Yokohama/Tokyo

Tokyo

July 31, 2019

We arrived in Yokohama very, very early. The harbor is large and active with dozens of freighters, large and small, waiting outside to enter. On the map it looks like Yokohama is part of Tokyo but it is actually the fourth largest city in Japan with 3.5 million people.

AND OMG IT’S HOT!!!!!!! AND HUMID!!!!!!!!! The temperature is c.95 with humidity in that range, too. It’s very, very hazy from all that moisture in the air. As we are to learn as we visit more of Japan, this is not the best time to visit. The guides keep telling us that it’s much too hot in the summer. There is a Cool Biz policy for business men in July and August—Shirtsleeves are acceptable, leave the coat and tie at home until the Fall.

Months ago when we were planning this trip we thought it would be smart to spend the day in Tokyo, trying to see as much as possible since we will go straight from ship to airport in two weeks when we’re back in Yokohama. Oh, boy. If we knew then what we know now.

The bus is lovely, new, spotless (Japan is the cleanest country I’ve ever visited) and blessedly air conditioned. Usually we try to stay away from any tour that is described as “panoramic” because that means you drive by sights and sites rather than stopping and visiting. As soon as we stepped off the bus at our first stop, the Imperial Palace Plaza, we were hit smack in the face with the heat and humidity AND throngs of people. 

The grounds are beautiful—-emerald green grass with dozens of pine trees all trimmed to look like giant bonsai. Some grass you can walk on, some you can’t. Even though the emperor is a figurehead, he has lots of perks and evidently walking on the grass is one of them. We walked across the park, the plaza and street to the Imperial Gate which is open two days a year, the emperor’s birthday and New Years Day. So we took pictures of the gate, the walls, the moat and the guard (guards everywhere—at historical sites, busy corners, parking lot entrances) and then dragged back across the street, plaza and park to the restrooms, very clean but also very Japanese. I didn’t pee in a hole in the ground in China, I’m not doing it in Japan. However, what I did learn in China is that all public restrooms have one designated for handicapped,  always western style and it appears that the same goes for Japan. The restroom attendant gave me a side eye when I left said accommodation but I faked a limp as I walked away. Don’t judge.

Tokyo is as big and busy as I had imagined. Lots of “businessmen” as our guide referred to any man in white shirts, dark pants with a briefcase, swiftly walking from here to there. And lots of women, old and young, taking shelter from the sun under an umbrella or parasol as they walked from here to there. The city has excellent public transportation and some of the craziest parking garages ever. There just isn’t room to building a parking building with driving between floors so they use elevators. We watched as a car entered a multi-storied parking building and an attendant bruskly pointed him to one of eight garage doors. When the appointed door opened, the person drove his car into what we saw was an elevator, the door closed and up man and auto went. One of the chi-chi buildings had a round table like those used to turn locomotives around. Seemed like you drove onto the turntable which turned your car around, the door opened, you backed in, door closed and then elevator up. Could’ve sat on the curb and watched the process all day but if you’ll remember, HOT!

I forgot to mention that our guide was Yuki and our driver Mr. Suzuki. Mr. S was young but extremely professional who drove carefully and kept a tidy bus. In fact, every car in Tokyo looked freshly washed. Most of the taxis are black and they looked positively burnished. Yuki said that Japanese were obsessive cleaners. “If we have a spare moment we clean something.” She gave us the rundown on the cost of a car in Tokyo. She lives in a 60 square meter, approximately 630 square feet, (average for family of four) condominium. If she had a car, a parking place in her condo building would be an additional $400 per month. The gas isn’t outrageously expensive—1.42 Yen for a liter which is roughly $5-ish a gallon— and all the cars are small and probably get great mileage but it’s the acquisition and upkeep. Instead, Yuki uses public transportation or her bicycle. Lot of bicycles, most with baskets on the front and many with a kid’s seat on the back. We saw many young mothers pedaling around town doing errands with a little one strapped in behind her. Many delivery bicyclists, too. The traffic is as you’d expect so bicycle delivery makes sense plus where would you park a delivery car or van? A couple of times during the day when Mr. S dropped us off he had to go meandering around until it was time to pick us up. Remember all those police guards? Well, there is another level that seems to be in charge of no stopping, double parking or idling. They also keep the sidewalks clear. No stopping on the sidewalk to chat with someone. All players are in motion at all times.

Before I forget, Yuki said that to Japanese, Beverly Hills is the ultimate in luxury so if you want to make a shop or building or restaurant sound posh you tag “Hills” onto the name.

We went to the Ginza district. Heat be damned, my little heart leaped for joy! It’s a shopping Mecca! Every name in fashion, design, jewelry that you can think of has a location in the Ginza. Gucci, Channel, Prada, Tiffany’s, Harry Winston and on and on. My absolute favorite was the Bottega Venetta building. It was faced with material that looked woven like their iconic woven leather bags. However, my mission wasn’t designer goods it was quilt fabric!

We quickly learned that Japanese do not like to speak English. Supposedly the children learn in school but the letters and words are very difficult for them so even though they might understand, they rarely reply in English. This is all a preamble to me asking the lovely ladies (ANYone with a job that interacts with the public is drop dead gorgeous) at the information booth in one of the main buildings where I could find cotton fabric. Lots of blank looks but finally I played charades and acted out cutting fabric and then sewing it. Bingo! A street map came out and I was pointed to a department store (there are several in the area from basic to over-the-top) across the street, sixth floor. 

Keep in mind that the Ginza district is a cross between Times Square and Fifth Avenue—-lots of traffic, lots of pedestrians—so when I said to Jim, “Let’s go,” he was momentarily reluctant. He wanted to keep our designated meeting place where Mr S would pick us up in one hour in sight. But off we went and into the department store that was a time warp. Every floor was designated for certain goods from dresses to drapes and on the sixth, fabric! An entire floor of fabric, ribbons, buttons. I bounced around like a pinball looking for “Made in Japan” and gathered up an armload of this and that. All the measurements were in centimeters so I had no idea how big a piece of fabric I was buying (my brain was too heat-fried to convert), but that just added to the sport. When you check out at a store the cashier has a stack of small baskets. Instead of handing the money directly to her, you put it in the basket and she hands the change back in the basket. So very civilized. 

We spent fifteen minutes or so looking for a convenience store to buy something to drink. Usually there is one on every block but not in the Ginza. We found a Starbucks (Yuki told us they are very popular in Japan, especially the Mango Frappuccino) but the line was too long so back to the bus for us.

Lunch was in a nice hotel. A crazy buffet of Japanese and western food with terrific dim sum. We sat with a couple from Merced, CA. He is a die-heart Dodger fan and even left a world cruise to go to Spring Training and then rejoined the cruise. He and Jim could’ve gone on  trading “remember when” baseball stories for hours but we had to go on to a temple that was both Shinto and Buddhist. 

I admit that I had moved on from whiney to cranky by this point. So I mostly sat in the semi-shade with my best pouty face waiting for the allotted 45 minutes to pass and the return of Mr. S and his wonderfully cool bus.

It was a very long nine-hour excursion. 

We each drank a liter of water when we were back on board and decided that we would be taking a pass on our planned nine-hour excursion to Kyoto in two days time. It’s supposed to be even hotter there. I don’t care if it’s the must-see of Japan. I’ll look at the pictures in Eyewitness Travel Japan.