Before we left for Japan, a social media friend of mine, whose caricature I drew at a party once, was giving me tips for our trip. She was Japanese and had visited Japan a few months earlier and posted photos from her trip. I messaged her to find out if she had any tips as to where to stay and what to do when we got to the different cities. One of the tips that she gave me was to contact one of the free goodwill guide services and set up a sightseeing tour. The guide service is completely free, as long as you pay for their food and transportation on the tour, and any other fees, like entry to a museum. I had sent out an application about 2 months before we were set to leave, and it wasn’t until about two weeks prior, that I heard back from one of the guides. Our guide’s name was Shiro. While he lived about an hour outside of Tokyo for most of his life, he had lived in San Diego for a year when he was younger. He studied at a language school that had a one year program and was able to stay in La Jolla. He stayed with a host family for part of the time and in a dorm part of the time. And based on his email, he also liked going surfing.
Over the years since, Shiro had visited the US a few more times, he went to Yellowstone Park with his family, and prior to that he went to Yosemite and San Francisco with just his wife on their honeymoon. I thought that these details were amazing, because he seemed to love all the same places that I loved. In my initial application, I had made a list of a few different places that I wanted to visit, based on the numerous “Best of Tokyo” lists that I had read through, but I really had no idea where to begin. In his email back, he had planned out two days of tours, made up of the items that we had chosen. We had hoped that whatever we didn’t get to on the first day, we would be able to see the second day, but we were going to be just happy to do something and have someone tell us about it.
When the alarm went off the morning of the tour, we were already sort of awake, Escher had woken up and wanted to nurse and Elizabeth rustled in the bed causing me to wake up. We slowly made our way in and out of the shower, and we got all bundled up and ready for the rain. As we headed out of the lobby, the rain was coming down harder than it had been before, so we headed straight to 7-Eleven, where I purchased some energy drinks and a couple of umbrellas. Elizabeth had thought that she packed a clear cover for Escher’s stroller, but after looking through her bags, she wasn’t able to find one. I went back in and bought a poncho that was clear, but frosted. When we put it over his stroller, he cried, so we tried to rig it up, so that while was being kept mostly dry that his view wasn’t obstructed.
I remembered seeing a little coffee shop down the road called Caffe Veloce or カフェベローチェ八丁堀一丁目店 (Japan, 〒104-0032 Tōkyō-to, Chūō-ku, 中央区Hatchōbori, 1 Chome−2−8 ニッケ東京ﾋﾞﾙ) on my travels, so we stopped in for some coffee and breakfast sandwiches. Coffee was definitely their specialty and the food came second. You could tell, because even though the sandwiches were beautifully displayed on a sign outside, when you went in the sandwiches were pre-made. They were either warmed already or they were in a refrigerated case and warmed by request. When Elizabeth tried to order a sandwich that contained eggs and no meat, the girl behind the counter handed her an egg salad sandwich from the cooler behind her. Elizabeth declined the egg salad sandwich and decided to just get a chocolate croissant. They gave us a number and we sat down at a table close by. There were lots of people sitting around with their laptops out, who I assumed were telecommuting, and there was even a section that was behind a glass door for the smoking section. There was something that we hadn’t seen in the US in years.
A server brought us our food and coffee, then Elizabeth noticed that her pastry was still cold. She walked up to the counter and asked them to heat it up, but the girl behind the counter said that she couldn’t heat it up. Elizabeth was a little discouraged, because not only could she not get a hot egg sandwich, but she couldn’t even get a warm croissant. And to Elizabeth isn’t a “real” meal unless it is hot. So, the day wasn’t starting out too great as far as food went. But, we enjoyed what we had, then headed back to the hotel to meet Shiro.
As soon as we walked in the door to the hotel, there was a tall, gentleman, in an orange sweatshirt and jeans at the coffee machine, making himself a cup of coffee. Most of the people that seemed to be staying there, who were Japanese, were there on business and wearing pin striped suits. This guy looked like he was ready for adventure, wearing his gore-tex North Face sneakers, so I figured that it had to be him. He sat down, while I walked with Elizabeth to the elevator, so that she could get what she need for Escher. The next moment, I walked over to the lounge.
“Excuse me, Are you Shiro?” I asked. “Oh yes! Christopher!?! It’s nice to meet you!” he said with a smile, as he hopped up from his seat. This first impression which would be carried during our whole time with Shiro, was how positive and sunny, he was, even though we were walking into a massive typhoon. We sat down and waited for Elizabeth, whom I told him that she would be right down. Shiro asked me lots of questions about San Diego and I asked him about his time in San Diego too. We went back and forth talking about our various travels. Then, he asked me about the California wildfires. He said that there were only two stories that came out of the US, California wildfires and Donald Trump.
It’s easy to get worked up about both of them, but I started with the wildfires, and how a large number of them are caused by people. Either there is a cigarette flicked out the window of a car, the military shoots artillery during training, which sparks a fire, or the power company having an electric malfunction. I heard that the cause of a recent fire was started by a street sweeper, that was grinding against the highway and causing sparks. He was surprised to hear that such things were the cause of such terrible fires. I told him that the dry air from the Santa Ana winds perpetuated the fires, and that dry brush in the desert, which had grown in abundance after a rainy season earlier in the year, was more than enough fuel to keep a fire burning for weeks.
He mentioned that Trump was coming to Japan soon, and I told him about what me and lots of Americans think about him as a president. Shiro sat confused as I got into a few details about Trump’s self-serving policies and his disregard for how his views and orders can have a negative effect on a lot of people, especially his main supporters. Luckily, Elizabeth arrived and we were ready to head out.
We stopped over at the 7-11 across the street from the hotel and made sure to grab a poncho to cover Escher’s stroller and a couple of clear umbrellas. While it seemed like the rain had let up a little when we went over to the coffee shop, it was back in full force. Shiro guided us down the street to the subway station and talked to us while we walked. He talked to us a little about where we were going and how we were going to get there. Shiro seemed to know what he was doing for the most part, but there were times when he seemed just as confused as we were. The first place we were headed to was the Tsukiji Fish Market, which is a fairly popular tourist destination. All of the fishing boats come in from a night of fishing and they sell their catch wholesale at auction starting at 4am. The market is closed to the public until 10am, at which point most of the fish have been purchased and the merchants are starting to clean things up.
Shiro took us to the subway station, where we bought him a ticket, and it was only a few stops on the train. It was just enough time to get warm and dry, before we were going to have to head back out into the rain. It was great having Shiro lead the way, because to took a lot of stress off me having to try to maneuver my way to the correct place, while making sure that Elizabeth and Escher were happy with what was happening. Shiro had no problem picking up one side of the stroller and having me lift the other side and carry it up the stairs, if there wasn’t the option of an elevator. This had been something that Elizabeth wasn’t interested in doing, so it was good to have Shiro picking up half the load.
Tsukuji Fish Market
As we came out of the subway exit and onto the street, I was blown away by the incredible signage all around me. While I couldn’t really read what anything said, I was impressed with the shape and colors of the letters and signage. Mostly everything was in Kanji, which is probably one of the hardest languages to learn, because there are hundreds of different characters that all mean different things. About a block from the station, we cut through a retail market to get out of the rain. It was an open market style selling mostly seafood to people out of 8 foot stalls. Shiro rushed us through the market and around the crowd, and Elizabeth just looked at me confused. “Isn’t this what we came here to see? Aren’t we going to stop and look?” She said. “We’re going to look at the big fish!” I said back. She sort of shook her head in confusion, as we tried to catch up to Shiro, who was walking a little faster than I walk, and I tend to walk relatively fast. Elizabeth was already starting to lag behind, and I sort of looked back in a way to tell her that we needed to keep up, so we didn’t lose Shiro.
We exited the market for a minute, were back out in the rain, then we turned a corner and in front of us was a long concrete staircase leading up to a building. Shiro said that there was a place inside, where we could stash the stroller, while we toured the actual market. Shiro was posing to be good at researching places, where we could do things like this. Elizabeth looked concerned, but Shiro and I lifted the stroller up the 50 or so steps up to the building. At the top of the steps, there was a line of EZ-up tents, where vendors were selling souvenirs, kitchenware, and food. Because of the rain, I can’t imagine they were have much luck with their sales. I mentioned to Elizabeth about how much of a bust it would be, to set up caricatures and face painting here. She smirked knowing very well that there is no way that we would make any money setting up in this weather.
We cut through a food court, where we found a privacy folding screen in the corner. Shiro said that we could fold up the stroller, hide it behind the screen, and no one would take it. We transferred Escher into the Ergobaby carrier, then continued through the back of the building, across a bridge, and down some steps, where we saw the fish market ahead of us. It looked like a massive warehouse, where small trucks and forklifts were driving recklessly without seeming to notice all pedestrians around. We left the light of day, heading into the building, which seemed to be lit by whatever daylight crept through the holes in the roof, or by shop lights at the individual booths.
Shiro took us from the loading dock into main building, where the individual stalls, and hundreds of vendors were selling their catch of the day. All of the vendors were dressed like they just got off the boat or were wearing rubber aprons, while they hosed down the puddles of fish blood that seemed to cover everything in site. The floor was lined with wooden planks that were distanced just enough to let the water flow through, while also giving us a surface that wasn’t too slippery to carefully walk on. A lot of the vendors were finished for the day, but every couple booths had a bunch of fish, large and small, on display for purchase. There were styrofoam boxes of live crabs, eels, and lobsters. We also were seeing our fair share of giant decapitated fish heads, which in some cases could be the size of a human head. It was insane how many full sized tuna and salmon we saw either sitting on a table or being cut up.
We arrived at a vendor stand, that had a giant sunfish on display about 18 inches in diameter. The fish was circular and mostly red, but near the middle of the body, it was blue with white spots. The gentleman at the booth looked to be in his mid 60’s, had white hair and was balding on top. He was dressed in an apron and had on a blue collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up, so that they didn’t get stain with fish blood. He seemed really nice and when we walked up, he was smiling. I started asking Shiro, if he would ask the gentleman some questions. I asked him about the spots on the fish and what kind of fish that it was. The vendor started telling us about the fish, where it was caught, and he told us that there are fish like this in the Caribbean, and around Florida in the US. The vendor asked Shiro to touch the fish and Shiro passed on to me that then vendor wanted me to touch the fish. I sort of smiled and reluctantly touched the fish. It seemed a little slimy, but at the same time, I knew that if it was cut up and on a bed or rice, that I would eat it with soy sauce and wasabi.
I asked him how much the fish would cost and the vendor said that it was $240 US dollars. I wasn’t surprised by the cost considering the size, but I also couldn’t imagine buying a fish for $240. Some of the other booths had signs that said no photography, because they knew that American tourists are coming in and taking lots of photos. This gentleman didn’t have a sign, so I asked Shiro, if he thought it was okay to take a photo. The gentleman not only let me take a picture of the fish, but he also pulled me into the booth and handed me a giant knife. We posed together holding the knife and looking at the fish.
We thanked the vendor and as we were walking away, Shiro said that we were really lucky. He said that he never had a vendor act so nice to people on a tour with him and that they never let him take a photo. He told us that the vendors were very serious and all about business. He was pretty excited about this moment happening and made mention of it again later in our tour.
As we started to head toward the exit, we continued walking passed all sorts of interesting catches. We saw massive octopi rolled in a ball, king crabs that cost over $100 each, and fish that were 4-6 feet in length. Elizabeth looked around in wonder and was happy that I had chosen this as one of the stops on our tour.
We headed out of the warehouse, avoiding the fast driving forklifts and mini-pickups that were on their way to transport their fish from one location to the other. The rain was still coming down, so it was good that we had our umbrellas handy. We told Shiro that it would be nice to eat, so he took us to a small strip of restaurants that were right next to the market. Most of these restaurants could only hold about 5-10 people in them at once. One of them had a line that was wrapping around itself, where people were waiting to just order some sushi from a window. I thought that it would be a good experience to eat some raw fish a few feet from where it was caught and first sold. To talk about freshness, but Elizabeth mentioned for the first time in our relationship, that she didn’t like to eat raw fish. I never noticed this before, even after all the times that we went out to sushi restaurants and she always ordered a bento box. We stood looking at each other as we looked at the prices. Shiro poked his head into one of the restaurants and talked to one of the people working. It looked like it would be a minimum of about $20 per person to eat in one of the restaurants and we couldn’t just order one dish and share it, everyone needed to order their own dish. The fish were displayed like a giant ice cream sundae with every color of fish blossoming from the cone-like dish.
We were a little discouraged about this and tried to think of another place to eat. Right next to the restaurant was a supply shop where all of the fisherman purchased their boots, overalls, and jackets. Elizabeth had been complaining about her feet getting wet, because she packed the wrong kind of shoes. She kept saying, “I need to find a pair was waterproof shoes.” I pointed out the professional grade rubber boots and Shiro said that they were the best boots money could buy. If I would’ve know that Elizabeth’s wet feet were going to be the main topic of discussion for the rest of day, I would’ve insisted that we purchase those boots straight away. Instead, Shiro took us back towards the food court where we had left the stroller.
Along the way we saw a few buddhist shrines. One of them was a shrine where the fisherman pray for a large, profitable catch. At the next shrine we saw, I asked Shiro what this god represented. Shiro told me that this god was one that kept you and your family safe on a journey. I thought that since we were traveling during a typhoon, it was a good time to say a prayer. Shiro walked me through the process. You walk up to the shrine and bow. You throw coins into the coin slot. You bow twice while saying your prayer, and then you pull the rope, to ring the giant bell. Shiro seemed happy that I participated in the ritual and he hoped that we had a safe journey as well.
The food court was just another few hundred feet. We took the elevator back up to the second floor and walked into the food court area. There were four different dining options to choose from. There was a sushi restaurant, a coffee and ice cream place, a rice and bento box restaurant, and a ramen soup stand. The three of us thought that some ramen would be nice on such a cold, wet day. So we each ordered a bowl. I ordered a pork ramen. Elizabeth ordered a veggie and tofu ramen. Shiro ordered a chicken and rice dish. It was a pretty quick turnaround for the food, which was nice, because we had been starting to get pretty hungry. For fast food ramen, I thought that it tasted pretty good. It was a lot saltier than I thought it would be, but I was hungry so I ate it to the bottom.
Elizabeth was concerned about nursing Escher and Shiro recommend that she hide behind the screen where we hide the stroller. She walked over and sat behind the screen. Shiro and I talked about his job as a fireman. He talked about how he had once been one of the guys that goes out on the trucks and fights the fires, but had recently gotten transferred and was working at the dispatchers office. He talked about how his job went from being really exciting and rewarding, but now it was pretty tedious and exhausting. I really felt bad for him, because it seemed like he was being demoted from where he wanted to be to a job that was sort of just demoralizing. It seemed like he was in a profession where he really didn’t have a choice in the matter. Either he had to work as an emergency dispatcher 10-12 hours per day, or he would have to find a new profession. That could be one of the reasons why he started working as a tour guide. Not only is he improving his English by giving tours, but he is also learning interpersonal skills that he can use in other positions.
A few minutes later, Elizabeth came back with a look of frustration. She said, that the woman that was in charge of keeping the food court tidy, came over to her behind the screen and started talking down to her in Japanese. Elizabeth said that she didn’t know what the woman was saying, but she wasn’t happy and wanted her to move out from behind the screen. Elizabeth was starting to get upset and stressed, because Escher was hungry and cranky, and because she was upset and stressed about this, he could tell and wasn’t eating. She tried to nurse him there at the table, but I don’t think that Escher was feeding as well as she or he wanted.
To sort of calm her nerves, Elizabeth wanted some coffee from the coffee stand. I gave her a 1000 Yen note and she went over and ordered some coffee. When she came back, I asked her for the change, so that I could get ourselves some ice cream. Feeling like I was taking her money from her, Elizabeth pulled back. “I’m not allowed to have any money in case something happens.” She said. “In case, what happens?” I said. “I don’t know, but why don’t you let me keep the change?” She replied. “Well, the ice cream is 300 Yen and you have a 500 Yen coin, and the only other denomination of money that I have left is 10,000 Yen. I don’t want to break it and have a bunch of change, when I can just use one coin and get 2 coins back.” I explained. She reluctantly gave me the 500 Yen coin, then I went over and ordered the ice cream. The nice guy that I am, I shared the ice cream with her, because I knew that she wanted some ice cream anyway.
After we finished up the ice cream, Elizabeth gave up on nursing Escher, and the four of us headed back out into the rain. We went back down the long staircase, and Shiro and I carried the stroller down the steps. Escher was definitely unhappy about getting wet. Even though, we tried to cover the stroller with the poncho, it almost seemed like he prefered to get wet, over not being able to see through the frosted poncho. Shiro continued to guide us, walking about 5 feet ahead, and even though I was pushing the stroller, Elizabeth was taking her time in the back of the pack a few feet behind.
The rain wasn’t letting up and Elizabeth’s feet were getting beyond wet. She kept mentioning buying waterproof shoes and I kept telling her that if we saw a shoe store, then we could stop in and buy her some shoes. Shiro was guiding us down the road to the Hamarikyu Garden, which was only about a mile down the road from the fish market. As we got closer, it didn’t look like we were headed to a place that was a large beautiful garden. However, there appeared to be a hedge on the left side of the sidewalk, which I believed to be the border of the garden. We started walking along an unnamed river and after we crossed a bridge, the entrance to the garden was on the left.
Hamarikyu Garden
The entrance to the garden was a set of large arches that were covered in green ivy. We continued through the gate to the ticket counter, where Shiro asked the person behind the window, if there was a place where Elizabeth could nurse Escher. A minute later, a person opened a door and invited Elizabeth in. Shiro suggested that I go as well, and I followed Elizabeth into a small room with a couch. It appeared to be sort of a library and storage room. There were a number of books on a bookcase on one wall. On the other wall across from the couch there posters hanging, which were advertising the garden.
While the garden appeared to have a lot of bonsai trees, it was also a popular place to go during the April cherry blossom season, because there were a lot of cherry trees as well. Now that Escher and Elizabeth were in a warm, quiet, and comfortable space, Escher was feeding better and this calmed Elizabeth down significantly. When she was done nursing, we headed back out to the ticket window, where we purchased tickets to enter. They were only a couple dollars each and they also gave us a map. Shiro arranged for us to leave the stroller and we put Escher into the carrier again.
Shiro took us around the garden, and in spite of the fact that we had our umbrellas, our feet weren’t getting any dryer. The trail through the garden was lined with little rocks and huge unavoidable puddles were forming right in front of us. Even as Elizabeth and I were struggling to appreciate the beauty around us, Shiro forged ahead. The trees were truly amazing to look at and paired with a small structured here and there, it was like we were transformed into a secret place that was miles from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Because of the rain, the park was practically empty as if we had it all to ourselves. We took a few photos here and there and Shiro guided us to a bridge that lead to an island, in the middle of the river that ran through the park. On the island, there was a little, green tea house, where you could stop in and have a pot of hot tea, to warm up from the cool weather. As soon as we entered, we were instructed to remove our shoes. There were cubbies to the right and as we sloosh through the puddle by the entrance, our feet somehow managed to get colder and wetter than they already were. I think that initially, Shiro brought us into this tea house simply to use the restroom, but after we sat down at one of the tables, we decided to order a small pot of green tea for the three of us. It was very peaceful sitting inside, watching the raindrops fall on the river around us, and it was satisfying that for even a few minutes we weren’t walking through the rain.
Elizabeth pointed out a building across the river that looked like an optical illusion where you couldn’t tell whether it was extruding or intruding into itself. I took some pictures of Shiro and Elizabeth, and Shiro took my camera and took a few photos of Elizabeth and I. After we finished our tea, we grabbed our shoes and carried on. We headed over another large bridge where Shiro took our photo and we continued down the trail.
While I was tolerating the rain, Elizabeth, who was carrying Escher started to look more and more miserable as we went along. She went from walking about 3 feet behind me, while I was walking 5 feet behind Shiro, to walking about 10-20 feet behind me. I was trying to walk fast enough to keep up with Shiro, but it was almost as if she was walking slower and slower. Shiro would look back concerned, then I would look back at Elizabeth. At one point, we were walking through some really amazingly beautiful bonsai trees, and I stopped to wait for Elizabeth to catch up. She told me that she was cold and wet, so I asked her what she wanted to do. She asked me what I wanted to do, so I told her that I would carry on until the end of the tour.
It was getting to be close to 3pm and it was looking like our tour might get cut short. We started heading through a densely wooded area, where we were covered slightly from the rain, but the trail had become like a river. The water was at least 3-5 inches deep, so Elizabeth finally spoke up and said that she wanted to take a shortcut back to the entrance. She had been mumbling that it seemed like we were taking a different way back, but she had finally had by taking us all the way around the park, Elizabeth insisted that we head back around to the front.
Shiro acknowledged her discomfort and took us back around the way that we came. Elizabeth still walked slower and slower, so by the time we were near the front, she was hidden behind a corner in the trail. We stopped and saw that there were some workers erecting a stage for that weekend’s Bonsai Festival, though it looked like it was going to be a rainy one based on our recent experience. Just ahead was a 300 year old bonsai tree. It had been planted in the 1700’s by a samurai, who had made this park the center of his empire. The bonsai stretched at least 100 feet across and some of the larger branches were being held up with what looked like giant crutches. It was truly impressive to look at, but due to the rain that had soaked us completely to the bone, it was difficult to really appreciate the full effect of the experience.
Elizabeth went into the ticket office to nurse Escher again and retrieve the stroller. Quietly Shiro said, “Christopher, I think that Elizabeth is tired and we should go to see the Imperial Palace, when we meet up next week.” “Let’s ask her what she wants to do. If she wants to keep going, then we will continue, but if she wants to head back to the hotel, then we will do that instead.” I told him.
When Elizabeth came back, Shiro and I looked at her, then asked her if she wanted to see the Imperial Palace another a day. We could head back to the hotel now or if she wanted, we could to continue on the tour. I was sure that she wanted to head back, but for some reason, she didn’t want to admit it. “I want to keep going, but I’d like to get some waterproof shoes and socks first.” she said. “Elizabeth, if we go shopping for shoes, we won’t have time to see the Imperial Palace.” Shiro explained. “Maybe, if we just see a shoe store, we can stop along the way.” She said. Shiro and I looked at each other and sighed. Even I sort of wanted to call it quits for a little while, but I also didn’t want to miss anything. We only were going to be in Japan for a short time and I didn’t want to spend it shacked up in a shoebox hotel room, watching weird TV shows that I couldn’t understand.
We put Escher back into the stroller, then walked out of the park, towards the Yamanote Line, where we could basically go anywhere in central Tokyo. It was still a little bit of a walk to the station in the rain, and every few blocks, Elizabeth asked how much further it was going to be before we arrived at the station. Shiro just pointed ahead. We saw what might have looked like a mall to the right, there was a movie theater but no shoe store, so Shiro kept walking. We took the elevator up to the train station, then Shiro said that we didn’t need to buy him a ticket. We got on the train and after a few stops, Shiro said, “I think that it would be a good idea to stop the tour here and pick it back up next week. You should go to the hotel and rest.”
Elizabeth and I looked at each other and we both agreed, that it was probably a good idea. Shiro told us that he was getting off at the next stop, but told us to get off at Tokyo station to get back on the Tozai Line to Nihombashi station. Now that the tour was over, we could walk a little slower and take our time. It was still raining when we got out of the station, but we remembered the way back to the hotel with ease and took our time.
