Tokyo Skytree Station

In the morning we had a leisurely breakfast at the Café de Kapitein restaurant downstairs in the Asakusa View Hotel. We then packed up the last of our luggage into a carry-on bag and checked out of the hotel, thinking our stay had been too short to enjoy all the amenities. We took the Tobu Skytree line from Asakusa Station, it was just a short hop to the Skytree itself.

Skytree and Asahi Brewery

Though we had marveled at its size from a distance, up close it was even more amazing. It was more expensive than we had expected, but we decided to go the whole way to the top observation deck. There were a lot of interesting details in the Skytree Tower itself. For example, the elevator we rode had a mural on the roof depicting the season of winter, and we found that the other elevators have other seasons shown.

Tembo Galleria @ Tokyo Skytree

When we got off the elevator, there was such a view! Even though we were safely behind glass, I think all of us had a slight sense of vertigo, it was so high. We walked around the lower deck first, then took the elevator to the top deck on the 450th floor. The view was even more incredible, and there was a spiral walkway to enjoy looking at it in all directions.

Asahi Beer Hall @ Tembo Galleria @ Tokyo Skytree

Tokyo was spread out below us as far as we could see, and there were mountains on the horizon. It really gave an impression of the size of the city, and we marveled at the sheer number of people living in one place. I think we also all had a pang of regret, because this was our last day, and it felt a bit like we were saying goodbye.

Starbucks Skytree Soramachi East 6F

Safely at ground level, we still had some time to explore, so went to the Skytree Town shopping area. The complex was huge, and unfortunately we did not have much time and had not planned about what to see. There were floors and floors of shops, restaurants, and exhibits. We heard there was an aquarium and planetarium, and will definitely have to go back there again to see those. Instead, we wandered around, window shopping and marveling at the variety of goods for sale.

Skytree Town

We had an early lunch at one of the less-crowded cafes before it was time to head to the airport. We found the Oshiage Station which has a convenient train that goes straight to Narita Airport, and it only took about an hour.

Escalator to Oshiage train station @ Tokyo Skytree

Soon we were collecting the baggage we had delivered, checking in, clearing security, and all the other procedures for boarding a plane. Suddenly we were back into a world with plentiful English signs and announcements, with foreigners of all sizes and colors pressing around us, busily heading in various directions.

Birth of a Dream Maybe @ Narita

A university professor from Vancouver, BC was sitting near us in the gate area, and he started chatting with us while we were waiting to board. When the girls told him their names, he exchanged a swift expression with his Japanese wife. We had seen that odd look several times on our trip, so I decided to try to get more information. The couple first avoided my question, saying that it was an unusual name in Japan, but I felt like there was more than that. They had a brief discussion in Japanese, then the professor finally gave us an explanation in English.

emma-buddhism

He was startled because Emma, the name of our cheerful older daughter who was just then wearing a pink Hello Kitty shirt and miniskirt, is also the name of one of the powerful gods in the Buddhist pantheon. It is the god who judges dead souls and determines which fate they will be reborn into in their next lives. Emma oversees the Buddhist version of hell, where people who did bad things go to be punished and learn lessons on better behavior. He is a scary, awesome figure. He is not evil, like Satan, but does not tolerate excuses and most Japanese prefer to avoid his attention.

Enma the great

We had no idea about the meaning of the name, and suddenly the strange looks Emma had gotten on our trip made sense. It must have been very incongruous to see a young girl named after a powerful god of death. Almost more than the meaning of her name, Andrew and I were surprised that no one had mentioned it before.

The university professor and his wife had another consultation, and then she was the one who answered. She explained that probably the people we had met, mostly very polite ones in the service industry, would not have wanted to bring up anything that might be considered distressful. She felt that they would have feared that the explanation was too abrupt and might be misunderstood. It would be much better in their eyes to say nothing than to offend us.

Naritasan – Great Pagoda of Peace

We were intrigued by both the name’s meaning and the fact that everyone had been too polite to say anything. It made us wonder what other undertones we had missed. For us, this added richness to the experience, not horror at knowing the meaning. If we had known, we could have looked for altars dedicated to the god and our children could learn more about cultural differences.

When we were finally seated on the Air Canada plane, returning to our regular lives seemed as foreign as the country we had just left. We had only been in Japan for ten days, but had done so many things and seen so many new places. It felt good to be returning to the familiar, but also a bit sad to leave. There was a lot to assimilate and think about from our trip. But the one thing I know for sure is that we all want to go back again

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photos by: Dick Thomas Johnson & al-hayat, *_*, *_*, shinji_w, *_*, *_*, mikecogh, grant_loy