明けましておめでとうございます

It's difficult to walk, if you've had 3 plates of pasta, 3 pizzas, a bowl of chips and two salads. Such are the dangers of 1500 yen all-you-can eat extravaganzas. The result is watching the New Year roll in at Ueno Station; only a handful of other people in "I-wish-I-was-somewhere-else" predicaments for company. At least the music changes to a pleasant Japanese classical music pastiche featuring a koto.

We decide to walk off some calories by footing it to Asakusa. The streets are completely deserted until we stumble upon a shrine I hadn't visited for 4 years.

Desipte a bursting stomach, the ame-zake served at the shrine slides in without a hitch. However, the queue for New Year's prayers is a little long and I am anxious to see the source of a tolling bell.

The queue to ring the bell is also long. 20 minutes. There's another one in the neighbourhood and another queue.

Finally, we make it to the main temple in Asakusa and the biggest queue I've ever seen. We go home.

The following day we hop on the train to Tokyo station and go to see the Emperor. Countless riot busses. A bag check. A body check. Ordinary police. Police with sunglasses. Police in black suits and sunglasses with ear-pieces. I can't help being excited by finally crossing the moat and going into the palace.

The buildings within are a little disappointing. 1970s modern Japanesque architecture. The crowd is also of a surprisingly modest size; mostly old people and a disproportionate number of foreign tourists. At exactly 14:20 the Imperial family emerges and the flag-waving starts at shouted commands of several officials stationed within the crowd. It's actually pretty creepy. One guy waves a WWII imperial army flag. Nobody bothers him.

The Emperor is a kindly looking old man. He wishes happiness for the citizenry, prays for world peace, waves to everyone and the whole ritual is over within minutes.

The crowd slowly descends down the Imperial driveway in a very orderly manner. Several officials walk with large placards in English which read: "Please walk slowly and carefully." I guess that it's only the troublesome foreigners who need reminders on how to walk... In any case the entire crowd makes an amicable exit to enjoy the blue skies outside.