Will Miss #524 - Ebisu Garden Place

There is a certain ebb and flow to life in Tokyo that I have not found since returning home. It's possible that New York City carries the same vibe, but I somehow doubt it. The way it works is that there is the rush and crush of life centered around the stations. The closer you are to one, the more people there are and there is an enormous concentration of shops. As you move out, you discover that there are more unique places - offbeat little shops and restaurants, often along the shopping streets or shotengai.

As you move still further out, probably in the range of 15-30 minutes from a major station, you find oases of larger space and tranquility. Some of them are new and refined and others are old and traditional. In Ebisu, one of the nicest of these spaces is the Ebisu Garden Place area. It's unusual in that it has vast open areas that you can stroll through and it is far enough from Ebisu station not to attract enormous crowds of casual shoppers. Most people will go there because it's their destination, not because they stumbled across it.

The area is amazingly clean and almost breathtakingly vast in the feel of its spaces. It also has a European feel to it while still retaining an essential Japanese quality. There's a mix of the posh and the pedestrian in terms of the shops and restaurants. There's a Burger King and a Krispy Kreme as well as the insanely expensive Joel Robuchon restaurant. I miss having access to this little oasis in the city.

Will Miss #437 - the Edo/Tokyo Museum

A life-size life-size reproduction of an Edo-era building (that's a real person in front).

The level of indoctrination into a culture that one experiences has a profound effect on interest levels. When I was a kid, I didn't care much about museums or history because I had already been overexposed to tales of George Washington and his wooden teeth or Abraham Lincoln and his log cabin (what's with all of the wood in American history?). My feelings about Japanese history are entirely different though because it was not something I had been exposed to again and again throughout my childhood. When I told my students that I really loved the Edo/Tokyo Museum in Ryogoku, their response was a big yawn. They just didn't care, but I loved the contrast between the life-size reproductions and the miniatures as well as the fact that you can essentially spend an entire day in quiet, comfortable surroundings for 600 yen. The truth is that, you're a lot better off hanging out all day in the museum with your friends than a coffee shop. There are more empty seats, it's a better atmosphere and there are a ton of interesting exhibits covering the history of Tokyo. I especially enjoy the focus on the lives of the common people and the items that they used in their daily lives that are on display and reveal something about how sophisticated life was despite the lack of technological advancement.

I will miss the Edo/Tokyo museum and all of the cool exhibits and artifacts contained therein.

Will Miss #429 - Kamakura

I've got a beautiful, desktop-wallpaper-quality picture of the big Buddha statue in Kamakura, but so does everyone else out there. Therefore, I am giving you this cheesy souvenir shop item instead. 

Kamakura is the home of the "daibutsu" or "great Buddha" statue. While it isn't the biggest one in Japan, it is one of the most appealing. It's serene countenance is one reason. Another is that it's almost certainly the only Buddha statue in Japan that you can go inside of. It also has quite the colorful history of surviving natural disasters. Kamakura is also a good place to go because of the beachfront and the plethora of food shops that sell traditional snacks and sweets. Fresh and hand-made goodies can be had en route and not too far from the Buddha area as well several other tourist attractions. There is a satisfying mixture of the old and the new in the area which is easily accessible and tourist-friendly without being a tourist trap.

Kamakura isn't far from Tokyo and is like a taste of old Japan a stone's throw away and I will miss having easy access to it.

Won't Miss #317 - imperial palace

Early on in my time in Japan, I visited the imperial palace and after a long time, I forgot what it was like so I went back last year. Now, I have a much better idea of why I retained no memory whatsoever of the experience. Visiting the imperial palace in Tokyo is a singularly unmemorable experience. In fact, after having gone there and remarking on that fact to Japanese folks I know, their response was "why"? They couldn't conceive of any reason to bother. Yes, it is a nice, well-maintained space, but you can't get close to the palace itself (see the view in the picture above) and it's mostly moat and grass with a few bland-looking buildings and bridges. I think it mainly functions these days as a space with a convenient track running around it for joggers. I also can't help feeling that the royal family, who rarely stick their heads out for the public to see, are like birds in a lightly gilded cage in there. Thinking about them when I visit just makes me feel sorry for them.

Compared to some of the more impressive sightseeing spots in Japan, it's really pretty "blah", and it is an area I won't miss.