Lost in Translation

Field of Polka Dot Pumpkins 

 Mirrored Room at the Yayoi Kusama Museum

Jurgen Lehl has a boutique in Matsuya

I had never previously heard the word: Shero

Fruit for sale at Matsuya Ginza

I only took this one picture, is that OK?

Ginza is closed to traffic on Sundays

Paper bags from stores encased in plastic

Cocktails in the Club Room at the Ritz

Grilled Pork

The jet lag wasn’t too bad (and we did take sleeping pills). We had breakfast at the Hotel. There was a light drizzle on and off all day, but no one seemed to care. We grabbed an umbrella and headed out. Normally we would have taken the subway, but a taxi was easier in this weather. By the way Uber works in Tokyo, but rather than an Uber car, it hails you a taxi. You can follow the path of the Taxi as it approaches your pickup point with the Uber app, and you pay via Uber, no money to the Taxi directly.

Our first stop was the newly opened Yayoi Kusama Museum. The museum is very intimate, solely devoted to the art of Yayoi. We first viewed one of her giant polka dot pumpkins on Naoshima Island. I didn’t know that she was a painter. The highlight for me of the museum was the mirrored room. One walks around a very cleverly designed exhibit of her polka dot pumpkins. They are in a room with mirrors on all four sides plus the floor and ceiling. The mirrors are apparently one-way mirrors and you look through the mirror at the reflected exhibit. The lighting changes during the two minutes you are allowed to view the Pumpkins. It is quite a visual treat. If you are ever in Tokyo it is worth a visit.

We taxied to one of our favorite department stores in Tokyo: Matsuya Ginza. Department stores in Tokyo are not like ones in America. They are very high end, very busy and have a full floor selling food: both fresh and prepared. One of Cathy’s favorite designers - the late Jurgen Lehl has a boutique in Matsuya. We explored all of Matsuya, what a store!

I had wanted to purchase a raincoat, and since it was raining, it seemed the perfect thing to do. After shopping at various stores in The Ginza, I found and bought the coat of my dreams at the Issey Miyaki Men’s store. Although we didn’t purchase anything we enjoyed walking The Dover Street Market. This is a seven-story building of the hippest of the hip clothing. Well worth a visit. Ah to be in my 20’s thin and rich. This would be the place to shop. 

An unusual feature in this often rainy climate is that when stores package items for you in store supplied paper bag, they then place the bag with a store label inside a specially designed plastic bag to protect the paper bag from the rain. The plastic bag has slits on the top allowing for the handle of the paper bag to be used.

We returned to the Ritz, rested and then headed to the Club Room - martinis for me and wine for Cathy. In a scene, right out of the movie Lost in Translation, a pretty young women was sitting alone near us. She was crying into her phone as she was speaking to a loved one that was obviously giving her the cold shoulder. The staff was trying to comfort her by refilling her wine and giving her tissues for her tears. We both immediately thought of the movie.

We then left for dinner at a restaurant called: Two Rooms. I hadn’t previously mentioned, but it amazes me that the majority of Japanese people do NOT speak English. Even when presented with directions and a map printed in Japanese, and having available the most sophisticated directional systems, the cab drivers can still have a problem finding correct locations. Often when we are dropped off, we then repeatedly show the map to people on the street and they try to assist us to find our destination.

In this case the driver actually did drop off us almost in front of the restaurant but then pointed us to walk down a side street. We walked to the end of the street and not seeing the restaurant, started asking people for assistance. The problem of getting proper directions is overcome by the wonderful Japanese politeness. Anyone you ask for assistance is happy to help. With the aid of several people we found the restaurant. Right where we were dropped off by the cab!

Cathy gets the award for ordering the best dish of the night - a beautifully grilled piece of pork. I had a less successful fish.  the wine was excellent.

We returned to the hotel for a nightcap in the Club Room. We wonder what happened to the woman crying about her lost love.

By the way for those of you who are watching the current season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, I agree with Larry David - hotel beds should be made untucked.