Looking around

The journey to Nihon Minkaen an open air folk museum involved taking a number of trains from Shirokanedai where Michele's apartment is to Mukogaokayuen (love the names!). I had a bit of an epiphany when I realized that the Japanese have their own version of Tai Chi which probably is called Tee Cee (train commuting)- it is as skillful as Tai Chi and involves a number of specifically named and elaborate "positions". The major ones we saw in practice today were the "Approaching the station" this involved standing with feet firmly planted and slightly apart, knees slightly bent and slight indiscernible pressure on feet allowing leaning in the opposite direction from that of the train's motion. "Departing the platform" involved similar skill and positioning but in the opposite direction to ensure stability. Both of these positions required arms to be by the side. Advanced forms of each of these positions were also witnessed these being "Reading & holding book/newspaper in one hand" or "Drinking from an open container" or "Single-handed cell phone message receipt/sending". The most dangerous "position" witnessed was sleeping standing up resting head on door- the danger in this position is that when one snaps ones head up in mid snooze one may bang it rather nastily on the door. All positions required great skill. We were in a compartment that had had the seats raised to enable more commuters to practice their Tee Cee in comfort!
We changed trains at Shinjuku which is a major hub for the subway system and JR rail where one has a choice of about 11 different routes/lines. We used the trusty Suica card and made it to our destination without too much trouble- we were beginning to become quite skillful developing our Tee Cee skills.

The open air museum provides illustrations of traditional architecture. There were 25 historical buildings which had been relocated to the museum- they dated from around the 17th and 18th centuries. It was a lovely warm sunny day so walking around was very pleasant other than the school groups we needed to avoid but the place was large enough that it didn't spoil our cultural and viewing experience.
I was quite taken with the shapes and textures of the buildings- the thatched roofed houses were similar to the guest house (ryokan) we had stayed in a number of years ago. The typical decoration of the eaves and the storage of wood and household equipment were simple and gave us the opportunity to take loads of photos.
Looking back at the photos I became a little obsessed with trying to get the perfect shot of the fire place and cooking pots.
Having looked around the museum for about two or so hours we walked back in to the town and had lunch at a ramen (noodle soup) shop. Perched on stools facing a wall we slurped our way through a delicious lunch that had the soup and gyoza and rice.
A bit of compulsory shopping and then off to the train to come home and there making their way to the same train as us (as it turns out) were two women in kimono who it would appear had been out for a day of shopping. The contortions I went through trying to surreptitiously get a photo of them. Shuffling up behind them I managed to get a photo of them heading to the train and then one of them had to hunt for her train ticket and I rushed ahead to get the photo of the front of them. Very bad acting on my part of "Oh Michele you moved now let me get a better photo of you!" Serves me right- when I came to go in through the station gate my trusty Suica card wouldn't work! Panic on my part but easily sorted at the gate booth.
We have seen a variety of fashions over the past few days but perhaps that requires a separate blog all its own.