Day 4: Asakusa
Today’s agenda included a full schedule of “Amazing Race” style activities — which (spoiler alert) were all incredibly fun. Thankfully, no judges! To begin, we grabbed our coffee and squid peanuts and took our now-familiar Oedo line straight to the Asakusa area of Tokyo.
Good morning Askausa! (and Sky Tree)
Last night at dinner, we pulled the trigger and signed up for the full Samurai Ninja Museum Experience. Initially, we were a bit skeptical about dressing up as Samurais and playing with swords, or as one YouTuber put it… “the most touristy thing I’ve ever done in Japan.”
However, as both that YouTuber and we discovered, it was actually pretty cool. Even better, we were the only ones signed up for the early class. The activity started by meeting our instructor Kenny and making introductions. For the next hour (or so), we enjoyed some Samurai 101. Kenny taught us about samurai clothing and how to properly put on a hakama and a haori. Next, we learned the proper handling and fighting techniques for a real (albeit dulled) katana blade. Finally, we learned and performed a multi-step routine with legit “swinging that sword around for real” moves. (Glad there was only seven of us)
We are samurai
Rehearsing our Kill Bill moves
This one’s for you, Nate!
After the experience, we toured the museum. Our new guide, Izu, explained samurai history, armor, and weapons as we went to different rooms of the museum. It was very informative and engaging. Plus, Izu had jokes. And they were pretty good.
(Now) We all know who the real last Samurai is
Card artwork checks out
After the Samurai portion, it was time to give the Ninjas some love. We got to use some fairly safe (rubber) throwing stars to hit targets on a styrofoam wall in a tournament showdown. None of us advanced to the finals, but Cordwood and Jo seemed to be the most competent ninjas.
Can you kill someone with a plastic throwing star??? Shuriken!
Accuracy matters
At the end of the tour, we successfully avoided purchasing any cheesy samurai and ninja-themed items from the gift shop, such as… samurai umbrellas, samurai sword scissors, samurai nail clippers, etc. That’s what Don Quijote is for, duh!
Fresh off our ‘Samur-high’, we ventured back onto the streets of Asakusa and walked a few blocks east to the Sensō-ji Temple. Along the way we passed thru the huge Nakimise marketplace. We managed to avoid buying any souvenirs here knowing it’s a bit of a tourist trap and overpriced. Eventually we reached the actual temple and looked around for a hot minute… heavy emphasis on the HOT (with the mid-day sun in full effect).
Sensō-ji Temple and Nakamise
Ni-Ou (open mouth style) Houzou-Mon guardian
Ni-Ou (closed mouth style) Houzou-Mon guardian
Just outside of the temple, you can pay 100 yen and draw a stick with a number on it. That number corresponds to a drawer with fortunes of various levels of luck. Belinda and Charles both got good luck fortunes. But the rest of us got bad luck fortunes (or nothing-burgers). This would be quite unfortunate, but thankfully, they also provided instructions how to tie these bad luck fortunes to a provided string, promising they will be collected and burnt soon, thereby cleansing the bad luck away! Phew.
Five-Story Pagoda at Sensō-ji
Purple sweet potato ice cream helps when it’s 1000 degrees
Next to the touristy souvenir market is an actual shopping area. We continued to browse and window shop, but our real mission was to find Taiyaki – a fish-shaped waffle snack with fillings of your choice. Traditionally, these are filled with red bean paste, but now there are several flavors to choose from.
Small shrine indeed
Found the Taiyaki
Apple, Sweet Potato, or Premium Custard (we all know what’s best)
Next Amazing Race task… We booked a chopsticks-making class at an art studio inside the shopping area we were already in. The studio was on the 10th floor, and the building only has one tiny elevator (and no stairs in sight). So it took a couple trips, but eventually we all made it. An instructor greeted us and helped us select the wood (different types for an upcharge) that would eventually become our chopsticks.
Choose your (future) chopsticks
With our chopstick wands selected, we used hand planers to shave the wood down to the proper shape with the assistance of some pre-configured molds. After that step, we sanded them to smooth perfection, and finished with a coat of oil. Without a doubt, this is the most zen enjoyment you can get from a $3 activity in all of Tokyo.
Make your chopsticks
We had so much fun, in fact, that we asked the art studio if we could stay and sign up for their kintsugi class. They had one available in a hour, so we ventured out to kill some time (really only 30-40 minutes with that elevator, lol). Charles hit up the Pokemon shop on the sixth floor, Lily seriously contemplated getting a tattoo on the 5th floor (alas, they were booked), and we all found another Don Quijote store a couple blocks away. After purchasing some desired Japanese kitchen gadgets, we returned to the shop.
Kintsugi is the art of repairing broken ceramic with gold, literally translated to “golden joinery.” We picked our base-package broken dishes and learned the steps. First, use a metal file to shave down the edges of the crack to actually make the space bigger. (Disclaimer!!! If you are adverse to the sound of nails on a chalkboard, this activity may not be for you.)
Next, glue the pieces together and put masking tape along the crack (like when you paint a wall). Finally, fill in the crack with some lacquer and apply the gold powder. It’s harder than it looks! This was also a really fun experience (made even greater by learning they just fixed the AC in their studio a few days ago). Plus, as one additional bonus, the easy-listening music they were playing in the studio (Olivia Newton John, Huey Lewis and the News, Whitney Houston) was lodged in some of our heads for the next several days.
I Have Nothing (if I don’t Kintsugi these plates), 1993
Where Do Broken Plates Go, 1988
By the time class ended, we were running ~10 minutes late for our dinner reservation at 5 pm. We booked it down the elevator, off to the train station, and back towards our hotel. Thankfully, our early-bird reservation time was easily adjusted by the Shabu Shabu (hot pot) and Sushi restaurant — even accounting for a few extra minutes to locate their secret entrance. It took four days, but we’re finally eating sushi in Japan.
After dinner, it was earlier than yesterday and still light out, so we made another quick detour to Shiba Park to check out Zojoji Temple before it closed. Success! Officially, Matt and Jo don’t get double points for seeing the Tokyo Tower again.
Zozoji Temple and Tokyo Tower at dusk
Do we get 7 points AGAIN?!?
Back at the hotel, we finished packing up and called a summit in the lobby to confirm our transportation and luggage logistics for the next two days. Team Mt. Fuji will be Jo, Matt, Cordwood, Lily, and Mel. Team Hakone is Belinda and Charles. Luggage-forwarding services will be employed to deliver anything we don’t need the next two days to our hotel in Kyoto. Teams will reconvene in Kyoto. OK!?! Ready??? “GO TO SLEEP” on three… two… one… “GO TO SLEEP!!!”
