Juxtaposition

There are many places where I have seen the intersection between modern and traditional life, no more so then in Tokyo. At first Tokyo was a bit disconcerting, the tall concrete buildings, the neon lighted signs, American food chains, and the short skirts next to the shrines, temples, traditional noodle houses, and women wearing kimonos. Frequently, I have seen that the young are the ones to abandon the “old” ways in the transition into the “modern” world but it wasn’t as black and white as that in Japan. I saw the young and old alike praying at shrines, eating at noodle houses, and wearing kimonos. Once I came to see this cultural juxtaposition and how the Japanese seem to flow between the “two worlds”, I came to have a greater appreciation for this country, its people and the life they lead.

I was lucky to have a few local guides to show me the different facets of life in Tokyo. There was the kind older business man who stopped on his way to lunch to show us a shrine and explain Shinto and Buddhism beliefs in Japan. Partly it seemed he wanted to practice his English but also I felt his keen interest in sharing his country with these two blond tall foreigners.

Then our childhood friend, James, the acrobat, gypsy, and former circus performer turned international business man, came to Tokyo on business but also to see his old friends. His tour of the city showed these juxtapositions perfectly. The former imperial garden with view of sky scrapers, the neighborhood where 30 somethings go with their friends, and then later drinks at a bar overlooking the city at night. With James we had two of my favorite meals of the trip, the best conversations, and generally a lot of fun. Last Saturday we met his former Japanese language teacher and her husband for lunch in the fancy Ginza neighborhood. Around the corner from the SONY headquarters, down the street from DeBeers Diamond’s store, and Channel we ate “Sukiyaki.” It is a meat and vegetable dish cooked in a sauce right at your tables. It was amazing! As the only female guest I was served first and encouraged to eat first as the dish becomes cold as others are being served. I managed to figure out how to eat it without, hopefully, insult any local customs. Over this wonderful meal, the Sensei (teacher) and her husband answered many of our questions about Japan while also showing a heart felt interest in what we were doing and why we were in Japan. Their kindness was overwhelming.

Leaving Tokyo with these experiences carried in my heart and mind I was much more open to understanding the contrasts that I saw in Kyoto. On the way there the Shinkensen, Japanese bullet train, speed through the country side of rice paddies and wood framed houses next to towns with manufacturing plants for automobiles. There was the Geisha, face painted white, shuffling down a restaurant filled alley in the Gion district a street away from a hip music filled modern shopping street. There were also multiple shrines and temples in Kyoto where uniformed school children called out excitedly and took snap shoots with their cell phones. These where the juxtapositions that Japanese live with everyday and that I was honored to see of glimpse of during my time there and maybe understand this unique culture a little bit more.