A Fair-ly Royal Day in Tokyo

Guilt can be a powerful motivator. A few weeks ago I was feeling guilty about not being able to travel to Mt. Takao with some of the other Ikebana ladies to make arrangements for the field trip we've planned for this coming spring. I had already promised to take some people to Asakusabashi that day. Then I had to say no to a practice session for another upcoming Ikebana program because I had a JAW commitment. So when they called for volunteers to man a fundraising booth at the annual Ikebana International Fair in Tokyo and my calendar was open, my guilty conscience pulled a string and my hand immediately responded.  Weather Explorer raised her hand too.  Have I ever mentioned that she's Catholic too?

"What have we gotten ourselves into now?" "I haven't a clue other than we have to be awake by 5:30 am to get to Shiba Park on time."  Good Lord.

The Russian ladies

The Fair covered two ballrooms on the second floor of the Tokyo Prince Hotel. The first room was filled with enormous flower arrangements and the second room, even larger, was crammed with tables assigned to dozens of embassies. Those embassy booths were a pleasant surprise. Our Kamakura chapter shared table space with Ikebana International. They sold t-shirts and we sold American Christmas products (our wide wired ribbon was quite the crowd pleaser).

The Peruvian emissaries.  I'm pretty sure one was a local hire.

Thanks to an overbundance of Kamakura Ikebana volunteers, Weather Explorer and I only had to cover our booth for one hour. That gave us 2.45 hours to shop and 15 minutes to check out the flower arrangements.

Peru was next to Saudi Arabia

The embassies sold a variety of goods. Cuba had cigars, Belgium was pushing waffle cookies, some African countries offered food I had no desire to taste, and Jordan and Russia both had ornaments simply begging to adorn my Christmas tree.

The Ikebana International Fair might be the best kept secret in Tokyo.  Not any more, of course, because I'm not good at keeping secrets (and rather abhor them, truth be known).

Next year I think I'll postpone much of my Christmas shopping until the first week of December.

American Christmas products delight Princess Takamado

Princess Takamado, the Honorary President of Ikebana International, opened the Fair. She and her entourage visited each table and made a few purchases. Princess Takamado struck me as a very classy lady. Her father is a Japanese industrialist who was transferred to England when she was a child. She is fluent in English and a 1975 graduate of Cambridge University.

She has three daughters born between 1986 and 1990. Her husband, Prince Takamado, passed away in 2002 from a heart attack while playing squash at the Canadian Embassy. Oddly, the Canadian Embassy was also where she first met her husband.

I didn't spot a Canada booth at the Fair but I'm not drawing any conclusions. I also didn't see the United States. Why not? Seriously, why not?

This is how I look when I get up at 5:30 am. 

The coat check girls

The Tokyo Prince Hotel has a coat retrieval system worth mentioning.  When I handed my numbered plastic disc to the clerk who waved at me, she handed me a rectangular plastic tag decorated with a big P.  The P matched the 'name' badge she wore on her vest.  Two seconds she zipped back out of the closet with my coat which was folded neatly inside out and sheathed in a clear plastic bag.  We exchanged the P tag for the coat.

An overly elaborate system?  Perhaps.  But who can argue with speedy, efficient service?  The Tokyo Prince Hotel sure knows how to make a girl feel like a (slightly guilty) princess.