How it started

Photo taken by the author at Kasai Seaside Park, Tokyo,Japan(2019)

This view startled my heart and made me watch for minutes the endless motions of these creatures. The timing of meeting them was epic too. I knew instantly that beauty prevails in nature. Natural beauty finds you. Nature heals you.

“Invisible threads

Weave us together with love,

Touch,see,taste,hear,smell”

How it all started? With this quote by Paula Arai, from the “The Little Book of Zen Healing” .

A day like no other. Here I was in Tokyo, visiting my friend on a spontaneous getaway with no concern that I would not know what to do or how to fill my day. My friend being there months before me and while not from Japan himself, he seemed to have the natural instinct of a guide. Every day was walks and walks and immersing into the culture and living daily rituals. That day would have been the same except of one important detail - it was pouring cats and dogs. I do not remember thinking too much what to do and with a thought to visit Kasai Seaside Park in mind we checked the map, estimated some reasonable travel time and we even thought it would great to use the subway for a change.

Here we were, with proper umbrellas and well dressed for the chilly weather we started with so much enthusiasm. I dare you not, I can remember exactly our euphoria to explore a different side of Tokyo.

An enthusiasm moving up quickly on a different plane, that of typical questions of bored kids asking there parents continuously” Are we there yet?” . “Seriously, how far longer”? We were the kids and we were asking ourselves. Or, to be even more fair, I was asking my guide!

Coming into a central point of the Tokyo metro system, a huge intersection and connecting metro lanes, we were totally baffled for a minute or more. We lost our orientation entirely and startled, we have tried to look at different signage and various colour mapping that we could not understand at all.

Boredom disappeared. Anxiety settled in. Doubt tagged along. “Shall we give up?” “ Why are we really going to Kasai Seaside Park?” The sea of people moving with precise knowledge towards their destinations was more than overwhelming. We just felt like in a movie.

Something else happened at the same time - it was a moment of awakening. I remember my friend-guide saying “ We came all the way till here, let’s do it. Keep going.What else to do, is raining anyway.” Words of wisdom or clarity. A decision was taken. We have approached an information officer. A very sweet lady with very little knowledge of English language, yet ! With the essential knowledge of the key words, the perfect body language and a very firm set of instructions. The information officer was the catalyst to a brilliant adventure. She has initially started off saying few things only to read cleverly on our faces that we might not be so sure what was the message about. Then, with a jolt of energy, she catapulted from her cubicle, and she asked us through signs to follow her. She took us to the key intersection that we were supposed to find in the first place. And with a very clear, sound voice she said the magic words while showing us in clear gestures: Right-o!, Left-o!, Right-o! .

Believe me. We remember her voice, her presence, her support and her humble attention till this day. The rain was still there, the mass of people and lights and many things happening at once were still very present. And yet, for us everything changed with meeting this sweet dedicated lady.

What anxiety? All gone. We made space for good laughter, jokes, studying umbrellas and rain gear, and simply looking around. There were portions above the ground allowing us to see new parts of Tokyo too and we simply enjoyed the ride.

Jokes and joy aside, it was a long trip with breaking records of steps that day. We might not remember all the breaking points that day, yet I do remember moments of complete tiredness as we had to constantly in alert. To find an exit. To walk and walk and walk. To walk and walk and walk and return! Because it was perhaps a wrong lead.

Let’s start again. And we did.

So here it was Kasai Seaside.

Here we were feeling that we just received gold in some unseen olympics. We made it to the shores in a sort of reverse way, from the city myriads into the horizon of an unknown sea. The clarity perhaps still a bit hazy, well seasoned by the crispiness of the air. We could just take it all in.

We found out pretty quickly that we were in great company. It seemed to be the perfect playground for school kids and daily educational trips. This time, the kids in us that were asking earlier” Are we there yet?” , felt suddenly fitting in right away. The laughter never ceased. There were burst of colours everywhere. The fish inside aquarium on one hand. The colourful raincoats of all kids surrounding us on the other side. We just had to follow their groups and their teacher lead.

Here we were, for a moment liberated from taking decisions ,even as small as Right-o! Or Left-o! . We simply followed groups discreetly. Everyone being so nice in showing the way.

My favourite moment was just around the corner without even knowing. Thinking we have finished the tour inside and we are living the park, we stepped outside. Only to learn that everyone is viewing the penguins island and their swimming pool!.

Say no more, oh…sweet penguins.And there were all these baby penguins too learning to dive and swim.

Standing outside in the rain. Taking in the crisp air. Listening to all little voices giggling, kids and baby penguins. And us, the kids that did not want to grow up for a day! A chorus of all seemingly unrelated strangers turned into a vibrant chorus of joy. Pure joy.

The natural gratitude exclamations followed at every step ever since we met the metro lady. “ So glad we did not give up!”. “It was all worth it”. “Oh my, cuteness overload from all directions.”

Looking back now with a bit of a calmer overview lent with the distance of time and so many other memories in between. It is really this magic effect that can last for years and years and hopefully we could cherish even more so simply by sharing with you here, with other kids or with our loved ones.

The magic is not only in the Kasai Seaside Park and the natural treasures found there. There was magic in the effort, there was magic in finding all our emotions and conquering our doubts. There was magic in the harmony we have found in ourselves, with ourselves (I doubt we ever disagreed in our discussions or what to do next) and just with all that has been presented. The magic was there, in the tangible possibility to reach harmony despite a little daunting start. Or if you prefer another view, finding harmony in spite of it.

The day did not end there of course. We had to return, the same long trip back, would we find out way, and all sort of things. It took forever and now we had so much to talk about and check the photos and make sure we do not miss the intersection the lady so firmly took us too. A bit of a new game in reverse and I guess it worked so well!

Since rain would not stop, we simply took another wise decision - “Let’s call it a museum day! “ This time, walking new charming city streets again just to find the “National Museum of Nature and Science” .The rain just poured and poured. The roads filled with puddles, barely anyone in the street. No more giggles except ours as nothing ever was more beautiful.

We found the museum was hosting a surprise too. A fashion and collage avangarde exhibition - artist names sadly lost in some notes somewhere. Remarkable though ,the images in my head came back to me right away. We were not allowed to take photos inside the museum and this might contribute in such a beneficial way to simply retrieve them from a mysterious drawer inside the brain.

Cherishing with you here the mysteries of a journey. A day of a cold crispy rain leading to an afternoon of warmth, both literal and emerging from the art collection and the beautiful settings of Japan.

Thank you dear guides. Thank you dear friend. Thank you dear author that you chose well and jumped on that plane.