August 7th, 2004
It was a busy Saturday. I had to get up and early. Checking out the local supermarket before boarding the train I came to the sudden realization that something was different. Normally by the entrance there are little displays for whatever flavor of pickles or kimchee they are selling that week. This morning were stacks and stacks of party trays. Ranging from 1000 yen to 2500 yen, they included fried chicken, fried potatoes, and other finger foods perfect for picnics and outside gatherings. Above them are approximately 400,000 rolls of sushi.
Further into the supermarket, about seven feet to be exact, was the egg case. Only this morning the eggs were replaced by very not-egg products. Beer, and lots of them. All the major brands chilled and ready for sale. The eggs were moved to somewhere else. Somewhere I couldn:t find in three minutes, so I just gave up looking for them. Like I said, I had a busy day.
BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS. And only 93 yen. Teh cheep!
According to this sign, it:s "Nihonbashi". Funny thing is that everywhere else I:ve ever seen it it:s spelled "Nihombashi". It:s sort of a pretty big deal to me. But even less interesting is that I was going to a bank! And since this was an important trip to the bank on a Saturday some of you may already see where this is going.
Suruga Bank, Nihombashi branch. 1:58pm. 31 degrees... Also it was closed. Forcing me to cut my losses and try to finding somewhat-interesting things and take their pictures. (I failed at this.)
An imported Cooper! Still has the little round yellowed "GB" sticker on it.
Catching a train ride back to Ikebukuro, I was heading out the North exit when I saw a bird walking around. I tried to scare it up the stairs, but it only flew past me and went into the station. Another thing you don:t see every day. Birds underground.
So here:s the Japanese poster for Fahrenheit 9/11. Comes out on the 15th of August. Crazy thing is that I heard they weren:t bringing it out here, but I guess Moore sure showed them!!
So with Ikebukuro done and most of the afternoon spent well, I got back to Ukima-funado station to find this. Roughly 4,000+ people waiting on the platform. This is because that night was the big Itabashi fireworks festival and Ukima-funado station was the closest stop. My cell phone index tells me this picture was taken at 7:24pm.
Still waiting. The crowd moved at roughly 2 inches a minute. Eleven minutes have passed and I:m only about 20 feet to the stairs leading off the platform, or the half-way point. During that time, another train came and replenished the numbers of those who wanted to slowly crawl towards the ticket gate. Looking down, I see many a people on the staircase.
About this time, looking down on the five flights of stairs congested with uncountable millions of people, I got to thinking that I was glad I didn:t have to fight this same crowd leaving the station after the show. Poor saps.
7:43 and finally the ticket gate is visible! ...It still means a good 2 minutes of polite shoving and bumping into way more strangers than I:m comfortable with but it:s good to see the end. Since getting to the station, a light rain had started. Then it stopped, then it started up again... Something told me that, at best, this would only delay the fireworks half an hour. But with this many people already here, canceling the show wasn:t an option.
Outside the station, the local law and volunteer forces were directing the sea of people and toward my place, which meant that the lines and crowds would continue for some time. This is a shot of one of the patrol cars, its lights jacked up about two feet above the car. I:m sure that there:s another button inside of the car used for switched the vehicle into "mecha-mode". I decided to step inside somewhere and catch a breather.
You might have guessed it: the local McDonalds. They were running a sale on Chicken McNuggets. A box of 45 for 1500 yen. I think there was a waiver you had to sign when ordering one, promising that no less than 6 people would share the McNuggets.
About three minutes into the walk, I could hear and see the first of the fireworks. Just barely though.
So I get home, drop off my book bag and say hi to Tim. Grab a smaller umbrella and head for the hill by the river not two minutes from our apartment. Once I get up there it dawns on me that maybe there could be better places to take a few pictures from. The street lights were glaring up my shots. That and it was raining. So someplace near and indoors sure woulda been nice, I thought...
Ooooooooooooooooooh!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
With the loose rain showers coming and going every four minutes, the 10 minute walk back to the station and the (at best) 15-30 minute wait for a train loomed in these poor souls: future. But at least they got to see them fireworks, huh? Makes it all worthwhile. Me, on the other hand, turned around and walked up the stairs to my apartment, grateful that the usual quiet had returned and I could get back to some Black/Matrix.
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Over all an eventful Saturday. The first one in almost five weeks. The entire show lasted a good 70 minutes, and usually they shot up one, waited a second, shot up another, waited a second, shot up another, waited a second and so on until the crowd fell asleep. They did pick up the pace a little, but personally I woulda liked to have seen 2000 fireworks in 4 minutes rather than 80 fireworks every 4 minutes. But maybe that:s just me.
PEACE!!
