Acazia Official Japan Blog – The House of Anne (Part II)
Something that I haven’t done on my trip so far, I’ve decided to stay at Anne’s for another week. I love the aesthetic here, with the traditional feel and pleasant atmosphere. The writing space is comfortable and I’m still close to everything I have yet to see or enjoy.
With this new virus starting to take off and become more of a global concern, schools and a lot of touristy places have begun to shut down. Unbeknownst to me, one of the cities grandest museums was just a little ways away back towards Hiromas Hostel. Since the place was closed on Monday, I went the next day. I made a quick pit stop for lunch, but had to keep shoeing away a pesky bird that was way too interested in my ham cutlet. Passing the first blossoming Sakura tree and finally arriving at the doors- the gates were closed; shut down until further notice. I kicked the floor and, with head hung low, shambled back. What stings the most is I could have gone there any time within the last two weeks, but neglected the experience. Stupid, stupid me; future self judges you, past self.
Luckily the Tokyo Skytree hadn’t been shut down yet. Walking directly from my failed attempt at some cultural learning, I found the tower (It’s not like it was hidden or anything) The first lift flew up 350 meters to the main observation deck overlooking the city. When the elevator doors opened, I gasped at the sight; truly a concrete jungle. It reminded me of topping the Eiffel Tower in Paris. A sea of grey stretched in every direction literally as far as the eye could see, with dots of green parkland and veined with blue rivers. Pictures were snapped quickly before jumping on another lift, rising ever higher. Now at 450 meters, nearly half a kilometer straight up, the city showed off more of its powerful presence. Off in the distance stood the skyscrapers of downtown Tokyo and below me was the district I’d gotten to know over the past few weeks. What should have been a spectacular view of Mt. Fugi was unfortunately covered in haze as the clouds and buildings blurred the horizon. Walking on the glass floor and looking all the way down to the toy cars playing on the street gave me a flashback of the ships under Tower Bridge in London, so much so I took the same picture.
Around this time I’d figured out the plot for my short story, The Broken Mirror. It started off as nothing more than teaser text, but as the idea inflated in my mind, so did its significance. Never enough to be a standalone novel like some of my other ideas; it’ll be one of the cornerstones for Scratches and Scribbles.
Before exploring the Imperial Palace on my last day, I figured I should reserve my train ticket to Kyoto. After an evening’s walk to get a last few pictures of the city, and with help from my Chinese pal, I looked up the times and prices for the train. First of all- WOW these trains are expensive. The bullet trains are easily three to four times the cost of their European counterparts. I heard Japan was expensive, but shopping cheaply and getting a great deal on the flight coming here, I hadn’t yet experience the absurdly high prices. So, not panicking, I extended my stay for another week in Tokyo to find perhaps a cheaper way of transportation. And oh did I find one…
