Way back in 1999 I put together a trip to Tokyo for myself and three of my
friends to spend New Years there. With the absurd Y2K fears
abound I figured, if technology goes the way of the ending of Escape From L.A.,
why not be stuck in Japan! So after Christmas we all headed out.
This would be my third time in Tokyo and I was pretty confident in the layout of the city, I was the tour guide essentially. Japan is Buddhist as well as Shinto and New Years is an incredibly popular holiday. Its the one holiday pretty much everyone celebrates. We ended up going to Meiji Shrine in the western Tokyo ward of Shibuya. The shrine is dedicated to Emperor Meiji who became the ruler of Japan following the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the 1870s. The shrine is part of the vast Yoyogi Park and offers tranquility not easily found elsewhere in the city. It is also one of most popular destinations for New Years day shrine visitation.
After spending the day wandering around, we ended up at the shrine in the evening, before it got too packed. They had planks laid over the various shallow steps that lead in and out of the shrine area's. It was highly entertaining watching various yamanba tripping on the boards in their ridiculously high platform heels. At one point two guys came up to us and said hey. One of my friends gave them the cold shoulder after he mistakenly thought they called us gay. Aside from the people watching there wasn’t much going on and I wanted to make sure we didn’t get stranded when the trains stopped running at midnight. So after a bit we decided to leave the shrine.
We hopped on the train and headed to the other side of the city, getting off at Tokyo station, as I thought we were going to be able get into the Imperial Palace. Wandering around the east side of the palace grounds proved that nothing was actually going on. So we wandered east to the train station and stumbled on a massive crowd lining a decorated street just off of Hibiya Dori. We found the end, joined the crowd to the destination. We were hoping this was going to be some awesome spectacle and celebration. There were significantly more people here than at Meiji. It was a fun and festive atmosphere. At one point a drunk middle aged man made me give him my camera so he could snap a picture of all four of us. We wandered along with everyone else, going quite a few blocks only to discover it was an elaborate promotion by Fuji Film. We weren't the only ones visibly disappointed. We decided to call it a night and headed back east to Koiwa to make sure we made it back to the hostel.
I was tired from walking around all day so I stayed in my room and watched various New Years Eve programs on TV. My friends went to the top of the hostel to watch the city, seeing some fireworks in the distance. When New Years came and the apocalypse did not follow I turned off the TV and lights and fell asleep listening to bell being tolled 108 times in the distance.
The next day we headed back to Meiji to see the New Years day spectacle, none of us really understanding it at that time and it would have been more meaningful if we did. One friend got an omikuji as a souvenir for his parents. But all in all it was a bust essentially. We ate some food and made sure to call friends and family to wish them Happy New Year when it was that time back in America. We spent the next few days frustrated that so much was closed, even ATMs. And then boarded a plane back to home, with semi-fond memories and regrets that we weren't stuck in Tokyo a bit longer.
I discovered later, some information not coming to me for years, the mistakes and missed opportunities in my New Years experiences in Tokyo. Unlike all the other times of the year, the trains keep running well after midnight. The trains shutting down around midnight always puts a damper on my attempts to party in Tokyo and go clubbing. New Years Day it's self is the more important time and can lead to some amazing sights and people watching. Much is closed for a few days around the holiday but you can easily overcome that. I still have yet to find out any info on being able to tour the Imperial Palace on New Year’s Day...but the next time I’m in Tokyo for that time of year my game plan will be more solid.
Extra bonus: At midnight on New Year’s Eve, Buddhist temples ring their main bell 108 times as a way to symbolize the purification of the 108 desires and passions people are supposed to have acquired over the year to lead to a rebirth in the new year, free of desire.
明けましておめでとう!!
This would be my third time in Tokyo and I was pretty confident in the layout of the city, I was the tour guide essentially. Japan is Buddhist as well as Shinto and New Years is an incredibly popular holiday. Its the one holiday pretty much everyone celebrates. We ended up going to Meiji Shrine in the western Tokyo ward of Shibuya. The shrine is dedicated to Emperor Meiji who became the ruler of Japan following the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the 1870s. The shrine is part of the vast Yoyogi Park and offers tranquility not easily found elsewhere in the city. It is also one of most popular destinations for New Years day shrine visitation.
After spending the day wandering around, we ended up at the shrine in the evening, before it got too packed. They had planks laid over the various shallow steps that lead in and out of the shrine area's. It was highly entertaining watching various yamanba tripping on the boards in their ridiculously high platform heels. At one point two guys came up to us and said hey. One of my friends gave them the cold shoulder after he mistakenly thought they called us gay. Aside from the people watching there wasn’t much going on and I wanted to make sure we didn’t get stranded when the trains stopped running at midnight. So after a bit we decided to leave the shrine.
We hopped on the train and headed to the other side of the city, getting off at Tokyo station, as I thought we were going to be able get into the Imperial Palace. Wandering around the east side of the palace grounds proved that nothing was actually going on. So we wandered east to the train station and stumbled on a massive crowd lining a decorated street just off of Hibiya Dori. We found the end, joined the crowd to the destination. We were hoping this was going to be some awesome spectacle and celebration. There were significantly more people here than at Meiji. It was a fun and festive atmosphere. At one point a drunk middle aged man made me give him my camera so he could snap a picture of all four of us. We wandered along with everyone else, going quite a few blocks only to discover it was an elaborate promotion by Fuji Film. We weren't the only ones visibly disappointed. We decided to call it a night and headed back east to Koiwa to make sure we made it back to the hostel.
I was tired from walking around all day so I stayed in my room and watched various New Years Eve programs on TV. My friends went to the top of the hostel to watch the city, seeing some fireworks in the distance. When New Years came and the apocalypse did not follow I turned off the TV and lights and fell asleep listening to bell being tolled 108 times in the distance.
The next day we headed back to Meiji to see the New Years day spectacle, none of us really understanding it at that time and it would have been more meaningful if we did. One friend got an omikuji as a souvenir for his parents. But all in all it was a bust essentially. We ate some food and made sure to call friends and family to wish them Happy New Year when it was that time back in America. We spent the next few days frustrated that so much was closed, even ATMs. And then boarded a plane back to home, with semi-fond memories and regrets that we weren't stuck in Tokyo a bit longer.
I discovered later, some information not coming to me for years, the mistakes and missed opportunities in my New Years experiences in Tokyo. Unlike all the other times of the year, the trains keep running well after midnight. The trains shutting down around midnight always puts a damper on my attempts to party in Tokyo and go clubbing. New Years Day it's self is the more important time and can lead to some amazing sights and people watching. Much is closed for a few days around the holiday but you can easily overcome that. I still have yet to find out any info on being able to tour the Imperial Palace on New Year’s Day...but the next time I’m in Tokyo for that time of year my game plan will be more solid.
Extra bonus: At midnight on New Year’s Eve, Buddhist temples ring their main bell 108 times as a way to symbolize the purification of the 108 desires and passions people are supposed to have acquired over the year to lead to a rebirth in the new year, free of desire.
明けましておめでとう!!
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