Things have cooled off

Tokyo, Japan We finally got to visit Tokyo’s most sacred temple, Sen so-Ji. If some of the pictures look familiar, it’s because we tried to visit it when we first arrived in Japan. We got to the outer gate, looked down the very long avenue lined with shops and restaurants, and gave up. It was 100°, the humidity was off the charts, and the crowds were gigantic.

Today was much more reasonable, so we were able to go the distance. The crowds were still enormous, and the gauntlet of shops still took some time to navigate, but at least there were no mountains to climb.

The clouds of incense were rising all around, as we went into the temple wherein resides a small gold statue of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy. She was pulled from a nearby river in 628, and has been worshipped here ever since.

The temple complex is large and lovely — and offers lots of shopping opportunities. There are many kimono rental stores around, which is why lots of women are in traditional dress, which definitely adds to the atmosphere. The five-story pagoda is said to contain the ashes of the Buddha.

Feeling sufficiently sanctified, we then went to the Ameyoko Yokocho Market, considered one of the great bazaars in Asia. Supposedly you can find anything you want here, and can get it at a discount too. After WWII, it was the site of the black market. Nowadays, it’s all about bargains in clothes and accessories, as well as food.

We could still feel the dark undertones.

Our final stop was right in our hotel complex, which is so complex that we are constantly getting lost. (Or, at least, I am.) This is a media center and home to Dentsu Advertising. When I started my career in advertising, Dentsu was ranked as the largest advertising agency in the world. I always wondered what Japanese advertising would be like. Today we found out, as Dentsu has an advertising museum in its stunning headquarters building.

It does a wonderful job of tracing the history of Japanese marketing materials throughout the last two hundred years, and showcasing samples of each era. For those who are curious, Dentsu is now the fifth largest advertising conglomerate in the world. The Brits, Americans, and the French made the most of their acquisition days and are now even larger, but there’s nothing shabby about being fifth in that crowd.

Everything was completely relatable and human. And very similar to the work U.S. ad industry leaders were producing in the same glory years. (Volkswagen advertising a bell?)

But to return to the more recent past, there’s more to share about yesterday.

We started the day with a visit to the outside of the Kabukiza Theatre, Japan’s foremost theatre for the Kabuki stylized acting form, which was created in the 17th century. We came back in the evening to see the final act of a play being performed all day long — the classic, and very long, Tales of Genji. They sell tickets for just one act, and we got to see the finale. Kabuki is always performed with all-male casts, but the actors playing women could have fooled me. We did have a little device with simultaneous English translation, which was very effective. These shots will give you a sense of the size of the stage. No photos of the performance.

And then yesterday there was also the Toy Park, in operation since 1899. It’s not quite comparable to F.A.O. Schwartz, which was really a place for rich grandmothers to buy expensive, over-the-top presents. This place is geared to the kids, and it has four floors of goodies. I was so pleased to see that some of my favorites have crossed the ocean and lasted through a few generations. (But why doesn’t Mattel have a Japanese pal for Barbie? There might be one here, but it’s hard to tell.) There are lots of current Japanese characters, but we’re not in the loop with them.

As you can see, we’ve been busy.

Don’s Food Corner

Our main meals of the day were salads. When exiting the Ad Museum, we bumped into a place selling all sorts of salads. This was in the lower level of the building complex shared with the Dentsu headquarters. You can imagine the ad agency types lining up for these salads — some of which featured meat, like the Caesar with grilled chicken, or vegetarian, perhaps with a hint of cheese, or completely vegan, perhaps with some tofu thrown in.

All looked fresh and everything was geared for take-out so that the salad munchers could take them back to their desks to continue their important work. It’s part of the ad agency culture everywhere, isn’t it?

Well, we jumped in and ordered salads and took them back to the room to eat later. Although we had the dressing put on the side and not on the salads, they were still a little limp by the time we actually ate them several hours later.

But, for the record, Jo had a Cobb salad with chicken. And I guess all the ingredients were in there — chicken, hard boiled egg, etc.

I had an “Earth Bowl.” This would otherwise be known as a Buddha Bowl, but I guess Dentsu wouldn’t want to be beholden to Martha Stewart for coining such a label that is now so widely used. But, sorry, from a copywriter’s point of view “Earth Bowl” doesn’t have the power of “Buddha Bowl.”

Like the Cobb salad, this, too, had all the requisite ingredients — a grain, some avocado, tomato, beets, etc. It did not come up to quality of ingredients and presentation that I enjoyed in Kyoto a few days ago. But it was still pretty good.

Although I felt righteous eating something so healthy, I’m afraid I followed it up by bingeing a bag of Oreos. Now THAT’S a brand.