Day 8: Bike Trip to Ueno Park

Although Ohanami was officially a few days ago, the sakura are still beautiful. Spring foliage is starting to creep in and the spectacular snow-pink now has competition with the shades of green found only in springtime. Toyama Park is about halfway on my bike route from the apartment and school.

Today we took a Japanese language proficiency test. Based on the results we will be placed in classes with a suitable difficulty level. The test was hard, but in an unexpected way. I would find myself reading an entire sentance but because I didn't understand just one word out of the lot I couldn't answer the question.

There are several different curriculum for teaching Japanese to English speakers. The problem is, they all start out with a different base vocablulary and people tend to have an expectation based on the curriculum with which they are familiar. For instance, The Tokyo Times system starts off with greetings, how to ask for things and how to count. The Japanese for Busy People system, I understand, addresses weather early on and to a greater degree. The curriculum is also geared to fit with the standardized Japanese Language Proficiency Exams. I think that whatever system is used, new language students end up strong in some areas and weak in others.

That afternoon I invite myself on a bike trip with Peter to Ueno Park. Ueno Park is a very famous park on the north side of central Tokyo. It was a big challenge to follow Peter through traffic. At this point I am still very clumsy on the bike and have to stop frequently to avoid running into people and things.

This picture is of a pretty quiet strech of road near the Tokyo Dome. On the way we went through a quaint little town that somehow seemed miles from the bustle of Tokyo. It was on a hill, and full of all kinds of boutiques, bakeries, coffee shops and restaurants. It smelled wonderful; I could have spent the whole day there with my eyes closed, just drinking in the atmosphere. I think the place is called Kagurazaka.

We make it to Ueno Park and find people feeding ducks, a flea market, a festival, and like a bajillion people. Peter and I split up, and I park the bike to experience the park on foot.

The flea market was small but interesting. There were some good deals, but most things were priced way too high. There was one shop that sold old china and wood carvings. Another sold beads and Buddhist iconry. At one shop I found a bunch of tsuba or tuba, the hand guard disk found on Japanese swords. Most on display were made of iron and fairly basic. Others were pierced with intricate designs and murals. In our mutual pidgin I was able to work out with the shopkeeper the purpose of a pair of little holes found in the solid disk designs. When sheathed, wire pokes through the holes so it can be twisted like a bread tie, locking the blade in the sheath.

There is a temple set out on what seems like and island in the middle of the marsh. The walk to the island is lined with food stalls creating a riot of sounds and smells. There was the Japanese version of a corndog, whole fish on a stick, yakisoba of various kinds, cotton candy, takoyaki, baked sweet potatoes, all kinds of rice crackers all kinds of peanuts, candied fruit, grilled vegetables, barbequed this-and-that, the list goes on. I wished I hadn't eaten such a big lunch!

Not far from the food was an arcade of game booths. The picture is of the classic Japanese matsuri event the Goldfish Scoop. The idea is to scoop fish into a bowl with a flat spoon. The trick is that the flat part of the spoon is paper and breaks under the weight of the fish if you are too rough or too slow. It was a lot of fun watching the kids; they were surrounded by a crowd of onlookers vicariously reliving their childhood and trying not to make too many suggestions or not to cheer too loud when a fish was properly scooped.

Across the road from the island was a huge set of stairs. The steps were originally rough cut for traction, but time and visitors have worn them smooth. At the top of the stairs I found a wide path full of people, a small stream dappled with sakura petals, and more stairs. The path wound around the hillside to a wide plaza adjacent to the zoo. every clear space of lawn was checkerboarded with dropcloths by had people continuing to celebrate Ohanami. Some of the groups were obviously work-related, but others were families and what looked like university students. The side of the walk closest to the grass was corded off and subivided into individual There was music, food, karaoke and drinking. Little kids were running about trying to scoop up handfulls of sakura petals.

NOTE: It is apparently taboo for foreigners to acknowledge each other on the street. This is a bit odd for someone who lived almost 20 years in the shadow of Texas A&M where it is considered rude not to greet strangers. The funny thing is, the lighter their complection, the more effort they seem to put into ignoring other pale-skins. I think it's hilarious - hilariously stupid. A couple of times I have been on a crouded train and made eye contact with a dark-skinned foreigner. We give each other a quick nod and smile, probably sharing a moment of satisfaction knowing we've bucked the system by acknowleging a perfect stranger in public.

At the top of the hill is a shrine or temple and small plaza. The steep path is treacherous because generations of pilgrims have worn ruts in the steps. I am rewarded for my efforts when I reach the top and two young ladies in beautiful kimonos have me take a picture of them under the sakura.

I understand that wearing a kimono is so involved that there are classes you take in order to do it properly.

There is a big statue of a large stocky man and a dog at the far end of the plaza. Lots of people are taking pictures of the statue, but the plaque is in kanji so I can only guess what it's about. It must be significant, because the statue faces an overlook of the city.

I take a few more pictures and bike home. The whole trip took about five hours, so I figure the bike could get me to most of the nearby tourist-worthy places for a day trip.