Creesmahs and New Year in Japan
Since my last blog I have spent Christmas weekend in Tokyo
with my friends Fran and Dennis and Dennis’ niece and her friend. I made some new friends (welcome Stephen to
my friend list) that weekend as well.
After a nice Italian meal in a French bistro in Shibuya (Tokyo district)
on Christmas Eve we wandered around for awhile mesmerized by the 50 Motorcycle
Santas who kept popping up around Shibuya and Shinjuku (also Tokyo). The streets were full of people celebrating
Christmas by dancing in the streets in festive moods all shouting “Merry Creesmahs!”
I am still amazed at how Japanese girls can dress in so little in the middle of
winter; of course it was only in the 30’s at night so I guess there was really
no call for a coat. Adding to the excitement was the house party in Shinjuku followed
by a “rest of the nighter” dancing and celebrating at the Rock Bar complete
with dancing on the bar and everybody wishing everybody a Merry “Creesmahs!” We
rounded it all off with a banquet at Burger King and went to bed. On Christmas day we went out for Christmas
sushi and a trip to the Tokyo Tower.
Then I got back on my bullet train for a 300 kph, 4 hour trip back to
the north where there was plenty of ice and snow. Christmas is a festive time in Japan, but
nothing, I heard, compared to New Year’s Eve.
I learned about some exciting events and traditions such as people going
to shrines and burning their good luck tokens from the past year in bonfires and
getting new ones for the new year.
Lanterns would be lit and the bells of the temples would ring in the new
year. I thot that sounded fun and
decided to go to Aomori City, about 39 km from here, a seaport town that
reportedly gets more snow per capita (whatever that means) than any other small
city (whatever that means) on earth. Determined to conquer my fear of driving
on ice and snow covered back country roads in high winds, I set out with my
fearless colleague Holly for Aomori on Saturday morning with extra blankets and
“Hot Hands” just in case we slid off the road and had to spend a couple of days
in a snow bank half submerged in a rice patty at the bottom of a ravine. Holly kept saying “hey look at that” or “Garry,
let’s stop here” while I was praying and struggling to keep the car on the
road. Turns out her fearlessness has
more to do with obliviousness to the incredible danger than with actual
boldness. Anyway we made it to Aomori
and prepared for the events slated for our traditional Japanese new year
celebration. Now, Aomori had just
received over 3 feet of fresh snowfall so finding my way around with Holly as
my directionally-challenged (that would have been good to know before I put her
in charge of the map reading) navigator was challenging since the roadsides
bore 10- foot high walls of snow.
Everything was in Japanese (can you believe it?) including the name of
the Hotel which was blatantly obvious on the front of the building. After driving around for an hour trying to
match the Kanji and Hiragana to what might be on a hotel or street sign, and
after asking and receiving directions from Lawson’s convenience store (British
owned, but no English) in Japanese – (YAY for me!) we found it and even though
only 6 people in Aomori speak any English, we found the Tourist Information
Center where one such person worked.
Long story short the lady informed us that the happening party was to be
on board the ship “Hakkoda Maru” complete with alcohol, food and fireworks and
it was free! So after exploring a Shinto Shrine and wandering around the icy
streets and 10 foot walls of snow and ice, and having a nice kare dinner at
another hotel (our hotel’s 3 restaurants were closed for the holiday as were
90% of the businesses in town) Holly and I went to see the two bands playing 80’s
American pop which included a blond guy with a tamborine and a skinny girl in a
kimono slapping a mean bass guitar.
There was also a Don Ho looking guy with an electric keyboard laying
down some sultry sounds. The food varied from a cold bento to hot ramen and the
Sapporo Beer was 6 bucks a glass, but we stuck it out and saw the new year in
with a bang and some nice fireworks over Aomori Bay. Thanks to Holly clever
conversation and a lots of laughs, the evening was a hit. The next day we went
to an awesome little museum named for and featuring the internationally
acclaimed local block print artist Munakata Shiko and then somehow found the
giant Daibutsu (Big Buddha) and temple out in the country after careening down
a bouncy alley with 6 foot drops off to the sides of the iced over and heavily
rutted, one car wide trail. It was almost as fun driving as Turkey, especially
with the rubberneckers standing in the road smoking cigarettes and laughing
hysterically as I tried to negotiate my way around them and toward my
destination. We walked around and rang the giant bell then headed for home…and
made the 39 km in only 2 hours! It snows
here all day and all night with enough melt-off to give the roads a nice glaze
in the morning and as I sit and write we have about 8 inches built up since
yesterday. Supposed to snow again
tonight. I think I will have my fill by
the time I leave here in 6 weeks. pictures are top down and left to right: Me Fran and Dennis,MotoSantas, Mt Fuji (never gets old), Me and the Rock Bar Bunch,Aomori Pagoda and Daibutsu, Lantern, very helpful sign, the last existing Bob's Big Boy, Shrine and me and the Holly Lama!
Since my last blog I have spent Christmas weekend in Tokyo
with my friends Fran and Dennis and Dennis’ niece and her friend. I made some new friends (welcome Stephen to
my friend list) that weekend as well.
After a nice Italian meal in a French bistro in Shibuya (Tokyo district)
on Christmas Eve we wandered around for awhile mesmerized by the 50 Motorcycle
Santas who kept popping up around Shibuya and Shinjuku (also Tokyo). The streets were full of people celebrating
Christmas by dancing in the streets in festive moods all shouting “Merry Creesmahs!”
I am still amazed at how Japanese girls can dress in so little in the middle of
winter; of course it was only in the 30’s at night so I guess there was really
no call for a coat. Adding to the excitement was the house party in Shinjuku followed
by a “rest of the nighter” dancing and celebrating at the Rock Bar complete
with dancing on the bar and everybody wishing everybody a Merry “Creesmahs!” We
rounded it all off with a banquet at Burger King and went to bed. On Christmas day we went out for Christmas
sushi and a trip to the Tokyo Tower.
Then I got back on my bullet train for a 300 kph, 4 hour trip back to
the north where there was plenty of ice and snow. Christmas is a festive time in Japan, but
nothing, I heard, compared to New Year’s Eve.
I learned about some exciting events and traditions such as people going
to shrines and burning their good luck tokens from the past year in bonfires and
getting new ones for the new year.
Lanterns would be lit and the bells of the temples would ring in the new
year. I thot that sounded fun and
decided to go to Aomori City, about 39 km from here, a seaport town that
reportedly gets more snow per capita (whatever that means) than any other small
city (whatever that means) on earth. Determined to conquer my fear of driving
on ice and snow covered back country roads in high winds, I set out with my
fearless colleague Holly for Aomori on Saturday morning with extra blankets and
“Hot Hands” just in case we slid off the road and had to spend a couple of days
in a snow bank half submerged in a rice patty at the bottom of a ravine. Holly kept saying “hey look at that” or “Garry,
let’s stop here” while I was praying and struggling to keep the car on the
road. Turns out her fearlessness has
more to do with obliviousness to the incredible danger than with actual
boldness. Anyway we made it to Aomori
and prepared for the events slated for our traditional Japanese new year
celebration. Now, Aomori had just
received over 3 feet of fresh snowfall so finding my way around with Holly as
my directionally-challenged (that would have been good to know before I put her
in charge of the map reading) navigator was challenging since the roadsides
bore 10- foot high walls of snow.
Everything was in Japanese (can you believe it?) including the name of
the Hotel which was blatantly obvious on the front of the building. After driving around for an hour trying to
match the Kanji and Hiragana to what might be on a hotel or street sign, and
after asking and receiving directions from Lawson’s convenience store (British
owned, but no English) in Japanese – (YAY for me!) we found it and even though
only 6 people in Aomori speak any English, we found the Tourist Information
Center where one such person worked.
Long story short the lady informed us that the happening party was to be
on board the ship “Hakkoda Maru” complete with alcohol, food and fireworks and
it was free! So after exploring a Shinto Shrine and wandering around the icy
streets and 10 foot walls of snow and ice, and having a nice kare dinner at
another hotel (our hotel’s 3 restaurants were closed for the holiday as were
90% of the businesses in town) Holly and I went to see the two bands playing 80’s
American pop which included a blond guy with a tamborine and a skinny girl in a
kimono slapping a mean bass guitar.
There was also a Don Ho looking guy with an electric keyboard laying
down some sultry sounds. The food varied from a cold bento to hot ramen and the
Sapporo Beer was 6 bucks a glass, but we stuck it out and saw the new year in
with a bang and some nice fireworks over Aomori Bay. Thanks to Holly clever
conversation and a lots of laughs, the evening was a hit. The next day we went
to an awesome little museum named for and featuring the internationally
acclaimed local block print artist Munakata Shiko and then somehow found the
giant Daibutsu (Big Buddha) and temple out in the country after careening down
a bouncy alley with 6 foot drops off to the sides of the iced over and heavily
rutted, one car wide trail. It was almost as fun driving as Turkey, especially
with the rubberneckers standing in the road smoking cigarettes and laughing
hysterically as I tried to negotiate my way around them and toward my
destination. We walked around and rang the giant bell then headed for home…and
made the 39 km in only 2 hours! It snows
here all day and all night with enough melt-off to give the roads a nice glaze
in the morning and as I sit and write we have about 8 inches built up since
yesterday. Supposed to snow again
tonight. I think I will have my fill by
the time I leave here in 6 weeks. pictures are top down and left to right: Me Fran and Dennis,MotoSantas, Mt Fuji (never gets old), Me and the Rock Bar Bunch,Aomori Pagoda and Daibutsu, Lantern, very helpful sign, the last existing Bob's Big Boy, Shrine and me and the Holly Lama!
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