Viewing plum blossoms in Tokyo

The picture window in front of me opens on to the vast, lit expanse of Tokyo. Just off centre of this screen is a dark area—the gardens of the Imperial grounds that house the residence of the royal family. The grounds are open to the public only once a year, and the remark­ably orderly line to enter it stretches around several blocks. We have just missed it. But from up here, in my room at the Tokyo Andaz, I can just about see its green landscape.

Below me stretch the glittering lights of the Tokyo megalopolis. For a few seconds I’m inside Akira, the famous sci-fi manga-anime that made one small part of Japan’s culture go mainstream internationally. There’s no need for me to return to reality. ‘The City’ is unreal—37 million people live, in utter and abso­lute synchronicity, in the metropolitan area. When Tarkovsky wanted a city as a model of the future for Solaris, he filmed five silent minutes driving through the streets of Tokyo. Forty-three years on, this me­tropolis still remains a futuristic vision.

Vast televised projections dominate entire façades of buildings. The world’s largest number—per capita—of automated vending ma­chines serve scurrying salaried men and women with everything from dried fish and beer to bananas. In between, pockets of pasto­ral peace, from tiny Shinto shrines to entire villages with orchards create cocoons of calm. I am here to experience one such moment of zen: viewing plum blossoms. It puts me in mind of the 18th-century Buddhist monk Hogan Reikan’s haiku:

Describe plum-blossoms?
Better than my verses…white
Wordless Butterflies

The tradition of viewing ume (plum blossoms) takes place in the cold month of February, before the cherry trees blossom. At the Yushima Tenjin Shrine, students gather to leave prayers on scraps of paper. The trees are scattered in the garden, in some kind of order, I’m certain. Delicate flowers frame the setting under the dampness of the sky. I narrow my eyes, and the skyscrapers sur­rounding it disappear. Here is the essence of the Japanese expe­rience—appreciating the beauty of the natural world despite, or within, the constant toil of human hands. I take a deep breath. There is nothing but this scene. This window into Eden and the self. The rain disappears, the buildings are gone, the air is clean, and you can hear the rustle of the leaves, and see the gentle sway of the branches, heavy with white and pink petals.

It has taken me 14 years to get here. I first studied Japanese Art History at my university in Maryland, when I was desperately try­ing to escape the grey horrors of computer engineering. On this trip, the words and the brush strokes returned. Japan feels like a philosophical home.

For the corporal flesh, I was in another kind of home. There are only 12 Andaz hotels in the world, and, as the name suggests, they are all unique in their view and perception. Befitting its location, the Tokyo Andaz is designed by Tony Chi and the Tokyo-based Shinichiro Ogata using culturally appropriate natural materials that reflect Japanese architecture. Like much that is luxurious in Japan, there is no ostentatious display. No overt indication at the ground level that the top floors of this elegant building hide a hotel, and at our arrival, there is a slight confusion as to whether we’ve reached our destination. Here, quality is meant only for those who know.

You reach the 51st floor of the Toranomon skyscraper to be greeted by tall frames of walnut wood and washi paper screens. The décor is striking when you notice the details, such as an ex­quisite scene of fishes constructed in a wall of pressed paper inside the elevators.

The first evening, we drink champagne in a suite and meet the General Manager, Arnaud St. Exupery, a French expat, elegantly dressed in a tailored suit and cufflinks. St. Exupery. “Hmmm,” I ask myself, “How many St. Exuperys can there be?” Excusez-moi mais il faut que je vous demande, est-ce que vous est le fils ou… Yes, as it turns out, he is related to the writer of The Little Prince.

We’re no longer in Kansas, but in the void of a rabbit hole, Tokyo has a way of making such encounters feel utterly normal.

Behind us, the glittering Tokyo Tower dominates the skyline. We sip a flute of a reasonable non-vintage Veuve Clicquot. It re­minds me of Paris. But then Tokyo has more Michelin-starred res­taurants than any other city in the world. Likely, as the Austrian chef at BeBu restaurant said, because the Japanese are obsessed with the quality of their raw materials and the quest for perfection. The cuisine itself doesn’t have to be Japanese for it to be permeat­ed by its culture—Tokyo feels incredibly homogenous (ethnically and linguistically), yet totally multicultural all at the same time. The burger is one of the best I’ve ever eaten, and the beer is excel­lent as well. It becomes hard to want more, yet, as the days pass, I experience some of the best food the world has to offer.

I wander the city, from experiencing more moments of calm at Shinto shrines, to easy-to-access tea ceremonies, to the famous fish market through which some $6 billion worth of seafood passes every year. Some 70 years ago, my great grandparents had also travelled here en voyage, and I planned, one day, to perhaps revisit their itinerary.

To experience the city without many taxi or metro rides, we de­camp to the Park Hyatt, located in the top 14 floors of the 52-storey Shinjuku Park Tower. I close my eyes and replay Lost in Transla­tion: Bill Murray walks into the Park Hyatt hotel to be greeted by a retinue of Japanese hosts bearing gifts and business cards. After wandering around Shinjuku district, I feel Murray’s befuddlement in the maze-like vertical sprawl of the hotel. “Err… which floor is the lobby on, again?”

I collect my silver key ring and walk into my room, perhaps expecting a fresh-faced Scarlett Johannson, but, alas, that is not to be. Since I am not rushing about for photo assignments, like her, I can live in the room—they are designed for living in, unlike so many hotels. I put on a blue cotton yukata robe and lounge about, staring at the scenes far below, outside the picture window. In the comfort of this book-lined room, every need is catered for, from free Internet to 24-hour room service to a Nespresso machine. Little things make a difference. Not to mention de rigueur robot toilets by Panasonic, which ‘amazes Western guests’ according to the hotel staff. Had the short plane ride transported us to another planet? One with robot toilets?

With so much to discover, the city itself is worth a lifetime. Many cities in the world lay claim to being the centre of the world. Tokyo doesn’t have to, it knows it is the capital of the future, the only city on earth that can help a traveller’s quest for soul-search­ing while leaving the flesh satiated. The quest doesn’t have to be corporal, it can just be eased with five-star luxury, massages, green tea and sushi in Japan while you’re trying to figure out your soul’s purpose. “The journey itself is my home,” said Basho, and this purposeless wanderer agrees.

The information
Getting there
Cathay Pacific flies Delhi-Tokyo (round-trip for about Rs 67,000) and Bombay-Tokyo (round-trip for about Rs 55,000) via Hong Kong. Their business class out of Delhi (round-trip for about Rs 114,000) is wonderful, with more room in their pod-like cabins than my legs needed. The HK-Tokyo hop becomes a bit more commuter-like, with smaller business seats. All Nippon Airways (ANA) flies direct from Delhi to Tokyo (round-trip for about `72,000).

Where to stay
Hyatt’s Tokyo Andaz (from ¥66,000 for doubles incl. breakfast) is one of the newer five-star hotels in Tokyo, housed on the top floors (47-52) of the Toranomon building in Ginza. The 164 guest rooms average an area of 50sqm each. Its restaurants, including the Andaz Tavern, which serves European cuisine using Japanese ingredients, are frequented by locals. Check out the Rooftop Bar (on the 52nd floor), a modern take on a Katsura Rikyu villa, the quintessential example of Japanese architecture.

The famous Park Hyatt (from ¥73,000) is so much like an authentic home away from home with its walls filled with books, comfortable sofas and room furniture, and wonderful views of the city. Beloved of film stars and CEOs, the hotel has three interconnecting pyramidical towers or ‘summits’ marking its top floors. You can spend a zen-like moment in the garden, swim atop Tokyo in the other, or pleasure yourself silly (gastronomically) at the New York Grill in the third.

What to see & do
Tea tasting
Try the matcha green tea at the Ippodo Tea Co. tea salon in Marunouchi, Tokyo. The green tea powder is whisked quickly with hot water, into a kind of intense umami-flavoured froth, and consumed with sweetmeats. Founded in 1717 in Kyoto, Ippodo is a high-quality purveyor of all kinds of tea.

Plum blossom viewing
The Yushima Tenman-gu Shinto shrine in Bunkyo was established in 458CE, with the spirit deity of ‘Ameno-tajikaraono-mikoto’ enshrined within. But it is for Tenjin, the Kami of learning, that students visit before important exams to pray for success and leave behind votive offerings. The plum tree grove around the shrine blossoms in February and March and attracts viewers to enjoy the Ume Matsuri viewing festival.

Sushi
We ate at one of the many small and resonably priced sushi restaurants in front of the Tsukiji fish market in central Tokyo, where the freshness of the seafood was immediately evident to the palate. I wasn’t hungry for fish early in the morning, but from the moment I ate the first slice of raw tuna, I was hooked. The flavour and quality were perfect. Before realising it, I’d finished a 21-piece platter. However, if you’ve got the money and patience, you could also book a table at the three Michelin-starred Sukiyabashi Jiro, which became even more famous after the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. The trag­edy of Jiro’s life, according to Roger Ebert, is that there will never ever be four stars.

Buy a kimono
Visit the 110-year old Chojiya kimono retailer just next door to the Andaz, in the Toranomon area. The store owner will give you a demonstration of her finest wares, dating back to the store’s origins in Kyoto, and teach you how to wear a kimono too.