Posted by Jess
23 September 2010

Today was a national holiday in Japan for the Autumnal Equinox.  First day of Fall is considered a holiday.  I'm OK with that!  Ella still had school today so we took the opportunity to visit the Edo-Tokyo Museum.  This museum is about the history of Tokyo from the Edo period of Japan, which is what Tokyo was called until about 1870 or so up to Tokyo during WWII. 

The Edo period was the time of the samurai and the museum talked a lot about what life was like for samurais.  It did not seem so exciting for them, that's for sure!  The museum said that they got paid too little to feed their families and that they didn't have very much to do.  Doesn't sound like a great life to me!  The museum also had exhibits about general life in Edo at the time (1600-1900), like housing, money and culture.  Most displays had Japanese and English markers and we got the audioguides too.  


Jason inside a palanquin, the thing they carried important people in when traveling or in processions.  This one was for "daily" use by a lord and was not as decorative as many of them usually are.  It was roomier than it looked, but probably wouldn't be fun to sit in for a few hours!


One of my favorite pieces of information from the exhibits was that the Edo people thought that earthquakes were caused by a giant subterranean catfish.  Such a better theory than tectonic plates.





A typical Japanese house.  This picture makes it look spacious - it's not!  It was a one room house that was about 10sq meters big (100 sq feet).  This is meant to depict a house just after childbirth - the new baby is being bathed and the mom is sitting in the corner, the mom traditionally sat upright for 7 days and nights after having children.  The houses were all very close together as well, with paper type material for walls and wood posts.  This meant that when fires happened, it spread very quickly.  All wards of Edo had their own fire departments and arsonists were severely punished - burned alive if caught.  It said that Edo had a major fire at least once a year.  



A replica of a famous play done in Kabuki theater.  At first, geishas (or courtesans) were used for the female parts, then that was outlayed and boys were cast for female parts.  Then that was outlawed and young men were cast for the female parts and that was how it pretty much stayed, which is why we think of kabuki as only having men in the cast.  There was also a display showing how the backstage area of kabuki theaters worked.  Kabuki was very big on trickery with the staging to make the appearance of ghosts and mystical creatures. 




Abby got a little antsy so we went up to the 7th floor of the museum for lunch.  This was the view from there.


We both had set meals for lunch - Jason had the Ooedo Lunch Box which had pickles, miso soup, rice, sashimi, and cooked vegetables. 


Abby shared with both of us (I had some deep fried chicken and rice) and liked Jason's sashimi, which was salmon. 


Unfortunately Abby got too bored for us to go down and look more at the Tokyo side of the exhibit - this was the piece all about Tokyo up to and during WWII which would have been very interesting, but I'm sure we'll see more about that part of history in other places too. 

Jason kept Abby occupied on the way back on the train with his iPhone.  She was watching Backyardigans.


The rest of the day has been rainy.  So we picked up Ella from school, let her splash in the puddles on the way home, and are just hanging out at home tonight.  A great holiday!  And even better, back to work tomorrow and its Friday.

Kanpai!
Jess