Harajuku Girls and Hokusai Woodcuts

Passing the "Harajuku girls" in their Bo-Peep outfits, I wedged out of the Yamanote (Circle Line) en route to the Ota Museum. Indulging in cosplay (costume play), the teens who congregate here bring to life popular manga (cartoon)characters. Strangely, their outfits appear much less exotic than the kimono clad women mincing in geta (wooden sandals) to nearby Meiji Jingu (Meiji Shrine). Through the torii (archway) along the winding graveled road to the Shinto shrine, past gardeners sweeping up leaves with twig brooms, past a city block  wide display of sake barrels donated to the resident priests. For Y 500 I stopped at the garden, admiring the pond with its herd of koi and stroked the water in historic Kiyomasa's well. At the altar I observed Yakuyoke (Driving Away Evil), a prayer performed for men aged 25 or 42 to the beat of a taiko drum. When Emperor Meiji chose this sacred site in the 19th c it was an open field; still enshrouded by a serene 175 acre forest, visitors toss coins into the prayer box at the wooden altar and then cross the street to worship at the Louis Vuitton flagship on the Omotesando.

Two blocks away I made a beeline to the intimate Ota Museum, which specializes in ukiyo-e (woodcuts or "pictures of a floating world"). Like posters, this mass produced art was affordable and subjects capture the streets of old Edo. The current show celebrates the 250th anniversary of Hokusai, the master of this art form. For a mere Y 1000 the visitor may view his iconic "Thirty Six Views of Fuji." Remove shoes, onegai: slippers are provided for shuffling through the hushed gallery. Interesting to find that an earlier artist depicted Fuji in all its moods, yet Hokusai won the acclaim. Of his five children his youngest daughter, Oi, specialized in drawing nihonjin beauties and was considered better at this subject than her father. Hokusai produced his most important work in his 60s, and his influence reached West to inspire Van Gogh.    

Since the year 660 AD native hikers have climbed Fuji-san, the tallest mountain in nihon, only one hour by car west of Tokyo. About 200,000 hardy souls make the trek every year in the hiking season, which opens in July. Around New Year's the mountain is visible on a clear day, yet magically disappears during the rest of the year. In 1860 the first gaijin made the climb and in July 2010 musume (daughter) completed this challenge with a doitsejin (German) classmate, walking through the night to watch the sunrise. As the saying goes: A fool does not cliimb Fuji san once, while only a fool climbs her twice. After making a quick purchase at the modest museum shop, I headed back to Chiyoda to meet tomodachi for okonomiyaki.