The museum is a huge building that is designed to resemble the old warehouses that used to line the banks of the Sumida. You climb stairs to the 3rd level, which is outside. You can see the Kokugikan building, where sumo tournaments are held three times a year. From the 3rd level, you take an escalator up to the 6th floor and enter the museum. The entire public display area is on the 5th and 6th floors. Kind of a weird setup, but it works.
Each floor is divided into the "Edo Zone" and the "Tokyo Zone." The Edo Zone covers the history from 1603 to 1876, the Tokyo Zone covers 1876 to about the early '60s. Both sides display reconstructed buildings and many artifacts of the period. Best to save descriptions for the picture pages.
Sadly, there wasn't much in the way of explanations of the exhibits in English. Probably about a quarter of what was available in Japanese. Maybe it was just coincidence, but the biggest and most prominently displayed English placards were in the section that dealt with the Allied bombings in 1945 that destroyed much of the city. I have no problem with the things we did to win the war, but it was pretty sobering to see pictures and film of the devastation. I decided to take it like a man and watch it all, with Japanese people standing all around me. No one yelled at me or kicked me in the shins, so I guess I handled it okay.
From the museum, I made a quick trip to see the famous Budokan Hall. It was built as a venue for the Judo competition in the 1964 Olympics, and has been used for all kinds of athletic events since then. But what makes it famous around the world is its use as a concert hall. This is where the Beatles played, among many others. Those of a certain age know it for a couple of famous live recordings: Deep Purple's Made in Japan and Cheap Trick's At Budokan. I took my pictures and walked around a bit, as the building adjoins a garden. The garden was full of people engaging in the age-old tradition of hanami, or cherry blossom viewing. The thing is, there were no cherry blossoms. They're exceptionally late this year. I have no doubt that I'll see them in their full glory before I leave, but I'll be cutting it kinda close.
Rieko came up to Kayaba-cho (the neighborhood where my hotel is located) to meet me for dinner. We went to a little traditional Japanese pub a couple doors down from the hotel. The only adventurous things we had were soft tofu with bonito flakes (dried fish flakes - actually very good!) and raw horsemeat with ginger and curry. I didn't have a real problem with it, but I didn't like it. I can handle sushi - it gives when you chew on it. But horsemeat fights back. Weird to chew, unfamiliar (and unwelcome) consistency, not too bad flavor. I only ate two pieces and decided I'd had enough. But at least I tried it.
The plan for tomorrow is a visit to Honmon-ji temple in Rieko's home neighborhood of Ikegami, followed by a trip to the Ota Memorial Ukiyo-e Museum to see famous prints and original paintings by Hiroshige, one of the giants of 19th century woodblock prints. Next up, I'm going to take a crack at pachinko and see if I can figure it out. After that, if we can get tickets, we're going to see a baseball game between the Yomiuri (Tokyo) Giants and the Hiroshima Carp at Tokyo Dome. The rules are the same, but from what I can see on the televised game tonight, the experience is a little bit different. I'll report on that if we make it to the game.
Enjoy the pictures!
