Tokyo--Days 3 and 4, plus my thoughts on the city

I woke up after a long sleep on Saturday morning with plans to explore in detail the more historical places in Tokyo. So I set off for yet another shrine and came across a big souvenier shop in Asakusa, where I found a Godzilla keychain for Sasha. I saw yet another shrine and the related gardens, but I was really more impressed with the big incense pot that seemed straight out of Leviticus. I hiked it over to the museum district next and went to the Tokyo National Museum. I had high expectations that it would be akin to the fabulous British Museum, but this one turned out to be quite limited in its displays for whatever reason. It was large, but nothing on the scale of a European museum, and I covered the whole thing in a little over an hour. The samurai armor and katana swords were interesting, as well as the Japanese paintings. I particularly like the paintings that depict ocean waves. I also saw an interesting exhibit on the expansion of Buddhism across Asia as seen through sculptures of Buddha, and they had good maps explaining how the philosophy/religion spread from India to Pakistan, China, Korea, and Japan, and how each of those cultures depicted Buddha differently. I liken it to seeing pictures of a white Jesus in American pictorial Bibles or a black Jesus in others, when it's quite obvious that he was Semitic and nothing like those pictures. As I left I came across the Japanese Museum of Western Art, so I went in. It was free, and after perusing the small inventory, I could ascertain why. They had some good pieces, like Monet's Water Lilies, but it was (understandably) really just tiny in comparison to other places I've been. They also had lots of Rodin sculptures outside, and my favorite, The Burghers of Calais, so I quite liked that.

After my fill of the museum district (having ignored a number of other non-promising edifices), I headed for another busy ward/area/district of Tokyo that houses the Toyota Auto Salon, Ikebukuro. The showroom was impressive because you could see all of the most recent models, but none of the cars were really familiar to me because they were the Japanese versions, not what they sell back in the States. I walked around Akihabara some and ate dinner near my hostel, and after strongly considering a trip to Roppongi that night, decided to just rest. Looking back, I wish I'd have gone down there, but I was just discouraged because of my inability to communicate well.

Sunday I finished up going to some places I had previously not had time for, and I took in the sights and sounds for a final few moments before ineptly locating a train to take me back to Narita. I got to the airport with two hours to spare, so I went around the gift shops and ended up writing a list of everything that had happened in my life in 2008 on a month-by-month basis. Before making the list, I'd thought of the year with a slighty negative overtone, but after reviewing all the events and considering them as a whole, I had to admit it was a pretty good year with just a few problems, and I had a tendency to highlight those negatives instead of the far more numerous and significant positives. Anyway, it's an exercise I recommend, because you will probably surprise yourself with all that's happened in your life in a year. I feel this past year could have comprised a decade of events, and I guess I wouldn't want it any other way.

So, my summary thoughts on Tokyo: basically, I compare it to an Asian version of Paris. It's busy, fashionable, upscale, somewhat touristy, expensive, and the center of all things Japanese. It had its own Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysee, royal palace (like Le Louvre), and a dozen other things that cause it to strongly correspond to Paris. It was good to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. I found the Japanese less friendly than Koreans, and far less likely to help a lost foreigner. But that's not to say it was a negative experience, because overall it wasn't. It's just not my ideal place. But to see a city that has such a high population that yet can function so well was certainly impressive. I was in awe the whole time and thought the city to be a monument to human achievement.

Anyway, the best part of the trip for me was the return flight, for two reasons. First, I felt much more comfortable back on my home soil in Korea, and second, I met a great girl on the flight back. We are going out to downtown tonight to celebrate New Year's. There's a park with a big bell that is rung every year at midnight, so I think it'll be fun to check it out.