Christmas Time in Tokyo

That first Christmas/New Years in Tokyo.

Kannon Pagoda at Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, Tokyo.

I headed to Sensoji Temple to hear the ringing of the bells that I had been told was the seasonal tradition. There was a large crowd gathered, we stood, time passed, no bells. Gyped.

Turned out it was just Hatsumode, the celebration of the years first visit to the temple, so at midnight, a bunch of monks came out and let the crowd rush in. That was pretty much the highlight of the evening.

Anyway, I did get a few good shots while I was there, so it wasn't a total loss. The nightshot of the Kannon Pagoda above, is still one of my favorite shots from Japan.

New years day rolled around, and again I was told that the tradition was to go to the Imperial Palace to hear the address from the Emperor. It's one of only two times each year that the Inner Grounds are opened to the public, so of course, I wanted to see inside.

I must have missed something, because mainly I was just herded along a driveway with several hundred other people, and we ended up in a big parking lot overlooked by a balcony in a fairly normal looking building. The Emperor and his family came to the balcony, said some things I, of course, could not understand, and everyone waved the little paper Japanese Flags they'd been given.

Pays to be tall in the land of the Rising Sun.

So, yeah, it was a bit underwhelming, but I'm a silver lining kind of guy. I got a neat paper flag for free, and some nifty shots of the city on the way out.

 This part of town is considered a park. Notice there are actual gaps of sky between the buildings. Downright rural, for Tokyo.

And to be honest, it was a truly beautiful, brisk winter day to be out on the streets. I didn't even really notice all the weird stares and double-takes at the big foreigner in the long black coat, or the extremely nervous looking security guards.

I'm fairly certain the horse was asleep at this point.

Not a half bad way to usher in a new year.

Oh, one last thing before I go. At some point my buddies and I went out for a couple drinks. One or two at the most, I'm certain. Anyway, I fell asleep on the train home along with all the other people drunkenly falling asleep on the train that time of night, and was awoken by the gentle poking of the train conductor, informing me the train was at the end of the line. Well, that's what he would have been informing me if I spoke Japanese, I figured it out regardless.

I had missed my stop. Actually, I hadn't, I would have had to have been on the right train to have missed my stop.

Anyway, there was one other person vacating the train. A man in a pale tan long jacket, with a rounded english style bowler cap and a brief case. He walked quickly down the corridor. I followed him around a corner, and ended up here:

Ever have that bout-to-be-made-into-soylent-green feeling?
 

Except... there's nobody there. At all.

Now, number one, where the hell did that guy go?

Number two, I don't know if you've ever been to Tokyo but... there is nowhere this empty in the subway system in downtown. Ever.

And it was absolutely silent. No road sounds. No train sounds. No sounds.

Then the beeping began. Faint, off in the distance, a strange pattern. Then it stopped. And the absolute silence returned.

Seriously considering fleeing.

I'm not quite sure what happened after that. I have no idea where I was. But not long after, I woke up on another train that was within jogging distance (4 miles) of my apartment. I was good and sober by the time I made it back.

Anyone been here before?