矢切りの渡し

Today we went to the river area because the weather was good for just being outside…blue sky and comfortable temperature.

It was a nice day out.

First, we saw two chickens that were just walking around.

Here’s a picture and a video of the rice fields that were near the river:

At this river is the 矢切りの渡し (Yagirinowatashi river ferryboat) that has been operating from that spot since the 江戸時代 (Edo Period, when Tokyo (東京) was named Edo (江戸) and wasn’t yet Japan’s capital).
This ferry still carries people across the river. Since there are now many bridges spanning the river and one can cross on foot, bicycle, car or train…the ferry is for sightseers now.

At the entrance to the ferry’s boarding area, there’s a very small shop that sells trinkets, souvenirs, snacks, soda, ラムネ (Japanese Ramune pop), and beer.
So we bought something to drink and walked around.

While we were there, my daughter found some てんとう虫 (Ladybugs):

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After we got home and had dinner, we watched 「なでしこ隊」 (Nadeshikotai) on TV.

It was an emotional drama about the true story of a group of Junior High school girls who helped at the base in Japan where 神風 (Kamikaze) pilots took off on their missions during World War 2.
The show is based on the experiences of one of the girls from the Nadeshikotai who is still alive today.

As I mentioned in this post, in Japan the Kamikaze has a different image than in the West.
Here, they are seen as tragic heroes who sacrificed their lives for their country.

Japanese Garden

Today we went to 柴又 (Shibamata). This is a traditional 下町 (downtown, blue-collar) area of Tokyo. We live in downtown Tokyo…but this is one of the downtown areas that stills maintains the old, traditional look.

I’m trying to explain it so that people from outside of Japan will relate…but Japan’s 下町 (downtown) and 山の手 (uptown) are unique and hard to explain accurately.

Come to Japan and I’ll show you. 🙂

Anyways, 柴又 (Shibamata) is the hometown for the character 寅さん (Tora-san) in the popular TV series 男はつらいよ (“It’s tough being a man!”) that ran from 1969-1995 in Japan.

The actor that played the main character (Tora-san) died in 1996. There’s a statue of the “Tora-san” character outside 柴又 (Shibamata) train station.

Here it is:

Near the train station is a store that sells Japanese candies. Just like most of the shops in this area, it looks like an old traditional Japanese store.

Here’s the 駄菓子屋 (Traditional junk-food shop):

(The Coke machine looks like a robot).

We also went to a temple and saw them setting up for a 盆踊り (Bon Dance Festival)…(we didn’t go to the festival, though), and a traditional Japanese street performer, and we went to a Japanese garden.

Here’s a slideshow of some of the photos I took:

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I took a few videos today and uploaded to my YouTube page (in all of them you can hear 蝉 (Cicadas) in the background. Proof that it’s summertime in Japan 🙂 ).

Also, in the last video there are 提灯 (paper lanterns) that say 寅さんの日 (“Tora-san Day”). This is in preparation for August 27—the anniversary of the first episode of TV series 男はつらいよ (“It’s tough being a man!”) that began on 1969/8/27.

Here’s my video of the Japanese garden:

Here are three videos that I took of the traditional Japanese street performer:

And here are two videos that I took of the 下町 (traditional downtown area):

We’ve been to this area a number of times. But it had been awhile since our last time here…so it was alot of fun!

ペリー

Yesterday I went to the 江戸東京博物館 (Edo-Tokyo Museum) to see the マシュー・ペリー (Matthew C. Perry) exhibit.

Matthew C. Perry was a Commander in the U.S. Navy in the early 1800’s.

At that time, Japan was closed to foreign countries, and Perry was sent here by the American president to negotiate with Japan to signing a trade agreement with the United States.

The fact that Perry had a fleet of black, intimidating war-ships just off the coast of Japan played a big part in convincing Japan to open to the West.

The museum had, among many other interesting things, some 浮世絵 (Woodblock prints) that Japanese artists painted of Perry.

This was the first time any of them had seen foreigners or heard them speak. So the pictures that they painted of Perry had exaggerated features, such as huge noses and wildly curly hair.

And a couple of them had Perry’s name spelled (in Japanese) incorrectly. They wrote: ペルリ (Peruri) and ペロリ (Perori), instead of ペリー (Perry).

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By the way, I’m currently in the process of redesigning My Website ( http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~tokyo5 )…it’s gonna look nicer, I think.

I’ll let you know when it’s done.