Final day in Japan – drama, drama, drama

Having slept at my friends Airbnb the night before because of a small homelessness situation, I woke up at 8am to check if I could head home to pack, but discovered that we were still locked out of our Airbnb. I slept again and woke up at 2pm -keys still had not yet been sent. I did the logical thing – I went to kill time shopping. As I was shopping, I got a panicky call from Mouna – the hosts had sent over the keys at 2:30pm but expected us out of the apartment at 3pm as they had new people coming in and needed the place cleaned. I was annoyed to say the least. Of course it was just an act of nature that the key had refused to work and we had been locked out of our Airbnb….but the hosts surely must have realized what an inconvenience this was. Mouna and Nguhi had to pay for a hotel room. I was lucky in that I crashed at my friend’s place. But after all that, how could you rush us out of the apartment? I was downtown, my stuff was spread out throughout the apartment….because well…I’m messy. That’s the life I live. I open my backpack and throw everything around. That's who I am. I did not choose this life. This life chose me. 

I rushed from downtown like a madwoman with all myshopping. Poor Mouna had to pack my backpack as she was been given pressure to make sure all our stuff was out of the apartment before 3pm. She had a flight to catch. I finally made it home – managed to give Mouna a giant hug as I found her with my backpack on the corridor as she waited to leave for the airport. I packed the rest of my shopping on the corridor – as we now could not get back into the apartment. I was flustered. All these changes cut into the day I thought would be a peaceful day with only an evening flight to worry about.

Backpack packed. Running with giant backpack to get to the train station. Knees rattling because of how heavy my giant backpack is. I had gone a bit overboard with gift-buying on that final day.

I had put all my remaining yen into a train ticket that I thought would get me all the way to the airport….only to realize that the ticket I needed was a different one. Having changed trains twice and this giant backpack killing me, I kinda felt like the world was conspiring against me when I discovered that I needed to buy a new train ticket – which was sold 2 or 3 levels down….which when you’re carrying a backpack is the equivalent of being told you need to walk to Timbuktu. I got to the counter and was told the ticket would cost me ~$4. I had only $2 in cash as I had put all the money into the other ticket thinking it was the one I needed. The lady told me that I could find an ATM 2 levels up. She did not seem amused when I was pulling out Kenya shillings and Nairas from my wallet asking if I could top up the $2 with those.

Struggles with backpack. Walks back to Mecca (ATM) from Timbuktu (ticket counter) and the minimum amount one can withdraw from the ATM was $100.

FML!

I contemplated begging at the train station for $2, but I realized that I would only be giving Africans a bad reputation….So I took out $100 in Yen because I needed $2. I trudged back to Timbuktu from Mecca, paid for my ticket. I finally got on this train, but I was a nervous wreck as I don’t understand Japanese and was still not 100% sure that I was on the right train until I finally got to the airport at 7:30pm for my 9pm flight.

And with that I bid farewell to Japan! Such a wonderful, crazy, intense trip. Thanks Natsuno!!

Big budhaa at Kamakura, boat cruise at Yokohama and partying “la petite Dakar a Tokyo”

Saying this was going to be a busy day is the understatement of the year. In the morning, I took a train with Nguhi to go see the big budhaa at Kamakura.

The Great Buddha of Kamakura is a bronze statue of Amida Buddha, which stands on the grounds of Kotokuin Temple. It’s 13.35m in height and is the second tallest bronze Budhaa statue in Japan, surpassed only by the statue in Nara's Todaiji Temple. It was built in 1252 and similar to most budhaas in Japan, it was inside a large temple hall. A series of typhoons and tidal waves in the 14th and 15th centuries destroyed the temple buildings and the Budhaa has been in open air since 1495. Kamakura used to be the capital of Japan in the 12th and 13th century.

After Kamakura, we went to meet the rest of the #mirozinjapan for a night boat cruise in Yokohama.

Yokohama was one of the first Japanese ports opened to foreign trade, in 1859. It contains a large Chinatown with hundreds of Chinese restaurants and shops. Before the cruise, a few of us ate in Chinatown. The cruise was lovely in a strange way – most such cruises are about seeing nature, but we were intentionally going to see factories and industrial areas of Japan😊.

One would think that the day was complete, but not at all. That evening #mirozinjapan were hosting a party in a club where drinks and snacks from our different countries would be served. We had all carried a few unique items from our various countries. My contribution had mostly been in the form of tuskers and sesame bars. After the night’s partying, I got a second wind. I would be leaving Tokyo on the next night and I knew that this particular night would be my only chance to give Tokyo my all.

Party plans were also aided by the fact that I overstayed at the “La petite Dakar a Tokyo” party and missed the last train home. You should have seen Kabura and I running like mad women to catch that train only to find it had left us. Having given up on getting home affordably, partying all night sounded like a great alternative. Ben and I ended up going to Roppongi and finding a bar with a Kenyan owner. We were welcomed like long lost relatives. I love my Kenyan people! Especially when traveling – it feels as if you’re home when you bump into other Kenyans. We stayed there then finally ended up at an all-you-can-drink bar. It was all-you-can-drink for women, but I believe we got in and I sneakily shared drinks with Ben. Then I got a message from my roomies that the key to our Airbnb was not working and they had all gone to get hotel rooms for the night. I knew that partying had been divine intervention as I would have been in a similar homeless situation. I was lucky to be able to spent the night at Kabura’s Airbnb -  which we staggered into at 4am.

Alone time in Tokyo - Harajuku, Meiji shrine, Akihabara, Roppongi

Tokyo had revealed to me just how exhausted I was after all our crazy backpacking. I was almost never able to make it for any of our morning group plans in Tokyo. All I wanted to do was sleep, sleep and sleep some more. I recall Mouna asking me, “Did you come to Japan to sleep?” Death..My friend has a way with words. So I took my Tokyo trip into my own hands and decided that I was not going to let this be an expensive sleeping trip, but really take advantage of the fact that I was in Tokyo – Tokyo of all amazing places with Natsuno as our fabulous tour guide, and I was going to explore the city.

I spent a few days wandering around Harajuku – the home of Tokyo street fashion. A long walk down Takeshita street – revealed lots of fascinating and amusing people and shops.

I spent a lovely afternoon visiting the Meiji shrine – Tokyo’s most famous Shinto shrine dedicated to the late 19th century emperor who opened Japan to the West. The shrine is dedicated to the spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shoken. In the Edo Period (1603-1867), the site had belonged to the Kato family and Ii family, both feudal lord families. In the Meiji era, the shrine was built in 1920 at the site and the inner garden – Yoyogi garden.

I marveled at the 40 foot high gate at the entrance to the 200 acre park Meiji shrine is in. The gate is made of 1500 year old cypress…..Japan must have the most polite termites….you’re telling me wood can survive that long?

I wondered about the hundreds of wine barrels near the shrine. Turns out that Emperor Meiji who had embraced western culture, was a lover of wine and particularly loved wine from the wineries in Burgundy.

When I finally got to the shrine, I enjoyed the tranquility of it. It was very understated compared to Akasuka shrine that I had visited only a few days back. Everything was more moderate. There was the budhaa with the two angry genies next to him to chase away evil spirits. There was a little place where coins were dropped into for good luck. There was smoke and incense.  

I also spent half a day at Akihabara – the gadget/tech part of Tokyo.

In the evening me and my roomies walked to roppongi hills – a really popular area with great restaurants, an amazing club scene etc. and enjoyed a calm dinner in a really great restaurant before walking back home and calling it a night.   

Yokozuna is not just the name of a wrestling star in WWF

We spent the earlier part of the day at the Sensoji Temple in the traditional Asakusa Area. The Sensoji temple is a lovely Buddhist temple built in the 7th century. Asakusa is the traditional part of Tokyo.

We ate in a lovely local restaurant that had horse sushi as one of the items on the menu….Paasssss….I’m not trying to get tapeworms at this stage in my life.

Next we were off to watch Sumo. I was extremely excited. There was a bit of talking going on down on the stage and I kept hearing “Yokozuna…Yokozuna….” I thought back to the good ol’ Wednesdays of my childhood of chapatis for dinner, watching smurfs after school then watching wrestling in the evening….bah – I might be mixing up days….but I do remember those WWF matches – which I would only later on in life discover to be staged.

Yokozuna! Yokozuna! It was only in Tokyo during the sumo match that I learnt that Yokozuna is a title given to wrestlers who have reached the sport’s highest rank.

I am a fan of traditional wrestling. It’s just a pity that when I was in Bolivia, I didn’t get to see the female wrestlers – the fighting Cholitas. I thought to do comparison between sumo wrestling and Senegalese wrestling – la lutte/laamb gi.

Same – same

1.       Squat game on fleek- Given how huge the sumo wrestlers are, I was extremely surprised how fit they are given their large size. My favourite move during sumo would be when the fighters would squat and shuffle across the room in this squatting position. I’m carrying only a fraction of the weight each of them have and I would die if I tried this move.

2.       Loin cloths….check! – If you are easily upset by the sight of people’s bums, you should not go for wrestling matches. The bare buns are even more noticeable in the Japanese context where there is a lot of flesh to be seen. I remember sending pics from the sumo match to my mum whose prebyterian church of East Africa inclinations led her to respond, “Ngai. They're just showing people their mapotties like that?"

3.       Gris-gris -  The sumo wrestlers were purified with salt before the match began while the Senegalese wrestlers each have their own marabout who blesses them with a liquid containing different elements for good luck. These ritual elements and the mystic nature of traditional wrestling seems to hold across different cultures.  

4.       Dramatic entry – Part of each match is about intimidating your opponent by showing them your strength. In sumo, the main ones seemed to be what I will call the sumo-bounce where the wrestler gets on one leg, tilts to the side and has a crazy power pose before going to the next side. In the Senegalese context, this was mostly dancing with power poses, some amazing stretches before fighting and call-response with one’s supporters to show strength and fame.

5.       Rigorous training – Everything in a professional sumo wrestler’s life is planned out – their look, their way of dressing, their meals, their rigid exercise schedule. Wrestlers are not normally allowed to eat breakfast and are expected to have a siesta after lunch.  They have to exercise in the morning on an empty stomach. Lunch is usually a stew with various fish, meat and vegetables served with rice and washed down with beer. The training for Senegalese wrestlers tends to be more focused on muscle gain more than weight gain, but is also quite rigid for the top wrestlers as competition is stiff and opportunities to make fortunes in la lutte are few – thus all the wrestlers are trying to be the next big wrestler. Large wrestlers train in the US where there is more advanced knowledge on bulking up. 

6.       Super-star/sex-idol status for the few greats – In each case, the most famous wrestlers have superstar status and are respected as local celebrities. In Japan, some of the famous wrestlers date supermodels. In Senegal, the biggest stars are recognizable faces everywhere, driving expensive cars, highly respected in the communities they come from and sometimes even getting advanced training in the US for the sport. The one interesting moment I do recall was when we witnessed 3 yokozunas coming out of a regular sized car. Maybe flossing is not that common in Japan? And that car….what type of magical stuff is it made of to not crumble under the weight?

7.       Path to winning – in both cases, the winner is whoever gets any part of the other’s body to touch the ground first…knees, hands, elbows etc.

 Different

1.       Size – Though both Senegalese wrestlers and Japanese sumo wrestlers are extremely strong, sumo wrestlers stand out when it comes to size. They are the largest people I have ever seen. It was quite beautiful when all the Yokozunas stood together on stage. If I had a boyfriend that size, would anyone ever bother me? I could be that chica who starts up fights in the club....just because..

Shibuya, Nakano Broadway and funky random Tokyo bars

We were to meet as a group close to the famous dog monument at Shibuya – most have heard the story of Hachiko. Hachiko was a dog that belonged to a professor at the university of Tokyo. Every day, he would wait to meet his owner at the Shibuya station. One day the professor died of a brain hemorrhage. For the next 10 years, Hachiko faithfully went to wait for his owner every day at the same location – awaiting his return. The statue was erected in his honor and as a reminder to all of the lengths one will go to in order to stay devoted to a friend.

From here we were to cross what has been described as one of the world’s busiest crossroads. I must have missed a class as a child called “Crossing roads.”

This is me in general crossing any road when there are moving cars.

Shibuya is known as the mecca of Japanese high school girls. We explored the area including depa chika of Shibuya Station, i.e., foodie’s paradise. The area had cool bars and manga cafes that have libraries, comfortable chairs and hot showers. We spent the afternoon at a shopping mall called Nakano broadway that had everything under the sun. The mall has 3 floors and has all sorts of manga & anime stuff, rare toys and electronics together with a load of other Japanese pop culture goodies. At some point my feet started killing me and Mouna was my savior – she picked me up a pair of sandals from the 100 Yen shop..i.e. the Japanese version of a dollar store.

In the evening we went to the parliament building to get the best views of Tokyo. It was raining cats and dogs and I was navigating everywhere in my new sandals.

In the evening we went to a very interesting small pub and chilled out till 2am.

Let’s talk about these hi-tech toilets and the face masks

Japan takes pooping very seriously – so seriously that thought has even been given to the shy pooper. A standard feature in all the toilets was a button that could be pressed that makes the sound of waterfalls to cover any loud farting noises that might come about during a poop session. I will never forget the toilets in a KFC in Tokyo that had vast options for different sounds to mask pooping noises. A few of these included the sound of birds chirping, a lake flowing etc.

It’s so serious that earlier this year, the largest toilet manufacturers agreed to standardize the icons used on toilets to stop confusing customers.

Almost by default, every toilet seat was warm. I really appreciated that. Nothing worse than sitting on a cold toilet during cold weather. Some of the #mirozinjapan really disliked the warm toilet seats though – they felt as if someone’s warm bum had just gotten off it. I’m not sure what’s so wrong about that. Would it be more comforting to know that the last person on the toilet had a cold bum?

As someone who does enjoy toilet time and sees it as a great opportunity to catch up on social media, reflect on life or read the labels on everything in the toilet (in those dreaded times when I don’t have my phone, a kindle, a book or a magazine to keep me company in the loo, I quite appreciated how welcoming the Japanese toilets were. It all reminds me of that story in Looking for a Raingod – The toilet. While not quite remembering the details, I recall the protagonist of the story living in a toilet. That always conjured up images of nasty toilets…but those Japanese toilets. I think someone could comfortably call them home.

While there are a few other things in Tokyo that could be considered odd e.g. cat cafes, rabbit cafes, cuddle cafes etc., one of the more obvious things I noticed was the face masks. So many people went about their daily lives with face masks on. What was most fascinating was how artistic some of the face masks were and how customized they were.

Picnic at Yoyogi park and finding platform 9 and three quarters in Tokyo

After the crazy party night, everything was difficult – including waking up. I finally dragged myself out of bed to go to Natsuno’s annual giant party at Yoyogi park. I was almost at the park when I got a message that this was our last opportunity to go get anything we had left behind at the temple we slept at before our cross-country Japan trip had started. I have to confess that I left around 2kgs of earrings, necklaces and rings because I realized that I would hate myself within a few days of backpacking.

We all have our addictions....

I took the train to the temple to get my stuff. Finally, I made it to Yoyogi park and it was lovely. Hundreds of Natsuno’s friends from everywhere round the world, eating, drinking and making merry. We were at the park till 8:30pm.

Mouna and I finally left to get to our Airbnb. We had been warned about train stations in Tokyo and how you can get lost in them for life, but we had not taken these warnings seriously. In the train station next to our home, we had very detailed instructions on how to get out and it took 15 minutes each time from getting off the train to actually getting out of the train station. Lazy and tired as we were, when we saw an elevator, we decided to take it up?

How difficult can it be to get to our exit from where the elevator takes us?

That’s how difficult.

We got out and decided to try googlemaps as nothing looked familiar. How huge is this train station? Are we even still in Tokyo? Googlemaps directions read as follows, “Go straight. Get into the elevator…followed by lots of other directions.”

We ignored this – surely we won’t have to get back into the train station to find our home? We can’t be that far. After walking around for half an hour and having no luck, we decided to go back into the elevator and follow the directions we had initially been trying to avoid…the one we took every time that took 15 minutes for us to get out of the train station.

You would not believe it….the elevator that had brought us out of the train station, would not take us back down to exactly where it had brought us from. In short, we would never find Exit 2 – the exit that would get us home.

Did we imagine that we had been in that elevator before? We got so desperate that we just took the elevator back to the street. By this time we were so hungry and frustrated. We got into a restaurant and had dinner as we brainstormed on how we were going to avoid homelessness that evening.

Finally, we came up with a plan, “Let’s take any train back to roppongi, take the train back..and just follow the directions that we always used before. None of this..I’m too lazy to walk 15 minutes out of the train station business and using magical elevators that take you nowhere.”

At that very moment, hours later – we finally saw a sign for Exit 2. Mouna and I almost kissed the ground.

Freedom at last!

Tokyo might not have been ready for the #mirozinjapan partying

After a crazy fun day of chasing noodles in Ohira, it was time to get back to Tokyo. We left Ohira at 6pm and were in our various airbnbs in Tokyo at 8pm. I was rooming with a few of my favourite friends and we had a really lovely – though small apartment. We spent a few hours chatting, pregaming, showering, more pregaming and getting ready for what was going to be our big Saturday night partying in Tokyo.

Tokyo was not prepared for how #mirozinjapan were going to party that night.

We got to the meetup point in Roppongi hills at 10/10:30 a bit lit and full of excitement. We walked in our large group to the clubbing area passing the tens of Nigerian club promoters trying to entice us into their different clubs on that strip.

Finally, we found the spot that we would call home for the next few hours. In bold letters, the sign read, “All you can drink at 1000 Yen (~$10)

Unfortunately, it was already 11pm and the all you can drink offer was until 11:30pm. We knew that teamwork would be needed to ensure that our $10 was recouped. All hands on deck!

You get the rum, you the redbulls!! Go! Go! Go!

We got greedy. All ~19 mirozinjapan formed a Henry Ford esque production line from the bar to the table…Every 2 seconds, a drink was being passed down the line to whoever needed it. We realized that we needed a base to operate from/put our drinks. In a fashion that can only be explained by the 1884 Berlin conference and the subsequent Scramble for Africa, we laid claim to various tables – which just like Africa – might have been occupied….Not our shining moment, but half an hour, 10s of drinks to consume between us, we were scrambling and there had to be some casualties. Soon we had a few tables between us and a forest of drinks in front of us.

“It’s not yet 11:30! More – order more drinks!”

And this is why this will go down in history as one of those nights of blurry memories, frantic dancing and pure revelry.

Some of the rest of the night’s activities include going to a bar next door to take shots with Natsuno, spending hours later walking through one of Japan’s funniest supermarkets at 4am– Don Quixote – that sells everything from baby clothes to sex toys to hundreds of flavors of kit-kat (green tea, wasabi etc.)

We are sure that we got home in one piece, because we woke up in our Airbnb the next afternoon- all set for the giant party/picnic Natsuno throws annually for around 200 people in Yoyogi park.

Sleeping in a bizarre theme park public bath in Nagoya

We left Mt. Fuji to take the Shinkansen – the world’s fastest train to get us to Nagoya. We took a bus for 45 minutes to get to the Shinkansen then one train for an hour before getting on the shinkansen for another hour. It was exciting seeing and being on the shinkansen, but there was an overwhelming feeling of hunger, exhaustion and crankiness in the group given we had been rushing everywhere since 4:30am – with our giant backpacks. We got to Nagoya and even by night, it was clear that this was a very pretty, cosmopolitan city. We left our backpacks in the train station lockers and walked around for about 20 minutes to find a restaurant that had enough space for us. We got into a cute little place and I was ready to devour whatever was on the menu. My face fell when I realized it was a koroga joint – “all this hunger and you want me to cook my own food? This is how I will end up with tapeworms, cause I can’t even be bothered to make sure the meat cooks well. I tried to not be whiny, but that level of hunger turns me into a gremlin. After quite a few batches of koroga, I felt as if there was still a hole in my stomach. I was really tempted to look for a mcdonalds or burger king after dinner, but the need for sleep eventually overpowered the need for food.

That night we were to sleep in a giant public bath (onsen) that Natsuno had described as a theme park of public baths. She was not joking. Given the intensity of the day’s activities, some in our group decided to check into a hotel for the night. I was very tempted, but in retrospect I’m happy I stayed on for the night’s adventures. We arrived and this onsen looked like a hotel except with everyone dressed in matching pink or blue pyjamas. We got to the reception and were each given our essentials – pink pyjamas for girls, blue for guys, towels, soap etc. We explored a bit and this place was some sort of lucid dream. There were game rooms. Restaurants. Cybercafes. Cinema halls. Huge public sleeping rooms. Some more private sleeping rooms – still for large groups. Some sleeper beds with TVs. Spas. Aromatherapy rooms. It was like a mall except this was 1am and everyone was in the same matching pyjamas. There were young people, old people, toddlers, teenagers. We finally went to the baths, but first passed by the giant locker rooms. This was hi-tech. We of course started off in the public showers where people soap themselves sitting on buckets then rinse off before going into the baths. We got into the huge area – the size of half a football pitch with a huge number of different giant baths. There was a greenish bath. A reddish bath. A bluish bath. The main differentiator was the essential oils in each of them. They smelled lovely. This time, the water was just the right temperature as opposed to the bath in Tokyo that tried to boil us alive. I heard that there was even an outdoor tub overlooking the lovely city, but did not wake up early enough the next day to explore it. We went to sleep in one of the giant rooms with the reclining chairs around 2am. Our room had around 30 or so people. There were so many people snoring that night. Eventually sleep got the better of us. We were up at 8am for another busy,  but fun day.

First public bath in Japan, zen meditation at the temple and sleeping in the temple

I had been fascinated with the concept of onsens/public baths since the first time I heard about them. You’re telling me everyone just gets naked and bathes together? If I was going to get into a public bath in Japan, it was definitely going to be with mirozinjapan- that way in case of any staring, the stares would be shared. In the words of my lovely Senegalese friend, “Yeah. Everyone is naked, but what if this is the first time they are seeing a black butt?” It was an important point to consider – you could all be naked, but some of you might be more of a novelty than others:-). My other friend did have some interesting concerns, “You know in Senegalese culture it’s considered bad luck to see someone’s butts. I don’t know if I am ready for all this bad luck.”

After the tea ceremony we all dressed up in kimonos and did amusing photo shoots. In our attempts to look dainty and demure as the Japanese ladies who had led us through the tea ceremony, we sometimes ended up having pics that made us look like sheep about to get slaughtered. FAIL.

Natsuno had managed to get media to join us for the day. They were fascinated about this group of 18 or so mirozinjapan who were traveling together and wanted to hear about our first impressions of Japan. Later we sat with Jokan – our monk friend, drank tea and chatted a lot about his path to becoming a monk. He was so interesting and calm. We all enjoyed being with him.

We walked half an hour away for dinner at a local restaurant. Before getting in to the restaurant, we took off our shoes. This would become the norm in most of the restaurants we went to in Japan. I found it strangely calming – as if you were entering an African home and had to take off your shoes before stepping on the carpet. It made the restaurants seem more intimate – like someone’s house rather than a hotel. The dinner was delicious and we had yummy sake after that. Gift giving was very big in Japan and Natsuno had reminded us to bring enough trinkets to give as gifts as everyone else would alsobe giving us gifts. We were each given delicious boxes of wafers and in return we gave an assortment of our gifts that represented the diversity of countries we represented. After dinner we walked back to the temple and picked our bath essentials. We got to the public bath house. We walked into a giant room (women-only) where a few naked women were sitting on green buckets soaping themselves. We followed suit – soaped ourselves sitting on the green buckets – still not sure why this has to be done seated. (Maybe it's also bad luck in Japanese culture to moon people?) We rinsed off a bit then jumped into the giant bathtub. I believe that the bath had been set up to boil lobsters – cause that water temperature. I was only able to stay inside for five minutes before I started to fear for my life. I got out of the bath and had to drink lots of water to rehydrate. We wore our pyjamas at the bath house and walked back to the temple in our pjs. We got to the temple – made our futons for sleeping then proceeded upstairs for a session of zen meditation. It was quite relaxing. I believe most people were already half asleep five minutes in – after our long day. It was quite hilarious when in the midst of chanting, the monk hit the gong. Some people almost fell off their seats as they were already drifting off to sleep. We slept at 12:30am and were up by 4:30am for an adventure filled day that would start off with eating the freshest sushi and sashimi at Tsukiju fish market.

Tea ceremony at a Buddhist temple

So Natsuno happened to go to school with the coolest, nicest, sweetest guy who later became a Buddhist monk. His temple was not too far from Tokyo and we would be spending the day and night there. We left our hostel at 9am, caught quite a few trains. One of the trains was on the chuo line – infamously known as the Japanese suicide line because of how many people commit suicide on that route. Natsuno also told us about another train line called the “groping line” where creepy men like to touch young women. Creeeeeeeppy.

We finally made it to the temple right around lunch time. We first got to meet Jokan – Natsuno’s monk friend. He was very welcoming and gave us a brief introduction to the temple before bringing us to join the rest of the group of mostly ladies (both young and old) who would later guide us through the tea ceremony, help us get into our kimonos and teach us the importance of each of the ceremonies.

We all sat down on the ground to eat from the low tables. Lunch was delicious noodles – we were instructed to eat them with quite a bit of slurping noises to show we were enjoying it. It was quite liberating to break this eating norm we had grown up with – of not making loud noises with your food. Soon we were all having a blast. The older women did not really speak English, but we were all able to communicate with hand gestures, smiles and a few words that transcended language – me Kenya, her Ivory Coast:-). The ladies were all magnificently dressed in their kimonos and so graceful even as they ate. After a few minutes, my thighs started killing me. Sitting on the ground in semi-tight angles is a learned art. I kept on shifting around to get rid of the pins and needles on my feet.

After eating we were split into groups for the tea ceremony. Tea ceremonies are steeped in Buddhism and is an art of performance with certain steps that have to be followed. Silence and paying attention is a very important aspect of tea ceremonies. We each removed our shoes and were led to thin pillows where we would kneel or sit on depending on the part of the ceremony. The hosts/ladies who would be serving us tea entered the tea room and welcomed each guest. The hosts then proceeded to ritually cleanse each utensil with such elegance – the tea bowls, the whisks, the tea scoops etc. in front of us and with very precise motions. The tea was then prepared in front of us.

Slowly we were each served in turn – the lady serving would bow and the guest would bow receiving the tea. Before sipping from the cup, each guest would turn to the guest next to them and raise the bowl (this is a gesture of respect to the host.) The guest would then rotate the bowl, take a sip and thank the host for the tea. This process would be repeated till all 7 or 8 in our group had each had a sip.

After this we were all individually given our tea with a few more formalities. We were also given some delicious confectioneries to take with the tea. I might just be imagining it, but that tea felt really special compared to other teas I had drunk as I got to fully concentrate on just enjoying the tea. The peace and solitude of getting to eat or drink something without having to talk, think etc. I was beginning to understand the magic of silence. We live in a very noisy world and this noise distracts us from enjoying simple pleasures.

After all the guests have taken tea, the host cleaned the utensils in preparation for putting them away. The hosts then collected the utensils. In total our tea ceremony lasted around 1.5 hours though I’ve heard they can last up to 4 hours.

I think this summed it up really well, “The matcha tea ceremony is a quiet celebration performed with grace and beauty, the matcha tea ritual is a bonding experience of mindfulness, respect and a focus on the now.”

Tea ceremonies, similar to meditation are about finding the sacred in everyday life.

Arrival in Tokyo, exploring Jujo, meeting the other #mirozinjapan

Luckily for us, the hostel was only a few minutes walk from our final train station once we got to Tokyo. When you have an 18kg backpack on your back, this is a very important fact. The hostel staff were really friendly, but these hostels had the tiniest rooms I had ever seen in my life. I had heard a lot about how efficient the Japanese are in using space, but I was not mentally prepared for those tight spaces. Add our huge number, the size of our backpacks etc. to the situation and you got claustrophobic very quickly. We were all extremely hungry. We found a noodle place next door to our hostel. We were fortunate that one of the people who worked at the hostel had joined us at the noodle place. There was a vending machine that everyone needed to make their selection from. Funny, but this is it the moment I realized language would be a problem for us in Japan. Because everything is written in Japanese script, it’s impossible to use google translate as one would do for unknown words in the roman alphabet (most written languages.)

The 7 of us had a wonderful dinner. The noodles were quite delicious. Around 4am we were back in the hostel and passed out.

The next morning I was strangely up by 10am, despite having set my alarm for 2pm. We went exploring our neighborhood with the rest of the team. We explored tea shops, cute shops selling all sorts of delicious looking stuff. The highlight of our walk was finding the 100 yen shop. Suddenly when everything in a shop costs around $1, everything becomes a must-have…Even when that needs to fit in your 18kg backpack:-). We grabbed lunch from a cute little place that had a buffet and sold each container by weight…of course this #miroinjapan filled her container with shrimp and all other stuff that is usuallypricey. Veggies for who? Not when a pound of veggies and a pound of shrimp cost the same.

On our way home I instantly spotted a happy hour place. Even with my non-existent Japanese, Ican spot images showing buy one get one beer free from 7-9pm. I was very excited to have our first happy hour in the actual Tokyo – as opposed to Tokyo restaurant in Nairobi. Unfortunately the place was too full to accommodate a group as large as ours. We ended up finding another bar and drinking sake. Jetlag was setting in. We were home by 9pm. One of my most exciting purchases from the 100 yen shop was a foot mask that promised to reveal the inner princess hiding under the scales on the sole of my feet. Everyone said that the masks in Japan are amazing. I soaked my feet for half an hour in the mask expecting to see miracles in the morning. I hate to say it, but not all masks are created equal. I woke up to the same reptilian appendages. We would later learn that for chapped feet, there is only one solution – the revolutionary babyfoot, designed in Japan – check out the comments on the youtube video – 99% of them are people reminiscing about the absolute pleasure of peeling off the skin from your feet like an orange….sigh..Good times.. One of my our mirozinjapan – a Moroccan who lives in France had said amazing things about it. We were not disappointed when we did eventually find it weeks later. As a sidenote, if you are in Dakar and want Baby foot, Mouna sells them at her store – Massala shop – online and in Yoff. Highly recommend it. There is something so therapeutic about watching the dry skin from your feet peel off like a snake’s skin to reveal your inner baby foot…..sigh….I think I need another round of babyfoot.

Heading to Japan

It is almost mandatory that all my trips start with me running around. I had a late afternoon flight to Japan. Of course I did not take the day off. I woke up super early to get my work done. Even though these days I have waaaay more leave days than when I was in consulting, I still tend to be a hoarder with my days. I continue to live a Candy Crush life with my leave days – only using them when I absolutely must. Nguhi, see me looking at you and your Candy Crush leave days life:-). I will rationalize it – yeah. I am sure I can finish sending off that document – on the runway (a la Nungari during the Rwanda trip in 2011 or so. A story for another day.)

I slept at 5am and was up early to finish work. I hastily packed from 1:30 – 2:15pm. I consider myself a semi-seasoned backpacker. As such I know the essentials to pack. What really holds me back is the stupid stuff I add. I confess that I added around 2kgs of necklaces, bangles, rings and earrings to my 16kg backpack bringing it to an epic 18kgs (of which 2kgs was frivolity at its best.) I got to the airport. My backpack was weighed and that’s when I confirmed that it was indeed 18kgs. Ciku! Oops I did it again. I always pack my backpack with the best of intentions, but then end up adding jewelry, nail polish, lipsticks en masse. This is the monkey on my back. I think it might be a demon. The demon of packing unnecessary stuff.

At the airport I started bumping into some of the other #mirozinjapan – some of whom I knew quite well (close friends and colleagues and others I was meeting for the first time.) Our excitement was palpable. “It’s finally here! Japan, here we come!”

“How heavy is your backpack?”

“You checked your backpack in? What if it gets lost?”

[Good question – Dear Jesus, do not let my backpack get lost. I don’t think they have mitumba in Tokyo or Toi market. I will be rewinding my one outfit for 3 weeks.]

It was a 3 hour flight to Addis with a brief layover followed by an 8 hour flight to Hong Kong, but we didn’t have to get off the plane. We arrived in Tokyo to the friendliest immigration officials. Too many experiences have always left me tentative at such interactions – waiting for it to be a hassle, waiting to be pulled aside on a technicality etc. So when I walk through immigration without any problems, that is worth mentioning. All our bags also made it to Tokyo! We had landed at 8pm and of course none of us had Yen. All the exchange bureaus had closed. We were wondering how we would get money to pay for our train to our home for the night. After a while we found a vending machine that took your dollars and gave you yen. Amazing, right?

We found yet another vending machine that sold sim cards…What is this country where things work like clockwork? We were all impressed, but trying to play it cool. Of course we have vending machines in Africa for changing money and buying sim cards! Mschew! Where do you think we are from? The fifth world? No my friends, we are from the third world:-).

Finally we got our train tickets and jumped into the train. It was to take us 90 minutes to get to our stop. I was assigned as the one to be on the look-out for our stop. I was vigilant for the first 60 minutes, but then I started getting distracted by the bright lights and lovely shops outside the train.

Suddenly I was daydreaming, smiling to myself, “Japan, Japan, Japan. I am in Japan.” Listening to the rest of the crew chatting and laughing when I looked out and saw we were almost pulling out of our train station, “Jujo!”

“Guys! Jujo! Jujo! We’re here! Quick quick! Get your bags.”

It was  mad rush as everyone grabbed their backpacks to get out of the train before the train doors closed. We all made it out and spent a good two minutes dying of laughter about how we almost missed our stop. 

MirozinJapan - the itinerary for a trip of a lifetime

April/May2016. We were going to spend an epic 2-3 weeks traveling through Japan. We? You’re curious who we were. A group of 18 miroz who took to calling ourselves #mirozinjapan and our amazing friend and tour guide the one Natsuno Shinagawa. A few books should be written about Natsuno. She’s a sort of urban legend – except she’s real. She once traveled overland, including hitchhiking, solo from Jo’burg to Cairo for 8 months (although according to her, “it is not possible to go anywhere “solo” in Africa” You will always find company). When studying in a prestigious Japanese university, she made a name for herself by becoming the first student to request an “exchange” to Makerere. She has been a street hawker in Sudan, Senegal and Djibouti selling bic pens with cutout old/rejected ID pics of her and her Korean friend (hey, you gotta add value to your products when selling them, right?). She credits getting her previous job to going to see a voodoo man in Benin. Her favourite places on earth include North Korea, Iran, Somaliland, Papua New Guinea (Yes, she has visited all these places and many more.) She organizes guided trips to Somaliland and Eritrea.  She barely needs sleep, parties like a rockstar and is extremely hardworking. Yes, Natsuno is real.

So us 18 #mirozinjapan knew we were up for a crazy, fun, wonderful trip with Natsuno as our guide in her home country.  The travelers were from Kenya, Cote d’ivoire, Morocco, Senegal and Uganda. Natsuno was extremely organized and not a single #miroinJapan was denied a visa. This is saying a lot when you are a Passport undesirable. The visa process for Japan was actually quite simple as long as we had all the needed documentation. Natsuno made sure we had all of this – including email threads that proved we knew her to ensure we were not going to become #miromailorderbridesinJapan. The itinerary was already the stuff dreams are made of.

‘Nuff said….The itinerary – as sent by Natsuno…..

Group A: April 30 – May 5. Recommended for those who do not have time, but who want to visit photogenic places.

Traditional architecture: ★★★☆☆

City life: ★☆☆☆☆

Interaction with people: ★★☆☆☆

Cultural activities: ★★☆☆☆

Nature: ★★★★☆

Group B: April 30 – May 7. Recommended for those who efficiently want to visit both touristy places and off-the-beaten destinations.

Traditional architecture: ★★★☆☆

City life: ★☆☆☆☆

Interaction with people: ★★★★☆

Cultural activities: ★★★★☆

Nature: ★★★★★

Group C: April 30 – May 10: Recommended for those who want to “do” things, rather than just “seeing.”

Traditional architecture: ★★★★☆

City life: ★★★☆☆

Interaction with people: ★★★★★

Cultural activities: ★★★★★

Nature: ★★★★★

Group D: April 30 – May 13: Recommended for those who want to become Japanese.

Traditional architecture: ★★★★★

City life: ★★★★★

Interaction with people: ★★★★★

Cultural activities: ★★★★★

Nature: ★★★★★

Group E: May 7 – 13. Recommended for those who want to get a PhD degree on a subject called Tokyo.

Traditional architecture: ★★★☆☆

City life: ★★★★★

Interaction with people: ★★☆☆☆

Cultural activities: ★★★☆☆

Nature: ★☆☆☆☆

April 30: Arrival in Tokyo. Depending on your arrival time and how tired you are, we will stroll around Tokyo.

May 1: We will head to my friend's temple, and take a nap first. After lunch at the temple, we will learn to wear kimono and experience the traditional tea ceremony. We will then learn about the Japanese Buddhism and spirituality in the early evening, and all head to the public bath nearby. after taking a bath, we will do s zen meditation, and head to a traditional restaurant nearby for dinner. We will sleep in the temple at night.

May 2: We will go to Tsukiji fish market super early in the morning, and have the best sushi in the world for breakfast. Then we will leave Tokyo early in the morning and depart for Nagoya via Mt. Fuji. We will do a mini hike near the beautiful mountain. We will then catch "shinkansen", the fastest train in the world to head to Nagoya, and will be met by Kohei, a very good friend of mine who is in love with Africa. We will all have local Nagoya food for dinner and sleep in the city.

May 3: We will visit Nagoya castle. we will then see a traditional matsuri (festival), Takebana Matsuri in Gifu. Then we will drive to Shirakawago Village, a UNESCO heritage traditional village. We will sleep in ryokan style guesthouse.

May 4: We will stroll around the village a bit, and drive to the Japan Alpes. We will take "rope way" and go to roten buro, natural outdoor hot spring. We will head back to Shirakawago, where we will learn how to make traditional wood shoes from the local elderly.

May 5: We will head to Takayama, a traditional town in mountains, another UNESCO heritage town with traditional architectures. We will then do "hanami (picnic under the tree of cherry blossom)", drive back to Nagoya, and catch a night bus to go back to Tokyo.

May 6: Arrival in Tokyo early in the morning, and we will (hopefully) get some rest in Tokyo before we head to Ohira, my hometown. There, we will visit a local primary school. Japanese schools are awesome, especially the way they are organized and managed. I’m sure that this experience will blow your mind in many ways! I am arranging some interaction sessions with kids, and have kyushoku (school lunch) with them. You can also participate in some activities like cleaning, which actually is quite fun. After visiting school, we will do cycling in my village. we will head to Ohira-san, a mountain with some shrines and temples. It is actually super nice. We will then be picked up by local host families, and experience a Japanese family life for a night.

May 7: My dad will take you to his dojo, and you will have a chance to practice kyudo, the Japanese traditional archery. My dad and his friends will wear traditional outfit to do some demonstration for you. You will also meet with local kids practicing kendo and judo. After that, we will go to a nearby mountain and pick up some wild vegetables. We will then all cook together, and enjoy nagashi-somen (Japanese noodle. You have to catch running noodle in running water with chopsticks :D), and head back to Tokyo, and visit Roppongi Hills, and have a few hours of free time. Roppongi Hills is one of the most fashionable buildings in Japan, and you can enjoy both shopping and window shopping. There is also a very good modern art museum. Then we will head to nearby Tokyo Midtown, another cool place to be. This is also one of the places where you can find a chic supermarket and find a mango which costs USD 70. In early evening, we will throw ourselves in the madness of Shibuya, the Mecca of Japanese high school girls. You will cross the busiest crossing in the world, and walk around to explore interesting people. We will explore depa chika of Shibuya Station, i.e., foodie’s paradise. Shibuya also has many cool bars, so we will do bar-hopping, then go clubbing. When you are tired, you can go to one of the manga café, a manga library with comfortable chairs and hot shower (!!!) and sleep there. Alternatively, you can stay in a hostel in Tokyo.

May 8: I will organize a huge picnic at Yoyogi Park (just an FYI, I organize a picnic there every time I go home to catch up with friends. Usually 200 people attend!!). We will party at the park, eat Japanese food and drink sake. You will also meet my friends who are all friendly, hilarious, diverse and awesome. During the picnic, you can walk around the fashionable Harajuku Area (Gwen Stefani sings about Harajuku and “Harajuku Girls”) and Meiji Jingu Shrine, where you will probably witness a traditional wedding. My friends will be happy to show you around. We will move to an izakaya and have a nomikai (drinking party) with some of my friends in the evening. We will also go to the top of Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building to see the night view of the city.

May 9: Traditional and Modern Tokyo Day. We will first visit Edo Tokyo Museum, and learn about the history of Tokyo. This museum really is so much fun. It is also located very close to Tokyo Sky Tree, the tallest architecture in Japan, which is not really worth entering but quite cool to view from outside. We will then watch sumo in live, and have traditional bento (lunch box) for lunch. After sumo, we will visit the Sensoji Temple and have a few hours of free time in the traditional Asakusa Area. Then we will go for an all-night karaoke. There will be a space for you to take a nap. Alternatively, you can stay in a hostel in Tokyo.

May 10: We will visit Kamakura, which used to be the capital of Japan in the 12th and 13th century. You can see a LARGE and gorgeous statue of Buddha there. After visiting some shinto shrines and old town, we will move to Yokohama. We will go on cruising at night...but this is not a normal boring touristy cruising. We will pass by beautiful Yokohama Bay and the largest industrial areas of Japan.

May 11: Shopping Day in Tokyo. We will do a late morning., and go to Akihabara, the Mecca of otaku (geek) culture. We will stroll around a bit together, and will have a free time for a few hours. This is where you can buy electronics at a very good rate, and there will be English-speaking people who will assist you. We will take a coffee at a Maid Cafe, where you will be served by “kosupure” girls. We have picnic lunch at Ueno Park, and walk to Ameyoko Street, where you can buy pretty much everything from grocery to cheap kimono. My recommendations are 100-yen shop, the Japanese version of one-dollar shop but FAR BETTER, and “Don Quixote.” We will have another few hours of free time for you to shop around. If you want to buys specific things in Tokyo, let me know so that I can take you where you can find them. Group C will head to the airport after enjoying shopping. Group D will head to Shinjuku, and go to the Robot Restaurant for dinner.

May 12: Quiet and Noisy Tokyo. We will first visit Yasukuni Shrine, the very controversial war shrine which is causing political problems in East Asia. This is also a controversial war museum, and I personally think that this is a very good place to learn about complexity of the Japanese history. We will then visit the Imperial Palace, and continue to the Koishikawa Garden, a historical and traditional garden. We will visit the Nezu neighbourhood and then Sugamo, so-called Mecca of the fashionable and energetic elderly people. You can probably ask them about their secret to stay healthy for a long time. At around 5pm, we will head to Koenji, and start getting ready for "Le Petit Dakar à Tokyo" - a one-night-only bar where I will be bar-tending at! We will all meet guests and friends. Let's show how cool the bar culture can be in Africa!

May 13: “Off-the-beaten-track Tokyo.” We will take a train to Okutama Area, where you can see a number of tiny villages in mountains…believe it or not, there is a countryside in Tokyo. We will do some easy walk in the mountains, and visit abandoned villages. These villages are very little known even among the Japanese people. You will literally and extract discover pre-WWII books, furniture, etc.

**

We knew these 2-3 weeks were going to be anything but mundane:-)