ICV 23 - Day 3

The main event today was the excursion to Tokyo. Leaving Yokohama about 8 ish, we managed to get to Tokyo by about 9 AM via a bus. The first stop was the Edo Tokyo Museum, we spent about 2 hours there to explore the history of Edo. The 6 story museum was split into two sections; the 6th floor and part of the 5th floor was dedicated to the Edo Period, then the rest was dedicated to Tokyo (from about the Meiji Era to now). Remember how I mentioned the groups were split into three; the Americans, Canadians and Aussies went stuck with Nozomi (sorry Graham and to the other major Anglophones), Germans (again with apologies, this time to Emil from Switzerland who was left out of the German group) and everyone else with another group. Mr. Murata of JAVA was the time keeper, but we did absolutely nothing to that sort. I check the watch here and there, but most of the time was just looking at stuff, taking photos and just shooting the breeze. The major photo op point was at the 5th floor, where there was a banner we could hoist. That puppy weighed 15 kilograms, or in my case, too darn heavy and too arsed to put it in US measurements. But unlike a banner I saw in Akita Prefecture earlier in my travels, this had a chain-link pulley system that allowed me and the others to hold it. I gave it a shot, which got some laughs and a bunch of flashing bulbs (flash was OK at certain points of the museum). After about a minute or so, I put it back down and let one of the Aussies take hold of it. He lifted it so much, it felt like he almost broke something. More photos ensued until we got a hurry up call from Nozomi and a few others. By the time we got the shop, we maybe have five minutes to do stuff. I just decided to relax with JAVA and help Victor L. get some items for his family. Off we went to the Royal Park Hotel in Tokyo for a buffet style lunch.

We had about 50 minutes to eat, so we first focused on what even was on the menu, then where to sit down. I sat down with some Kin Spain, Victor, Gus and Zeljko; we talked about food, politics, flags and if we came out of the closet when it comes to “Hi, I am a vexillologist!” I personally had sushi, noodles, bread and some other stuff that I can't really describe because I had no idea what it was or what was in it. After the lunch, we went on the streets of Tokyo to head to Yasukuni Shrine. By this time, we managed to see one flag store (didn't stop, to the sadness of everyone) and that we were missing one person (Rao of India, but we didn't see him in the morning, so no idea what happened).

On the way to and from these various places, we had a female tour guide by the name of Yukiko Yamada; she kept on giving a lot of information on what we should know about Japan and asked general questions to us. She asked us what our favorite Japanese food was (the majority said sushi, I said okomiyaki), asked us how many times we went to Japan (this is trip number two for me) and showed us various landmarks, such as the Tokyo Tower and Mount Fuji. While we were on the way to Yasukuni, she told us how to pray at the shrine and how to cleanse ourselves (physically and mentally) before we enter the shrine. She also mentioned a short history of the shrine and explained that it was more than just the military officials that my country and others sent there after the Tokyo Trials. The bus parked at Yasukuni, we got off the bus and were greeted with a TV camera crew (more on that later) and stalls bustling with business or games. We reached the shrine at the time for Mitama, or the viewing of the deities, so it was all decorated with banners, streamers, lanterns and girls decked out in kimonos, yukatas (the less formal kimono for the summer) and shrine maidens (miko; I got a weakness for cuteness, so sue me). Instead of going to the hoden, or main shrine, that we are used to seeing in the photos of Yasukuni, we went inside of a hall to sit down and drink some tea. Nozomi pulled me aside and asked me to sign a book on behalf of the gaijin (foreigners) attending ICV 23. I did, then was later told I will make an offering there with Nozomi and Mr. Murata. The way Nozomi explained it to me was that I was going to do something that many Americans (or perhaps foreigners) will not do and going to perform the same actions as former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi. I felt really stunned because I had no idea what I did to deserve this honor, but I decided to not ask questions and help perform the ritual. The ritual had us going to the actual shrine, where the three of us bowed at 90 degrees and pray a few times after placing a branch (with a special paper on it) at the alter. We all drank sake afterwards and received a gift bag full of candy and a uchiwa fan. Then it was off to the Yasukan, the museum portion of Yasukuni. I am not sure how the groups were split up this time, but I always like to follow Nozomi. We looked at some of the flags that were here and there; the most flags present were of the Hinomaru that was decorated with either a unit name or wishes for a safe return home. The only flag given in specific detail was the flag of Manchuko, the state the Japanese set up in China in the 1930's. They gave the reason for each pattern and color, but nothing really else. The most impressive flag I saw in the normal collection was a Imperial military rank flag; it had a ratio of 3:2 (more like a banner than a flag), the Imperial emblem in white with an red outline, red background and three diagonal bars on the bottom (so white, red, white, red, white, rest of the flag is red). Other members found other parts of the museum interesting; Gus was pointing out all of the medals and orders that he saw and I believe it was Joan that said the uniforms were interesting. The only point of confusion I had in this first part (and, for the record, I been to the shrine 5 times and the museum 3 times as of today) was the use of the modern national flags. For example, when I saw the section about the expansion of the colonial powers in Asia, the modern flags were used (so 50 stars for the USA, current arms for Spain and the Russian tricolor). I wished they used a bit more historical flags, but not sure if that would have worked out or not. There was two errors we saw in this first part; I pointed out to Nozomi that in the section on the Russo-Japanese war, they show the naval ensign for Japan, yet the naval jack for Russia. Also, since the war was going on during the time of the Czars, I am not sure if these two current flags were in use at the time. (I don't have Internet at this hostel, so you guys and Victor need to correct me on this one). The one me and Nozomi know that was wrong was a painting done in 2000 of the Indian National Army (while under Japanese occupation). The painting had the current national flag on it, which we know didn't exist until 1947.

The special exhibit the shrine held for us was mostly about the flags that had well wishes on it from friends, family and loved ones. Except for one flag, Nozomi pointed out to me that while the white section was always written on, the red is never touched. They also had some banners from the wars and belts with one thousand stitches on them to bring good luck and safety to the soldier. It was quite small, maybe just a few minute look, but many of these flags were not showcased to the public until now. Outside of the special exhibit was the main thing everyone was itching for; a place to buy flags! At Yasukuni, as I pointed out earlier, only has the national flag, naval ensign and the Z flag for sale at expensive prices. But I did managed to cart two books home for a total of 2100 yen and others decided to carry home flag kits at 1500 yen. After leaving the museum, we headed to the buses for a TV interview. Ted was asked in English what he felt about the shrine, I got stuck with Japanese. I just mentioned briefly what I thought about the shrine and my trips to Japan and Yasukuni (I needed two takes because my Japanese and my brain failed me, stupid camera fright...). Before I got on the bus, there was a group of Japanese with flags a Hinomaru fans; I thought about getting a small flag from them before I got on the bus, but I had to board before I made up my mind. However, this whole group gave us cheers of “Bonzai!” and waved the flags and fans. The real treat was to the left, Ms. Yamada told us about three flags to the left of the bus; the three flags were of the areas seeking a total break with China. The only thing we noticed different is South Mongolia had the Mongolian symbol in all white, while in some of the materials we have show it in multi colors (even Nozomi's shirt had the multi colored one). The group followed our bus, waved the flags in a way I could get good photos and just had a blast. Graham was pleased we passed by the British embassy in Tokyo, so he saw his flag twice (both charged with the the wreath and Royal Arms). We also saw the Indian embassy with her flag flying, but without Rao there, we did not give it much a second thought. We went to more places in Tokyo before we headed back to Yokohama; we did see the Tokyo Police flag and a lot buildings using the Hinomaru. Ms. Yamada also talked about the political changes in Japan and the possible leadership changes in August and September and the recent dissolution of the Japanese Diet.

In Yokohama, we were treated to a comedy show of four acts. The first was rakugo, where it was just a person seated on stage and only having three props or less; the mouth, fan and a towel. She did a few jokes, even asking some of us if we wanted to give it a shot. I gave it a shot, so I pretended to eat ebi ten soba (soba noodles with shrimp tenpura) and she was impressed on what I did (which, sadly, reflected my real life situation with that dish in California). The next skit dealt with a two person team who dressed like geisha and played a Japanese and Russian guitar (tried to see the look on Victor's face, but I could not find him in the crowd). Next, the first gal got on stage again and used ventriloquist on dolls fashioned after a Japanese boy, President Obama and his dog, Bo. The dog could only say one thing, which is woof in Japanese (wan wan); so Obama kept on asking questions that had answers with a variation of wan wan. One of the questions was “Bo, what is the currency of South Korea?” (answer was won, pronounced wan). Lastly, a guy came up and did tricks on stage with objects and puppets on his body. I was tasked with holding rods that had plates on top of them, the others either had to pass said spinning plate around or playing target practice with him. Zeljko has an awesome arm, keeps on tossing rings onto the guys neck perfectly. About two hours passed and the comedy was over; I was very blessed to see this performed and to be a part of the show in several occasions. I personally called it a night around 1:30 AM, after having drinks with Nozomi and a few JAVA members and the comedians from the evening performance, checked my email at the Navios Yokohama, walked my self back to the hostel, sorted out my room a tad and called Nozomi around midnight-ish after having an “Oh Crap!”moment regarding the FOTW flag (Jonathan Dixon, our listmaster and delegate, had to fly back to AU early for some kind of wedding, but I am not sure if he took the flag with him or not. If not, how can I get this flag back to you Rob or Jonathan?) Ok, Kimi ga Yo is playing on NHK-E, so I really need to drag myself to sleep.