Naoko!

After I left Shibuya I hurried to the subway station to meet Naoko at the Tsukiji station. I was so excited to meet up with Naoko for some sushi and brief sightseeing. Who is Naoko and how do I know a Japanese woman who is a native of Tokyo you ask? Well I met Naoko 2 months ago in Houston. While I was visiting my friend Kyle in Houston, I really wanted to attend the NASA center in Houston. Naoko and her 3 friends flew in from Tokyo for the tour. They were also going to visit some close friends in Minneapolis after. Here is a picture of Naoko and her two friends in Houston:



Naoko is on the left. The girl in yellow lives north of Tokyo and ironically she went to high school at Jordan High in Sandy. She was foreign exchange student in Utah. We made good friends at the NASA center and even shared a bus from NASA back to Houston. I was able to ask Naoko a lot of questions about Tokyo and Japan and she gave me her email and told me to email her when I get in and we can meet up for some really good local sushi and hang out. Tsukiji is where the fish market is so that is where she took me. Before we had sushi we walked around for a while and she explained to me what everything was. It is funny because I was just doing this for her in America! By most standards you would say Naoko struggles with English, by Japanese standards she could do English advertising. It was so refreshing to have a guide and voice among the people now. I first asked what's with all the masks. Asians are very careful in pollination times in spring. They hate being sick or having allergies. The masks are also an act of kindness if they are sick or have a cold at all, they don't want to spread it. I then asked about all the men in suits and ties, she said all working professionals wear a suit to work everyday. I next asked why everyone is so quiet, she said that is just the Japanese way. They communicate non verbally A LOT. In fact, quick funny story. I arrive at the Tsukiji station to meet Naoko. After stepping off the subway I try to read some signs and pull out some maps to figure out what part of the station Naoko had told me to meet in. After about 3-4 minutes of reaching in my pockets, looking at maps on the walls, pacing back and forth I look across the subway tracks and see Naoko waving at me. She did not yell or make a noise, she later told me she just patiently watched me lol. Japanese people are quiet. Even now as I type this on the bullet train to Kyoto 2 kids are fighting and screaming and the mother will not raise her voice, just calmly says to stop. I think it is awesome.

Anyway, here are some pics at the fish market:

Tuna head. They eat every square inch, even the eye :)



See the tray where the dude is resting his hands. Those are HUGE HUGE clam looking things. They look like sea shells but HUGE. Naoko told me they are scallops. She said this particular kind is her mom's favorite so she will by some and I can eat one. It was 3 times bigger than any scallop I have ever seen. The worker brought me a plate with the scallop, soy sauce and wasabi on it. Delicious! I wanted another :)


Now to the sushi. The sushi was by far the best I have ever had! Here is a picture of the sushi plate, miso soup and Ozoke fish we had together:





Note that this is not a cheap dish. It cost $39 for 1 dish. This is a mid to high quality sushi bar. the miso soup was by far the best I have had. Underneath all the fish is rice with wasabi in the rice. Those rolls were amazing! White rice with tuna in the middle. Tuna in the middle is the standard so far as I understand it. The other fish includes Scorpion Fish, Reef fish, two different parts of a tuna fish, and some others I can't remember. Only one of the fish items was cooked. The big fish on my plate is , and that was sooooo good!

The sushi bars and restaurants are tiny. Naoko said it is because they want to have quality service for all customers. As you can tell Japanese people are incredible!

Here is that cool building from a previous post again. Naoko told me this is where a lot of celebrities and athletes have there funeral. It is a cool temple.


Next we went to Meiji Shrine which was way cool! This is the gate. I finally learned what gates are for Buddhist temples and shrines, it is only a gate for god.



Stacks of sake or alcohol donated to god and the shrine.


Meiji Shrine. You walk up, throw money in as a donation to god, clap your hands twice, bow, thank god and then make a wish. this is Buddhist custom.


Cool entrance to the shrine. I learned it is important among Buddhists not to walk in the middle of a path or walk way in a temple or shrine. That is the path for god.


Japanese Sprite :)


After Meiji shrine we went I the Tokyo Needle which was way cool. Here are some pics.















A school and it's soccer field.


A temple below.


Now views from the very top.






After leaving the tower Naoko and I both decided to call it a night. I was so sore!! My legs were aching and I was dragging. I'm proud to say Naoko was surprised and impressed that I had pretty much explored almost all the main areas of Tokyo in 2 days. I only missed Shinjuku but I got delayed because of post card hunting and mailing. I hit Shinjuku the next morning. I went to bed at 7:30pm local time this night, that's how tired I was!

I'm so glad I did that tour of the NASA center in Houston so I could meet Naoko. She made my experience awesome! What a valuable resource. I must have asked her 100 questions. Naoko is hilarious. When I talk to her and she gets surprised or interested in something I say, she will say dramatically, "uuuuhhhhhhh." it always makes me laugh! Also when I talk to her she will do a mini head bow about every 5 seconds. She took half the day off work to show me around, what an amazing and kind person to do that! She even walked me to my train and watched me get on and waved goodbye about 4 times haha. People here are just so nice!

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