When I got back to the hotel, I saw that it was still quite early, probably around 8 or 8:30, and I figured that I should take advantage of the time that I have here, and continue walking. Again, I didn't know where I was heading, and I didn't have a map with me, so I picked one direction, and started walking. It seemed that I was walking north, but I couldn't be sure. (I had thought that I had a good sense of direction, but having gone the wrong way twice in two days, I realize that in a new environment, my sense of direction might be useless.) It was quite a surprise to men, then, when I discovered that I had wandered into the Ginza district. I don't know why I like it, but it is fun to see many fine shopping store selling expensive things, and the like. Remembering from my last trip here, I knew that the Kabuki theater was on the other side. Along with the fancy buildings this might make for interesting photos.
Perhaps I should be ashamed that I am not particularly interested in watching a Kabuki show. Certainly, I am curious, and the experience would be novel, but it is not at the top of my priority list, at least not right now. (Furthermore, I seem to have an odd relationship with theater in general. I like working in it, producing, directing, and writing (although mostly I only like the writing aspect), but watching shows is not the most exciting thing for me; usually when I watch a show, the dominant thought in my head is that I should be making shows instead of watching them.) So after snapping my photos (which is quite difficult because the theater is right on the street, and the only good place to snap a picture is from across the busy street, which means I have to wait patiently for the brief moment with the least traffic to hit the sutter), I kept walking in the same direction.
I was astonished to discover that I was not in the Tsukiji neighborhood. Again, I had been here last time just to see the fish market. I didn't bother to make my way there this time since I knew it was probably already too late in the morning to see the interesting auctions taking place. Plus, I had heard that the fish market is no longer freely open to tourists wandering in (which makes sense; I wouldn't want tourists simply wandering into my place of work either). But like I said earlier, walking around, experiencing real Tokyo life happening around me (and although not really a part of it, at least it seems like I'm part of it) is very exciting and interesting to me. The drawback with this sort of exploration is that I might miss a lot of what other people think are the significant sights to catch. To be sure, this does bother me a little bit, and after the trip, I might be dissappointed that I missed some fascinating location that was only a block away from where I was wandering, but life interests me so much more than intricately stacked bricks and wood (though I have to admit that sometimes the life that surrounds or interacts with these intricate stacks of brick and wood can be even more interesting than the life I would find without the guide book).
That said, sometimes it is quite possible to wander upon a gem that is not found in many guidebooks. In Tsukiji there is a big Buddhist temple that is inspired by Indian architecture. The temple is called Tsukiji Hongwanji. I remember five years ago, after travelling around and visiting so many temples and shrines that many of these examples of old Japanese architecture begin to all blend together in memory, and I begin to loose my interest in them. For that reason, it was refreshing to see a temple with a distinct architectural style.
By now it really was getting close to check-out time, so I decided to head back to the hotel and pack up.
No comments:
Post a Comment