Day in the Life of an Idiot

 I finally moved a lamp in our bedroom so that I have decent light to read by at night, and so I started a non-fiction book called The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr. The book appeared in our little free library, and I pulled it out because I am actually very interested in this subject. As I think I have reported here before, one of the reasons I returned to DW was because of a renewed interest in "long-form" communication. I'd been feeling especially scattered and burned out by the fast-pace, rock-skipping-over-the-water's-surface-ness of Facebook and Twitter.

So far, this book is pretty interesting. It's a bit old, having come out almost 10 years ago, but I'm still finding it interesting because it's explicitly not about content. The author is not trying to say "internet bad," which is often where these kinds of books start. Instead, the author is very clear that there are TONS of benefits to being online, and, that's kind of the point. We are here because we both want and need to be, now what? 

Anyway, that's what I've been reading. 

I also went on a really interesting, though not very visually stunning tour of Ueno's Ameyoko market. Ueno is one of those neighborhoods in Tokyo that I mostly know because Pimsleur decided I needed to know how to ask for the train station there. There is also a very famous, old zoo there, which Duolingo has used to teach me to talk about animals. So, it's kind of weird to suddenly be walking around in a place I think of as part of my language lessons and not much else. 

In fact, I took a picture of the Zoo, because I was so used to seeing it in my lessons, that I COULD ACTUALLY READ THE KANJI.


Image: the rather dull entrance to Ueno Zoo, only notable for Lyda's reading skills (yes, the name is also there in English.).

The tour was promoted as "Peculiar Tokyo," and the highlight was Ameyoko a street known for its history as a black market. What I found particularly fascinating about this was the tour guide's explanation of the history of the name of the street. As in the link referenced above, Kei told us that the street's name is a shortened form of "Ameya Yokocho" which means candy store alley, and the connection to the black market is that in Japan, as in most places during WWII, there were sugar rations. So, if you were a candy maker, you were probably also in it with the black market. Candy sellers still make their homes on this street, as well.

Another take is that "Ame" was a short form of American, since after the war, during the occupation, there was a brisk trade of American goods in this black market alley as well.


Ameyoko market entryway. 

This tour should not have been as exciting as it was for me, but it made a strange Bleach connection for me, because there is a very shady shopkeeper who happens to be the mentor to the hero, who owns, of all weird things, a candy store. It does, in fact, operate as a black market for people from the other side (the Soul Society,) but I have NO IDEA if the author intended this connection or not. I tend to think of Kubo-sensei as a kind of savant, so who knows. As a friend of mine wondered, is this a common enough connection to drop into a shounen manga?? Or did Kubo just have one of his strangely brilliant moments??  

As one writer to another, I say: both. Both is entirely possible. Gods know, I sometimes write stuff in that later I'm like, "OH, that's real thing? Right! Well, then I meant it that way!!" 

At any rate, Kei, our tour guide, was perky and interesting. He had apparently been hired by the tour company he was currently working for, specifically for the Olympics. In the end, of course, he said that he only managed to give a few tours to some athletes. His English was excellent, and he explained that he'd studied for several years in Canada. He kept begging us all to start travelling again soon, which was kind of sadlarious.

He worked really hard to engage with us across the miles, and, at one point, asked people to drop into the chat their favorite Japanese foods. I volunteered takoyaki, which are fried octopus balls (not testicles, which I'm not even sure octopuses have, but you know, like how hushpuppies are "balls"). At any rate, Kei was deeply surprised that anyone outside of Japan had had takoyaki and so when we were in the actual market street, he stopped to buy some to show everyone what they were like. I enjoyed that part a LOT because I got to see which condiments he chose to put on his--typically, here in the US, they're served with Japanese mayo, bonito flakes, and another kind of dark sauce, probably this takoyaki sauce that Wikipeida references. He had the dark sauce, no mayo, bonito flakes, and something I rarely get, which was a kind of seaweed sprinkle. 

It made me very much crave a trip to Zen Box. 

What was also surprising was the number of Americans who were like, "Wait, what? You can get takoyaki in St. Paul, MN??" and I was in the chat saying, "Yes, in more than one place." Google can find four places for me, two of which I've had the takoyaki at, Ishita Ramen and Zen Box. But, they are also common at the local Obon celebration at Como Park in the summer. I feel like I also picked them up at one of the night markets, in the days before the pandemic.

My point is, and I do have one, that I'm still learning things about Japan through these trips.

I noticed the silence, too, that fell when Kei asked us if anyone had been to Japan. No one. Some people had friends or family that lived somewhere in Japan, but none of us had travelled there. It makes me curious if part of the appeal of HeyGo for other people is the same as it is for me--a chance to go somewhere I will probably never be able to afford to go to in Real Life (tm).


Image: The market stalls in Ueno's Ameyoko Street

I did a few other tours last week, but I found most of them vaguely disappointing. For instance, I went to Shinjuku's Central Park with a French foreign national living in Japan, whom I suspect is one of the few guides who is not a professional tour guide. I say this because she said that she could not find much information on the park in English, which... I mean, she's not wrong. However, I feel like what the others have done in those cases is supplement with information about the neighborhood? I am probably being too judgmental. However, I have been considering trying to see if HeyGo would hire me, so I am always thinking about this sort of problem and trying to solve it for myself. Like, okay, if I took people to Como Park here in Saint Paul, maybe there isn't a huge amount of information about it, but that's when you supplement with information about architects of park buildings and other local historical or interesting facts.

Shinjuku itself is fascinating.

Moreover, I had previously never heard of the skyscraper district, Nishi-Shinjuku, which this park is located near.


Image: in the distance is a very fascinating cocoon shaped building, Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower.

Apparently, according to Wikipedia, the building was commissioned by Mode Gakuen (an educational firm) as a kind of contest, with the stipulation to its architects that the skyscraper could be anything other than a rectangle!  I only just learned that, however, our tour guide only mentioned all the various schools inside, which is interesting? Since it is also the second tallest educational building in the world.

I believe we are also looking at the cocoon building over the wall of the man-made water falls, which are known as "Shinjuku's Niagara Falls," which, "The Tokyo Weekender has described the water feature as 'generously named.'" Which cracks me up.

I will admit I bailed on this tour pretty early, and I probably missed the best part, which is the shrine at the far end of the park. Our guide had a very shaky cam, and sometimes I can roll with that and sometimes it makes me very queasy. This was a queasy time, unfortunately. I did sign-up to do another tour with this particular guide because she is headed to Shinjuku Park National Garden, which I BELIEVE is where one of my favorite anime is set, Midnight Occult Civil Servants had several episodes take place. (There are a lot of parks in Shinjuku, it turns out. I am hoping to see some locations I might recognize. I actually thought I recognized a place at the Central Park, but I'm not sure.)  At any rate, I am willing to give this particular guide a second chance.

This whole camera issue is currently the main thing stopping me from seeing if HeyGo would take me as a tour guide. I don't have a selfie stick, which a lot of the best guides seem to have (and it really seems to contribute to better sense of steadiness), and I really doubt my Tracfone service is going to be able to handle the bandwidth/streaming data required. However, it's a constant source of amusement for me to imagine what I would show off in St. Paul if I were a guide here.