Then we were ushered into the VIP line for a shorter wait for the express elevator going up toward the 350th floor. The VIP line was much shorter which was a relief. I remember back in Chicago and having to wait in the normal line to go up the Sears Tower observation deck and that wait was not fun at all. The Skytree probably had 5 times more people waiting in line to go up towards the observation deck.
Upon entering the elevator, my ears popped after a few seconds. This elevator was pretty damn fast and considering the first observation deck was at around 350 meters and so many visitors a day, it had to perform fast and efficiently. The view up there was fantastic. 360-degree vision of Tokyo and the surrounding areas granted if you can see that far. On a clear day, the leaflet boasted that you could even see Mt. Fuji but by that distance, we could barely see anything that far. The clearest things we could see were the tiny buildings, vehicles, rivers, and parks from that distance. Regardless, going up there was quite an experience. After about 15 minutes, we decided to go up to the observation deck on the 450th floor, about another 100 meters up. We presented our pass and took another elevator up there. The observation deck had a small winding ramp that took up to the 452nd floor. The interior design made it seem as if we were in a spaceship. Everything was white on the observation deck. The windows were big and wide and provided an even better view of the city. Too bad the lens on my camera wasn’t designed to capture views from more than 100 meters. After spending about 40 minutes up there, we got kind of bored and decided to go to another place. I did want to check out the Shibuya district, which was well known as the shopping go-to place in Tokyo. On the way down from the Sky tree, we noticed another spot in the tower where many people were congregating and taking pictures. There was small area with reinforced glass as t he floor and gave a straight down view of the tower. I was kind of nervous walking over the glass panes at first. 350 meters is a long way down. After that we proceeded to the elevator all the way down.
Upon reaching the ground floor, we navigated even further down to level B4, which was where the connecting corridor to the subway station was. This was very convenient for we didn’t have to walk outside to find the subway station. After navigating the underground station and finding the correct train, we were on our way to Shinjuku. I already did research a few days ahead to figure out what shops I wanted to go to. Upon arriving at the train station, we walked towards ground level. This place was crowded like no other. Not only was this area also well known as a shopping district, it was also a top tourist destination. I’ve never seen so many people on a street before. It was mind-boggling. Despite all this, we pressed on. First we stopped by the Nike store, but I wasn’t impressed with what they have or rather, they didn’t have what I was looking for. Then we went deeper into the Harajuku area and bingo, the stores I’ve looked up were all on the same street. I went inside an UNDEFEATED shop, which sold sneakers and clothing, a Kicks Lab, which is like sneaker heaven, and finally a AAPE store, which sold the popular A Bathing Ape apparel. I bought a pair of Jordan Retro 10 NYC’s from Undefeated, and a Bape x One Piece shirt form AAPE. The Kicks Lab has a gigantic selection of sneakers, which I all liked, but they were charging rape prices (typical for a sneaker shop of that caliber) so I didn’t purchase anything from that place. But if you are very into sneakers, happened to be in Japan, and have lots of cash, that is the place to go. We spent quite a bit of time there because there was just a lot to see and pictures to be taken. Tokyo is quite a good spot for hip-hop fashion and culture if you know where to go.
After the little shopping adventure, my friend took us out to the Toshima- Nishiikebukuro area for dinner. We went inside a yakiniku (Japanese BBQ) joint. It had a loud and festive atmosphere and the smell of grilled meat permeated the atmosphere. The smells of cooking meat and dripping fat made my mouth water and I was hungry as hell. Every table had a platform in the middle for a small charcoal furnace. There was a chimney like device about 3 feet above the platform to draw out all the smoke from the grilling of the meat. I was so relieved when the meat finally came. All of the meat slices were thinly sliced and looked very tender and juicy. I could hardly wait between each slice of meat. They had some kind of BBQ sauce that I thought was okay at first but then it was just too thick and the flavor was overpowering the taste of the meat. Aside from that the meat was succulent. I didn’t like the pork as much as I did the beef but nonetheless, It was a wonderful meal to end the night on. After dinner we walked around a bit more in the area before going back to Akihabara. By the time we got back to the hotel it was 9 ish. I was pooped from the activities during the day and played some games on my phone before falling asleep.
And that concluded day 4 in Japan.
Adventures in Japan Pt. VI
September 6th:
Today we woke up around 10-ish and headed out toward Akihabara Station. Our friend came to meet up with us at the usual spot. By the time he got there it was around noon and we haven’t eaten anything yet. We decided to get a little bit of conveyer belt sushi before heading out. The sushi joint was close by and very small but there were a few people inside. We didn’t want to splurge here or waste too much time so we were in and out in 45 minutes tops. Then we proceeded to go to our destination by Tokyo Bay. I want to see the giant Gundam Statue at Diver City. On the way, our friend explained that there are 3 subway systems in Tokyo. One is privately operated, and the other 2 are government operated. The government operated systems look nicer and have escalators practically at every stop. The private ran system looks more old and worn. It’s evident which receives more funding.
The train system we got on was built by the Tokyo Government for the specific purpose of tourism. It gave a very nice overview of Tokyo as well as the waterfront. The train moved really fast so I couldn’t get very nice shots of the city which was a bummer. The old Tokyo Tower was visible for a certain stretch of the ride but it was far away, a bit too far for me to capture on camera. Before coming to Tokyo, I had always thought that the Tokyo Tower was the one symbol that represented the city, but that was also before knowing about the Tokyo Skytree. I guess what I want to say here is that it was a bummer that I couldn’t go see the Tokyo Tower up close and take pictures. Once we arrived at our destination, we hoped off and immediately began looking for the Giant Gundam statue. The station in which we got off was Daiba Station in the Minato Ward. This area and ward is known as a tourist attraction and a business district. Not far from the station is the building that houses the Fuji Television Station. The building has a very unique design and is probably very well known by architecture aficionados. Towards the harbor was a very scenic view of some park and the Rainbow Bridge. There is even a miniature Statue of Liberty. From a distance the scenery slightly resembles New York City.
After snapping a few pictures there, we headed back inland, off to find the Gundam Statue. We took a wrong turn and walked through Diver City Mall, but there was no Gundam Statue sight. We took a big detour around the entire mall and finally there it was, the Giant Gundam Statue that I had wanted to see so badly. It was like a dream come true. The official name of the statue and the accompanying exhibits inside is called Gundam Front Tokyo. The Statue is the main attraction outside, many people walk around it and snap pictures. Inside Diver City Mall on the 7th floor is a small medium sized museum-esque attraction. Towards the front of the attraction is a glass case exhibit on all of the previous and current Gundam Models. They are referenced as Gunpla in Japan. I’m not gonna go into details about the Gundam franchise but basically some guy. (renowned animator by the name of Yoshiyuki Tomino) created the concept of a sci-fi military universe where Gundams (Giant robots piloted by people) are the weapons of choice by different factions. Subsequently, plastic models based on the units in the series were made and the rest is history. From the first models from 1979 to the most current models, I can dare say all of the plastic models were on display in the cases. Being a rabid Gundam fan, I was almost drooling with delight. I took some pictures on my favorite models and moved on. The next part of the attraction featured a dome like room with multiple projectors and they showed a short 3D movie inside. It was loud as all hell when it started. But basically it’s about 2 transformable Gundam units sortieing out and sparing. It was pretty intense for a short movie that only true Gundam fans would appreciate. Outside of that attraction was a dark hall that had a life sized statue of a Core Fighter, the bust of Freedom Gundam which you could climb up to the cockpit and have your picture taken, a timeline of all of the Gundam series on the wall, and a interactive table that lets you explore all of the characters in the Gundam meta verse as well as all of the mech. Outside of the this main area, is a smaller area which features a small exhibit on how Gundam models are made. They use plastic injection molding and let you touch the small plastic pellets that are used for the plastic. There is a mold machine there too but it operates at random times. Next door is a small classroom like area which the attendants give you a box and let you decorate it. Afterwards, they give you a small plastic model kit as a souvenir if you bought tickets for the attraction. Further down the hall is a exhibit of Gundam Video Games over the years and on different platforms. Some of the older game consoles were on displays too and I took hella pictures of that. Towards the exit of the exhibits was the gift shop. Countless model kits and other souvenirs were there for purchase and I was very tempted to purchase some of the exclusives but I had fallen sucker to such marketing tactics before. I should have at least gotten a T-shirt but I thought, no need to buy anything here cuz I had already gotten the souvenir kit from earlier, and besides, the prices here were a bit more expensive that what I would have gotten at Akihabara, despite some of the items being Gundam Front Tokyo exclusives. After walking out of the attraction, we were pooped and grabbed a bite at McDonalds. We stayed there for about 50 minutes to rest up before proceeding to our next destination.
The next place we went to was a factory outlet mall called Venus Fort in a neighboring ward in Koto, Aomi. Much like the factory outlets in America, this place had many of the same stores that would be found there with the exception of some local brands and local food joints. It was also completely indoors and had a very nice interior décor. It felt like you were wandering in small town made of stone.
We walked around looking for a place to buy a luggage case. Since we have 2 more days in Japan and the next day would be dedicated towards purchasing stuff to take home, we needed additional carrying capacity for more stuff. Eventually we found an out let store that sold luggage items and bags. I found a suitcase that I thought would be big enough for our needs and proceeded to explore the rest of the outlet mall. Next up we went to a Nike factory outlet. I bought a Nike x Tokyo T-shirt and a Jordan tank top. Afterwards we went back to the luggage store because we realized that the luggage case we bought was too big and the airline would fine us a ridiculous amount so I had to exchange the luggage case for a slightly smaller one. By this time we were starving and wanted to eat but didn’t want to carry the case with us. The sales people at the luggage store were nice enough to let us stow our stuff there while we ate. We found a restaurant in the outlet mall and ordered 2 types of noodle dishes and Japanese pancakes. Needless to say we were stuffed after dinner. We talked over dinner and our friend said he would not be able to hangout with us the following day due to classes. We thanked him for his hospitality and for showing us around but most importantly for taking his time to hang out with us. We grabbed the luggage case after dinner and headed home. Tonight we probably stayed out the latest out of any other day in Tokyo and we got to witness first hand how hectic the nightly rush hour after work was.
It was pretty hot in Tokyo and all my clothes were sticking to my body due to the sweat. The large number of people getting on and off the trains did help. At one stretch of the trip, someone had hit the emergency stop and the train sat idly by for about 20 minutes. We joked and said either someone had seen a ghost on the tracks or someone and jumped. As horrible as it sounds, it might have been plausible in retrospect. Due to the certain factors in Japanese culture, many Japanese people actually experience an unfathomable amount of stress and some people commit suicide by jumping in front of trains. We only hoped that this wasn’t the case this time. After what seems like an eternity on the train, we finally got to Akihabara Station. We said good-bye to our friend and went our separate ways. Hopefully it wont be another few years before we see this guy again. On the way back to the hostel, I suggested to my cousin that we try some crepes. We bout one each near the small shop near the train station and walked back to the hostel. I had my backpack on and the crepe in my right hand, and pushed the luggage case with my left. By the time I got back to the hostel, my back was drenched with sweat. My legs were lead weights and I was much relieved as I crawled back into my capsule.
And that concluded day 6 in Japan.
Here is part 5 after another bunch of delays. This might be the worst writing I’ve done in all of the series because I don’t recall much from that day. Nor did we do much. Needed a break day so we decided to take things easy that day.
September 5th
This day was slightly more uneventful. We were very tired from the day before and decided today would be a more stress-free day. My cousin and I discussed what we should do in case we would very likely purchase things from Japan and bring them back to China. Firstly, we made a mistake of bringing 2 very small suitcases with us. There was no way in hell we were going to be able to take some of the things with the limited space that we have. We decided that it would be a good idea to purchase an additional luggage case with us for good measure. We left the hostel again around 11 and went to meet up with our friend again. This time we just mostly wandered around Akihabara looking for the best prices on the items we wanted to purchase. In Akihabara, there are many tourists. Many of which that do come and spend lots of money are either Korean or Chinese. I don’t know about the Koreans, but I know for a fact that a lot of Chinese people that do spend money in Japan are after consumer goods, especially cosmetics and toys. The prices are inflated in China and the government raises the prices on imports, but Japanese items are sold at normal local price and many of the shops are tax exempt for tourist. My cousin and I were going to buy some toys, most likely Gunpla and figurines, and purchase items for friends and family like medicine, and small cosmetics.
After lunch we wandered around some more around Akihabara. Our friend suggested we go into this one shop for shits and giggles and maybe my cousin would find something he wanted. This shop was a narrow building and mainly sold Japanese media products like music, games, anime DVD’s as well as toys. The first floor was Japanese music. Lots of singles, albums, and pop music. We went up a total of 6 floors. I forget the details but one floor had all the toys you’d find in Akihabara, another floor was dedicated to movies, both foreign and domestic to japan and anime DVDs/Blue Ray. Another Floor was solely dedicated to manga. One floor had nothing but eroge (adult pc games). And another floor had nothing but hentai. The top most floor had pornographic films. My friend joked around but did not want to go up to the top most floor. It was partly humorous but also weird, there were more people on the floor looking at hentai and eroge than at real porn. We joke around and said Japan is a land where men are more interested in 2D girls than real women. If you understand that culture a bit, you’d probably understand why we said this. But I am not going to elaborate on hentai and eroge. Remember , if you don’t understand something, google and Wikipedia are your best friends! I did also notice a ton of little flyers and forms on the walls. Those little slips are for preorders and the store will notify you if a product has been released if you fill out a specific slip for a specific product.
After exploring that “hidden gem” of a building, we got tired and decided to take a rest stop at a Gundam Café. It is basically a café with Gundam themed everything. If you are a nerd and a huge fan of the Gundam Franchise, you should probably go inside one once in your life if you get the chance to go to Japan. We sat around and chatted and made our plans for tomorrow inside the café. The rest of that night we wandered some more around Akihabara and I wanted to try some of their “small eats”. There was a Takoyaki stand by the area that we pass everyday and I really wanted some of that. Takoyaki are basically octopus dipped in batter and fried in specially made pans with little half circle slots. I’ve seen those things in anime so many times I really wanted to try. They were delicious. But a little snack wasn’t going to satiate my hunger. It was getting dark out but it was already 6 PM. Time for dinner. So our friend showed us into another little restaurant. I forgot what I ordered but it was a rice set. A big bowl of rice with lots of scallions and I think some pork slices, pickled vegetables and a bowl of soup on the side. After dinner my friend left and told us to get some rest because tomorrow was going to be a long day with lots of walking. We got back to the hostel by 8 and just watched anime that night.
That pretty much sums our uneventful day 5 in Japan.
September 3rd:
We woke up and checked out of the hotel at maybe around 7 ish. We walked to the nearest subway station that would take us to the shinkansen (bullet train) station. At the station we had a bit of difficulty getting tickets because there were so many lines and there was a bit of a language barrier. I don’t speak a lick of Japanese and my cousin only spoke a little bit. It was a bit difficult for him to explain what tickets we needed to get but eventually with a bit of broken Japanese and English, we finally got our tickets. 2 round trip tickets from Nagoya to Tokyo and back. Then we made our way to the platform the shinkansen, which took another few minutes. The station was pretty massive, bigger than anything I’ve seen in Chicago and there were many lines in and out of the city. Getting confused at first is just a naturally occurring thing for any first time tourists. Eventually the shinkansen came and we hoped on. It was a big sleek white train and almost resembled a plane, just without wings and grounded on tracks. The interior was much wider than a plane’s and gave its occupants much more leg space. The train had very comfortable seats and there was a lot of overhead compartment space for stowing luggage. Then we were on our way. I was too busy writing part II at the time to pay much attention to the scenery out side of the train. Besides, it was going at 200+ kph. I did notice the beautiful countryside though. Japan is a very beautiful country; too bad we didn’t have time to explore all of it. I tried to snap some shots outside but it was futile, when things move that fast, everything on camera comes out blurry, unless of course you are recording a video.
About less than 2 hours later, we arrived at Tokyo. Finding the correct exit was confusing as all hell. Im not exactly sure how to word it but… Tokyo Station was something like a labyrinth. In Japan, a tiny nation with so many people, it’s a given they have to be efficient in terms of using the space they have. So that means many underground and above ground levels for their subways. Many buildings and shopping malls are connect underground and one wrong turn will lead you to an exit at a totally different building/ block. To clarify, the Tokyo Station is comprised of shinkansen lines (bullet trains) that take people from major cities, but there are also local subway lines as well. We hoped off the shinkansen and were looking for the local line that would take us to our destination. Long story short here, we bought a week pass for the Tokyo metro, found our line and got off at Akihabara Station, which was the area we were going to stay in.
Walking to the hostel from Akihabara station was a major pain in the ass. It was hot as all hell the day we arrived and sunny as hell. I was soaked in sweat and my legs were numb from all the walking. We arrived at the hostel, which was almost 1 km walk away from the station. The receptionist at the counter told us that check in time was 4 pm. I was sweaty and hungry and it was only 12 at noon! WTF. I decided to sit around for a few minutes to catch my breath. Upon my initial observations, the hostel was kind of small. It was in situated on the corner of the block in a very narrow building. There was a small lounge area with a café –ish vibe to it. It played a lot of American Classic Music as well as contemporary but I do not recall the specific songs. After a while I got too hungry to function so I walked out side to look around for the closest restaurant. I happened to notice right across the street was an Indian food restaurant so I suggested that. My cousin and I walked into the joint and were greeted warmly by and Indian guy who spoke Japanese. (Yes there are immigrants in Japan too, just not as many as you see in the States). He sat us down and gave us the menu. I was impressed with what I saw as well as the price so I ordered my meal. There was a house salad, rice, a big piece of Tikka Chicken, 2 different curries and a huge piece of nann. Oh and there was some mango drink which was very good but a bit too sweet. Non-the less, it was a very good meal. You’d think, “why get Indian food in Japan?” but I was too hungry to give a damn, it was some of the best Indian food I’ve ever had so far. After Lunch, It was around 1 pm, we headed back across the street to the hostel and sat in the lobby and waited til check in time. During that time, I was wasting time browsing the web and on facebook. I was much relieved when 4 pm came. I was fighting off my fatigue for hours. The hostess explained to us the house rules and how things operated at the hostel. There were lockers in the bathroom for us to put our things and it was combination locked. There were a few amenities that we had to pay extra for like a shaving kit, hair brush and etc. After a quick briefing, we took the elevator and our stuff up stairs. We were on the third floor, which was a men’s floor. Upon entering the room, we noticed there was a shoe locker. There were slippers already inside. We took our shoes off and replaced them with the slippers in the locker. There was a big sliding door towards the right of the main entrance and behind it was the bathroom with lockers in it. Towards the left of the shoe locker was the capsule area. There were many of these “little capsules” which comprised of a mattress, a light all the way in the back of it, a little rail which on it had a single clothes hanger hanging from it and a few electrical outlets to charge whatever devices you had. At first I thought It was small and I was not gonna be happy. But after climbing inside I found it fairly spacious. It’s dimensions were something like 31/2x4x61/2. Considering I’m not a very tall or big person myself, I guess this was okay. After a quick surveying of my surroundings, I changed into shorts and took a nap…
After a long and satisfying nap, I woke up around 5 ish. I thought to myself, since Akihabara is a huge destination for anime and toys, I might as well go explore at night. I’ve seen nighttime pictures of Akihabara and thought how amazing the placed looked; I’ll go have a look myself in person. We retraced the steps we took from the station to the hostel. After reaching the station and taking a meandering path, we finally saw the telltale signs of Akihabara. The buildings and streets were crowded with people. Huge neon signs and lights illuminated atmosphere. We decided to go into a shopping arcade to see what was inside. There were 10 floors, most of the floors were dedicated to action figures, figures, and toys of all kinds. They had so many Gundam models on sale I almost didn’t want to leave. It was mind boggling how much stuff each floor had. There were also shops dedicated to electronic equipment and trading cards. Welcome to the birthplace of otaku culture. It was everything I’ve always imagined but even better in person. We wandered through 10 floors and it was soon closing time. We hurried out and while taking pictures. Eventually we also went inside one of many arcades or Gaming Centers as they say sometimes to see what it was like. Right as we entered, a huge waft of cigarette smoke hit me. There were people playing all sorts of games and depending on what floor, there were different games. One floor was entirely dedicated to music and rhythm games. Another floor was full of fighting games. You get the point. But the first 2 floors were always dedicated to crane games. I tried to catch a huge Neko Atsushi plush but failed. Those things are always rigged against you. After a while of exploring and taking pictures, I got really hungry and tired from walking. We found a KFC near by and ordered some fried chicken. We ate there and chilled for maybe 45 minutes and decided to walk back to the hostel. It had been quite and eventful day and I needed to save energy for the next day. And that concludes day 3 in Japan.
I apologize for not updating my blog on time. Between exploring new places, figuring out which train stop to get on and off at, and eating and taking hella picture, I do get very tired by the time I return to the hostel. My memory might have holes as I try to recall events that have happened a few days prior so bear with me here.
September 2nd:
We woke up around 10ish and quickly discussed where we wanted to go in Nagoya. I recommended that my cousin and I go to the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology and later on in the day go to the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium.
After a bit of deliberation, we set off to the Toyota Museum. The museum was pretty big. It was built to preserve the history and legacy of the Toyoda family and their many achievements. As one of the introductory boards reads: “In 1911, Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of the Toyota Group established the Toyoda Jido Shokufu Kojo , here in Sako, Nagoya-city , for the research and development of automatic looms”. So to summarize, Toyota used to be spelled Toyoda and that the company started out in the textiles industry, developing automatic looms before moving into the automobile industry. Inside the main lobby sits a working model of a circular loom developed by Sakichi Toyoda in 1906. There is a introduction card on it with a brief description of its history and a schedule of when the model actually works for live demonstrations through out the day. In the First main exhibit hall, there are exhibits of early technology that humans used to process cotton in to yarn, and early weaving processes. As you move along, there are early examples of weaving machines/looms. There are also examples of different kinds of fibers that are currently used, how they are harvested and their applications. As one progresses through the museum floor, the machinery gets more and more complex through concurrent with the time period. Almost all of the machinery in the exhibit hall works and can be demonstrated by a tour guide. Im not going to get into anymore details because that would be boring and you can probably read about it on their website, Wikipedia, or one day go yourself. But it got me thinking how technological advancements are. The progress throughout the centauries is truly remarkable. From simple manual devices to huge machines that only require some human interaction, It really was a sight to behold.
After the exhibit on looms, you go to a slightly smaller area where they explain some metalworking and the transition of the Toyota Group into machinery and more industrial endeavors. I didn’t pay too much attention here but they had a small section that showed other technologies that the Toyota Group had dabbled in from memory media, to actuators, to sensors and such. This section is actually very well placed because the next section is the automobile pavilion and that is where they have exhibits of the first Toyota automobiles and explains how the Toyota Group got into the automotive industry.
In 1933, Kiichiro Toyoda (Sakichi’s son) established the Automobile department in the Toyota group. Skipping over some details, at the entrance of the pavilion are boards that explain how the Toyoda’s got into mechanics of automobiles and how they were influenced. One of the more memorable exhibits explained how the first Toyota prototype was built. The next major section in the automobile pavilion goes further into depth of the history of Toyota Automobiles. This exhibit features all the major models of Toyota automobiles throughout history, technologies, engines, transmissions and such. Eventually, I will probably create a photo dump of some sort and you guys can take a look at that. There is also a Toyota Automobile Meusem but that’s in another town about 45 minutes away. I really wanted to go see that place but it was too far and we were running out of time. By the time we had finished exploring the automobile pavilion, I was starving. We left the exhibit and was back in the main lobby. My cousin and I deliberated where we should go eat but had not solid ideas. Then we used google map’s explore function and found a cheap noodle joint not too far away from the train station we needed to go to.
Not long after we left the Toyota museum, we were on our way. The noodle joint was very small in a very narrow building. We ordered our meals from a small machine that vended out tickets. The machine a series of buttons and corresponding prices. We couldn’t tell what was what since I don’t know a lick of Japanese and my cousin was bad at the script that was on the machine. So we took a gamble and ordered away. We put in the corresponding amount of currency required for each dish and the machine vended our tickets. We presented the tickets to the cooks behind the counter and sat down and waited. The place was very small and probably had only enough seats for 8 people max. It was close to 2 pm at this time and some businessmen who worked by came in for a fast meal before going back to work. I ordered some kind of thick-noodled udon and it was delicious. The broth was a bit on the salty side (lots of MSG). There was a lot of scallions, a few big pork slices, and lots and lots of bamboo shoots. After the meal, we walked to the closest train station and took a train to the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium.
After hopping off the train, we made our way up to the ground level. We followed a jetty around to the port area. There was a mall area and a Red Lobster. Looking around there was a big port observatory as well as a big orange coast guard ship. Then right in front of us maybe 50 or so meters away was the Aquarium. Like any Aquarium, we purchased our entry tickets for about 1200 yen each and proceeded inside. The closest exhibits by the lobby were big glass tanks where they held dolphins, seals, and whales. A trainer was showing off a well trained seal and many little kids and parents were thoroughly entertained. I thought the little round critter did quite some impressive tricks and it was pretty cute and round. I looked around and notice a schedule of performances throughout the day. By the time we got there it was 4 pm and we missed many of the performances. However we were in time for the final dolphin show of the day and went upstairs for that. The dolphins did an assortment of tricks but the most amazing ones I bother to recall was the trainers surfing on them and how the dolphins skipped over water on their tails alone. The dolphin surfing was CRAZY. I don’t recall the last time I saw a dolphin show but this was some intense radical shit. That was like the highlight of the day. I was also amazed on how strong the dolphin’s tail muscles were, they skipped through the water with ease and it was cool to see. Afterwards we also saw penguin feeding time. These little birds were round and rowdy. I think there were 4 kinds of penguins there. The emperor penguins were the funniest to me because they were big and super round. Eventually we got bored of watching them and walked around the aquarium to see other exhibits. We saw all types of fish and even baby seas turtles. The most interesting exhibit I have to admit is probably the one on dangerous sea creatures. They ranged from alligator snapping turtles, to blue ringed octopus. Every creature in this exhibit posed a serious threat to humans. Be it touching them, eating them, or getting attacked, all of them had a serious potential to harm humans. I thought to myself, damn Mother Nature, you scary as hell.
After about and hour and half to two hours in the Aquarium, it was closing time and we took the train back to the hotel. I was dead tired and had to sit down for about 30 minutes. Then we changed and stopped by curry udon place for dinner. This place also had very decent food. I ordered cheese fries with mayonnaise and ketchup on the side (yes mayo with fries is a thing) and some curry noodles. It was pretty good. After dinner we headed back to the hotel, looked up things we wanted to do during the rest of our time in Japan, and went to sleep.
And this concludes the second night in Japan.
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