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| LOST IN TOKYO |
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Tokyo Drift? The six best cities to get lost
in? It is indeed precious time to find yourself,
who you are, what to be, meaning of life,
while you are traveling around the world.
Walked along the Ganga river in Varanasi,
but not yet Lost in Translation in downtown
Tokyo? Temporary or not temporary, quit what
you are doing, grab last-minute cheap fare
to Narita or Haneda, yes, it is high time
to explore and feel them all with your 6th
sense here in the far east islands.
Here's a quote from BBC :
The bewildering pace and flickering neon
of this go-go city guarantee
a bit of giddiness.
Abandon yourself to the
disorientation and
you might just get off-road
enough to find
the wabi-sabi side of Tokyo.
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| Tokyo Metro gets you lost |
| Tokyo has 9 lines (Tokyo Metro) and 4 lines
(Toei Subway) plus JR lines, which is enough
complicated but in addition to them, there
are more than 10 private railway companies
departing-from / arriving-at downtown Tokyo
terminals (Asakusa, Ueno, Nippori, Ikebukuro,
Shinjuku, Shibuya, Shinagawa and of course
Tokyo central station). Pick randomly any
one station up from the map, and without
GPS without handy guide, let's get lost,
shall we. |
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| Lost in the temple |
Go-koku-ji (peace nation temple) was built
in 1697, and remains the original structure
and facade which is very rare because almost
all were damaged by Great Kanto Earthquake
(1923) and/or Allied Bombing (1945). Unlike
Kyoto temples, it is free of charge to get
in and to take a walk through, you will find
the air of Edo Samurai Period once you step
into the main temple (hondou). Thanks to
major guide books, this temple is not listed
but still on unbeaten track, you may find
yourself as only being (apart from all the
spirits in the air) in front of buddha statues.
There is a little tiny shop humbly selling
buddhism ralated ornaments (not like business-business
pushing selling style of Asakusa Sensouji
Temple). You may get some dream called like
Santiago in The Alchemist.
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| Find what Buddha eats |
| It is only 1 hour train ride either from
Tokyo station (JR Yokosuka Line) or Shinjuku
station (JR Shounan Shinjuku Line) to reach
Kamakura where you could get lost either
in little mountain hills or along the gray
(not white) beach. To find your being is
to find what Buddha (Vishnu transformed?)
has in his mind (or in his stomach). You
may officially enter, without even knock-knock,
into his belly. Not very spiritual but
many tourists throw coins to his chin which
can be seen as bowl when you stand inside
of his stomach. Let's make wish as you do
for shooting stars. |
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| Park Hyatt in Shinjuku |
| Do you think that it is made-up story. You
might have been missing that kind of chances
even without noticing, well actually you
are missing the opportunities because you
are NOT noticing that it is right there in
front of you anytime anywhere. Did you talk
to the person who sit next to you on the
international flight? S/he may have important
information if you did converse. Let's follow
the butterflies, you'll get your toast much
delicious every morning. Let's follow the
dream, again as morden alchemist, you may
find treasures in you, yourself. |
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| By the way, if you truly would like to meet
Japanese alchemist (not just like a magician
but similar to Donald Shimoda in illusions
by Richard Bach), it is worth making a flight
to Nagasaki (JR Pass holder can enjoy long
train journey as listed bottom of this page). August 9th is very special for those residing
in the town. Kawatana station
on JR Oomura
Line (Omura Line) has the
shop called Anderson
(or Andersson, Anderusen,
sounds like Danish).
The master has been longing
to encounter
you face-to-face if you
are reading this
page already. Had
all ears, he's got
words to say. Now even
easier and cheaper
with LCC to visit the-only-port of Edo Samurai Time. |
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