Arakawa Amusement Park and Mt Takao

Since we don't watch TV here, I was feeling the need for a little big screen time on a rainy afternoon.  Movies are not cheap at $23.00/tix but we chose to see Avatar 3-D special director's cut.  Thus, if you average hours of entertainment vs. price, I think it came to three cents a minute.  I thought our stay in Japan was going to end before the movie did!

Jackson actually looked pretty good in the glasses

post movie crepes Japanese style

Can you believe that roses are still in full bloom here?

When the weather cleared I took the family on a little excursion.  Right near our home is the start of Tokyo's only remaining street car line affectionately known by locals as the chin-chin densha or "ding-ding train", a name derived from the bell rung twice at each crossing as the one car train winds through some of Tokyo's older neighborhoods..  We took the streetcar to a little amusement park almost at the end of the line.  When Sandy and Nancy where here they wondered where all the old people in Tokyo hung out.  Well, we found them on the geriatric express.  My theory was it was easier to get on and off this train than use the subways, while Ian's was that it was a cheaper option.  Whatever the reason, we quickly ended up giving away our seats to seniors as the car filled to capacity with the gray haired brigade.  

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now you're talking-a make your own cotton candy machine-delicious!

I knew that the amusement park wasn't going to be anything too exciting especially as the rollercoaster was touted as the world's slowest, a detail which I casually omitted when pitching the trip to the kids.    The best part about it was the price.  I am a sucker for a deal and at $5.00 per child for all you can ride, who cared if it wasn't Disney?  Turns out everybody but me.  Truly it was an "adorable" park and I would have lived there with the kids ten years ago.  Free pony rides, fishing, fountain streams to explore, petting zoo, bouncy castles, rides galore.  Somehow no one was impressed or enchanted.  Jackson and Alec made the most of it while Nick was just plain mortified that he might been "seen" hanging out at a children's park.

world's slowest rollercoaster

the teacups

Nick having the time of his life

trying to decide if too old to like a merry-go-round still

I guess you win some and lose some as they say.  In attempt to redeem myself we checked out Mt Takao.The selling point here was a cool cable car and a chair lift that takes you up part of the mountain.  In Japan, safety is thought about slightly differently than in the U.S.  The chair lift seats where one slat too narrow for even me and had no safety bar to pull down.  To protect you from falling from a great height there was only a net and wood slats to catch you which wound up the entire lift line and obscured the view.  Go figure.

view of Tokyo and Yokohama from the top of the chair lift/cable car

Once up it was an enjoyable stroll and climb to the top.  We passed through a beautiful temple area and a never ending (in Alec's mind) snake of food stalls selling various local specialties.

This is Alec's take on the hike:

So two or three or four days ago we went on a chair lift up a mountain.

Well only half way up so we still had to hike up and down halfway and we took a cable car down.

At the top we saw mt. Fuji and a ferris wheel on the side of one of the mountain.

There was also a lot of food stands for a 45 minute walk actually it was probably less.

There food stands everywhere on the mountain.

You walk up some stairs and there's a ton of food stands, you turn the corner and there's a ton of food stands and so on.

from the top of Mt Takao, unfortunately view of Mt Fuji is obscured by clouds

My favorite pic:

small area of detailing of wood carving at shrine

Yokohama in the setting sun

This was a five thumbs up day.

Nick the Model

So a couple of weeks ago, Nick was walking through Shibuya alone.  Right outside the station at where everyone gathers a Japanese stylist named Hiro approached him and asked him if he wanted to model.  Nick was non-committal but took his business card.

He had just been lamenting his lack of cash and wondering how he was going to make some spending money in Japan.  The suggestion of "chores" had been quickly dismissed. So the lure of quick cash was prime.  When Nick told us of the offer later Ian and I had different reactions. Ian immediately thought it was scouting for porn, while I thought it was one of those offers where they get you to spend money making a "modeling portfolio".  In the end Nick contacted the guy and he assured Ian that it was on the up and up and that the job was for a runway show for Japan Fashion Week.  But first he would need to audition...

Nick and Ian went to the audition.  Nick was the youngest guy there by at least five years.  Most had portfolios and some had their own agents.  They all looked like models--read shaped eyebrows.  Nick was asked to try on some pajama-like clothes with black Dr. Martin boots.  He was one of three "amateurs" auditioning and it was set up with a judges table like America's Top Model (who would watch that show? Not me.)  Even though the judges kept saying how kawaii or cute Nick was, he felt that he would not get the job.  But they called back and he got it.

A few nights later Ian went out with some semi-famous friends and they brought along a famous actor.  When Ian told them about the job and the company, the actor said that the company was great and that when he was started out he modeled for them.  He said he would call them and tell them to take care of Nick.  I thought that the guy was just saying that to be polite during a late night of drinking, but the next day the company called to say that they heard we were friends with Ito-san and assure us that they would be good to Nick.  So Nick had a fitting and hair consult last week.  They wanted to cut his hair, but said it wasn't necessary.  Nick decided to go for the whole experience.

The day of the show Nick had to show up for hair and make-up at 11 a.m. when the show didn't start until 6:30 p.m.  Ian went with Nick to translate, but I only showed up for the main event.  I was going to bring the brothers, but they begged out.  Good thing too as it would have been totally inappropriate for them to be around.  It was big league, put-you-in-your-place jockeying among the see-and-be-seen-crowd.

after picking up your pass you are escorted to lounge area

people arriving in lounge-I went to see end of dress rehearsal

buyers exhibition floor

dress rehearsal with press

light show

first out-the theme is 70s/80s British punk

working out the walk

here comes Nick in rehearsal

good walk

It was a real bona-fide hardcore fashion show just like you might imagine.

Nick did great.

Really walked the walk.

I thought he would freak out with the crowds, but he was like an old pro.

One of the models had advised him to act like you hate everyone in the crowd so you don't smile.

All the other models were in their 20s, but Nick fit right in.

Even though they spent the entire day preparing for the show-hair, make-up, etc.  but the whole show only lasts 15 minutes tops.

Nick said the worst part was the repeated combing of the hair spray and gel into his hair as it hurt so much.

One of the stylist wants to use him in a print shoot, who knows?

perfecting detached and aloof

people started to fill the space, ultimately SRO and packed

And they're off.  Can you hear the music pumping?

Lots of chest shaving prior to fake tattoos

It's Nick!

Couldn't have looked more professional, but I'm a little biased

Back stage after the show

It was Union Jack or a cross

hair goo and make-up free

So this is the official link to the web site and his real shot as well as the clothes line.

Copy and paste below:

http://www.jfw.jp/en/brands/DISCOVERED/vol11_11ss/19

comings and goings

So we have been busy lately.  Mostly every afternoon we head out to explore something or someplace new.  Here are a few of the things we have come across.

The boys having fun with each other on another adventure

Alec's king of the world

This is Tokyo Sea Life Aquarium.  Again the architecture is stunning.  It sits on the water but the only thing above ground is a glass dome.

smiling sting ray

Jackson noticing the first "attack"

So this was strange.  You never really think that the fish and animals can see you through the tanks, but not true.  For some reason Alec is penguin bait.  The penguins and other fish loved his hair. Every time Alec got close to the window the call went out and the penguins descended.  This did not happen with the rest of us.  Kind of freaky.

red alert hairy blond dinner at one o'clock

Good thing he wasn't scuba diving!

outside the dome of the aquarium

sunset with fountains on

can you believe the sunset?

One day we took a trip to see how rural Japanese families lived during Edo times.

the rocks hold the tiles down in wind storms

We went to an amazing outdoor folk architecture museum that brought country homes from the edo period from all over Japan and reassembled stone by stone, thatched roof by thatched roof.  They were really incredible and while aesthetically beautiful they must have been miserable during the winters.

One day when Jackson was sick, Nick Alec and I headed to Yokohama Bay and Chinatown for the 10/10/10 festival.

Yokohama Landmark Tower, the third tallest building in Japan

 A fun amusement park on the bay

night rides

Chinatown with talking Gyoza Man Statue

Dragon about to enter restaurant

The dragon dancers would go to individual restaurants and do a long blessing dance and then at the end eat the small vegetable offering left above the doorway under the signs.  I think that the store owners would also give them envelopes of money.  I don't know how specific restaurants were picked.  Although the patrons seemed to enjoy the disruption, the store owners did not seem happy at first. The dance was done to loud drumming and each time at the end of the performance hundreds of firecrackers would be set off. 

Dragon reaching for lettuce and carrot offering above doorway

Fresh coconut juice

Next it was off the Studio Ghibli Museum which highlights the films of Miyazaki

His anime include Castle in the Sky, in 1986; My Neighbor Totoro, in 1988; and Kiki's Delivery Service, in 1989. In 2002, Spirited Away won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature and it remains the only film made outside the English-speaking world to have done so.  Studio Ghibli's most recent anime shown in the US is Ponya.

Us with Totoro

Ian at Ghibli

It wasn't as "magical" as I had expected, but they did have a stuffed Cheshire cat school bus from Totoro that small children could play in that our kids all wished their cousins Zoe and Ziggy could experience.

Alec with Castle in the Sky Robot

Another day I took the kids to a tea ceremony but it was a bust as we arrived at 12:02 pm and it started at 12:00 p.m. so they told me it was too late.  We were allowed to watch though, if not participate, but after ten minutes the kids were bored silly and we slipped away to see a geisha dance performance.

playing the shamisen

geisha dancing

A bonzai tree hundreds of years old

We walked around the gardens after the performance and discovered a 300 year old bonzai.  Notice that the base is on the hill but the branches are trained out and down.

bonzai support structure

creating fall one deleafed tree at a time

We came home to find a strange site.  The public works people were changing the neighborhood from summer to fall. I guess this is called "preemptive raking".  They not only cut the leaves, but all the branches of all the trees straight down the blocks.  How ugly and depressing.  Is this supposed to get us

 into the fall spirit? It made me want to head to the neighborhood McDonald's and grab a good old cheese fondue.

Yum, which is your favorite iCon?

Dragged the kids to another dragon dance festival.  This time Japanese, not Chinese.  But arrived at the tail end literally as the dragon was dancing back into the temple and the doors closed.  So walked around Asakusa Shrine area checking things out.  Traditionally, Kabuki performers are only men but play both men's and women's roles.  Certainly these guys below do injustice to the geisha we saw only days before.

Asakusa Shrine

making tai-yaki: sweets stuffed with red bean paste

walking the back streets

Alec enjoying the shopping opportunities