Hello again, everyone.
Give me just a moment to try and grasp this concept of going to Japan. I mean, wow! A true miracle of God, for me, lil' ol' me to spend a year in Tokyo, Japan. It just blows my mind.
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Nope, I can't grasp it. I guess maybe by the time that school starts for me I will have been able to grasp the reality of this dream. :)
---Now onwards to the actual post! --->
Today will conclude my three-part overview of Japan. In the last two posts, I went over the demographics of Japan and the country's geography. This time I will review the basic structure of Japan's politics and some places of interest that I have visited.
For those who do not know, I was able to stay in Tokyo, Japan for a month in June of 2010. There I worked as a student missionary alongside the international Christian club, Campus Crusade for Christ. Since the purpose of that visit was not for entertainment, I did not do a lot of sight-seeing. However, of the little sight-seeing I did enjoy, there are some places I would recommend to see.
First place to see is the Tokyo Imperial Palace, which serves as a nice segway into Japanese politics. :D Japan has one of the longest running royal family in the history of the world, if not the longest. Since the first Japanese Emperor, who reigned around late 7th century, there has been only one family that has served as the Imperial family. Now, notice two things: 1) I didn't not say that there has been one family to "rule" Japan as the Imperial family, and 2) I didn't say that only one family "line" has served as the Imperial family.
So let's discuss the first point. The Japanese family has not ruled Japan since at least the 16th century. The Imperial family began to fall out of power around the 15th century, at which time many military leaders began vying for power. This created a period of civil warring between the military leaders, a period aptly known as the Sengoku Jidai, or The Warring States Period. This period lasted until 1600 when all of Japan was finally reunited under one leader who was not the Emperor nor from the Imperial Family! This man, Tokugawa Ieyasu (Surname, Given Name), was a Japanese military leader. Do to the military successes of his predecessors and himself, Tokugawa was able to conquer all the opposing military leaders and gain command over all of Japan. He became a shogun, which is a military general. To be honest, I have only seen the Japanese word shogun used in regards to a military dictator from the 17th century to the late 19th century.. This period was known as the Tokugawa Shogunate or the Edo Period because the descendants of Tokugawa Ieyasu ruled during this period and because Ieyasu moved the capital up to Edo, which is now known as Tokyo. So, in short, there has been at least two families who have actually ruled Japan, one was the Imperial family and the other was the military rulers from the Tokugawa family.
Now onto my second point. The Imperial family is a multi-branch family. There were a few core family lines from which an Emperor or Empress (yes, Japan had some Empresses) came. As a result, when the Imperial family actually ruled Japan, there were some exchange of power between the core Imperial family lines. One of these exchanges was a particularly violent exchange that has been recorded in the Heike Monogatari, or The Tale of the Heike. So this means that though there has been only been one family that has served as the Imperial family, this one family is not made up of one continuous family line, but rather a few family lines.
Currently, Japan is being ruled by a Prime Minister, just like the U.K. After the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1868, Japan became more westernized and adopted a parliamentary government. In short, Japan is still not ruled by its Emperor. Also, as part of their Constitution (yes, they have one too) no Imperial daughter can rule as Empress. This doesn't mean there is no Empress, it just means that the Empress cannot be the head of the Imperial Family like the current British Queen.
So back to the Tokyo Imperial Palace. This Palace is the current residence of the Imperial Family. It was built upon the site of the Tokugawa Shogunate Castle (the Edo Castle), which was burned down soon after the fall of the Shogunate. The Imperial Family, whom had been residing in the old capital of Kyoto since the last 8th century, left the old capital for Edo (current Tokyo) within the first year after the fall of the Shogunate. Some of the old structures, such as the guard tower, as been preserved as well as many of the block walls. Now these old block walls are totally cool (yes, totally) because they still have the family crests of the masons who originally laid them nearly 400 years ago!!! Come on, now tell me that isn't cool. :D However, if you want to visit the Imperial Grounds, you must apply through the Imperial Household Agency website and receive confirmation to see it. Plus, you must have your passport on you at the time of the visit because it will be checked. If I remember correctly, a copy of your passport will not get you into the grounds.
Another place to visit is the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo. For those who are not Japanese anime savvy, Ghibli is one of the most internationally renown Japanese animation studios and is often compared to Disney. In fact, it has a partnership with Disney, who overlooks the redubbing (re-voicing) of all the Ghibli films. Many of the most-loved Ghibli films were directed by Miyazaki Hayao, the co-founder of Studio Ghibli (also known as Ghibli). The Ghibli Museum is just a charming little museum tucked into the side of the ever-beautiful Inokashira Park. Look this park up! It is really pretty!
Now back on track...The Ghibli Museum map is a hand-drawing of the Museum layout, drawn by Miyazaki himself. On the bottom floor of the museum is a little movie theater that shows short films. You will get a movie ticket made from a film strip from one of Ghibli's animated films. You can use it only once during your trip at its assigned time. The movies are about 15 minutes long and are absolutely adorable. On the next floor up are four rooms. These rooms show the step-by-step process of how a Ghibli movie is made using traditional animation methods. One room even has the original drawings of characters and scene literally covering the walls. The third floor has some small shops and play areas for the kiddos. But the most exciting portion (for Ghibli fans) is the outdoor area. It is so exciting that I won't ruin it for you. If you have the chance before you leave the museum, go check out its restaurant. I unfortunately did not have time to go see the restaurant, so of course it is on my "To-Do" list for this trip. In order to get tickets for the museum, stop by a LAWSON Convenience store in Japan and find the ticket reservation machine near the door. Using this machine you can buy tickets for not only the Ghibli Museum, but also for Disneyland Tokyo, Disney Sea, and other activities.
Lastly, I would suggest leaving Tokyo and go to the hot spring city of Atami. It is about 2 hours south of Tokyo by train, but it is worth the trip. In Atami, you can go from playing on the beach to hiking up a steep mountain road by simply walking down the street. Here the mountains meet the ocean and it is gorgeous. Atami is also just about an hour from a well-known and historical hot spring resort town called Hakone.
If you want to know about Japan or about any of the places I have mentioned, then I suggest taking a detour to Japan-Guide.Com. This is a wonderful resource that I use when I am curious about something Japanese or doing some research for an art project.
Now that I have run my mouth off (or I guess 'fingers off' in this case), I will draw this post to a close. In my next post, I will be sharing about the study abroad application and acceptance procedure for the Cal State system.
Until next time, c-ya peeps!
Exploring Japanese Culture
Tokyo Imperial Palace- located on the site of Edo Castle, this place has been home to the Japanese Imperial family for almost 150 years now. You can visit it in a tour, but only if you have applied for a visit and have your passport handy at the time of your assigned visit.
Sengoku Jidai - The Warring States Period of Japan, it lasted nearly 200 yrs and ended with the unification of Japan in 1600. (pronounced as "Sin-go-koo Jee-die")
Tokugawa Ieyasu - pronounced as "Toh-koo-gah-wah Ee-eh-yah-soo", He was the military general that unified Japan at the end of the Sengoku Jidai, he established a line of militaristic dictators that lasted until 1868, through his line both the Practice of the Christian Religion and the trading with foreigners became illegal, the only exception to the trade restrictions were the Dutch, the Tokugawa lineage created an island for the Dutch traders to live on since no foreigners were allowed onto Japanese land. (His name is written in the Eastern style of Surname Given name.
Shogun- Japanese term for "military general", often used in reference to a militaristic dictator of Japan.
Tokugawa Shogunate- The lineage of Tokugawa descendents were ruled over Japan from 1600-1868, they were militaristic dictators
Heike Monogatari- a classical Japanese historical novel that recounts the war between the Imperial family lines of the Taira and Minamoto clans at the end of the 12th century, which ended in the fall of the Taira clan from power.
Studio Ghibli- also known as simply "Ghibli", it is the internationally renown animation studio from Japan. Its movies are re-voiced by English-speaking actors under the guidance of Disney. Some of its best known films include "Castle in the Sky", "Princess Mononoke", "Howl's Moving Castle" and its newest release, "The Secret World of Arrietty". Many of its movies dealing with the theme of nature preservation. Studio Ghibli has a museum in Mitaka, Tokyo. (Pronounced as "Jee-blee")
Inokashira Park- a beautiful park on the edge of Mitaka, it is home to the Ghibli Museum and a mid-city escape from urban life.
LAWSON- one of the many convenience store chains found in Japan, in each store is a ticket machine which allows users to buy tickets for various locations and parks, such as the Disney Parks in Tokyo and the Ghibli Museum.
Atami- one of Japan's hot spring cities, it is located south of Tokyo in the Prefecture of Shizuoka, if you are willing to brave a steep hike up some mountain roads you can find the MOA Museum of Art. Just to let you know, if ya gonna do this, do it first thing that day before you go and tire yourself out (which is what I did and failed to see MOA :( Sad face...)
Hakone- one of Japan's most famous hot spring resort areas. you can enjoy strange hot bath such as hot tea baths and Japanese sake (rice wine) bath or you can enjoy some exfoliating toe nibbling in a koi fish bath.
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