Day 5: 'Old Japan', Asakusa, Harajuku Again! ( JUly 16)

Judy-Chan and I slept-in, unawares that during the night before the typhoon had pass over Tokyo already. On today's agenda we as a group was to explore Ikebukuro in the daylight, visit the sites of "Old Tokyo", and go to Asakusa. Jayson gave us all a chance to explore the surroundings of Ikebukuro during the morning hours. It was not much to explore all we did was probably get some breakfast and I think I remember pointing out to Judy-chan while she snapped a few shots of the Pachinko Parlors, where already there were many of the local Japanese lining up to get in that there was a good portion of the people who looked like middle school or high school students. I wondered if they were playing 'hooky'?
According to Morton's Japan: Its History and Culture, the Japan's education system has been in a poor state with a good number of the young people who just opted to not fit in their society anymore (in this case, to not play their roles as students) and instead use their parent's disposable income ( most Japanese families are middle-class) for Pachinko, as I see to it and the numerous 'otaku' who wandered through Akhibara everyday with no sensible purposes. Still others would 'whore' themselves to the rich, women and men alike.
The "two-track work system" (general clerical track and the elite managerial track) is not of priority to many and just seems to be a thing of Japan's past. The big part of the blame should go to Japan's bad economy and the chaos it has created for many to affect indirectly or directly into lives of their children. Japan's 'children' we find on the streets on a weekday in the daylight, who truly can be labeled "the burden of society". I was just flabbergasted to see what Jayson called the 'dark side of Japan' happening in broad daylight.
After a brief morning stroll around Tokyu Hands and breakfast, Judy-chan and I finally met up with the group who were chatting animately over some occurrence. As I came closer, my classmates were talking about some earthquake, as it turns out at 10:30am sharp there was an earthquake in Tokyo with a magnitude of about 6.7 more or less. Probably when the earthquake hit, Judy-chan and I were up in the 4th or 5th floor of Tokyu Hands department store and we could not feel a thing. I am not sure if being at an higher-elevation would mitigate the severity of an earthquake, but LOL I guess it does.
Once we met up with Jayson and the group we start to head down to the left side of Sunshine city and walked nearly a mile or two and already we start to notice the hustle and bustle of Sunshine City, Ikebukuro died down as we entered the residential areas. During the walk Jayson pointed out to us various things from the story and mechanics behind the "Japanese bike" to Japan's gas prices being too high. Forgive me, but I was not paying attention to these pointers, so I cannot elaborate on them as my ears took in the information and went out the other, and besides, I was preoccupied in playing with the silk worm or catepillar that Travis had handed to me. It was so soft, I wanted to name it "fuzz".
Before we know it the long walk lead us to a street car stop where people were waiting for the next car to come. I could not really tell you much about the scenery of "old Tokyo" while on the Arakawa Street Line. I could say after seeing a couple old, worn buildings and some rural-like settings and finding a seat, I just got bored and am guilty of taking out my I-pod to listen and was sleeping the whole way. By the time we got off the car, I entered what Jayson termed " Old Tokyo" and not having a clue where we had landed. In my zombie-like state, I followed the group around as we passed by a hut where a tatami mat maker lived and worked. Met the couple's adorable cat, Kenji-kun ( was it?) and we were offered chilled- orange slices, which was a delectable treat especially on that scorching day. After traveling a bit more on our feet, we boarded a subway train for Ryogoku, where the famous Edo-Tokyo Museum awaited us. While waiting for the museum tour outside, there was a street performer in all his greasiness making art work with a music blasting in the background for his inspiration. I think he called himself something along the lines of the 'god of art" and his artwork was really nice. Once we got into the Edo-Tokyo museum, Jayson gave us the 'OK' to explore around and to meet up a certain time at the exit. I, repeat " I am not a history buff" and my foot was aching like mad. Basically, I just followed Judy-chan around listlessly since nothing really interested me, but we did try to keep tab to see if a 'panic room' that Travis told us about, truly existed. In our dismay of not being able to find the 'Panic Room', Judy-Chan and I gave up our search and head to the gift shop instead where I bought nearly rest of my souvenirs there.

After visiting the Edo-Tokyo Museum we took a subway train to Asakusa, a popular tourist attraction known for the famous temples and the long line of shops and street stands that seem to speckle their way into them. It was at Asakusa that we, as a group had to come to a 'stand-still' since we noticed one of our members MIA , our dear old Ron-chan. We did not know where we left her and we all felt responsible for her absence, especially for me since she was my friend. I tried to abide by Jayson's buddy-system every time, which is why I never let Judy-chan out of my sight. Or at least I try not to let her out of my sight. Sure Tokyo is not a crime scene, but with a city over-populated with people and everywhere else is just as crowded from subway stations to streets there was no telling where we lost her ( she was not kidnapped since Japan is somewhat a crime-free country), and we as naive tourists are subjected to losing our way most of the time. It was nearly dark out when Ron-Chan finally came back to us safe and sound due to her exceptional Japanese communication skills in finding her way. I think she will get along with Japan just fine when she goes back in the fall for her study abroad.
Regardless, I was really worried about her, I blame my American-self for not looking out for Ron-chan. But would my Japanese-self be any different and prevent this incident in occurring in the first place? T.R. Reid's Confucius Lives Next Door talks about the 'East Asian social miracle' where one of the characteristics of this phenomenon is that Japanese would look after each other as if they were in a group and to make everyone feel included, for example at karaoke get-togethers or even a student banquet- dinner as we had earlier on the trip, etc. Individualistic thinking was just too out there for the Japanese, but the tables are turning and now, even the common Japanese are starting to think independently; however, in very selfish ways. For example, some of the younger Japanese generation are just doing what they wish with no one to stop them or no one who cares. Getting back to the point, maybe my Japanese-self would look after Ron-chan as she is part of the group and not on an honor-dishonor basis. But the friendship code is universal and so I should have known better to watch out for her. As a friend, I have failed my duty.
Our time at Asakusa was cut short for the circumstance mentioned above. Whatever time we had, I just focused on shopping for trinkets, getting my hapi-coat ( hopefully later I can transform it into a genuine 'yanki coat' someday), and snacking on some fresh 'manju'. Judy-Chan and I also spent some time in the inside of the temple's vicinity to amuse ourselves in some fortune telling for 200 yen. The funny thing about in our fortune-telling was that we had the same fortune. I already forgot what my fortune says, but Judy-chan knows.

After Asakusa, Jayson allowed us to decide what we wanted to do for the night, as he offered to take whoever in the group interested in going to a sento (a Japanese public bath) in Asakusa. BUt Judy-chan, Aja, and I were kind of wary of that idea that we had to expose ourselves in our 'birthday suits' in front of other people ( Author note: If it was a real onsen (hotsprings) , I would have went) and decided to skip it entirely to go together to Harajuku again. Back at Harajuku with our 'trash-mouthed'- chaperon , Lahela in tow, we all went to our favorite shopping spots again with the little time we had left. This time around we went straight to the "Lolita Bridge" hoping to snap at least one picture of a loli, and we caught one in all her cute-pinky-goodness as she was about to leave. Thanks, Judy-chan for letting me use your camera for that. I was in much better spirits since I was able to spot at least one lolita at the bridge even though it was not a Sunday. During our short shopping spree at Harajuku, I was able to pick up a goth-lolita outfit, a top hat, and I finally spotted the Vivienne Westwood golden-lighter ( the NANA one) I was relentlessly looking for, but the shop was closing at 8pm, so if anything it was a glimpse. That one glimpse made my jaw drop at the price, if converted correctly it was worth nearly $3,000 USD, a very crazy amount if you ask me. Needless to say because the shops at Harajuku were closing up, Bodyline was also out of the question. If I remember correctly, the once friendly lolita-clad salesgirls shooed us out.

After Harajuku, it was back to Ikebukuro again with our empty stomachs. Judy-chan, Aja, and I breathe a sigh of relief when Lahela finally saw us off from the Harajuku station. Lahela, as we ( Judy-chan, Aja, and I) all agreed was a very rude person but we appreciate her for looking out for us, but we do not like the 'babying'. And for the first time in my life, I felt the need for soap for the sole purpose of washing out Lahela's mouth, but you know whatevers.
As we hit home in Ikebukuro, our stomachs churned for the need for food, so we stopped at Matsuya (like another Yoshinoya) for some dinner. I think we ordered about the same time, but this time was our first time ordering by the ticket which took a bit in figuring how it gets done. I ordered a beef bowl or a pork bowl, the meat was just really salty, I did not really like it. After a somewhat satisfying meal, I persuaded Judy-chan and Aja to come exploring with me around the street to look for a live-house of some sort and at the same time to walk-off the food before we head back. As it ends up we could not find a live-house, but we found a live- punk band playing across the street instead, in the front of the Uniqlo department store. The music that Cubic Setts, the band was playing was ok, but to me was not as great as Ocean Box. But Aja and I bought a cd from them for 500 yen, anyways.
With the performance of a live band, it ended what was a great night for all of us with the exception of Aja being locked out of her hotel room and in that light, Judy-chan and I playing our roles as gracious hosts to her until she could get back into her room. I hope everything went all right with Aja that night. As for me, I passed out on the carpet floor again finishing the last can of the sake I kept in the fridge.