My fellow Americans...

Japan is awesome!

Here's a rundown of my second day in Tokyo:

I woke up on my own at 5 AM, even though I had set my wake-up call for 6. I decided to just stay up and do some organizing and iron. I got my iron from housekeeping and after I figured out how to use it (you have to charge it up first) I was on my way to a wardrobe fore the day.

Then, I decided to venture out for an early-morning walk. I discovered a little park with a pond and fish, then turned around and went the other way and passed many shops and restaraunts. Many were just opening, and some even had workers out in front of the stores mopping the sidewalks. Not just sweeping, but mopping.

I came back for breakfast and then it was time for our keynote speech from Tsutomu Kimura, President of the National Institution for Academic Degrees. His speech on trends in Japanese education was very interesting, and immediately put to rest some stereotypes of Japanese education. I expected this trip to focus on the positives of Japanese education and kind of a "look how well we do it over here" attitude. His speech got rid of that notion. He talked about how Japan is starting to slip when compared to other countries. He highlighted a rise in school violence, drop out rates, and declining attitudes among students about school and academics. Essentially, they are facing many of the same problems that we do.

After lunch, I high-tailed it back to the presentation room to wait for them to open the doors. I wanted a front row seat for the Traditional Japanese Theatre discussion and demonstration. Absolutely fascinating and entertaining stuff! Two Americans performed a Kyogen (comic interlude) piece for us in English. They used the highly stylized movement and voice, but we could understand the words. Then the presenter, Don Kenny, told us about the specifics of Kyogen and showed us the five masks that are used.

Then it was time for the Kabuki demonstration and lecture by Mark Oshima. I felt like I was back in school, because I was taking all sorts of notes. We had the honor of watching a woman put on the kabuki makeup and costume. While women are not allowed to perform in Kabuki, this woman is a teacher of traditional Japanese dance, which is used in Kabuki. In less than 45 minutes her transformation was complete. It was very cool!

A brief rest, and then it was off to our welcome reception. There were brief speeches from many Japanese dignataries and it was impossible not to feel very honored.
Today I made plans to visit the Kabuki-za Theatre tomorrow night to see two Kabuki performances. This will also entail my first subway ride, so wish me luck. I don't have to transfer or anything, so it should be OK.

After everything was over, I went for another walk on my own. I went down the same street that I did this morning to witness its evening transformation. While going down the street, I went into an arcade. It was definitely different to see businessmen in suits playing video games. Then, I came upon what I thought was another arcade, but when I went inside I was overwhelmed by the noise. Turns out it was a panchinko parlor, and I immediately remembered that I had seen this before. Yancy used to have one of those in his room back in the day. Of course, it wasn't all lighted up and complete with little video screens like these were. I saw a vending machine and I put in some yen so that I could get a card to insert into the machines and play. I really had no idea what I was doing. Eventually, I figured out that turning this knob launched the metal balls, and they bounced around. Some of them came back out and some of them didn't. One of the young workers came around and when he could tell I didn't know what the heck I was doing, he pointed to these two little spinners that you try to hit, and showed me this spot where I was supposed to be trying to get the balls into. He also showed me that the way you turned the knob impacteeptd the way the balls were launched. All this was done with no words. I just smiled and gave him a big "thumbs up" when he was done, and he smiled and laughed. Eventually, I lost. Ah well. It sure was fun.

I kept on walking,and eventually I heard this drum beat and some chanting. I walked in its direction until I saw this shrine-like entrace. I went to it and walked up a LOT of stairs until I came into this park. All sorts of people were there, many of the ladies in kimonos and many of the men in robes. They were under a tent, which had two platforms. The top platform had people playing a drum and chanting/singing while everybody else was dancing. I have no idea what it was, but it all looked like a more elegant version of the electric slide. It just stood there with this big goofy smile on my face, clapping along as they danced. There were all ages: senior citizens to toddlers, all dancing and seemingly having a great time. Food vendors had their carts out and some people were enjoying food and drink. Whatever kind of festival it was, I was VERY happy to have fun into it.

This sort of confirms my notion of not trying to over-plan this trip and to make plenty of time to just explore on my own. It was such a great feeling.

I capped off my evening at a 7 Eleven. I knew I wanted to try some candy, so I got a Kit Kat (white chocolate) and milk. I also got an umbrella, since there's a chance of rain tomorrow.

What a great day! I still can't believe I have been blessed with this incredible honor.

( I went in and made links to flickr of all the things I talked about in this post, but blogger was having issues so I lost them. But please do check my photos for visuals of all this stuff.)