May 2007
Golden Week is a week of public holidays in Japan. This is a very busy time and one does not want to travel anywhere unless absolutely necessary. Unless you are a hard-working Japanese person who has no other holidays to look forward to. The public holidays making up Golden Week are; Showa Day on the 29th of April, Constitution Day on the 3rd May, Greenery Day on 4th May and Children's Day on the 5th. Or something like that - as far as I can tell, public holidays here are pretty flexible and can take in extra days to make this week easier to manage.
The British School in Tokyo don't recognise it as a holiday, so it's school run as usual - apart from the lack of traffic. And the British Embassy only closes for a couple of days, so Tim has a bit of work before some time off.
I'm getting into a nice little routine now. Each Tuesday, after the kids have been dropped off at school, Peggy, Yoko, Deborah and I meet for coffee and chat at Starbucks near Omotesando. It's a lovely custom and I really enjoy the opportunity to chat to adults and learn about the different cultures and interest of Peggy (Indonesian) and Yoko (Japanese). Deb is a Brit, like me. Our kids have regular playdates too. We've chosen Tuesdays for our regular meet because one of my favourite shops is closed on that day, therefore saving me a lot of money!
Sometimes we wander around Omotesando after coffee. This is a particularly upmarket shopping street in Tokyo with all the designer shops lined up one after the other: Chanel, Gucci, Celine, Chopard, Louis Vuitton, Missoni, et al. As well as Kiddyland - a cornucopia of mayhem. It's a children's toy store and is always heaving with teens looking for the latest kawaii trend. The other main attraction here is Oriental Bazaar - a Mecca for all tourists to Japan. Once you've been here a while, you realise it's pretty much all overpriced tat but for now, it's a fascinating place full of typical Japanese gifts. I've bought a couple of antique obi from there which hang on my walls and it's an ideal place to find English books about Japanese culture.
The shop I love best is FujiTori which is the one that's closed on Tuesdays… I've spent quite a few hours in there chatting to the charming owner who seems impressed with my choices and recently acquired knowledge (through avid reading) on all kinds of Japanese arts and crafts. He compliments me on my "black eyes", meaning I see beauty in the Japanese way and understand the culture. No wonder I spend so much in there!
