This Toilet Has More Buttons Than My Cellphone

Day One in Tokyo was a pretty epic adventure, and it began at 4:45 AM with a trip to the Tsukiji fish market. Tsukiji makes Pike Place look like the seafood section at your neighborhood QFC. Gruff, exhausted-looking men walk around wielding gaffing hooks and cigarettes, spiking 80-pound tuna that are being auctioned off. 

 

Pre-auction inspection

 

 

The fish market also had a few blocks lined with small stores and stalls, selling pretty much anything that lives in the ocean. 

 

 

Dried Squid: Now A Part Of This Complete Breakfast

 

 

After the fish market, it was off to another neighborhood of Tokyo to visit one of the top swordsmiths in the world. 

The forge in the video below is the same design that has been used for centuries, and the master of this particular guild is the 11th generation of his family to make katanas. 

This video will do a better job than I ever could of explaining the process, but it was totally fascinating to watch these guys work. They were all so skilled and knowledgeable that they barely even needed to speak to one another throughout the entire process.

The next stop of the day was Shibamata Taishakuten Daikyo Temple, which was founded in 1629 and completely covered with wood carvings from 1924. I don’t know enough about Buddhism to understand exactly what each carved panel was depicting. Almost all of the art inspired by Judeo-Christianity automatically makes sense to me because I know the stories and values behind the art, so it was sort of frustrating to admire these gorgeous panels without knowing what the hell they’re all about. Something tells me that lack of understanding will be a reoccurring theme over the next two weeks. 

After the temple, we switched gears and visited a very technology-oriented part of the city. At one point we passed a balcony where a bunch of younger Japanese women dressed as hotel maids called down to the street below and winked at all the men. I’m pretty sure they were employees of a Hooters-esque restaurant, but I wish I had taken a picture just to prove that in Tokyo, your dreams really can come true. 

One of the stores we visited had a little miniature soccer field where you could demo some biped robots, which was maybe the coolest thing in the universe. You can read about Robot Soccer and watch some games here, but let me forewarn you that Robot Soccer is on the same level as professional bowling, as far as excitement is concerned. 

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!!!

 

 

One of the employees put on a little show for us to display all the robot’s moves; this video starts pretty slow but the last half is really neat. 

 

For dinner I had Shabu Shabu, which is kind of like fondue except even more delicious. A kimono-clad woman stood next to our table for almost the entire meal, cooking up different vegetables and meats and serving up portions in small bowls. The picture below features the main course before it was Shabu Shabued.