Meiji Shrine, Harajuku and Tokyo Dome

Yesterday began fairly leisurely, with a long conversation with Kayto, one of the women working at Andon Ryokan. She asked us about our plans for the day, and I asked her about one of the components of my meal from the night before-- something that reminded me of crunchy yogurt, with the most amazing runny, yet sticky consistency. She looked pretty confused, and showed me a whole picture book of various food items, and their translations, but we found nothing that looked remotely similar. I'm going to have to look into this one...

We spent the afternoon wandering in the Harajuku section of Tokyo, a little south of where we're staying. We traveled through time, from the Meiji Shrine in Yoyogi Park, built around 1920 in honor of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, to a pedestrian walkway populated entirely by young Japanese sub-culture heroes. We spent at least 4 hours between the two places, and not only learned how to pay appropriate respect at the shrine (though, after the ritual washing, both of us only watched, since we were not convinced of the cultural appropriateness of engaging in such a rite), but also how to dress in a young Japanese style (I bought gray cloth pants that stop mid-calf and look like the ones favored by MC Hammer).

But our day was not done yet-- we were on to Tokyo Dome, for a game between the Giants and the Baystars. The game was the same-- it was the crowd that blew our minds. It can be somewhat captured by what we witnessed in the 7th inning. No stretch, but a woman in uniform who came to the bottom of each aisle with an enormous garbage bag, bowed, and proceeded up the steps, stopping at each to collect all the garbage people had generated during the game. Everyone passed their trash down the row, and she thanked every person, and they thanked her back. By the time she got to the top of the section, the ground was clear, and the bag was full.

Something to introduce to the Yankees?