It was the most anticipated purchase i have ever made. In the final weeks leading up to the 11th of July it was bordering on an obsession. Considering i had never owned an Apple product, not even an iPod, i surprised myself at how much i was researching this device, wanting to be up to speed the minute i bought it and minimise the learning curve.
D-day was fast approaching and i was in the same boat as everyone else in Japan, pretty much in the dark with conflicting stories from Softbank, nothing from Apple themselves and listening to a wealth of experts on local forums professing to have all the answers.
Correct, there is NO difference getting one on the first day as there is a month later, except of course for having it sooner, but i still wanted one and wanted one badly.
Probably no less than 10 “plans of attack” were discussed and the second last one being ruled out Thursday afternoon when arriving at Harajuku to see 300+ people in line. The final plan was a trip down to Yodobashi at Machida first thing Friday morning.
The first train from Shinjuku down the line Friday morning is 5.02am. At 9pm i decided this wasn’t early enough so i packed a bag and headed down on the 10.15pm Romance Car, aiming to get to Machida around 11pm.
The 2nd stop for me of the 29 Stops on the JR Yamanote Line is Ebisu, it’s 3 stations from home so an easy one to get too. Prior to today i’d only been out to Ebisu once and that was for an afternoon at the Ebisu Beer Hall with the other members of the language school i was attending.
Ebisu, formally Yebisu before the ‘ye’ was dropped for just an ‘e’ also happens to be a popular beer in Japan and it was actually the beer that named the town and the railway station, not the other way around as many would imagine.
As a place Ebisu would best be described as a quiet place located in the Shibuya ward. Ebisu is conveniently situated next to Shibuya and Roppongi so it’s only a matter of heading on the Yamanote Line or Hibiya Line for a few stops to get into the thick of it. Having said that, there is no shortage of bars and restaurants all with their own individual style which can keep you occupied for many a lazy evening.
Ebisu’s main tourist attraction tends to be centered around the newer Yebisu Garden Place and the Westin hotel area. Accessible from the Ebisu Station East Exit via the “Yebisu Skywalk” covered moving walkway, it features the headquarters of Sapporo Breweries, The Beer Museum Yebisu and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography.
Over the weekend i was lucky enough to attend a Traditional Japanese Wedding in Matsue, Izumo Province, in the Chugoku Region of the Shimane Prefecture …. now that’s a mouthful. It was a short and sharp visit, flying down Saturday morning and back again Sunday.
With pretty much the whole weekend being consumed by the wedding, there was little of no time to get out and about and take photos. Rest assured, next weekend i will resume my travels on the JR Yamanote Line, i certainly wasn’t in good enough shape to head down to Ebisu when i landed Sunday afternoon.
As for the wedding, it was an interesting and thoroughly enjoyable affair and one i can say not too many Gaijin are fortunate enough to experience. The actual ceremony was held at Izumo Taisha, which i believe is the oldest and most important Shinto Shrines in Japan.
Izumo Taisha (出雲大社, Izumo Taisha, also called as Izumo Ōyashiro) is one of the most ancient and important of the Shinto shrines in Japan. Its name means “The Grand Shrine of Izumo.” No record gives the date of establishment. It is dedicated to the god Ōkuninushi-no-mikoto, famous as the shinto deity of marriage.
