Outbound to Gufu + Tokyo Japan, October 19-21, 2017 Judy M

Outbound to Gufu + Tokyo Japan, October 19-21, 2017

Western Tokyo + Musashino/Mataka

By:  Judy M

During our final days in Tokyo, my host and I took the train in to the Hotel Gajoen Tokyo  to enjoy the fantastic ikebana exhibit which is there for two months (ikebana:  the Japanese art of flower arrangement).

It's famous wooden staircase of 100 steps in the old portion (from 1928) led us to seven gorgeous banquet rooms, all at different levels, where these displays were exhibited.

It was quite  a climb, but well worth it. Fifty one schools were participating, with floral works swapped out weekly.

The rest of the building is very modern, & luxurious and has become  one of Japan’s premier sites for elegant weddings and ceremonies, with gorgeous restaurants and art work and a beautiful garden and waterfall, so we took some time to wander around that area, too. 

Quite a  treat!

In Friendship and Peace

Western Tokyo, Japan, Oct 19-21, 2017, Pat G and Nancy S

Outbound to Gufu + Tokyo Japan, October 19-21, 2017

Tea Ceremony

Western Tokyo + Musashino/Mataka

By:  Pat G

The bullet train arrived on time to the Tokyo station and we were greeted by all of our home hosts with signs indicating who would go home with whom!

The station is huge and very confusing, so we just followed our hosts to one train after another until we arrived to our home location. I believe we were on 4 different trains in a very few minutes!

My host and her husband have lived in their home for 20 years and their youngest daughter, age 39, lives with them.  I had an upstairs room, by myself.  That first evening we almost had a Western dinner:  Shrimp salad and then some Japanese curry on the side with rice. Chopsticks were not even on the table!

The next morning we attended a tea ceremony, along with 2 other members of the Western Tokyo club.  Following the ceremony, all four of us headed into Tokyo, first to drive past the construction of the Olympic Stadium for the 2020 Olympics, then to visit a city on “steroids”.  The size of the buildings, height wise is phenomenal!  We also visited an art gallery of a local Japanese artist, all about this interpretation of Mount Fuji.  Then another tour of the downtown and back home for fabulous evening visiting and eating multiple foods, including delivered Japanese Pizza!

Because of the impending typhoon, many of us decided to change our reservations to the next day instead of staying one more day, so this was also a goodbye dinner.  We had a very fun time discussion our cultures, sharing photos of our families, and discussing which countries we had visited on our “map” panel that I gave my hostess for a small gift.  They seemed to love the panel and want to use it often.

The following morning we went to the local bus station for a trip to the Haneda airport where I caught up with my roommate Johanna and the Missman's, who had also changed their reservations to get out one day earlier.  (this came as a result of an email from our airlines encouraging us to change our reservations due to the incoming typhoon and possible airport shutdowns.

My daughter was all ready in SF for a conference so she picked us up at @ 10 am on Saturday which worked out very well.

A fabulous experience!

Second Homestay

Tachikawa, Japan, October 19-22, 2017By:  Nancy S

Front: Hiromitsu (Hiro), Yukino;   Top: Fumiko (Fumi), Nancy, Syota (Syo)

My host family of four, two parents, a college daughter, and a high school son, all spoke some English, so I had no trouble communicating. Thursday, after meeting me at the train station, Fumi and I went to an art museum with an exhibit called “Fear in Painting.”  I could not believe the huge number of people who were there to enjoy the  art.

After the museum, we took the train to her home in Tachikawa and had dinner with her son. Her husband was still at work and her daughter would be home from college for the weekend. We played Kings in the Corner with a deck of Sacramento playing cards with which I had gifted
them. They also enjoyed Blue Diamond Almonds from Sacramento as a snack.


On Friday, I toured with Hiro, the husband. We took the train into Tokyo and went to the 45th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Clouds obstructed the things in the distance, but otherwise the view was wonderful. Our next stop was to the oldest temple in Tokyo called Sensoji Temple. It had a pagoda, an incense burner, a hand and mouth cleansing station, and an altar with the Buddha of Compassion. After a lunch break of soba and chicken, we took the bus and subway to the Polar Science Museum back in Tachikawa. It had displays about the Japanese stations at the North Pole and South Pole including a video of the aurora. We then took the monorail back to our neighborhood and walked home. In the evening Hiro, their daughter, and I played Kings in the Corner. After dinner we talked for awhile and then went to bed.

On Saturday after breakfast we did laundry. Then we headed out for a full day of sightseeing. We started at a restored farmhouse right in Tachikawa. It had been carefully done to keep everything as it would have been years ago. We stopped for lunch as we drove to the town of Kawagoe. Our tickets were good for four sites in the town.

• First was the history museum which covered from the early native tribes to the medieval times, and on up through history. 
• Next was an art museum that was featuring an artist who painted scenes in Japan and other countries. 
• Then we went to the Kawagoe Castle. It had various meeting rooms, and of course a beautiful garden. 
• Finally we went to the Kawagoe Festival Museum which had a couple floats and pictures of their October Festival Day. 

After a fairly long car ride home, I took them out to dinner as a thank you for letting me stay at their home. It was already 10:30 PM when we got home, so we went straight to bed.

On Sunday after breakfast I gave each of them a package of Jelly Bellies and the Left Center Right Game. We then walked to their polling place, because it was election day.  Their procedure is very much like ours.

After saying goodbye to everyone, I headed for the train station and the city of Hiroshima. It was a wonderful two and a half days, as all Friendship Force visits are.

Post-Journey visit to Hiroshima (Oct 21-27)

I took the train to Hiroshima on Sunday.  It was raining hard, but the trains were running.  Fortunately my hotel was close to the train station, as it was really pouring and so windy I could hardly use my umbrella when I arrived in the city.  I just stayed inside the hotel for the whole night and went no where.  There was a Lawson store attached to the hotel, so I was able to get something to eat.

Monday through Friday were absolutely beautiful days with blue skies and sunshine.  I spent Monday in Hiroshima, Tuesday in Miyajima, Wednesday in Himeji, Thursday in Odawara for the Hakone tour package to Mt. Fuji, and Friday morning in Tokyo.  Mt. Fuji was absolutely beautiful with a little snow at the top.  I saw no signs of the typhoon unless it was the reason there was snow at Mt. Fuji.

In Friendship and Peace

Our experiences -- Western Tokyo, Japan, Oct 19-21, 2017, Ray M

Hiroshi and Eiko S., our most gracious and friendly hosts

Western Tokyo - Ray & PJ's highlights

Outbound to Gufu + Tokyo Japan, October 19-21, 2017
By:  Ray M

Our FF Tokyo hosts were Eiko and Hiroshi S.  She is a retired dentist who has an extensive rose garden, he is a doctor, currently working on his second career taking care of a nursing home of 150 people.  In the 1970’s, George M, our AC for this trip, helped Hiroshi-san apply for an internship at Johns Hopkins in the US – so there is a long connection, even though he and Eiko-san have only been in Friendship force a few months. They both have an excellent command of English so we had some good discussions.  And they were so generous – we only found out toward the end of our stay that they had given us their bedroom to sleep in, and they slept in separate twin beds in other rooms.

Looking around in Tokyo

We’d expressed some interest in art and in seeing the night lights of Shinjuku, so that’s what we did the first day.  We went to the Ōta Memorial Museum of Art to see the Ukiyo-e exhibit of Edo-era prints by Katsushika Hokusai, including his series his “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji”, including “The Great Wave off Kanagawa.”  No pictures allowed unfortunately but here is a (link).   

Hiroshi, Eiko and PJ about to see “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” 

Then a walk-about in Shinjuku.

Shinjuku lights

Our hosts took us to Kabuki-cho, just off the main street, and not to be confused with a Kabuki show.  Kabuki-cho used to be a not-very-reputable area but now is just 'interesting'. For example, these robot women inviting us in for a meal (we didn't accept).

Hiroshi, Eiko and PJ at Robot restaurant

This robot restaurant is not to be confused with robatayaki, which is like Yakitori - both are skewers of meat like shish-kabab; yakitori is chicken, robatayaki is any meat.

Godzilla menacing us above the buildings

A Halloween Christmas Tree - this place has everything.

'

Fuji Five Lakes Area

We’d been in Tokyo at the start of our trip so expressed an interest in seeing the Mt Fuji area.  Eiko-san and Hiroshi-san were happy to show us – that’s where they used to wind surf , a hobby they started at age 50!!  But now they wanted to see the area more.

We met up with Sachiko, George and Lynn to see the kimono exhibit at Itchiku Kubota Art Museum – displaying the spectacular kimono art created by Itchiku Kubota.  Kubota Itchiku (1917-2003) was the artist who revived the lost art of Tsujigahana silk dyeing, used to decorate elaborate kimono during the Muromachi Period (1333-1573).  His work was on exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum earlier.  No photos inside this museum either but here is a (link) so you can see some of his work.
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Hiroshi and Eiko at museum entry gate - an antique from India

The museum main building

And then they surprised us with a visit to an extensive collection of 19th century European music machines, calliope, etc. at Kawaguchi-ko Music Forest.

Lynn, Sachiko, George, PJ, Eiko, Hiroshi ready to watch the musical fountain performance

The Musical Forest was celebrating Halloween too. Halloween has become very popular now in Japan in the past 5 years.

One last stop in the Five-Lakes area - to a doll museum "Kawaguchiko Muse Hall". This is a permanent museum exhibiting creative doll author Kurihiro Yuki's works. He makes very real-looking dolls using an intricate process of (1) sculpting in clay, (2) making a cast, (3) filling with paper mache, and then (4) all the finishing work.  No pictures allowed, but here is a (link).

Their apartment

Hiroshi-san and Eiko-san live in a very nice apartment building (condo's - owned, not rented).

There are about 35 units, and only one garage door but it can hold over 30 cars.  Inside, there is a conveyer system to bring cars up: you press your code on the keypad by the garage door, and it will bring your car into position.  Then there's a turntable to rotate your car out ready to roll...

And Hiroshi-san showed us the toilet. It is all automated. When you open the door, the light comes on, the toilet seat lifts by itself. The first time I tried it,  Handel's Water Music played in the background (the music changes each time).

It of course has full controls: front and bidet sprays with massaging action, deodorizer, and dryer.  Instruction sheet in English was thoughtfully placed by the control panel:

And Eiko-san has a little dog named Moko. Here is Moko getting ready to go out for a constitutional in the rain.

Moko with rain gear

Typhoon Lan

We had to cut our visit short by one day in order to avoid any flight cancellations.  The typhoon caused some damage (link), but Hiroshi-san emailed to say they had no problems through the storm.

In Friendship and Peace

Oct 19 to 22 - Shinkansen (Bullet train) to Tokyo, Japan, Oct 19, 2017 Ray M and Roz W

Outbound to Gufu + Tokyo Japan, Day 16-19 of 19, October 19, 2017

Shinkansen leaving Tokyo - It's still going slow enough to take an un-blurred photo.  (Old brick & mortar train station in foreground)

Shinkansen & Personalized Journeys
Bullet train to Tokyo (Musashina-Mitaka Club and the Western Tokyo Club) & Personalized Journeys

By: Ray M and Roz W

240 to 320 km/h (150–200 mph)

We left Kyoto in style - on the 'Bullet Train' (Shinkansen) to Tokyo, where we were welcomed by FF  club members from Tokyo (two separate clubs working together to host us) - The Musachina Mitaka Club recently founded in 2016, and the long established Western Tokyo Club, founded in 1989.

Chris documents our happy but chaotic arrival

She bows

He bows

Our stay with these two clubs was only for three nights and 4 days.  There was one planned activity for the whole group.  The activity was an open air tour of Tokyo on the Skybus.  Well, that didn't quite work out as it was pouring rain and the bus company canceled.  Consequently, our hosts were left scrambling with what to do with the 18 of us arriving and zero whole group activity.

Right from the train station, we all split and went in different directions with our hosts.  Each of our experiences was unique and personalized.  The highlight of Roz and Russ's tour was coaching the teacher in three ESL (English as Second Language) classes at a Junior Hight School on a game of translation baseball.  Boy was that fun!  You can read more about the Worrall Travel R's experience by clicking on the links below.

Day 1, October 19, 2017 Arrival
Day 2, October 20, 2017 Junior High School Day
Day 3, October 21, 2017 Farewell Pre-Typhoon Dinner Party
Day 4, October 22, 2017 On the Nose of the Typhoon Lan

Since each of us Ambassadors had a unique homestay (Experiencing Different Views), the remaining posts of the Japan Journey will describe the personalized views of each of the Friendship Force Sacramento's Ambassadors as posts are published.   The one thing we all did have in common (Common Ground) was approaching Typhoon Lan, with Tokyo as a direct hit.  We had lots of rain, lots of concern for ourselves and our hosts, and each a unique experience as we re-arranged flights or stuck it out until the last minute.  Be sure to read all of the posts.

Everyone from the Friendship Force of Sacramento agrees, our Japan Journey has been amazing, and we are most appreciative of our Friendship Force hosts who modeled hospitality, kindness, and friendship and to our Ambassador Coordinator(s), George and Lyn M.  Thank you!

In Friendship and Peace