Monday, October 30, 2006
A Note on Place Names
I imagine a lot of people are very confused by my descriptions of the places I live in. First I say I'm in Kawasaki, then in Ikuta, then in Tama. The problem is, people give directions differently in Japan that in America. First you start out by saying you're in Japan, then you describe your position as a series of progressively smaller concentric circles until you get to the exact location of your house.
For example, I live in Kanagawa-ken (province). Then I live in Kawasaki-shi (city). Kawasaki is further subdivided into wards, so I'm in Tama-ku. After that, I'm in the Ikuta district. Ikuta is further divided into several sections and, confusingly enough, I live in the Ikuta section. After that is a series of numbers, my chome (area), me (neighborhood), and bangou (house number). If you write out my address in full, the post office or a taxi driver could find where I live down to the exact house.
So I live by Ikuta Station in Ikuta, Ikuta, Tama-ku, Kawasaki-shi, and I work by Mukougaokayuen Station in Mukougaokayuen, Noborito, Tama-ku, Kawasaki-shi. Confusingly enough, Noborito is simultaneously the name of a district and a section and a train station.
Tokyo is also divided into 23 'cities' or wards. My train goes from Kawasaki to Shinjuku, so most of the time when I'm in Tokyo I go through Shinjuku. My bank's there, and my computer store, and one of Nova's head offices. I also like to visit Ueno, Asakusa, and Akihabara, used of which have their own unique character and flavor. Akihabara has Electric City, a huge maze of discount electronic stores. In the south-west corner is the Kanda used book market, with about 200 used-book stores in a half-mile radius. Asakusa has historical stores that sell The Most Random Junk in the World. If you want to see stores devoted entirely to rice crackers, or plastic food, or cell phone decorations, head to Asakusa. And so on.
Just in case I've just confused everyone more, I'll try to remember to be more careful about how I describe where I go. :P
So, anyway, Tokyo is THE AWESOMEST CITY IN THE WORLD. I'm not much of a shopper--I'd always prefer an hour in a Barnes & Noble over an hour at a department store. But there is SO MUCH RANDOM CRAP HERE!!! I'm turning into a total shopaholic. I can spend hours wandering around the booths at Asakusa, or browsing through the discount book stores in Kanda (I found one with manga for 105 yen. That's right--I can get a comic book for less than a dollar! I can't wait until payday!). And there's an area in Ueno that has dozens and dozens of temples--there's a temple practically every other building. There's tons and tons of parks and video arcades with random games (DDR is out, and taiko drumming games are in, apparently).
I thought Tokyo would just be another city--a lot of concrete and pigeons and gum on the sidewalk. And, true, it is pretty grim and drab sometimes. But there's so much to DO, and everywhere you go has its own unique personality and character. And you never know when what you think is a gap between two ratty, run-down office buildings, will turn out to be a tiny, mysterious, quiet little shrine.
So every day I have off I pick a random spot on the map, take the train over there, and wander around for hours exploring. Thursday I hit Kappa Bashi Doori in Asakusa, which is a street devoted entirely to accoutrements for restaurants: entire shops of plastic food, or waitresses' uniforms, or old-fashioned street-side ramen carts. Friday I wandered around the temples in Ueno. Thursday I think I'm heading into the Meiji Jingu shrine at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya in Tokyo, because this week is a festival dedicated to the birthday of the Emperor Meiji.
I wasn't bored BEFORE I got the Internet, and now that I have Net access I have about ten billion things I want to do. Don't be surprised if I update LESS now than I did this past month. I'm probably catching up on my TV shows or wandering around the parks along the Tama River or spending far, far too much money at the 100 yen store down the hill (hey! It only costs 100 yen! Who can turn down a deal that good?!).
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For example, I live in Kanagawa-ken (province). Then I live in Kawasaki-shi (city). Kawasaki is further subdivided into wards, so I'm in Tama-ku. After that, I'm in the Ikuta district. Ikuta is further divided into several sections and, confusingly enough, I live in the Ikuta section. After that is a series of numbers, my chome (area), me (neighborhood), and bangou (house number). If you write out my address in full, the post office or a taxi driver could find where I live down to the exact house.
So I live by Ikuta Station in Ikuta, Ikuta, Tama-ku, Kawasaki-shi, and I work by Mukougaokayuen Station in Mukougaokayuen, Noborito, Tama-ku, Kawasaki-shi. Confusingly enough, Noborito is simultaneously the name of a district and a section and a train station.
Tokyo is also divided into 23 'cities' or wards. My train goes from Kawasaki to Shinjuku, so most of the time when I'm in Tokyo I go through Shinjuku. My bank's there, and my computer store, and one of Nova's head offices. I also like to visit Ueno, Asakusa, and Akihabara, used of which have their own unique character and flavor. Akihabara has Electric City, a huge maze of discount electronic stores. In the south-west corner is the Kanda used book market, with about 200 used-book stores in a half-mile radius. Asakusa has historical stores that sell The Most Random Junk in the World. If you want to see stores devoted entirely to rice crackers, or plastic food, or cell phone decorations, head to Asakusa. And so on.
Just in case I've just confused everyone more, I'll try to remember to be more careful about how I describe where I go. :P
So, anyway, Tokyo is THE AWESOMEST CITY IN THE WORLD. I'm not much of a shopper--I'd always prefer an hour in a Barnes & Noble over an hour at a department store. But there is SO MUCH RANDOM CRAP HERE!!! I'm turning into a total shopaholic. I can spend hours wandering around the booths at Asakusa, or browsing through the discount book stores in Kanda (I found one with manga for 105 yen. That's right--I can get a comic book for less than a dollar! I can't wait until payday!). And there's an area in Ueno that has dozens and dozens of temples--there's a temple practically every other building. There's tons and tons of parks and video arcades with random games (DDR is out, and taiko drumming games are in, apparently).
I thought Tokyo would just be another city--a lot of concrete and pigeons and gum on the sidewalk. And, true, it is pretty grim and drab sometimes. But there's so much to DO, and everywhere you go has its own unique personality and character. And you never know when what you think is a gap between two ratty, run-down office buildings, will turn out to be a tiny, mysterious, quiet little shrine.
So every day I have off I pick a random spot on the map, take the train over there, and wander around for hours exploring. Thursday I hit Kappa Bashi Doori in Asakusa, which is a street devoted entirely to accoutrements for restaurants: entire shops of plastic food, or waitresses' uniforms, or old-fashioned street-side ramen carts. Friday I wandered around the temples in Ueno. Thursday I think I'm heading into the Meiji Jingu shrine at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya in Tokyo, because this week is a festival dedicated to the birthday of the Emperor Meiji.
I wasn't bored BEFORE I got the Internet, and now that I have Net access I have about ten billion things I want to do. Don't be surprised if I update LESS now than I did this past month. I'm probably catching up on my TV shows or wandering around the parks along the Tama River or spending far, far too much money at the 100 yen store down the hill (hey! It only costs 100 yen! Who can turn down a deal that good?!).
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