Our Day With Tamae-San, Part Two: Lord Kira and Tokyo Tower

After watching the sumo for about 30 minutes Tamae proposed we stop at a museum of sumo history. Before heading in that direction, however, she revealed (with a faint air of “watch, I’m about to pull a rabbit out of my hat”) that we were standing within sight of Lord Kira’s house. You can probably find a detailed account of Lord Kira and the 47 ronin (samurai without a master) that slew him in Wikipedia, but here’s a condensed version: Asano, the master of the 47 ronin, attempted to slay Lord Kira but failed. Because of the dishonor of his failure, he committed seppuku (ritual suicide) leaving his 47 followers without a master. About a year later, the 47 stormed Lord Kira’s house, found him in hiding, and beheaded him. They carried his head back to their master’s grave at the Sengaku-ji temple, and subsequently all committed seppuku as well. It’s a story of legendary status in Japan, and also one of Tracie’s favorite stories. (It’s also mentioned in the excellent movie “Ronin”, starring Robert De Niro, shortly after he digs the bullet out of his side while Jean Reno helpfully holds the mirror for him.)

Tracie had asked Tamae-san to show us to the Sengaku-ji temple during the day, but little did she expect to see the other pivotal location in the story. (They’re about ten miles apart; the 47 samurai carried Lord Kira’s head through a snowy night to return it to their master’s grave.) The original building has been replaced but there remains a small but well-preserved site with two shrines and the well in which the 47 ronin washed Kira’s head.

From there we walked through a dense neighborhood to the sumo museum, but to Tamae’s surprise and dismay the museum was closed for the day. (That day, according to the calendar, was the only unusual closing of the month.) No biggie. We caught a taxi to Tokyo Tower. Tokyo Tower looks remarkably like the Eiffel Tower, and was built in 1957 for television broadcasting antennas. Having been to the Eiffel Tower it was interesting to compare the two.

The Eiffel Tower retains much of its historical air. It’s very well maintained, of course, but its keepers have definitely attempted to preserve its history. For example, the interior houses displays describing its design and construction. The Tokyo Tower is presented in a very modern light (like many things in Tokyo). It was completely redecorated not long ago and there are little sci-fi touches here and there, like hemispheres of colored LEDs in the ceilings of the elevators. The lobby, ticket offices, and gift shops are tended by a throng of young Japanese women in fetching turquoise and grey uniforms with round-brimmed hats and white gloves. (They’re an example of a category of employment I’ve become more aware of on this visit: people whose job function appears to be to make finding ones way around easier for other people. Examples: You walk into a store and some polite person welcomes you and points you into the right direction. You walk towards a temporary construction zone on a sidewalk and some polite person guides you around the area so that nothing can be dropped on your head. You walk into the lobby of Tokyo Tower and two or three polite young Japanese women will ensure that there’s no question of how you make your way from the entrance to the elevator. It’s a form of service that is nearly non-existent in the U.S. and its practitioners execute it with astonishing grace and efficiency.)

The tower provides an excellent view of the city. Tamae pointed out a number of buildings and other points of interest from the observation decks, including the hotel in which “Lost in Translation” was filmed. Tracie was particularly amused by Noppon, the mascots of the Tokyo Tower. (Almost everything in Japan has a mascot, incidentally.) In retrospect I’m not sure whether they’re both named Noppon. In any case, they’re silly-looking pink figures with tall, pointed heads and blue overalls. You can buy Noppon plush toys, Noppon plastic figures, Noppon keychains, Noppon netsuke, etc. They also had Tokyo Tower models, keychains, etc.–the usual array of trinkets. Tracie decided she couldn’t do with a small plushie Noppon suspended from a suction cup. Tamae-san says that Noppon himself (themselves?) appear in person on weekends. Too bad we missed ’em.

After Tokyo Tower we had an excellent lunch at a restaurant just across the street from the tower. Tamae and I had sashimi plates, which included several kinds of fish and some oh-god-it’s-so-yummy tuna. Tracie played it safe and had white rice. Tamae asked whether Tracie might like some miso soup; shortly thereafter I discovered that the bottom of my bowl was buried in the shells of small clam-like shellfish, illustrating exactly why Tracie declines miso. (She’s allergic to shellfish. Last time we were here, I didn’t discover until I drained a bowl of miso that it contained the head of a large prawn.)

After lunch Tamae took us to the Sengaku-ji temple, but that story will have to wait. We’re about to leave Tokyo. We’ll take a taxi to Tokyo Station and then a train to Kamakura.