Jonelle Patrick's Blog, page 41
June 12, 2015
Great Balls O’ Flowery Fluff! Tokyo’s Best Hydrangea Gardens
If someone says “hydrangeas” and you think “boring white puffballs,” you haven’t seen the outrageous ones in Tokyo yet! Here are my favorite hydrangea garden extravaganzas, and they’ll be blooming ’til the end of June, just sayin’…
HAKUSAN SHRINE in Hon-Komagome
These are just the ones bordering the parking lot at the shrine!
During the Ajisai Festival (the second week in June very year) the fu-dogs greet visitors with a crazy bouquet of living hydrangeas.
The purifying spring is all decked out in hydrangea finery as well.
And of course they sell hydrangea-themed sweets! This is mizu-yokan, a sort of jellied bean paste that is popular in summertime.
Hours: Open 24 hours
Open: Every day of the year. The Ajisai Festival is from June 6 – 14 in 2015, but you can see the hydrangeas blooming through the whole month of June
Admission: Free
•
HONDO-JI TEMPLE in Kitakogane
This temple is a little outside of Tokyo – about 25 minutes from Kita-Senju – but it’s well worth the train ride to see the acres of bodacious blooms!
Plus: pagoda
The grounds are really huge, and this bamboo forest sits next to the iris garden, which may still be blooming while you’re there.
Shady flower-lined paths? Check!
Hydrangeas + thick carpets of moss = YES
Hours: 8:00 – 17:00
Open: Every day
Admission: ¥500 during hydrangea season (June)
•
ASUKAYAMA PARK/OJI STATION in Oji
The famous banks of hydrangeas are not actually in the park – they border the train tracks between the park and Oji Station. Stairways lead down to the path from the park, though, and you can easily get there from any direction.
The flowers here are mostly the old-fashioned kind, but they bloom in every color, and the display stretches for the entire length of Asukayama Park.
The colors are really exquisite up close.
My favorites are the traditional Japanese blue ones
Hours: Open 24 hours
Open: Every day of the year.
Admission: Free
•
TAKAHATA FUDOSAN TEMPLE in Takahatafudo
This temple has a huge “hydrangea mountain” criss-crossed with nicely-groomed hiking paths and planted with many varieties of hydrangeas
It’s shady and cool, even in the dog days of June
And in case you haven’t gotten around to making that famous (and arduous) Shikoku temple pilgrimage, the paths on the hydrangea mountain are populated by Jizo figures from each of the 88 temples on the circuit. Shortcut to paradise? Sign me up!
Interesting varieties bloom in big clumps…
…or dotted about like little wild origami
Shrines like this Inari fox shrine are tucked in among the flowers
And of course, you get to see Takahata Fudo’s gorgeous pagoda while you’re there to see the flowers!
Hours: Open 24 hours
Open: Every day of the year.
Admission: Free
•
And of course, I have to mention the two famous hydrangea temples in nearby Kamakura…
HASEDERA TEMPLE in Kamakura
Every kind of hydrangea you can imagine greets the waiting crowds at the foot of Hasedera temple’s ajisai mountain
Stairs climb up through the flowers on the steep hillside behind the temple
You can sort of see why it’s famous
A waterfall of lace-caps engulfs a stone mini-pagoda
There are quiet nooks adorned with ajisai too.
Hours: 8:00 – 17:00
Open: Every day
Admission: ¥500
•
MEIGETSU-IN TEMPLE in Kitakamakura
The famous steps leading into the temple
Hydrangeas and bamboo
Hours: 8:00 – 17:00
Open: Every day
Admission: ¥300
•
Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series, published by Penguin/Intermix.
June 10, 2015
How To Make The Most Beautiful Lollipops In The World
One of the most beautiful lollipops in the world.
OK, I admit, I did not make this lollipop. I went to the workshop taught by the artist who made it, but the thing I ended up making did not remotely, remotely, REMOTELY resemble this lollipop.
First of all – to be fair – we weren’t supposed to be making goldfish (which is, like, the Mt. Everest of lollipop making). Our job was to make these:
A bunny. Easy, right?
So, take a guess: how do you think they’re made? (I, for example, assumed there were molds, that we’d pour in some hot sugar syrup stuff, it would harden, then we’d clean them up and paint them. This guess earned me the Infinite Buzzer Of Wrongness.)
But if you guessed that these lollipops are all sculpted by hand, using only a pair of primitive scissor-things as a tool, and that the shapeless blob of raw candy has to become a work of art within three minutes, you just knocked it out of the park.
It starts out looking like this.
Then you make a few artful snips HA HA HA THIS IS SO NOT WORKING and quickly shape the ears and paws and tail WTF! NO! WAIT! THE POINTY BITS ARE GETTING HARD! I’M NOT FINISHED YET!
And you end up with something like, uh, this. Good thing it was just the practice one, because if I didn’t know it was supposed to look like that pretty model bunny in the background, I’d have a hard time saying WHAT that brown thing was.
Fortunately, I was not alone in my shame. The fail was all around.
Round two: success! Er, comparatively, that is. At least my team’s next attempts looked a lot less like pointy poo on a stick.
Here’s a close-up of my teammate’s rabbits, for comparison.
And this is, uh, mine. If we pretend I was trying to make a sort of crude Pokemon-looking thing instead of a rabbit, it’s all good.
But if you find yourself in Tokyo, you really ought to go ogle the gorgeous stuff at Ameshin, Shinri Tezuka’s shop! (A map is on my website, The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had). He makes all kinds of animals – from pandas to unicorns – and every single one of them is gorgeous. His creations cost ¥1000 – ¥2000 each, which is a lot for a piece of candy – until you watch him crafting them right there in his shop. When you see how much work goes into them, they look like a bargain.
If you’re really brave, you can sign up for a workshop, which takes about an hour and a half and costs ¥2500. It’s all in Japanese, but they demonstrate each step very clearly (plus, there are cheat sheets with diagrams for you to consult while you do it). Ameshin is open from 11:00 – 18:00, closed Thursdays.
Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series, published by Penguin/Intermix.
June 5, 2015
How To Go To Zao Fox Village: Squeeee Capital Of The World
Yes, it’s a real place!
Jaded denizen of the interwebz that I am, there’s not much that makes me leap out of my chair and scream “WANT!” but when I first saw a picture taken at Zao Fox Village, I had to drop everything and figure out a way to get there.
Yesterday, I finally LIVED THE DREAM!
Hello, human!
It’s far from Tokyo – five hours by car – so we didn’t arrive until mid-afternoon. As soon as we got there, we bought admission tickets at the counter (¥1000) and a few little baggies of fox food to take into the fox enclosure (¥100 per baggie). As we stepped outside and saw the cages in the courtyard, I understood how it feels to win the lottery: in addition to the usual number of swoonworthy kitsune, 86 new foxlings had been born since March!
This is what a nearly unbearable amount of squee looks like.
Pinch me! Pinch me! This anime-esque fox mama & baby are real!
After we managed to tear ourselves away from the foxlets, we went through the door into the main habitat, which is a grassy, tree-covered hillside. Visitors are allowed to walk around freely, although you are only allowed to feed the foxes from the elevated platform. (Otherwise, anyone walking into the enclosure would be mobbed, and not in a good way. The foxes are so cute and fluffy, it’s easy to forget they are predators with wicked sharp little teeth.)
Although they’re wild animals and petting is forbidden, some of them are curious little buggers, and they’ll come right up to you to investigate (and give you that sad panda look to test your resolve not to slip them a little treat before you get to the feeding platform. heh.)
Once they hear the crinkle of food baggies being opened, foxes come running from all quarters and assemble eagerly below.
Me! Me! Pick me!
I was surprised by how many different kinds of foxes there were. Not just the red kind, but black ones and brindle ones and white ones too.
The fastest jumper gets the prize. (Thank you, Kendall Bailey, whose jumpy fox picture turned out so much better than mine!)
I’ve never seen a fox for more than a few fleeting moments in the wild, but since they’re related to dogs, I expected them to be dog-like in more than just looks. I was so wrong. The ones at Fox Village not only grin like Cheshire cats, they move like cats and their cries aren’t bark-y at all. In fact, “cry” is a perfect way to describe it – at times, they sound eerily like babies.
In the wild, foxes are nocturnal. So, for every fox running around at three in the afternoon, there must have been five foxes sleeping. In fact, when I first stepped into the fox habitat, I was like, wait, where are they? The place looked deserted. Then foxes began peeking out from behind the trees, and I saw that little piles of fur were curled up everywhere, sleeping in shady spots.
Of course, they can still redline the squee-meter, even while sleeping. (And if you’re wondering about the one on top who’s having a bad fur day, it’s not because she’s sick – she’s moulting. Starting in April, they begin to shed their winter coats, because even a fox doesn’t want to be wearing a fox fur during the steamy Japanese summer.)
Before we left, we did the most only-in-Japan thing of all: hold a baby fox. It’s ¥300 to have pix taken with the cutest of the cute, and the money goes to help care for and feed all the foxes at Zao Fox Village. (Foxlings are born in March and April, so if you’re lucky enough to be there at that time of year, you can hold one too!)
Note: To be honest, I was a little worried about what I’d find when I got to Fox Village, because a few online reviewers thought the foxes weren’t being treated well enough. I was relieved to discover that all the foxes I saw looked fat and happy, and lived in a huge grassy area filled with structures and toys to sleep on and play with. I can also report that there were filled water troughs sitting around everywhere.
In addition to the big landscaped habitat, there were quite a few foxes in cages in the courtyard beyond the cashier. Those animals were either being treated for illnesses (one looked obviously under the weather because it had an ear infection) or were mothers with kits. The mothers can become quite aggressive after their babies are born, so they’re separated from the rest of the population for everybody’s safety.
How To Go To Zao Fox Village
Hours: 9:00 – 16:00
Open: Every day of the year
Admission: Adults ¥1000, Children (6th grade and younger): Free
•
Getting there from Tokyo:
• The easiest way is to take the bullet train to Shiroishi (use the Train Finder website to plan the best/cheapest way to get there from your local station) and stay overnight there at a hot springs inn, then take their shuttle bus to and from Fox Village. Recently (according to the Fox Village website), the Yakushinoyu inn was offering a Fox Village package, which costs ¥7500 per person for a one night stay. You can call this number to make reservations and check to see if they are still offering the package: 02-2448-4126
• The next-easiest way is to take the train to Shiroishi and then catch a taxi from the station. It’s about a 20-minute ride, and costs between ¥3500 and ¥4000, each way.
• If you’re really on a budget and want to take the bus, you’ll need to go on a Tuesday or a Friday, because that is the only day the public bus goes from Shiroishizao train station to Fox Village. The bus costs ¥200 per person. It leaves Shiroishizao Station at 7:58 a.m. and arrives at the Kawaragodamu bus stop (outside Fox Village) at 8:55 a.m. Be sure to mention to the bus driver that you are going to Fox Village (Kitsune-mura) or he won’t stop. There is only one pick-up in the afternoon, at 1:55 p.m. The staff at Fox Village will show you where to wait for it. The bus arrives back at Shiroishizao station at 2:32 p.m. Note: I checked the train schedule, and the first bullet train from Tokyo arrives at 8:26 in the morning, too late to catch the bus to Fox Village on the same day. Unless you arrive the night before, you’ll probably have to take a taxi to Fox Village. You can still save money by taking the bus back in the afternoon, of course.
What to do when you get to Fox Village:
• Buy your tickets inside at the reception desk. It costs ¥1000 for adults (children are free). You can also buy snacks to feed the foxes (or carrots to feed the bunnies) for ¥100 per baggie) at the desk. The person at the desk will explain the rules in Japanese. Here is what she says:
– Hide the food when you are walking around in the fox habitat and only feed the foxes from the platform. (This is so they don’t learn to mob visitors – the foxes are not tame, and they can bite, so if they learn to grab food from visitors, it will be too dangerous for visitors to mix with the foxes anymore.) Children are especially vulnerable, so please be sure they understand this rule.
– Don’t stick your fingers into the cages. Even baby foxes bite, and fingers look especially appetizing to them.
– If there are baby foxes that are available to be held for photo ops, they’ll tell you how much it costs and when the cut-off time is for “Fox Hugs.”
• After that, go through to the courtyard beyond, where they keep the foxes being treated for injuries/infections and the baby foxes (Mar – July). They will show you the door to the fox habitat to your right.
• You can roam freely around among the foxes in the habitat, for as long as you like.
• Afterwards, exit through the gift store, where they sell all kinds of Fox Village candy, good luck charms and souvenirs.
Here’s the swag I couldn’t resist on my way out!
Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series,
published by Penguin/Intermix.
Zao Fox Village: Squeeee Capital Of The World
Yes, it’s a real place!
Jaded denizen of the interwebz that I am, there’s not much that makes me leap out of my chair and scream “WANT!” but when I first saw a picture taken at Zao Fox Village, I had to drop everything and figure out a way to get there.
Yesterday, I finally LIVED THE DREAM!
Hello, human!
It’s far from Tokyo – five hours by car – so we didn’t arrive until mid-afternoon. As soon as we got there, we bought admission tickets at the counter (¥1000) and a few little baggies of fox food to take into the fox enclosure (¥100 per baggie). As we stepped outside and saw the cages in the courtyard, I understood how it feels to win the lottery: in addition to the usual number of swoonworthy kitsune, 86 new foxlings had been born since March!
This is what a nearly unbearable amount of squee looks like.
Pinch me! Pinch me! This anime-esque fox mama & baby are real!
After we managed to tear ourselves away from the foxlets, we went through the door into the main habitat, which is a grassy, tree-covered hillside. Visitors are allowed to walk around freely, although you are only allowed to feed the foxes from the elevated platform. (Otherwise, anyone walking into the enclosure would be mobbed, and not in a good way. The foxes are so cute and fluffy, it’s easy to forget they are predators with wicked sharp little teeth.)
Although they’re wild animals and petting is forbidden, some of them are curious little buggers, and they’ll come right up to you to investigate (and give you that sad panda look to test your resolve not to slip them a little treat before you get to the feeding platform. heh.)
Once they hear the crinkle of food baggies being opened, foxes come running from all quarters and assemble eagerly below.
Me! Me! Pick me!
I was surprised by how many different kinds of foxes there were. Not just the red kind, but black ones and brindle ones and white ones too.
The fastest jumper gets the prize. (Thank you, Kendall Bailey, whose jumpy fox picture turned out so much better than mine!)
I’ve never seen a fox for more than a few fleeting moments in the wild, but since they’re related to dogs, I expected them to be dog-like in more than just looks. I was so wrong. The ones at Fox Village not only grin like Cheshire cats, they move like cats and their cries aren’t bark-y at all. In fact, “cry” is a perfect way to describe it – at times, they sound eerily like babies.
In the wild, foxes are nocturnal. So, for every fox running around at three in the afternoon, there must have been five foxes sleeping. In fact, when I first stepped into the fox habitat, I was like, wait, where are they? The place looked deserted. Then foxes began peeking out from behind the trees, and I saw that little piles of fur were curled up everywhere, sleeping in shady spots.
Of course, they can still redline the squee-meter, even while sleeping. (And if you’re wondering about the one on top who’s having a bad fur day, it’s not because she’s sick – she’s moulting. Starting in April, they begin to shed their winter coats, because even a fox doesn’t want to be wearing a fox fur during the steamy Japanese summer.)
Before we left, we did the most only-in-Japan thing of all: hold a baby fox. It’s ¥300 to have pix taken with the cutest of the cute, and the money goes to help care for and feed all the foxes at Zao Fox Village. (Foxlings are born in March and April, so if you’re lucky enough to be there at that time of year, you can hold one too!)
Note: To be honest, I was a little worried about what I’d find when I got to Fox Village, because a few online reviewers thought the foxes weren’t being treated well enough. I was relieved to discover that all the foxes I saw looked fat and happy, and lived in a huge grassy area filled with structures and toys to sleep on and play with. I can also report that there were filled water troughs sitting around everywhere.
In addition to the big landscaped habitat, there were quite a few foxes in cages in the courtyard beyond the cashier. Those animals were either being treated for illnesses (one looked obviously under the weather because it had an ear infection) or were mothers with kits. The mothers can become quite aggressive after their babies are born, so they’re separated from the rest of the population for everybody’s safety.
Next week I’ll post about how to get to Zao Fox Village, in case you don’t have a handy Japanese friend with a car who’s willing to drive five hours. If you want to be sure and get the latest updates as soon as they’re online, you can press the Subscribe button at the top of the right-hand column, and new posts will come by email!
Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series,
published by Penguin/Intermix.
Zao Fox Village: Squeeee Capital Of The World!
Yes, it’s a real place!
Jaded denizen of the interwebz that I am, there’s not much that makes me leap out of my chair and scream “WANT!” but when I first saw a picture taken at Zao Fox Village, I had to drop everything and figure out a way to get there.
Yesterday, I finally LIVED THE DREAM!
Hello, human!
It’s far from Tokyo – five hours by car – so we didn’t arrive until mid-afternoon. As soon as we got there, we bought admission tickets at the counter (¥1000) and a few little baggies of fox food to take into the fox enclosure (¥100 per baggie). As we stepped outside and saw the cages in the courtyard, I understood how it feels to win the lottery: in addition to the usual number of swoonworthy kitsune, 86 new foxlings had been born since March!
This is what a nearly unbearable amount of squee looks like.
Pinch me! Pinch me! This anime-esque fox mama & baby are real!
After we managed to tear ourselves away from the foxlets, we went through the door into the main habitat, which is a grassy, tree-covered hillside. Visitors are allowed to walk around freely, although you are only allowed to feed the foxes from the elevated platform. (Otherwise, anyone walking into the enclosure would be mobbed, and not in a good way. The foxes are so cute and fluffy, it’s easy to forget they are predators with wicked sharp little teeth.)
Although they’re wild animals and petting is forbidden, some of them are curious little buggers, and they’ll come right up to you to investigate (and give you that sad panda look to test your resolve not to slip them a little treat before you get to the feeding platform. heh.)
Once they hear the crinkle of food baggies being opened, foxes come running from all quarters and assemble eagerly below.
Me! Me! Pick me!
I was surprised by how many different kinds of foxes there were. Not just the red kind, but black ones and brindle ones and white ones too.
The fastest jumper gets the prize. (Thank you, Kendall Bailey, whose jumpy fox picture turned out so much better than mine!)
I’ve never seen a fox for more than a few fleeting moments in the wild, but since they’re related to dogs, I expected them to be dog-like in more than just looks. I was so wrong. The ones at Fox Village not only grin like Cheshire cats, they move like cats and their cries aren’t bark-y at all. In fact, “cry” is a perfect way to describe it – at times, they sound eerily like babies.
In the wild, foxes are nocturnal. So, for every fox running around at three in the afternoon, there must have been five foxes sleeping. In fact, when I first stepped into the fox habitat, I was like, wait, where are they? The place looked deserted. Then foxes began peeking out from behind the trees, and I saw that little piles of fur were curled up everywhere, sleeping in shady spots.
Of course, they can still redline the squee-meter, even while sleeping. (And if you’re wondering about the one on top who’s having a bad fur day, it’s not because she’s sick – she’s moulting. Starting in April, they begin to shed their winter coats, because even a fox doesn’t want to be wearing a fox fur during the steamy Japanese summer.)
Before we left, we did the most only-in-Japan thing of all: hold a baby fox. It’s ¥300 to have pix taken with the cutest of the cute, and the money goes to help care for and feed all the foxes at Zao Fox Village. (Foxlings are born in March and April, so if you’re lucky enough to be there at that time of year, you can hold one too!)
Note: To be honest, I was a little worried about what I’d find when I got to Fox Village, because a few online reviewers thought the foxes weren’t being treated well enough. I was relieved to discover that all the fixes I saw looked fat and happy, and lived in a huge grassy area filled with structures and toys to sleep on and play with. I can also report that there were filled water troughs sitting around everywhere.
In addition to the big landscaped habitat, there were quite a few foxes in cages in the courtyard beyond the cashier. Those animals were either being treated for illnesses (one looked obviously under the weather because it had an ear infection) or were mothers with kits. The mothers can become quite aggressive after their babies are born, so they’re separated from the rest of the population for everybody’s safety.
Next week I’ll post about how to get to Zao Fox Village, in case you don’t have a handy Japanese friend with a car who’s willing to drive five hours. If you want to be sure and get the latest updates as soon as they’re online, you can press the Subscribe button at the top of the right-hand column, and new posts will come by email!
Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series,
published by Penguin/Intermix.
June 3, 2015
Where To See The Best Iris Gardens In Tokyo
Fields of riotously blooming purple, blue & white iris? Yes Please! Here are the best places in Tokyo to see the iris extravaganzas of your dreams.
Iris are at their peak in this garden from June 1 – 15
Hours: 9:00 – 17:00 (Last admission 16:30)
Open: Every day, except 12/29-1/3
Admission: ¥300
•
HORIKIRI IRIS GARDEN in Horikirishobuen
Iris are at their peak in this garden from June 1 – 15
Hours: 9:00 – 16:30
Open: Every day
Admission: Free
•
MIZUMOTO PARK in Kanamachi
Iris are at their peak in this garden from June 1 – 15
Hours: Public park, open 24 hours
Open: Every day
Admission: Free
•
SHŌBUNUMA PARK in Kita-ayase
Iris are at their peak early in this garden from June 1 – 15
Hours: 9:00 – 17:00
Open: Every day
Admission: Free
•
MEIGETSU-IN SECRET GARDEN in Kamakura
Iris are at their peak in this garden from June 1 – 15. This garden is only open from the end of May to mid-June for iris season, so if you’re in Kamakura then, you should go! This temple is famous for hydrangeas, but you can see both if you go in early June.
Hours: 9:00 – 17:00
Open: Every day
Admission: ¥300 for entry to the temple, ¥500 additional to see the secret iris garden
•
NEZU MUSEUM GARDEN in Harajuku
Admission to the Nezu Museum includes admission to their lovely garden, and in mid-May, this gorgeous display of iris coincides with…
…the annual exhibition of this screen, which is a National Cultural Treasure, painted by Korin. The iris on the screen and the iris in the garden are the same variety!
Iris are at their peak early in this garden from May 7 – 15
Open: Six days a week, closed on Mondays, on the day after national holidays, during exhibition installation, and from December 29 – January 3. Open on other holidays.
Hours: 10:00 – 17:00 (Last entry 16:30)
Admission (museum & garden): Adults: ¥1000, Students: ¥800 (plus extra fee for some special exhibitions)
•
HONDO-JI TEMPLE in Kitakogane
Iris are at their peak in this garden from June 1 – 15. This temple is mostly famous for its hydrangeas, and if you’re lucky, you can see them both blooming at the same time.
Hours: 8:00 – 16:30
Open: Every day
Admission: ¥500
•
KIYOSUMI GARDEN in Kiyosumi-shirakawa
Iris are at their peak from June 1 – 15, but I’ve included this garden because even though the iris display is small, it’s a lovely surprise amid the cool greenery of my favorite garden to visit in hot weather. Kiyosumi Garden never fails to be a cool, green feast for the eyes.
Hours: 9:00 – 17:00 (Last admission 16:30)
Open: Every day, except 12/29-1/3
Admission: ¥150
•
MEIJI SHRINE NAI-EN GARDEN in Harajuku
Iris are at their peak in this garden from June 1 – 15. This is the most famous iris garden in Tokyo, but that also means it’s the most crowded. If you want to see it with as few people as possible, be there on a weekday when it opens, or from mid-late afternoon.
Hours: 8:00 – 17:00 (Last admission 16:30)
Open: Every day, except the third Friday of each month
Admission: ¥500
•
Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series, published by Penguin/Intermix.
May 26, 2015
Partying With The Gods
When winter finally lets go of Tokyo and the days start to get long and warm, it’s time to take the local deities out and show them a good time! But the kami-sama can’t just wedge onto the train like the rest of us – they have to be taken around in style while being reminded of the streets & stores it’s their duty to watch over for the rest of the year. And the Sanja Matsuri in Asakusa is the mightiest festival of all!
Every spring, the good citizens of Asakusa break out the saké & festival coats – and shed their pants – to carry the local gods through the streets in elaborate portable gold shrines.
Kids take part from the time they’re able to walk,
Each team represents a neighborhood, and it’s a matter of honor to try and out-do the guys next door when it comes to loudness of chanting, vigorousness of shrine jostling, and overall festivity.
It doesn’t look like hard work from the sidelines, but each o-mikoshi can weigh up to a ton, and teams need to switch out carriers several times over the course of the parade.
Each team takes a special route through Asakusa – being sure to linger in their own neighborhood to make sure the gods get a good look at the people and places that fall within their sphere of influence – but they all parade down the street in front of the grand Senso-ji Temple sometime during the afternoon.
It’s hard to capture the sheer energy of a Japanese festival in a single snapshot, because the shrines aren’t just carried through the streets, they’re danced.
A tired shrine carrier relaxes after the festival with his mohawk-sporting poodle.
The afterparty is a no-holds-barred, all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink celebration, and sometimes exuberant shrine carriers forget they’re basically standing around in their underwear.
Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series, published by Penguin/Intermix.
May 25, 2015
Least Cuddly Toy Of All Time
Once you’ve exhausted all the cute animals, blown through the vegetable kingdom, and even exploited raw fish as toy characters, what’s left? Why, bones, of course! Introducing the toys that put some backbone into the category of “action figures.”
Enjoy some ribs with your new best friend this weekend!
Watch out for that knuckleball…
Being dead is no excuse. And I don’t want to hear that Cerberus ate your homework either.
Just because he’s lacking a little skin to go with his bones doesn’t mean Uncle Skel doesn’t enjoy a few skewers of yakitori washed down with your best sake.
And if anyone complains that the bathroom could use a little Fabreze, you know who to blame.
You can buy the entire line of Pose Skeleton action figures from beyond the grave at Yamashiro-ya, in Ueno. Directions & a map are on my website, The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had.
Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series, published by Penguin/Intermix.
May 19, 2015
The Fox Shrine To End All Fox Shrines
I knew I was going to love the Sasuke Inari Shrine from the moment I saw the long tunnel of red lacquer torii gates leading into the deep, dark woods. But nothing prepared me for the mossy, foxy, wonders that lay beyond!
Once you walk through the gates, no matter what time of day it is (or how sunny), you’ve entered the twilight zone.
Inari shrines are everywhere in Japan – foxes are believed to be the wily messengers of the gods, and not immune to a little bribe to get one’s personal agenda heard by the powers-that-be…
…but I’ve never seen one that was basically an entire hillside turned into a little fox village.
There are thousands of fox figures here, left by the likes of you and me!
For as little as ¥1500 for the smallest pair, you can get your own and leave them in the spot of your choosing, along with a wish for your heart’s desire. (Or you can take them home, which is not always allowed at shrines!)
You can make them a home in one of the villages, or put them on the altar of one of the sub-shrines.
These are the ones left by me and my friend Mika!
The Sasuke Inari Shrine is believed to be a “power spot” by shrine aficionados, and you can see by the number of fox figures that’s not exactly a fringe-y opinion.
Check out the moss covering this little village. The Sasuke Inari Shrine has been attracting pilgrims for a long, long, time.
You should visit, don’t you think? The foxes are waiting!
If you’d like to visit the Sasuke Inari Shrine the next time you’re in Tokyo, Kamakura is an easy day trip (just an hour away by train). Directions & maps are on my website, The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had.
Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series, published by Penguin/Intermix.
May 18, 2015
Tokyo Design Festa 2015: Seriously, You Can’t Make This Stuff Up
For all your Cat Butt Pincushion needs.
Last weekend, Tokyo’s Design Festa delivered a level of craziness so far beyond words that once again, I’m just going to have to show you pictures.
First, from the double rainbow world of animal goods…
Think you can escape those pesky felines by locking yourself in the bathroom? Think again. The Cat Tub awaits. (And yes, the water comes out its mouth!) Jinengo-gama
Don’t wait until it’s time to send your dear departed pet to the taxidermist to get it stuffed – now you can enjoy a 3-D portrait of your beloved Fifi sculpted in felt! Futaya Kurumi
What, you don’t already have a realistic wolf head in your closet? Get thee to the k-line fur suit shop on the double!
Kitties, doggies & fishies move over – it was definitely the Year Of The Fox at Design Festa. Check out these awesome fox warrior figures!
And don’t leave home without THIS. Because RHINESTONE-ENCRUSTED FOX MASK. @omen_kashimaya
This fab felted fennec fox is crafted by an artist who ACTUALLY HAS ONE AS A PET.nijikake.wix.com/kama
Maybe you didn’t know you needed a blue fox fur bracelet that can also be worn as a hat, but you do, trust me, YOU DO. Kaze-taka
And as for leather steampunk bird beaks? So last timeslip! Say hello to foxy snouts and bear maws (jackalopes.club)…
…or get your scaryface on with these retro-apocalypse masks. Atsushi Shibata
If you’d rather not scare the bejeezus out of your compadres, how about a nice cuppa that turns you into a cute piggy every time you take a sip? Kana Nagasawa
And okay, I put this in because only at Design Festa would there be a character that looks like a…a…well, I couldn’t actually bring myself to ask, but do I really need to?
And HA, how could I leave out the classic studded leather goth bikini from the CYbER dYNE booth…
…or the golden skull purses? (Bonus: they’re red inside!) (Yukihiro Leather)
Naturally, there were weird squeaky-nose cosplayers.
And in addition to all the supreme craft krand for sale, there was also continuous entertainment like belly dancing & sword fighting & such?
Artists were of course busily painting their murals all weekend. I want this one. Badly.
Design Festa is held twice a year – the next one will be in November 2015. If you’re in Tokyo and want to go, a map to Tokyo Big Sight convention center is on my website, The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had. Admission is ¥1000 for a one day ticket, ¥1800 for a two-day pass, children under 12 free.
Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series, published by Penguin/Intermix.
