Japan Day 4 – Asakusa with friends

Today we played tourist with some locals! Ben has been penpals with Koichi for years. We were thrilled that he and his wife Kaho wanted to meet us. Not only that, they planned a whole day of fun together!

Meeting for the first time in our hotel lobby!

They wanted to show us the Asakusa district of Tokyo. We took a cab to a kimono rental shop to play the part. We saw many people wearing rented traditional clothes in many cities during the trip. I think we would never have been bold enough to try it without our friends as guides. Ben knows some Japanese and Koichi speaks English very well. But Kaho and I were completely at odds with language! I wasn’t sure how it would go when we had to separate by gender to get dressed. Luckily we both had translator apps, and mine had a strong signal in this particular building to cover when she lost her signal. She was very friendly and fun. We helped pick out colors for each other and got our hair done.

We met up with the guys who looked just as good! Ben and I both had trouble getting shoes to fit. Our friends were shocked to hear our feet are pretty average sized for Americans. Then we met the rickshaw driver who would be giving us a tour. A rickshaw!! Another activity we would never have booked ourselves, but ended up being so fun! The guide Mako had heaps of enthusiasm and said he was also a photographer. He took a lot of fun shots for us. We waited a little for our special guide who knows more English. We felt bad when this tiny woman appeared! Sion was more than capable though, and kept up a casual banter while huffing and puffing us through Asakusa.

And take-off! First we stopped at part of Sensō-ji Temple.

Next we rode to the Sensō-ji Gate for photos.

Then we rode a bit longer to a park with a good view of the Sky Tower for photos. I was enthralled by the rows and rows of hydrangea in bloom.

Our final stop was the Matsuchiyama Shoden temple. I hope our guides had time to get water and catch their breath. Mako didn’t rest long, he took us on a whole tour of the temple with instruction for entering, washing, and praying. Once again, he enthusiastically took a ton of photos, directing us where to stand and how to pose. I was surprised to find later he even took video! I definitely would have been uncomfortable dressing and play-acting worship while filming. But the locals seem to encourage it, so I guess it’s ok? This temple was known for its daikon motif.

Then we rode back to the start.

After our ride we walked over to Sensō-ji to get a closer look on foot. This temple felt like a busy tourist trap with heavy crowds and market stalls. Very unlike the temple we visited via rickshaw. We washed ourselves in the incense smoke and I touched the giant shoe for prosperity.

We were all hot in our robes and sore in our feet – even Kaho and Koichi admitted the geta and zori shoes were uncomfortable. So we went to the rental shop to change into our regular clothes before eating.

Lunch was tonkatsu. It was nice to sit and talk a little more about what we had seen so far. I made a terrible faux pas by eating my katsu curry with chopsticks. This launched an interesting discussion about how Japanese food is served in the US – including chopsticks with curry!

A short walk to the covered market arcade got us some delicious taiyaki! Seriously, it was so good, much better than any I’ve had in the states.

Time to get out of the heat – Koichi led us to a Japanese cafe to sit in the aircon and enjoy some cold drinks/shaved ice. They were interested to hear about our adventures the previous day in Kamakura and Disneyland. We were getting pretty good using our translator apps by then.

In the afternoon Koichi has booked a class to make traditional etched glass. We were all surprised and delighted at our success with the craft. It looks quite complicated, but it was surprisingly easy. It was a nice change of pace to sit and work on a project after the hustle of the last few days.

That was the end of our visit to Asakusa! We went back to Ginza and briefly stopped in our hotel to freshen up. Then we walked to dinner at a teppanyaki restaurant. This was one of the best meals of the trip – high quality food guided by friends who could translate the handwritten specials on the wall and communicate with the waiter. And by now we knew each other pretty well and could talk about the differences in our day-to-day living.

Filled with delicious asparagus, egg, beef, veggies, noods, and octopus (well, not me!) we spilled out of the restaurant. We gave them our gifts, including American snacks, Colorado art stickers, and beer from a local brewery in a portable cooler. We said our good-byes and promised to be safe on the rest of our journey. I think they were really worried about us, so cute!

Ben and I wanted to walk off the meal and talk about the big day, so we wandered over to the Imperial Garden, by Tokyo Station, and back home to our hotel. Oh, after I stopped for dessert at a shop we had been passing every day. It was my last chance to try it!