On Friday 9 October we went to the Pax (Passenger) Terminal here at Kadena to try and get four free seats onto the military transport that was flying up to Yakota Air Base (just outside of Tokyo). This was a bit of a gamble as there are no guarantees that there will be seats available and just about anyone can try to get a "space available" seat but we did what we could to hedge our bets (we went in October, a relatively off month when it comes to traveling and we did some paperwork so that we moved into the number 2 of 5 priority travel category) and were fortunate enough to get on the flight and saved ourselves roughly $3,000 on tickets (the current going rate for round trip tickets for a family of four on Travelocity.com).
We got to Yakot
a and after waiting around for about a hour so they could find one of our bags (the one with the kids clothing in it) and getting set up to Space A ourselves back to Okinawa we left the air base with luggage in hand en route to the nearest train station to begin our journey to the hotel via the Japanese public transit system. By this time it was approaching and passing the kids' bedtime (we made it to the hotel a little after 10 PM) so they took advantage of the fact that they are kids and therefore not expected to haul around luggage and fell asleep. It was about this time, when we were dragging our luggage and two sleeping kids that Lisa and I were really proud of our conservative packing. We had a light weight stroller, a suitcase wi
th wheels, two back packs (one I was wearing and one that was packed for Coryn to wear [and he normally did]) a small duffel bag that Coryn was also able to pull ( and had the kids' clothes in it) and a big purse that Lisa held. All told it was less than 100 pounds of additional weight. We took a train and a couple of subways cars to get to the station near the hotel and since everyone was out by that time we took a cab the rest of the way. After checking in we were taken up to our room and the boys transferred from our arms to their bed without any issues.Our first hotel was quite on the fancy side which means it wasn't very kid friendly. We didn't spend too much time in the hotel itself (the one time we tried to we discovered, much to our frustration and Coryn's lament, that the pool was located in the gym and only open to those 18 and older). Coryn ended up swimming in the tub that night (complete with swim suit and goggles... "becuse I'm swimming, not taking a bath"). Our room was on the 24th floor of the building and did offer a nice view of the Tokyo Tower (that would be the orange and white Eiffel Tower looking thing in the background) and that side of town both at night and during the day.
Our first day in Tokyo w
e walked from the hotel in search of a place to have breakfast. I was expecting to eat at a McDonald's (being under the impression that you would find one on every street corner here) but after walking for about 63 miles without seeing one we stopped in to a bakery that had some nice breakfast breads and a delicious "American" (as they dubbed it)cinnamon roll, which it actually was, not some sort of Japanese knock off. Carter ate a round piece of bread with ham and potato in the middle of it but since it was round he refused to hear it called anything but what it obviously was a "no-nut." I mean come on, it's round, I'm eating it for breakfast, or course it's a donut people, sheesh!Following breakfast we went to a sword museum that had several swords made by
samurai in the 13th century. They had some clear up to the WWII era and the oldest on on display was from the late 12th century. The method that they came up with left nearly 800 year old swords looking as sharp as the day they were presented (which is what they were after since authentic Samurai swords never need to be resharpened). Coryn has been on a big sword kick lately and this did manage to hold his attention for a few minutes but they lack of a hands on exhibit (I think he was disappointed that he didn't get to hack off an
yone's appendages) he soon lost interest so we took the boys to a small community park that we had passed on the way. We also went up to the observation deck on the 45th floor of one of the buildings in the municipal government office complex. The elevator that we rode in took 55 seconds to get to the 45th floor and Lisa kept saying that the rapid climb in elevation was making her ears pop. We were able to see quite a bit of the city from way up there but there were clouds over the mountains so I couldn't really see Mt. Fuji. My favorite part of the building was actually the banner that was displayed on the side of it out front. Oh well Tokyo, better luck next time!Our final stop of the day was at the controversial Yasakuni shrine and Yushuka
n museum where the spirits of those warriors who are killed in battle are said to rest. The current Symbolic Registry of Divinities lists the names of 2, 466, 532 individuals, including 1082 individuals executed or imprisoned as war criminals at the end of WWII. The museum has been criticized for presenting a revisionist history of WWII. It highlights historic war stories and pictures of thousands of kamikaze pilots but does not mention atrocities (such as the "Rape of Nanking" in the 1930's). The museum depicts Japan as a liberator of Asia and that they were forced into attacking Pearl Harbor by the American oil and raw materials embargo against them Some say that the shrine promotes the nationalist militant past in a country that now strives for peace. Regardless, it is the only location where the Emperor of Japan himself has bowed. Currently any public official who visits the shrine is blasted in the press. There are several statues outside the museum that pay homage to kamikaze pilots, war widows, war dog, war horses and even carrier pigeons.
Posts
1 comment:
very interesting.
Post a Comment