Kimonos in the House of Mouse

Monday was Coming of Age Day in Japan; which means that everyone who turned twenty in the last year gets dressed up and celebrates. Monday was also the day that my sister and I went to Disneyland. Put the two together and you have one of the coolest, and oddest, visual experiences. Only in Japan can you go to Disney and see bad tourist fashion, crazy street fashion, and women in expensive silk kimono with elaborate obi and professional hair and make-up.

It was fascinating to watch them over the course of the day as they went about visiting Disney like everyone else (though they did get extra help getting on and off the rides because, well, kimono were not designed for clambering in and out of strange ride vehicles). Just getting to see all the different kimonos was spectacular, there were so many different designs and colour schemes and they were all amazing. And really, how many times do you get to see a woman in a kimono posing with the seven dwarves?

Disney itself was also amazing. The rides here are more low-key than the ones in the states but the emphasis is on the technology and creating the Disney experience. The technology is pretty impressive, especially on Pooh’s Honey Hunt. The ride takes you on a journey with Winnie the Pooh as he searches for the all-important honey and at one part takes you into this strange ‘dream’ world. The nifty part is that there are no tracks for the cars to run on, they are all controlled through a GPS system that prevents them from colliding but makes it appear that all the movements are random. Very, very snazzy.

And then there was the Haunted Mansion, which is a pretty spiffy ride under normal circumstances. But we happened to be there while they still had the special holiday edition of the ride up. Which meant that the entire ride was Nightmare Before Christmas themed! My glee was intense. And the ride itself was better than the original, with the decorations both inside and outside the mansion being totally over the top and fabulous.

We spent the rest of the day wandering around the park doing rides like Pirates of the Caribbean, Buzz Lightyear’s Astroblasters, Monsters Inc., Big Thunder Mountain (which had signs for Colorado farmland in the queue), and of course, Space Mountain.

We also marveled at the interesting varieties of popcorn including honey (which was amazing), chocolate, and curry. And there were the funny hats. Big, fuzzy hats that came in designs ranging Stitch with the bog blue ears, to Tigger with stripes and a tail for a scarf, to Sully and the Cheshire cat. There were also your ‘basic’ mouse ones which were most commonly either grey or pink leopard print faux fur. And everyone was wearing them, not just the kids. Granted it was cold and they were quite warm (we tried some on just for the fun of it) but they were honestly rather silly looking and not something that I can see being real practical in the real world, even in Japan.

Tuesday was our day at DisneySea and all I have to say is that if you ever have chance to go, take it without hesitation. Seriously, the place is amazing. The place is themed down to the trash bins, water fountains and walkways. Disney at its best. The entire park is built around the central lagoon and the massive volcano that houses the Mysterious Island and each area is called a ‘port’ in keeping with the sea theme.

My favorite port was undoubtedly the Mysterious Island, which is a steampunk paradise designed entirely around the works of Jules Verne. There’s even the Nautilus docked next to one of the restaurant and the 20000 Leagues Under the Sea ride features small subs as the ride vehicles. The queue for Journey to the Center of the Earth is as spectacular as the ride is, featuring labs and schematics that make you feel like there really is an expedition going on around you. You even take an elevator to the staging point with depth gauges to show you how deep you are below the Earth’s surface. And then there’s the ride, which starts of nice and scenic as you go through some of the areas they’ve discovered to see the strange flora and fauna that live there and then turns into a swift rollercoaster ride through scarier places and pitch darkness when your vehicles gets diverted onto the wrong set of tracks. It offers a spectacular, if brief, view of the park as you shoot out the side of the volcano before plunging back into darkness.

Other ports included the Cape Cod (filled with shops devoted to the Japan-exclusive Disney bear Duffy), the American Seaside featuring a full-sized steam ship and the imposing Tower of Terror (same ride, totally different story line), Port Discovery with its idealistic view of the future, the Arabian Coast with its two-story carousel, and the immaculately and overwhelmingly detailed Mermaid Kingdom, which is all indoors and designed to make you feel like you are under the sea.

There was also the Lost River Delta, home to the Indiana Jones rides that was tragically closed when we were there and the only rollercoaster in Disney featuring a loop; as well as the Mediterranean Harbour, which serves as the entry way and main shopping area of the park.

The rides at Disney Sea were a blast and the lines were pretty much non-existent due to that fact that it rained all day.  There were more odd flavors of popcorn including strawberry and soy sauce; and more funny hats (though fewer than yesterday due to the weather). The day ended with the spectacular night-time show on the central lagoon recounting the tale of love between a water spirit and a fire spirit and featuring amazing effects true to Disney style. And after that we managed to sneak one more ride on Journey to the Center of the Earth (our fourth) before heading back to the hotel to thaw out.

All in all, Disney never fails to impress and a good time was had by all.

Wednesday morning was early. As in, checking out of our hotel at 5 am and having to take a taxi to the station because the buses weren’t running kind of early. But it was worth it to find ourselves at Tsukiji, Tokyo’s central fish market, just as the sun was making its first appearance.

I’m a firm believer that if you are in Tokyo there is no excuse for you not to put a morning aside to experience the insanity that is Tsukiji. If it lives in the ocean you can find it here and there are a lot of things that you question whether or not they’re actually edible. Also being there so early, a fair amount of stuff was still alive (hey, at least you know it’s fresh).

We wandered around for a good hour snapping photos and marveling at the strange variety while dodging motorized fish carts and trying not to get in the way of the people doing business. This experience was followed by a spectacular breakfast of tuna and salmon sashimi over rice and a hot bowl of miso soup.

Then we made our way over to a rather pretty garden near the market that houses a nice little tea house on a lake so that Tara could experience a simple form of Japanese tea ceremony. I personally am less than fond of green tea but it was a fun experience and a nice rest after the insanity of Tsukiji. The afternoon found us experiencing a traditional Japanese bath house and let me tell you, it was quite the experience. We kind fumbled our way through it and it sure was nice to just soak in the hot water. Then it was off to acquire donuts and dinner before returning to the guesthouse to pack.

Thursday was Tara’s flight back to states and we got the joy of dealing with our rather silly amounts of luggage on a packed commuter train (we called them sardine trains). But after dropping my stuff of in a locker in Ikebukuro, things went a little smoother and we got to the airport in time to grab lunch before she boarded her flight. It was sad to see her go; we had a fantastic time and got to see a lot of neat stuff. But it’s on to the next part of the adventure. I’m working on figuring out my trip to northern Japan (I’m stolidly ignoring the fact that’s it’s really, really cold up there) and will hopefully be heading up there on Tuesday.

Sp stay tuned for updates from the land of the frozen sea!