Japan Through Mark's Elph Back to Elph Japan

In Japan, anything worth doing must also be worth doing in a group. A massive group. I quickly discovered that there are special times and places to do everything in Japan. On certain days you go to Mt. Fuji or "Fuji-san." On other days you visit the Imperial Palace, or a particular shrine, or a particular park, or hill, or tree, or city, or street, or event, or... Rest assured, if you are doing the right thing at the right time, you will find yourself among thousands of other Japanese people. My theory here is simple. Too many people are interested in seeing too few things. There is no lack of amazing things to do or see in Japan, but various places and icons have grown to have more significant importance than others, and nobody wants to do the "second best" thing, so they all flock to the same place. Furthermore, in my opinion, intensely group-oriented mentality of the Japanese people seems to cause them to want to do it all at the exact same time-- the absolute "best" time. That means you often find insane traffic, hotel costs, and lines at places that are generally empty 50 weeks per year. All of this selective congregation lends itself to a dilemma for your average tourist: my instinct is to avoid the massive crowds by visiting the <gasp> second or third-favorite place on a particular day, instead of the MOST-favorite place. Unfortunately, these massive gatherings of Japanese people in oddly fascinating places have become destinations and experiences simply because of the massive crowds! So, a good portion of my time in Japan was spent seeking out massive crowds and soaking up the "cultural experience" of the chaotic, lung-crushing herds of people.

These first photos show perhaps the most famous of the group activity destinations in Japan: Mount Fuji, or Fuji-san as it is called in Japan. I trekked up the hill with a group of manly men from all over the world, and as you can see by the second picture, we made it to the top. The trip up and back requires an entire day, and be forewarned that you will be spending a lot of time on a cinder cone volcano. Think of a giant black ant hill, without much in the way of plant life, but with some well worn ant trails and a continuous stream of, uh, "ants," up and down the hill. The view of the clouds from the top of the mountain is spectacular, but don't think you'll be "getting away from it all" by going to the top. At the summit you will find all sorts of shopping opportunities and hoards of people, and quite possibly some really cold weather...

Here are exclusive photos from the inside of the Imperial Palace walls in downtown Tokyo. On two days of each year the grounds of the palace are open to the public, and tourists and citizens from all around gather for a glimpse of the Emperor. I lived so close to the Palace that I frequently used it as a convenient jogging loop, until the smog forced me to stop running outside. :-( In any case, everybody gets a Japanese flag to wave for the Emperor, and the masses are pumped through the grounds with more efficiency than you could expect even at Disneyland.

Here we have a river of people who have gathered to do what you do on New Year's day in Japan: Visit Yasakuni (???) Shrine to say your New Year's prayers and buy your New Year's good luck charms. Note the sign requesting the masses to wait for a short time. The police used this sign to prevent the crowds from mashing those in front into the gates of the shrine.

Here we have a prime example of "Porta Shines," as I like to call them. These little mini-shrines are carried through the streets by scantily-clad men and women with joyful, sweaty chants and grunts. Next to it you see the excessively decorated Harley Davidson club participating in a Samba parade through the streets of Japan. It looked more like the Elvis Motorcycle club, to me. Also, notice in the background the countless cameras-- It seemed that every other person in the crowd had taken it upon themselves to professionally document the entire event! Massive, complicated cameras and lenses were forced into strategic positions throughout the parade's course. I wouldn't be surprised if 5 million photos were generated by parade watchers that day. Next we have SUMO! Giant men apparently manage to grow to obscene proportions only through a complete disregard for their genetic heritage. They slap and push and trip each other in an attempt to get the other to fall over first or step out of the circle. Very simple, it may seem to the untrained eye, but they train endlessly to increase their size, skill, and speed, and the result is an intricate, complicated sport revered in Japan.

Simply a massive ferris wheel in Japan. Amusement parks seem to be quite popular in Japan. The success of Disneyland and Universal Studios in Japan have shown the Japanese love of American entertainment. One little rumor I heard is that Tokyo Disneyland generally becomes MORE crowded on rainy days. I can only guess that this is simply a rough beginning for the evolution of Japanese crowd-avoidance consciousness. Apparently, enough people in Japan have come to believe that the best time to avoid crowds is on rainy days, so they ALL pack into the place on rainy days. <sigh>

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