So I arrived safely last night to Kyoto after about 24 hours of travel, door to door. The flight was delightful, except for the landing -- there was some storm around Tokyo, and the landing was therefore flight-attendants-giving-each-other-looks rough. I almost ralphed, but didn't.
Upon my arrival at the airport, the first bathroom I used was completely normal, all the electronic displays were nothing special, and the first girl that laughed did so wihout her hand covering her mouth. 'What's going on?' I thought. Within minutes of me asking myself that question, I had seen monitors display information next to a delightful anime cartoon character, a girl giggle with her hand over her mouth, and had used a toilet with all sorts of complicated gadgets, including a heated seat. It feels better than you can possibly imagine.
So now that I've been here a day, I can already dispel or confirm some myths. Here we go:
1. People wear surgeon masks over their mouths when they're just walking around.
True. The weird thing is this seems to happen across all types of people. Young businessmen, old businessmen, women, young girls, everybody. Someone explained to me that people wear them "to lower the humidity in their breathing when the humidity is too high, make it damp and increase the humidity when the humidity is too low, when they're sick so they don't get other people sick, and when they're not sick so they don't get sick." So, for no reason.
2. People bow
True. Not constantly, but just stare into a crowd for 5 minutes and you'll see someone do it at least once. Seems to be for goodbyes.
3. Bill Murray is the official spokesperson for Santory.
False. Santory is a real brand, and they have vending machines on the street for their drinks, but their spokesperson is Tommy Lee Jones. I'm completely serious. Pretty much every other block there's a drink vending machine with Tommy Lee Jones's face on it. I laugh almost every time. Also, the sub-brand is called "Boss" (I think it's coffee), and their slogan in English is "Boss has been the boss of them all since 1992.
4. Heated toilets, cartoon spokespeople for lots of stuff.
True, as addressed above.
5. Geishas
They exist, I spotted one. Apparently they are not prostitutes, just really sophisticated women that rich guys pay up to $500/hour to just sort of hang out with and talk to. I don't understand.
6. People wear kimonos sometimes when they go out.
Yup!
7. Used-panty vending machine, Godzillas.
So far these are both uncomfirmed.
Two things have happened that are great for me:
1. There is tons of English over here. Not so much that I don't get lost frequently or have to ask directions, but it's on a lot of street signs, in the subways and buses, and the tourist-oriented people speak just enough of it. And it's real English, not the Engrish I had expected. So, once again, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to General MacArthur. Way to be. Most people don't speak English, though, which results in a lot of situations where I point to a map I have as I say to someone one phrase I learned: "Sumimasen, imee doku-descu?" Which means, "Excuse me, where am I now?" Then we rely on pointing.
2. I am feeling no jet lag. None. Zero. Unbelievable. Last night I had a close call where I fell asleep on the train from Tokyo to Kyoto, but woke up a few minutes later and did not miss my stop, and other than that... I mean, I went to sleep at 11 PM tired, woke up this morning at 7:30 refreshed, and right now it's 8 PM and I feel like it's 8 PM. Awesome.
Here are some things about a couple of places I visited today:
1. The Golden Palace.
Some sign there said something about how its building showed "imperial ambition" on the part of its builder. But here's the thing -- the whole golden temple is barely bigger than my family's place on Shelter Island. The only reason it's bigger at all is that it has a third story. It does, however, look down on a beautiful "mirror lake," with "carefully chosen rocks" at strategic points in the pond. Here's something I discovered about Japanese people and rocks: Japanese people love rocks. Their "dry gardens," which are in all their temples, are just a little bit of moss / grass, a couple of trees, but mostly rocks, on top of raked, smaller rocks. And this is in their castles. They love the stuff.
2. Nijo Palace.
The Tokugawa Shogunate used to run shit from here, and it was on this site that the Shogun told his feudal lords that he was ceding power back to the emperor in 1867. Cool stuff. Way cooler is the fact that in the room where he told them that, there were 12 bodyguards hiding behind a screen, because that's what they did whenever the Shogun was in that room. It's just like Level 6 of Ninja Turtles Arcade for Nintendo. That's seriously what I was thinking. Also, after seeing this and the golden palace, it seemed clear that the Japanese had a taste for simplicity. Keep things simple, appreciate nature, don't mess with it, it seemed. Then, here, I sawthat to keep a place looking that serene and natural, you need to have old women pulling plant life and rocks out of the ground with their hands. Also, I remembered that the Japanese lead the world in Awesome Gadgets Invented. Confusing.
Their maps have swastikas all over them, near the train stations I think. I'm pretty sure they're those reverse swastikas that are supposed to symbolize eternal life or something, but this does help explain how such nice-seeming people got involved in World War II.
Also, shiny jackets appear fashionable.
More tomorrow hopefully! I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet, probably Nara, to see the biggest Buddha in the world. That or the Ashigawa Monkey Park. Decisions, decisions.
