Back to Tokyo

Disneyland?!

I am skeptical at best toward Disney, which is part of the group doing their best to corporatize recreation in the U.S.  But my two stepsons had been looking forward to visiting Tokyo's Disneyland (formally known as "Tokyo Disney Resort") ever since we started making plans to come to Japan.  So last week, we made the trek. 

Our travel preparations were a bit rushed, so we wound up staying in a vast hotel in Chiba City, several train stops down the Tokyo Bay waterfront from the theme park.  The Prince Makuhari hotel is 45 stories tall and has over 1000 rooms.  As we took the glass elevator up to our room after dinner, I couldn't help but think of a book I read some time ago entitled Great Planning Disasters.  The hotel is across the street from a big multipurpose sports/convention center venue called the Makuhari Messe, as well as the very cute stadium where the Chiba Lotte Marines baseball team plays.  The hotel felt like a huge relic of the great Tokyo property boom of the late 1980's, when it was assumed that the good times were just starting.... The rooms were comfortable, but not many people were in the hotel on a Sunday night. The view from our 36th floor room was fabulous despite the haze.  But with my history of being in earthquakes, being up that high made me a bit nervous and I didn't sleep very well.

The bad news about our choice of hotel was that we had to take a Monday morning commuter train (on the Keiyo Line) toward downtown Tokyo.  It was crowded when we got on...and then hordes more people pressed their way in at every stop.  Our most crowded train yet.  At our stop, we just had to say "sumimasen" over and over and push our way out....

Our timing turned out to be impeccable.  We toured Tokyo Disneyland the day that true summer weather really arrived. By 8:30 am it was very hot and humid and the big crowds lined up to get in (including all of us) were sweating like mad.  Luckily, the crowds inside were really quite reasonable and we zipped around the park from ride to ride with very little waiting.  The rides were fun, especially Space Mountain. (I have great memories of riding Space Mountain with my Dad at the original Disneyland in Anaheim when he was nearly 80 years old--it scared him witless but he loved it). The kids enjoyed having their pictures taken with the "cast members" including Brer Bear.  We felt for the kids working inside those heavy costumes on such a hot day.  It's no wonder some of the "cast members" occasionally go over the top (the Japan Times recently had a hilarious article on some of their antics).  That will be my last trip to a theme park for a while.....

After we left the park, we took the train into Tokyo to meet up with our hosts for the night.  Rachel's Japanese teacher at South Puget Sound Community College (and my tutor), Aki Peebles, was kind enough to arrange for us to stay with her parents, Dr. Suzuki and his wife Reiko, at their house in northern Tokyo.  Their lovely old home is amazing: somehow it managed to survive the great earthquake and fire in the city in 1923 as well as the bombing of the city during the war.

Alas, after the delightful dinner they served us that night and a quick run the next morning, I had to fly home on the Nozomi shinkansen (at least it felt like flying!) so I could teach my class the next day.  Rachel and the kids were able to stay an extra 2 1/2 days and see much more of Tokyo.  We greatly appreciate their kindness and hospitality. 

Comments

[Mary Van Verst]

Larry,

This journal is wonderful. Several members of the ASPA Evergreen Chapter have appreciated it, as well. We'd like to work with you on an article for the PA TIMES, including part of your accounts thus far, and your interactions with HAPSA members. I hear that you'll be giving a lecture for HAPSA soon.

Continue to enjoy each day there.

Mary