Tokyo
Tower
The final
stop of the day was going to be the Tokyo Tower, a full-sized
replica of the Eiffel Tower with about 100 feet of tower added
to the top. It was built in 1958 and is the tallest freestanding
steel structure in the world. We took a taxi from the Meiji Shrine
to the tower and arrived just after sunset. The tower is painted
bright white and orange, and is lit by powerful spotlights after
dark. We paid our 500-yen and got into the glass elevator for
the ride to the observation deck, about halfway up the tower.
The entire city of Tokyo was lit up and visible from all sides.
A fireworks display was in progress over the Sumida River in
the distance, and dozens of people crowded the windows for a
view of the display. We could see the Ginza area with all of
its neon lights and signs, we saw the Tokyo City Hall building
in the distance, and we saw planes landing at the Tokyo airport,
the local airport that serves the smaller local airlines. A glass
plate was set into the floor of the observation deck, with an
invitation to look down. Unfortunately (or fortunately) a spotlight
was directed up at the little window, so the ground was nearly
invisible. The down elevator deposited us at the fourth floor
of the building on which the tower sits. We had to walk down
the rest of the way past a small aquarium, a wax museum, and
a few other carnival-like attractions that did not pique our
interest. Back on the street, we paused for one more view of
the tower from the safety of the ground.
We were ready
for dinner. Makoto had just the place in mind, and hailed a taxi.
We rode back to the Akasaka area, near our hotel, and went to
a restaurant building that housed many restaurants on five or
six floors. He talked to the doorman, who pointed us toward an
elevator. The elevator stopped on the fourth floor at an Izakaya,
a salaryman's typical after-work hangout. We took off our shoes
and were directed toward a side room that had low lights and
a low table. We sat on the tatami mats with our feet in a depression
beneath the table. It was weird when the waiter walked up behind
us on the floor that doubled as our seat. Makoto asked what we
wanted to eat, and we replied that, since we were new in town,
we would trust him to make good decisions. He explained that
the food was served in small portions, and that we could order
as many dishes as we needed. He ordered several dishes from a
multi-page menu and from the handwritten signs on the wall. The
waiter was pleasant, and welcomed us to Japan in flawless English.
We found out, however, that he had exhausted his knowledge of
English with that one sentence. He brought hot towels for our
hands, and then started bringing the food: pickled seaweed, raw
whale sashimi, tempura shrimp and smelt, beef stew, cold pickled
eggplant, cucumber, and daikon, roasted tuna steak, barbecued
chicken, and grilled mackerel. Of course rice was plentiful throughout
the meal. We washed it all down with good Japanese ale and cold
tea, with sake toward the end of the meal. Kyoko and Makoto were
watching us with some amusement to see if we would back out of
our vow to eat anything they ordered, but we did not disappoint
them. The food was delicious, and Makoto told us that we could
order anything else we wanted. But we cleaned up everything and
were stuffed. The whale meat was similar to beef, with a seafood
aftertaste. It was served with soy sauce and ground fresh ginger.
The tempura was fresh, with a light batter, and was also served
with soy. The mackerel was split and grilled over a charcoal
burner, so it was crispy around the edges, but still moist. We
sat and ate and talked for about two hours, until Makoto had
to catch the last train back to his apartment. We said good-by
to him for the last time on this trip, and told him that, on
his next visit to the United States, we would host a meal for
him.
