Tokyo

I arrived at Tokyo's Narita Airport on Monday, December 21st to work at the National Museum of Nature and Science. After the 45 minute ride on the Keisei Skyliner from the airport, I arrived in the Ueno district and my hotel. My very first indication that Tokyo was going to be my kind of town was that everything was clearly built for people my size (5'5)...doors only 6 feet high, doorknobs at waist level, urinals at a convenient elevation...I was made for this place! After dropping of my things in my room (and spending a few minutes marveling at my fully electronic toilet) I made my way down stairs to the hotel's restaurant and ordered up a big plate of maguro (tuna) sashimi! Full and exhausted, I drug myself back to my room where I fell asleep in a bed that, in the words of Goldi Locks, fit "just right." The next morning I braved the Tokyo metro system (it wasn't the mad house I was expecting) and made my way to the museum in the Shinjuku-ku district. At the Museum I met Dr. Reiko Kono, who was immensely helpful in getting me oriented in the collections (mostly labeled in Japanese). While there I worked with crania from the Incipient/Initial Jomon Period (i.e. Terminal Pleistocene) including the ~13,000 year old Shosenzuka Shell-mound specimen.

Wednesday the 23rd turned out to be a national holiday (Emperor's Birthday) which meant I had the opportunity to do some sight-seeing while waiting for Tressa and my sister, Caroline, to arrive for their Christmas breaks. I first visited the National Museum of Nature and Science exhibits in Ueno (the exhibits are in Ueno the collections are in Shinjuku-ku) where they have a great exhibit of the early peopling of Japan. I then visited the enormous Tokyo National Museum complex where they exhibit some of Japan's most important archaeological artifacts and traditional artwork (personal highlights include the collections of Jomon pottery and lithics, Samurai swords and armor, Ainu cultural heritage, and Chinese oracle bones). I met Tressa and Caroline at the train station around 4 pm, and after getting them settled in the hotel, we went out and ate more raw fish. For Christmas, we all got up early to enjoy a sushi breakfast at the Tsukiji Fish Market before I left for work. Later that day, the Museum's Anthropology Department invited all of us to their end of the year party. We were expecting cake and punch...what we got was a 7 course Thai feast!

Over the weekend we visited countless attractions such as Ueno Park, the Meiji Shrine, and the Imperial Palace. But let's be clear, we're foodies, and our true highlights were the various eating establishments we patronized. We enjoyed sushi at classic conveyor-belt "Kaiten-zushi" restaurants, we experimented with skewered meat at yakitori bars, we ate the best Unagi (freshwater eel) on earth at the famous Unagi Kappo Izuei Honten restaurant (which has been grilling eel over the same fire for more than 260 years!), and we discovered some of Tokyo's lesser known delicacies, such as the most incredible Satsumaimo (sweet potato) desserts. We even managed to curb Tressa's last minute craving for Uni (Sea Urchin) at the airport while waiting for our flight to Beijing, China.