Earthdays, birthdays, and a little S&M…

Today’s word is: 気持ち, きもち (kee mow chee) or “feeling”

This week I: went to a museum, saw a very good friend from Seattle U, stood in the “center” of Japan, celebrated the International Day of Climate Action, celebrated Mizuki’s birthday, and went to Tokyo Festa! Packed week. I’m quite exhausted but exuberant!

My good friend Katie interned with the Shinnyo-en Foundation, a lay Buddhist order non-profit that works to sow the seeds of peace around the world. They are based in Kyoto and San Francisco and organized a delegation to Kyoto, which Katie attended. It was so incredible to see one of my closest friends from home in my new “home” in Tokyo, even if it was just for a night. My friends Jun and Takuro came with me and showed Katie a good time. We had dinner in Shinjuku and walked around the city. I was so excited and happy to see her, I thought I was going to cry! Katie is an incredible person, yes, a sheer force of nature – full of light, joy, and serenity. I was especially happy to see Katie because for the first time since I’ve been here I could touch someone, a good friend at that! It was so wonderful to be able to affirm my greetings with a hug, emphasize my statements with a squeeze of the arm, and say goodbye with kisses on the cheek. I am learning so much here, loving so much here, but I am missing so much here. I miss the warmth of a hand in mine, an arm across the shoulders, and the brush of lips on my face.

Customarily in Japan, one does not touch. The greatest deference is demonstrated through distance. I have yet to hug my host mom. When I am especially grateful, I back away, avert my eyes, tilt my head down to the side, and bow deeply, my voice high  and full of thanks.

I wish I could say thank you with a hug.

But that would be too easy, too obvious, too… thoughtless.  To show thanks, to show respect, to demonstrate the important things in life, one must struggle to find a way. There must be a display of practice, meditation, gravity. There is a separation between what we think and how we feel. I am careful not to mix the two.

But I couldn’t help it on Saturday in Yoyogi Park. I read about the International Day of Climate Action on 350.org‘s website and, being the committed ecocitizen that I am, I signed up for an event in my area, Tokyo! I embarked on the unnecessarily long journey to Yoyogi Park (normally it takes twenty minutes; on Saturday, it took 1hr20). I got lost, which was totally worth it because I discovered some awesome hole-in-the-wall bars and stores and even found a mosque (see below)! To my great surprise I found the Yoyogi Stadium grounds brimming with a commotion akin to Folklife in Seattle. I was in heaven!!! I heard the sounds of fiddles, digiridoos, smelled incense, and saw dancing hippies. Tokyo was celebrating the International Day of Climate Action in a big way!

Every week Yoyogi Stadium hosts a matsuri, or festival, with a theme. October 24th was “Earth Garden.” There were stalls galore selling hemp products, from food to clothes, bamboo products, music and musicians, hand-crafted art, organic fruits and vegetables, additive and alcohol free beer, I even saw a Cannabis stand! In the center of the festival, on the main stage, a huge banner with the words, “Natural High” waved in the breeze. The band, No Entry, rocked out to a joyful crowd that yelled things like, “I love the Earth!” and “You’re hot!” There were children dancing and adults too. The whole thing reminded me so much of Seattle that a few tears welled in my eyes as I hopped and vibed to No Entry.

Satisfied, I ventured towards the park, waved to some friendly festival-goers who smiled at me, and found the 350.org picnic. There, I met a bunch of expats and travelers, most from the Bay Area! We talked about life in the Bay, California, the economy sucking, and green events in Tokyo. There is a dinner and drinks group that meets every Thursday and every first Monday that hosts heads of companies interested in “going green” and environmental activists; I was even invited to speak! Had to turn it down, unfortunately, because of my late Monday class, but it was still awesome to be asked! I made some new friends and revitalized my passion. One of the best days I’ve had so far, definitely.

Because of my eco-day, I’ve decided to add some pages to this blog. There will be a Sustainability page, which will feature photos and news articles about sustainable and ecologically-considerate stuff I see in Tokyo. I’m also going to add a Food page and a Fashion page, for obvious reasons.

After that, I met up with Mizuki in Shibuya to celebrate her 21st Birthday! We went to our favorite bar, Casa Del Bueno, and cheered ourselves the whole night long. The staff blared a ridiculously cheesy birthday song over the sound system, lit the candles on our Darioleur cake, and even danced for her. The table next to ours also celebrated a birthday, a 32nd instead of a 21st, and so we made some new friends. Even though I’ve only been here (just over) a month, I  have already found a lifelong friend. Last night was a wonderful celebration.

Today, I went to the Tokyo Festa Design Show,  part of Tokyo’s Communication Festival of all things media. I took tons of pictures on my phone, which I will soon figure out how to upload, but overall it was sensory overload. In this huge, futuristic compound-looking building near Odaiba, there were literally thousands of artists, dancers, gamers, cosplayers, and festival goers. We saw some interesting choreographed dance routines, art exhibits, bought t-shirts out of a vending machine, and even stumbled upon a bondage show. We came across a woman in a white latex jumpsuit tying up a man with several knotted ropes as a woman in a black latex jumpsuit looked on. Then a man dressed in all black with a whip in his hand came from the side of the tent and proceeded to spank the dude tied in rope. When I asked my host sister what was going on, she paused, then replied, “Art.”

Never a dull moment.

No Entry on a Natural High

Cannabis Stand

Roses Bloom in Yoyogi

Earth Garden

Umbrellas in Harajuku

Trees in Yoyogi

Happy Birthday, Mizuki!

Dancing Servers!

Tokyo Festa in the Tokyo Big Site

A Mosque in Tokyo!