toyko part two
Back to Toyko. I had planned on going to Nagasaki but I had to alter my plans and time constraints interferred. This time around I had hoped I would enjoy Toyko a little more now that I had got used to the bustle. I mean, I reckon my first time in Toyko wasn't so good as I had just arrived from sleepy Mongolia straight into a frantic sprawl.
I returned to the Ryokan and true to form, it took ages to find it. While I was away, there had been heavy snow fall but fortunately most of it had melted. Just some sinister black ice lurking about ready to gobble me up in the darkness. I checked out an Irish boozer but it was pretty dull. After a little conversation with Mr Sake, I had an early night. There were still two things I wanted to see in Toyko the next day. The war shrine and Godzilla.
The Yasukuni-Jinja is a very controversial site. The Koreans and Chinese are beside themselves with rage due to the annual piligrimage of the Japanese PM to the war shrine. Understandable really. It contains 14 executed war criminals as part of a memorial to Japan's 2.4 million war dead. By way of comparison, it is unthinkable that the German Chancellor would drop by the Fuehrer Bunker to pay her respects.
Close by is a museum with some interesting revisionism of WWII and its causes. Regrettably, Japan is showing clear signs of lurching back to the right. The mayor of Toyko is very much right wing. Senior politicians make remarks that can be interpreted as quite offensive by their neighbours. The PM recently said that allowing foreigners into the country to work would lead to an escalation of crime. Foreigners enjoy few rights. Even marrying a Japanese person does not confer citizenship. This insularity will be their undoing.
After these worrying observations, I went off to find Godzilla to solicit his views on Japanese politics. Took some time to find him. I fully expected to find a huge, massive Godzilla stomping about. Breathing fire, battering lumps out of some huge mutant lizard or something. But no, instead I found a pip squeak two foot high statue. I was very disappointed. There was no combat, no roaring, no fire breathing, no smashed buildings or even dodgy film direction.
And that was my time in Japan. An amazing place that definitely deserves to be visited again, and for a longer period. Its political class may share a similar short-sightedness to the policians of the West but the people are endearing and charming. It is simply a pleasure to be at the receiving end of their politeness and warmth.
I returned to the Ryokan and true to form, it took ages to find it. While I was away, there had been heavy snow fall but fortunately most of it had melted. Just some sinister black ice lurking about ready to gobble me up in the darkness. I checked out an Irish boozer but it was pretty dull. After a little conversation with Mr Sake, I had an early night. There were still two things I wanted to see in Toyko the next day. The war shrine and Godzilla.
The Yasukuni-Jinja is a very controversial site. The Koreans and Chinese are beside themselves with rage due to the annual piligrimage of the Japanese PM to the war shrine. Understandable really. It contains 14 executed war criminals as part of a memorial to Japan's 2.4 million war dead. By way of comparison, it is unthinkable that the German Chancellor would drop by the Fuehrer Bunker to pay her respects.
Close by is a museum with some interesting revisionism of WWII and its causes. Regrettably, Japan is showing clear signs of lurching back to the right. The mayor of Toyko is very much right wing. Senior politicians make remarks that can be interpreted as quite offensive by their neighbours. The PM recently said that allowing foreigners into the country to work would lead to an escalation of crime. Foreigners enjoy few rights. Even marrying a Japanese person does not confer citizenship. This insularity will be their undoing.
After these worrying observations, I went off to find Godzilla to solicit his views on Japanese politics. Took some time to find him. I fully expected to find a huge, massive Godzilla stomping about. Breathing fire, battering lumps out of some huge mutant lizard or something. But no, instead I found a pip squeak two foot high statue. I was very disappointed. There was no combat, no roaring, no fire breathing, no smashed buildings or even dodgy film direction.
And that was my time in Japan. An amazing place that definitely deserves to be visited again, and for a longer period. Its political class may share a similar short-sightedness to the policians of the West but the people are endearing and charming. It is simply a pleasure to be at the receiving end of their politeness and warmth.
posted by Ciarán at 11:17 p.m.
1 Comments:
Whare have you gone.Thanks for the email.Your namesake is traveling well.Which company did you suggest for Canada?
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