Bringing Home the Beacon: Day One in Wonder City

Home 3.5 weeks since Tokyo, jetlag looms but experiences resonate from eight days and nights in the flowery city. 

With thanks to the team at HITO-Communications Inc. for their generous hospitality, my first full date in Japan (17 Sept.) included a half-day trio of tourism experiences designed for international media registered with World Athletics. 

After boarding our bus at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium--site of 1964 Olympic gymnastics, 2020 Olympic table tennis and our World Championships accreditation pickup--the tour entourage with about 20 journalists from Australia, U.K., Slovakia and USA set out for Takarayu, which we learned is one of six remaining sento public bathhouses in the capital and 430 nationwide (down from 2,600 in 1968). 

Nestled in a low-rise residential area near barber shops and small markets, the family-owned business' name means "treasure hot spring" according to handout materials, from which the following details were also noted.  

Currently operated by the founder's grandsons, great-granddaughter and other employees with tenures over 70 years, the sento's current shrine-inspired building opened in 1938, now with features including:

• 
  A wrap-around veranda overlooking an Oniwa Japanese garden featuring dozens of koi and seasonal hydrangeas, a lovely place for tea and meditation before or after the bathing experience

• Numerous carvings, sculptures and paintings--including panoramic murals over the bathing areas--featuring guardian deities or award-winning likenesses of Mt. Fuji and its neighboring lakes

• 
  Nods to nostalgia, like yellow buckets known as "icons of the sento" popularized by a Japanese pharmaceutical company, or imported touches like a spa from Finland installed in 1986

While walking together barefoot was the closest our group got to nudity, sento tradition calls for all patrons to don their birthday suits in gender-specific sections of the venue (our blended tour was on the men's side). 

With some post-visit research inspired by the owner's presentation, I learned this comfortable group nudity is a form of camaraderie or "skinship" as "everyone is equal" in the sento scene, aka hadaka no tsukiai. For a thrill, a few of us dipped our arms to the elbows, immersing them in a low voltage "electric bath" in which pulses of electricity visibly vibrated the skin with current strong enough to buzz one's bones along the edge of discomfort. Coincidentally, the electrified tub resided near the floor-to-ceiling "Hell Painting" in vivid red hues. 

With our group photo and brief return-to-bus hike complete, tour stop two brought us to the 27 level Asakusa View Hotel and its top floor "Musashi" Sky Grill Buffet restaurant, a sumptuous experience blending Asian and Western cuisine (my cousin tells me the name refers to a famous warrior and subject of a fresh National Geographic article). 

I made a point of trying the exotic-to-me jellyfish salad (gooey with some zing) and a grilled kebab of octopi (chewy) but avoided a few mystery dishes (even the English descriptions spelled too much risk for my palate). Also, fell in love with the fresh juice bar with acai smoothies, a sweet and tasty Brazilian treat last enjoyed during the Rio 2016 Games. 

But even the best chef-crafted dishes at Mushashi are upstaged by the dining room's panoramic views facing Tokyo's oldest temple, Senso-ji, and its neighbor Asakusa Shrine (both of which top the to do list for my next Japan visit), with Asahi's beer glass-shaped world headquarters and its distinctive "flame object" (aka "golden turd") also visible from the hotel. My cousin shared that the designer of this Flamme d'or, Phillippe Starck, drew inspiration from an Olympic flame. 

The lunchtime vista also foreshadowed our third tour stop to, and my eyes' first views of, the globe's third-tallest freestanding structure, Tokyo Skytree. 

While my hunch before arrival was that the world's loftiest broadcast tower would be visible from anywhere across Tokyo, that assumption proved untrue. 

Rather, my first sightings of the 2,080-foot/634m building were from the penthouse lunch and from street level a few blocks from arrival, where our driver plunged his vehicle into a subterranean parking lot expansive enough to fit fifty -- that's 50! -- tour buses. Since our party including official Tokyo tourism officials, we parked in space No. 1, naturally). 

Inside the tower's base, I found the cavernous lobby akin to Lower Manhattan's National Sept. 11 Memorial atrium in terms of comfortably accommodating thousands of daily visitors and keeping them engaged whilst waiting in long lines for four custom express Toshiba elevators -- each designed to highlight traditional and elegant Japanese handicrafts celebrating each season -- built to whisk 40 passengers at a time. By the way, advance ticket purchases are very strongly suggested for families, couples and/or solo travelers. 

Our group was treated to views from an "off limits" peek up the tower's frame, an "architectural upskirt view" a U.K. reporter quipped to the groans of some and bewilderment of our hosts. 

Strangely, my ears did not pop when we unloaded on what is named Floor 350 (the levels correspond with meters above terra firma). Our first stop: The W1SH Ribbon monument at which visitors may purchase a gashapon vended bubble enclosing a swatch of colored fabric on which guests write their hopes or dreams for others or themselves. 

It was fun to tether my green-n-Sharpie edition on a branch near Olympic and World Champion Sergei Bubka tied his message the previous day, according to our guide. 

I spent our remaining time at Tembo Deck snapping photos and spotting landmarks across the cityscape. 

One unexpected sight was the outdoor window washers smiling back at dazed tourists. 

Though not as knee-quake terrifying as Chicago's Skydeck, there's also an expanse of glass flooring for those who wish to look at SkyTree's design from up top to bottom (cue the overheard Brit wit comment "downblouse!" views).  

The entourage then ascended to the Tembo Galleria at 450m, which features a wrap-around ramp to reach on foot the tour's apex at 451.2m, Sorakara Point, for more views. 

Sadly, the afternoon sky and horizon was only clear enough to make out the mountain range to our west, but not the all-star attraction, Fujisan. 

But our SkyTree experience did include a view of Mt. Fuji in that to promote the tower's home district and its hundreds of years of cultural history, as well as less-celebrated green initiatives, developers and Tokyo University's faculty of international tourism management collaborated to create "a traditional hands-on craft learning program for our sustainable planet" or #SusPla, from the first three letters of the last two words. 

Our handicraft du jour: Make your own mini screen, offered by Kataoka Byoubu, which enabled each member of our tour to create and take home a Edo keepsake. To recall the day, my screen selection was a semi-glossy version of Red Fuji, the famous woodblock print, and the mini screen now adorns a bedroom bookshelf. 

The hands-on program also offers Kimekomi fabric ball crafting and other cultural experiences. We all had a great time with our glue-coated paint brushes, but none of us were having a ball. 

Each of our tour hosts, from the bus team and guides to the owners of Takarayu and instructors at Kataoka Byoubu, earned sustained ovations and expressions of domo arigato for creating a fantastic introduction to several aspects of Tokyo. 

I also appreciated the Tokyo Metro Government office for providing a helpful brochure for the city, and interesting read during a family cafe meal en route to Japan National Stadium for my first night at the World Championships (more on that in next post to this site).  

A few nights later at another penthouse viewing point I caught my only nighttime glimpses of the SkyTree, brilliantly illuminated in violet for the World Athletics Championships, bringing to mind the tower's Olympic hues during the Tokyo 2020 Games-turned-2021 (see below). 

Tokyo shows the world how to bring home the beacon. 

Image credits: Top photo by Jordan McChesney; most other photos by Nicholas Wolaver except the screen image of Red Fuji via this retail site. Olympic and Tokyo 2025 images copyright Tokyo-Skytree

Blue Music To My Eyes

I am so pleased the powers that be at Tokyo 2020 went with my first choice for their new and improved official logo.

The fresh and geometric design was unveiled this week from a field of nearly 15,000 entries and four finalists shared earlier this year.

According to the organizing committee's official statement, the design is from a former architecture student turned artist, Asao Tokolo, whose website Tokolo.com features some pretty cool other works and designs.

I dig some of the back story to the design as well -- it's simple and clean, and should translate well when transformed into vibrant "look of the Games" pieces.

My expectation is that the indigo blue -- a sign of "refined elegance and sophistication," may eventually be turned into an array of other color schemes and even presented in a three-dimensional form, as the rectangles of varying sizes may be easily assembled like LEGO pieces.

Those three different shapes, by the way, are indicative of "different countries, cultures and ways of thinking."

Indigo and midnight blue are longtime personal favorites of the color wheel, and for unknown reasons the logo instantly brought to mind music blue references starting with Madonna's 'True Blue" and Joni Mitchell's "Blue" album. If you want to get technical with Japanese color traditions, check out this document and this site for a rainbow -- that's 虹 in Japan -- of history.

Nothing but love for Mr. Tokolo's great work. Paraphrasing Ms. Mitchell's lyrics to "All I Want," ... Applause - Applause!

Photo via TheBlaze.comhttp://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/AP16116327260411.jpg and Channel News Asia

Dreamers & Believers Celebrate 25 Years Since Atlanta's Olympic Wishes Came True

Twenty-five years ago -- Sept. 18, 1990 -- Atlanta won its Olympic bid to host the 1996 Games.

Tonight the bid's originator, William Porter "Billy" Payne, hosted a classy anniversary event to say thank you and celebrate the "Dreamers & Believers" who shared his five-ringed vision as early as 1987.

In a tent filled with about 400 friends at Centennial Olympic Park, Payne proudly explained his remarks for the evening were "25 years in the making" before rolling a video unveiling two new monuments coming soon to the urban park he created.

The additions include custom marble benches honoring key Atlanta business leaders (Jim Kennedy, Bill Dahlberg, Bob Holder, Bennett Brown, Herman Russell and Ivan Allen III) first to embrace the Olympic bid. A new marble column featuring the names of the "Atlanta Nine" volunteers who led the bid committee will also join the statue of Payne installed in 1997. 

Though more details remain to be announced, Payne briefly mentioned a capital campaign in the works to provide other park improvements in time for next year's 20th Anniversary of Atlanta's Games, which will take place on the eve of the Rio 2016 Olympics. 

Introduced by Payne as the keynote speaker of the evening, bid partner Ambassador Andrew Young put into perspective several Atlanta milestones of the 25 years since the city's Olympic victory.

Young referenced the city's rapid growth (more than 25 percent, according to a state representative who spoke earlier in the evening), successful collaborations (to build the world's busiest airport, create MARTA, and to pursue then host the Games) and details of his initial conversations with Payne when Young was Atlanta's mayor. Young said Montreal's $750 million debt from the 1976 Games made his staff members reluctant for Young to meet with the 34-year-old Payne. 

"[But] I heard Billy got this [Olympic bid] idea after church," said Young. "I'm a preacher and I know now the Lord works on you, and when an aging jock in midlife crisis gets religion ... that's the way the Spirit works." He took the meeting and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Other party presenters included WSB's Monica Kaufman, who was in Tokyo covering the 1990 vote, and Charlie Battle, the Atlanta attorney credited with visiting more nations during the bid and for helping forge the most friendships with voting IOC members. Other VIP attendees included former Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games CFO A.D. Frasier, Cohn & Wolfe co-founder Bob Cohn, a longtime Olympic collector whose firm provided early public relations counsel for the Atlanta bid team's domestic campaign, and University of Georgia football coaching legend Vince Dooley, for whom Payne played years before his Olympic feats and current role as chairman of Augusta National Golf Club.

During his remarks detailing the bid committee milestones of 1988 to 1990, Battle called out several volunteers including Atlanta Marriott Marquis concierge Albert "Smitty" Smith who charmed many IOC leaders and staff.

"[Smitty] is one of the first people IOC friends ask about when I travel and see them," said Battle.

Battle also mentioned the bid team's early events that wooed the U.S. Olympic Committee away from competing bids from San Francisco, Minneapolis and Nashville. He detailed the scrappy manner through which Atlanta created an "Atlanta House" in Seoul during the 1988 Olympics and around the 1989 IOC Session held in Puerto Rico. 

Forging friendships across the Olympic Family echoed as key to the win, according to remarks from Battle, Payne and Young. Since the rules of Olympic bidding now forbid voting IOC member visits to candidate cities, its likely Atlanta's networking techniques were a first- and last-time option for Olympic bid committees of the 2010s and beyond.

Young said Atlanta proved to have a lot more Olympic connections than anticipated, including then-USOC Treasurer Dr. Leroy Walker as a local high school graduate, and Edwin Moses as a top Olympian of 1976 and 1984. 

Young attributed divine intervention, through his U.S. Ambassador assignments from President Jimmy Carter, as federal duties that helped him renew existing connections to up to 55 voting IOC members on behalf of Atlanta. In Young's mind, things started adding up that "The city was ready for it" and "we did it."

During a media Q&A prior to the event, I asked Young if he could recall waking up in Tokyo on Sept. 19 after reality over the victory may have set in for the team.

"The first thought I had was, 'Damn! We won this thing and we're broke,'" said Young. "They [the IOC] gave us a letter saying that we won, but it was also a bill for $1.5 million for the victory party. I said, 'Thanks, you gave us the Olympics and a bill to start with?" 

Like tonight's gathering, that was one party worth every penny.

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver