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My connection flight to Chicago got changed to a sidetrip to Washington Dulles. I got to stop at a mini-Fuddrucker I remembered from business trips, and my final arrival in Japan was only 2 hours later than first scheduled. Plus I got to see this ATM:

I'm sure they get these jokes all the times, but man! Who let him have a bank? (But then later when I saw the current Yen/Dollar exchange rate, below 100 for the first time in a long while, I myself felt ready to sing Moon River...ZING!)

The flight on ANA (All Nippon Airways) was fine. Inseat video technology has improved since my last international flight, or Japan does it better. Jet Blue had DirecTV, but on this flight every chair had its own video library, so you could pick from about 20-odd films, pause, rewind, etc. There were also some basic time killing video games and the old standby channels of music etc.

My last minute seat change had put me in the "families with kids" section, but I admired the little bassinet things the attendants could fasten to the wall in front of the seats:


My friend Josh met me at the airport. He's lived a total of 9 years in Japan, and lives just outside of Tokyo with his wife Tomomi and their young daughter Erin. We took a few trains from Narita (an airport built kind of against the will of the rice farmers who were living there, but certain concessions were made) to his place in Chiba. The train seating was "subway" style, but often the seats were nicely padded and cushy:


Same car a bit later, giving more of a feel of it:


Josh describes the vibe of Chiba as being roughly "Coolidge Corner"-ish. I could see that, with the caveat that stores and buildings tend to be brighter and more garish than their American counterparts. Here's Chiba on a rainy Friday night:

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I adore the controls of Josh and Tomomi's microwave/toaster/convection oven. Why haven't I seen color icons on one of these type of products before?


At the risk of stereotyping, the Japanese love their umbrellas:


Sidewalks in big cities and walkways at train stations have interesting tactile paths for the blind. They combine these lines with another tile pattern more like rivets, for indicating when the path is no long a straight line:



There is a drink called "Calpis". The phonetic reading of that is not a coincidence, but actually it's very tasty, a kind of lemony milky flavor. (Better than the infamous Pocari Sweat, which is kind of a bland gatorade flavor.)


Japan is 13 hours into the future, and it shows: modern trains have these useful video screens over the doors. They even tell you if they're the side that's going to open or not!


An image of Kannon, overlooking where Josh used to live, photo from the train.


After about 2 hours of train rides - with 3 train changes, painless but I'm dreading doing them on my own a bit - Josh and I first visited Engaku-ji, a Zen Buddhist temple, actually a series of buildings, full of Buddhas and giant bells perfectly set among the steep hills and cedars. An image from there:


At the risk of being stupid... hey look! The Triforce from Nintendo's Legend of Zelda! (Mitigating factor: at least I didn't take photos of and make dumb jokes about the reverse swastika. These guys had prior dibs!)


Giant bell, rung on New Year's, at the top of a STEEP set of stairs that might've helped prime a bit of a sore knee later (nothing some advil didn't more or less clear up though.)


So another thing the Japanese love: vending machines! Outside of stores:


Near Zen Temples:


And in giant quantities in town:


So after a lunch of soba noodles ("Foreigners!" exclaimed one of the hostesses at the little noodle place as we entered. "Foreigners who speak Japanese," clarified Josh) we headed to the Shinto shrine Tsurugaoka Hachiman temple.

Shinto temples have a trough with dippers for washing of hands. Plus, you often see the guardians "Ah" and "Un" (err, the names are aout the Japanese equivalent of "A" and "Z" or maybe "Alpha" and "Omega", more info)





Typical view of the temple and its stairs:


Me and Josh in front of a giant wall of Saki, probably all sponsors of the shrine. Damn, I need to start tucking that shirt in, I think it unfairly looks like maternity wear on me:


This photo illustrates two things: there are pigeons at Tsurugaoka that will actually fly in to land on you. Also, many, many Japanese wear these surgical mask looking things this time of year to keep out the pollen. After a while it moves from the weird to the intriguingly mysterious, sort of a "what's behind the veil" kind of thing.


Just a billboard I liked, also gives kind of a feel of the surrounding town.


Pseudo-artsy closeup of random kanji for the word Inside, I think Josh said, from a larger monument.


So cars in Japan are: A. narrow, but tall. and B. generally replaced every 3 years or so because of a prohibitive tax on older cars (kind of the reverse of how it is in the USA) There are a few SUVs though, which get extra mirrors attached, I guess to help see around on narrow streets:


Josh tells me that Japanese people put out bottles of water in a belief that cats won't pee there. Josh himself doesn't feel that this theory - err - holds water:


There were also a lot of political posters, mostly with guys making fists.


Then up another steep hill to a Shinto cave (Zeniarai Benten) to engage in some good-luck money laundering. Well, washing:


Finally off to Daibutsu, the giant Buddha!


No seriously, this is a BIG Buddha... 750 years old, cast in bronze, you can pay 20 yen (about a quarter) and walk around inside. Between that and the giant bells I was looking at before, I figured that they really had metallurgy down back then! After a Tsunami, this Buddha was all that was left in the area...


My first photo idea was dancing to I LIKE BIG BUDDHAS AND I CANNOT LIE - the photos weren't so great, but I like the expression of the girls behind me.

Finally, just an oddly cropped photo with the Buddha, the blue sky, and if you look really closely, a hawk.


I don't know much Japanese but I think it says "beware of men in uniform who will put your hat on a stick and lower it to the kanji below".


Train station billboard. I post it hear only to admit that yes, I actually asked Josh what a "Lo-Cal" train would be about, like some kind of diet thing?


Then we took a few more trains to Yokohama. This is the Landmark Tower, Japan's tallest building. "Only" 69 stories or so (or at least that's where the Sky Garden is) but it has the world's fastest elevator:


A great view. There area also has a mini-amusement park, with what was the world's biggest Ferris Wheel 'til the London Eye showed up:


Just to be clear, the ferris wheel boasts a GIANT DIGITAL CLOCK. Complete with blinking seconds indicator. I <3 Japan.


Attached is 5 stories of shopping goodness at the Landmark Plaza...


...which had the only curving escalator I remember seeing in my whole life... weirdly disconcerting in its elegance, you just don't expect an escalator to DO that:


Random Engrish T-shirts, I like the one that says LOCAL ONLY: Enjoy The Life More Because It Is Short


PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN - WHERE AT LEAST I KNOW I HAVE A MINIMUM OF 36 KINDS OF MUFFIN


To end the day we stopped at Yokohama's China Town: yes, I know it seems a bit ornery to go to a Chinatown in Japan, but Josh was very familiar with the restaurants in the area and we had a really tasty dinner. This is the traditional gate marking the entrance to the area:


Then on the train home, I found a poster advertising the upcoming Red Sox vs A's Opener in Japan:


Finally, back in Chiba, I found a peanut, found a peanut, found a peanut last night...


On that note....good night!

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This is what a Tokyo rail and subway map looks like. It is not a simple thing:


You do see more uniforms in Japan, I imagine it's an aspect of the pride in their work. This lady is one of those folks I mentione meant to warn people getting off the train about the construction:


Shin-Matsudo station, near where Josh lives:


First glimpse of Akihabara, the electronic district of Tokyo. We met up with my old college buddy Alex who lives in Tokyo.


The first thing we hit seemed to be a bit of a hobbyist center, 5 or 6 floors, each about a different hobby. Here is a racetrack on the second floor, one of the model builders behind:


Next floor: guns! CO2 and battery powered.


Some political commentary on the gun floor:


The basement was about, well, porno. Though I can't imagine what this was, must be some kind of novelty cup holder.


We then went to the grand department store Yodobashi-Akiba, like 9 or 10 stories. Here's what it looks like on the outside, including the electronic billboard.


An on the inside, you can see it's pretty hopping!


On the ninth floor we went to "Pepper Lunch". You place your order using a vending machine that gives you the appropriate coupon which you give to the waitstaff. Like many vending machines here, especially ones that have products at different prices, a light shines next to each selection for which you've inserted enough yen.


My meal, which was some tasty pepper steak, served raw-ish on a hot skillet, so you get to cook it yourself... fun, and tasty!


Typical Japanese hand drier... almost a matter of trust as you hold both hands in the mouth of the thing:


Back to the department store! A few places around the district I saw these kid-sized arcade games...


Including Pokemon, where you could battle people at other machines.


So this store tended to have vast selections of many things, like dozens and dozens of Playstation Portable cases. Or in this case, LOTS of watchbands:


Near some other exercise/health equipment, some kinf of vaguely obscene-looking saddle things that would shake and shimmy. Kind of like a small scale mechanical bull:


Josh and Alex indulging me in a goofy photo, holding a very odd one handed keyboard device designed for gamers.


So on Sundays certain streets in Tokyo get blocked off, and they have things kind of like street fairs. (Corner of one of those streets, mostly I just liked the banners.)


More buildings:


More buildings and a fearsome Space Invaders. (I remember hearing how the original Space Invaders caused a shortage of ten yen coins...)


So one recent addition to the scene are "maid cafes" where you can be attended to by highly attentive young ladies. (I guess it ranges from the innocent to the err...more detailed services.) We thought these gals were advertising one of those but no, they were just playing dressup, which happened a lot at the Akihabara street fair thing:


As amusing as the girls in dressup, all the men taking their photo...


Another cute girl:


Alex and me at the The House of the Venerable and Inscrutable Colonel.


I liked the sci-fi vibe of these escalators:


And who doesn't like Snoopy? "Snoopy Towns" seemed even more prevelant than "Disney Stores"


Gate for Takeshita Street, super-fashion-trendy...


But don't take my word for it:


Fairly crowded:


One of the more common jobs are people outside of stores saying "welcome welcome" and otherwise trying to interest you in the store. Often they have megaphones. Lordy, the Japanese seem to love their megaphones.... in the department stores, you have the same thing, only for individual products.


I didn't know Chevrolet made bikes:


The ritzier high fashion district Harajuku: so many people!


Alex and Josh outside of a Wendy's


This photo doesn't show it well but it was the most hopping Wendy's I'd ever scene, very youth-centric. Also smokey despite the signs against it.


There was actually some kind of Irish festival going on: (I saw a small Irish group, complete with some hooligan lookin' fella shouting at random intervals to the music.)


Errr... buildings. I liked the billboards.


Injoke: "pedobear is that you?" (It actually might be where the infamous parody character came from.)


I'm very fond of corporations co-opting hippy-ish sentiment. Maybe they even mean it!


Funky building. An Audi dealership I think.


What does it say about Americans that I want to call any any big construction vehicle that's not a crane or a dumptruck a bulldozer? Anyway, these cute purple vehicles were all over Japan.


The Hummer and the Zen Temple.


Famous Scramble Intersection... this is under the same billboard with the giant walking dinosaur in "Lost in Translation"


Random cultural note: most restaurants give you a oshiburi before your meal, a hot wet facecloth for your hands and face. Refreshing!


The universal sign for exit in Japan:


Tokyo at Night.


Finally two examples of kawaii, "Japanese Cute". Josh notes that it seems to be losing popularity... now you see more computer rendered 3D characters. Still, I dig this aesthetic a bit more, like the peanut I posted yesterday:

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They also have thse little strips that reliably indicate where the doors of the train will open. People line up behind 'em one or two abreast, and it likely helps speed things along:


So back in the day there was a game called "Koronis Rift", that had a distinctive fractal-based landscape-- I have a strong memory of the way the game used color to show hills fading into the distance:


I always assumed that was a game conceit, but really, Japan from rail looks a bit like that:

I admit to feeling a note of melancholy traveling on my own. But maybe some of that was the hazy landscape, or the feel of the rails, or maybe the Portable Dorothy Parker I was grinding through... she's a very lonely writer.

Hiroshima Station has a huge hoard of taxis waiting outside:


I decided to walk rather than take the tram (but, oy, I'm starting to feel all this walking) and this is a temple I saw, a bit elevated:


Plus I found this posture-based poster a little amusing.


Here's another view of the pavement inserts for the blind, here you can see how some parts are linear while other parts (intersections and endpoints) are more generalized:


I tried to play it like I wanted a picture of the statue but really I was more interested in the guy:


My hotel, the Rihga Royal, was surprisingly swanky, I got a really good deal on Expedia the day before. The giant sweep of lobby:


I got in after many of the attractions were closed, but I made one important trip: The Atomic Bomb Dome was just a few blocks away. This was the "Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall" until the first atomic bomb exploded about 150 meters away.


I know in my stupid blog here it's going to sound trite, but I was moved to the point of tears by its stark presence and broken grandeur. The intellectual part of me knows more people died in firebombings and massacres, and there's always the rightwingers argument that more would have died in a full invasion but... the sheer brutal efficiency of the engines of war has made humanity's chance at making it for the long haul that much worse, so in that way the blast still echoes for us all. And what does it matter that this wasn't the "worst" tragedy humanity has inflicted on itself; it was a tragedy, and I can mourn for the lives destroyed.


The dome is by the Motoyasu river.


There was a surprising amount of seaglass there on the sandy bank. Maybe not worn enough to be seaglass; and some of it seemed like shards of china and other things. I gathered a few pieces.


Later that evening I headed to the Hondori shopping area. I was thinking I wanted to try the cliche of checking out the McDondalds, but since I didn't want to subject my friends to it it seemed like a perfect time. (We didn't actually get anything at Wendy's before.) I...uh... think this had some kind of egg on it...


Hondori is pretty cool, almost like a normal street with a ceiling, and tons of stores. You can see the traffic light here, it's so odd to feel a bit like you're in a mall but you still have to watch for traffic:


I checked out a Sega arcade, including the fun of Mario Kart 2 (it even has a builtin webcam and puts a mario mustache on you). Also, I liked the Beatles with coffee cups on their heads:


On my way back to the hotel,I was startled when what I thought was just a simple underpass and tramstop turned out to be more extensive, going on for a few blocks:


Finally a note on television: many shows have a little subpicture showing what looks like audience reaction. Josh explained "the japanese are big on group activity. The panel/audience guides the crowd reaction--shows them what to do." Which sounds kind of bad, but really that makes it a visual laugh track, but with real people.


More tomorrow or thereabouts.

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Running late but I wanted to get this in... sorry if some of the descriptions are rushed --
View of the palace from my hotel room in Hiroshima. Not bad! But I wasn't brilliant at managing my time that day (too much walking, and anxiety at making it to the train station) so I didn't go for a tour there.


I walked to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. This is women attending to the Memorial Cenotaph.


I then went to the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall. Some moving stuff there, giving the background and results of what happened in an even-handed manner that makes it even more wrenching. This is a large (oh jeez, I was going to say "blown up") panoramic view a few weeks after the blast.


A model of before the blast...


...and after


After every nuclear test, the mayor of Hiroshima writes to the leaders of that country urging them to stop such tests and strive for nuclear disarmament.


The nuclear powers...each of the large missiles represents a large number of missiles. I was also struck by the "globe on its side" view, useful since all the nuclear players seem to be in the Northern Hemisphere.


A full size reproduction of a shattered building. They had some more gruesome reproductions of horribly burned victims walking through the ruins...


One word I hadn't heard before my time in Hiroshima: "hypocenter", a strict word for "ground zero". This is a smaller model of the city, with a red ball indicating where the blast occurred. (One letter made reference to girls watching the parachute, which seems such a human thing to do, and that would be the last thing they would see.)


Model of Little Boy.


Hiroshima Rooftiles... the sign says you can touch, and reassures you they are safe.


The Memorial Park is laid out in a line; I'm in the museum, there's the cenotaph, the eternal flame, and the atomic dome.


I then decided to walk to the Museum of Contemporary Art. I admit my bias about art and culture, the present usually catches my attention more than the past.

Yet another vending machine. With some of these machines and in convenience stores, coffee in can comes hot or cold.


Gas station. Gas is very expensive, about 6 bucks a gallon (though America is working its way up there.) I was kind of struck by the high-mounted gas hoses, but I guess that was just a quirk of this place. Also, highway tolls work out to be about a buck a kilometer!


Walking on my own, I'd take reflection shots, a kind of "dude! YOU'RE IN JAPAN" reminder to maintain a sense of wonder and observation.


I was a bit surprised what a climb the museum turned out to be...


The city below, with a cemetery nearer.


I haven't put TOO much "Engrish" here, as it seems uncharitable; I'm grateful for all the English they provide. (Actually I realize I start to take Romaji (transcription into the Latin alphabet) and odd English words for granted, its so prevalent that when it almost seems more striking when it's not there.)


I couldn't take photos of the temporary exhibition. But I think this work was "Atomic Dome Model 5", an obvious reference.


Heh, ok, less artsy. Just a note, Japanese public restrooms tend to have full doors, like little closets, and Josh mentioned Japanese visitors to the USA tend not to like our half-walled stalls. I can see that!


In the permanent exhibit, Venus Bleue by Yves Klen was SO very blue. I guess they had to put her in glass or everyone would touch.


There were so many attendants (guards? what's the term) sitting so still and quietly that it struck me as a form of performance art itself.


Ugh, don't have time to look up this yellow guy, but a variety of works featuring him (it's some kind of radiation suit, and this is him supposedly in Chernobyl) were the center of the temporary exhibit.


Outside, "Little Bird".


Woman taking photo of some cats.


Another view of a cemetery. I'm struck by how much they resemble model cities.


Also way up in the same park: a Manga Library! I had no idea they would have libraries just for that form, it seemed pretty busy in there.


Inside the library, they had what I assumed were the winners of a local single panel manga contest. Here is a Japanese view of MLB taking away Japanese players:


I had an easier time descending when I found this giant escalator.


More names a native speaker of English might not pick:


A few places (like a train station barber shop) I've seen this idea: a tall glass window will return some privacy by a carefully placed painted section. It works surprisingly well.


I just liked this billboard as I walked back to Hiroshima station.


The poster reminded me I wasn't having enough fruit this trip! So I bought a bag of something that might be clementines.... maybe something different? They had a certain, sharper, "cactus-y" tone, just subtly different.


Oh, Hiroshima. I'm sorry what you had to go through, and how that mighty mushroom cloud might influence some of your public art, but... this looks like a butt.


The sleek nose of a bullet train.


For being a country known for working well on a small scale, I've seen more impressive cavernous indoor spaces this trip... this is Kyoto station.


Astroboy!


Finally, this poster (I'm still not sure if Porta is the shopping center or what) had many slogans in English: "Catching my breath for this good taste.", "Delicious stuff is all around here.", "Things I want to have-there are a lot of them here", "I have found my favorite thing.", "I'm in a good mood, full of joy.", and "Pleasure to find something." I guess that's the power of positive thinking!

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Japanese do love their umbrellas! The standard umbrella is only a couple of bucks and is transparent, which makes a lot of sense.


This picture and the last were from our first stop, Nijo Castle, or "Nijo-jo" (heh). Both shoes and photography were forbidden inside.


Nijo Castle was built by the Shogun Iemitsu, so we saw where the feudal lords would pay tribute to him, and then where he had to sit below the platform of the emperor's messenger. Some of the work inside and out was really lovely.


Close-up of that...


One of the more interesting features was a clever "Nightingale Floor" in all the hallways; this clever system of metal bits that squeaked in a melodious way and prevented people from sneaking around. They say there are all sorts of hidden passageways and what not there. This is the view from underneath.


Trying to find nice and balanced shots of the grounds outside.


The outer wall looked strong.


After we went to the Golden Pavillion / Rokuon-Ji Temple. This is a detail of a map billboard there, I liked the art style.


The Golden Pavilion is a terrific building, centuries old, and covered in gold leaf. I think my ISO settings were messed up, so its beauty isn't coming through, or maybe it's me next to it.


Crane in the pond by the Pavilion.


Waterfall on the grounds there.


Finally we headed out to the Imperial Palace. Security was weirdly uptight there and we had to line up in 4s. But I liked the bright orange construction and fireproof white plaster:


And I saw my first blossoming cherry tree! Unfortunately I was fumbling with my camera battery and didn't get a picture of the guy stationed there to protect it. Maybe he had to be there, one girl seemed to try and make a dash for the tree and he angrily chased her away, though I'm not 100% sure if she would have tried if he hadn't been there.


From there to the 7 stories of the Kyoto Craft Center. And yes, I took a photo of this just for the obvious giggle about the Internet Cafe name.


I then switched to the Nara afternoon group. Nara's single biggest attraction (in both senses of "biggest") is Todai-ji temple, biggest wooden building in the world, and home of one of the largest Buddhas. This is just the outer gate.


The outer gate has two guardian figures, though I didn't quite catch the names:


(I don't think they were the Shinto ones) Still awfully fearsome...


Just a nature scene, with a groundskeeper in blue looking awfully small...


So there is the temple--those are people looking very, very small themselves. One detail is a "peekaboo" door the Buddha can peek out of...


Looking up at the Temple's entrance. They mentioned that the original building, which got destroyed, was about 30% wider, and there were models showing the old and current versions inside.


The Buddha! There are some priests in front for scale.


The Buddha was flanked by attendants... here's one--


--and the other. This Buddha was bigger than Kamakura's, but somehow... I don't know, I preferred the Buddha under the great wide open sky.


The temple had other guardians, one for each direction, but two were only heads. Here's one of the full bodied ones:


So for a 1000 Yen (~$10) donation, you could paint a tile that would be used in some new construction. (Also good luck forever I think!) You were asked to paint your Name, Address, Country, and Wish. This is me and my wish: "That we figure this thing out or learn to love the figuring"


So, one thing I've neglected to mention: the grounds were crawling with deer. For 150 Yen ($1.50) you could get a stack of ten cookies, like pizelles, to feed them. But... what's this sign warning about? Angry deer? Huh?


AAAAAAH DEER GET THEM OFF ME AAAAAH! (Seriously in general they were pretty decent, but the ones standing around the cookie stands would butt and nip you if they thought you were a bit slow with the goods.


Finally Kasuga Taisha Shrine. Lots of stone lanterns and I got to learn more details about Shinto practice. I must confess to a small dose of shrine fatigue at this point. Anyway, here is my afternoon tourguide climbing the stairs.


Back at the hotel. Tug of War is a serious sport here?


Finally on my run for dinner, I found three anti-smoking posters...well, not anti-smoking, just watch where you put your butts... the cowboy approach


the crime approach...


and then the love of pets technique...

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So, like I was saying, the Japanese love their umbrellas. Here's a "lock it and leave it" stand for them that wasn't uncommon.


I just like the 70s computer font used on this part of the hotel elevator.


Here I just like the bold colors of the beer billboard. Funny that it's "emerald" and the main color is such a bold blue...


Osaka-Jo is the main castle...


It's surrounded by a large moat with high walls. But what I like in this photo is how the walls seem to be floating above the water...


View of the main tower. Crows circling above.


View from the top of the tower. There are museum exhibits inside, including some popular ones where they project movies of people in period costume acting out scenes of the place's construction onto miniature dioramas (no pictures allowed, though)


Little bird way up high.


I don't read much Japanese, but I'm pretty sure this is says: "WARNING: Bond Foe 'Odd Job' in Area!"


One of my favorite snacks, Calamari from a stick out side the castle.


Another view of the outer walls. Josh points out the building in the background looks like the I.M.Pei building in Boston.


Walking to the train station, by a live plant market. I like the color of the girl's raincoat in this photo, it really "pops".


It's not as distinct in this photo but the whole side of this building is an electronic billboard...


America-Mura is a bit of a "Chinatown" but for America. Lots of T-shirt shops with Western music blaring, and the youth culture was strong there.


It also had these interesting sculptures for advertising and maybe light. Also, cameras.


Sexy Dynamite baby!


So this is Lupin the 2nd. "Lupin the 3rd" is a famous anime character. This sign suggests

Please enjoy the best clammy mat play
that can be tasted only
by 'Genuine service' that not is in daily life.

I didn't know what that was but instincts told me to steer clear...


I had another SUPER TASTY thing from a vendor, some kind of soba sandwich/taco on that styrofoam-like pink stuff you sometimes see at chinese restaurants. It was a delicious messy wonder.


So I thought I learned something about the classic Japanese R/L mixup. Josh says you enter Kanji into a phone by typing it in phonetically, and then the phone offers the kanji choices...


...so if that's how they handle their own language, and they don't really distinguish Ls from Rs, I can see why it makes it into various signage...


Cutest. Truck. Ever.


From there to the Dotombori district... a gourmet's paradise, and not so bad for me either!


Famous crab restaurant sign.


Josh's wife Tomomi confirms this little robot drummer clown guy is a real landmark. Lots of people were having their picture taken.


Dotombori had more of those covered plazas, and was really vibrant with life and energy and people. (In part because it was just after lunch hour.)


A video! I just liked this little animated video outside a restaurant there:


Bic Camera had pachinko in the basement, which had this invocation written all over the place:


Outside another pachinko parlor, signs saying you must be over 18, and don't bring in your kids. The cartoon guy is made of pachninko balls.

Did I talk about Pachinko? Very popular here, parlors everywhere. (Many owned by Koreans, which is generating some bad feeling.) It's a roulette like game using steel balls and a modicum of skill. Gambling for money is officially prohibited so you get small prizes (lighters etc) which can then be exchanged for cash at nearby shops (just outside the designated minimum area.)


Interesting fluorescent light arrangement.


What's that, on top of the "Hep 5" building? A ferris wheel??


So of course I had to try that. View of the city and the railyards I'd be on shortly thereafter.


Coke vs Pepsi, Pepsi vs Coke.


Round1 bowling! (bad photo though, I was trying to get the text so I missed the bowling pin on top.) The first part tells you it's not about winning and losing and then

Do you like bowling?
Lets play bowling
Breaking down the pins
and get hot communication

Structure of the ferris wheel, looking down.


More names you might not see in the USA, this one for yet another underground shopping area:


It had a little clockwork blimp model inside. With a digital clock. (Kind of interesting, that Yokohama ferris wheel with a digitial clock had one of its light patterns look a bit like an analog clock. It's funny to see visual references to both digital and analog timekeeping together.


At the Shin-Osaka trainstation.... Mannekan is a stand to get tasty belgian waffles, and yes, the figure is Manneken Pis, the statue of the peeing german boy.


This was kind of a creepy thing to be looking at the whole ride back to Tokyo.


For a while I was thinking most bikes were left unlocked in Japan, but on the walk back to their apartment Josh pointed out the small clamp lock on the back wheel. Also cities have official guys who will shuffle parked bikes around, and leave paper slips if your bike is badly placed, and you might well find it taken away if you leave it in a bad spot.

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Started by walking with Josh to take his daughter Erin to kindergarten.


Then we headed into Tokyo, the Ginza and Asakusa areas. The area is known for its kitchen and food supply stores, and we seemed to go through an area with lots of Buddhist-ware. I liked this little guy next to the sidewalk selling custom stamps; people's official seals, their names in Kanji symbols.


Store selling domestic shrines.


This looked like it might be some kind of workshop manufacturing the guardian figures.


Giant Chef Head and stack of teacups.


We stopped at a place called MOS Burger. (Josh says it stands for Mountain Ocean Sea, and back in the day it used to be blatantly a McDondalds clone. But it was pretty distinct, and tasty. Served notably hot. But again, I'm weirdly amused by the way the table thingy had a picture of a cow. Americans are so shy of thinking about the animals that they eat!


The Tokyo Honganji, HQ of the Hifashi Hongunji sect. Some kind of lecture was going on.


The row of vendors heading up to Sensoji Temple, one of the biggest attractions of Tokyo.


A pagoda behind the latterns.


More lanterns. Big stuff!


This vendor was makin' some intriguing seafood products, somewhat resembling the calamari I had the day before, but we settled for chocolate bananas.


Another cook in the vendor's row.


I liked this lone Buddha off to the side, a bit apart from all the action.


Looking down the other way, towards the crowds.


Josh pointed this out as a nice example of old style Japanese architecture, repurposed as a storefront.


We decided to check out some Kabuki! This is Kabuki-Za, one of the main theaters. We got 1000 yen (~$10) seats in the nosebleeds. It was pretty cool, but I was grateful for the English live audio track.


Post for the Kabuki theaters - some big names! No photos inside, sadly.


It Came From The Vending Machine -- odd diet coke can/bottle.


Josh says this used to be a high end Italian restaurant.


Side of a Hello Kitty Bus.


In fact, Hello Kitty seemed to be riding the Hello Kitty Bus.


So that was it for the day. We came home and then got a giant platter of sushi, take-out, nice way to end a Friday. So I thought I'd shoe you Josh and Tomomi's bathroom. They live along with their daughter Erin in a small apartment in Shin-Matsudo. It's cozy for three, and they have to live fairly precisely, but it seems to work pretty well.

First stop: a bit of a prefab medicine cabinet... not too exciting, but I admire that it has built in lights, and the toothbrush holder actually seems big enough to, you know, hold modern toothbrushes, which is something I don't see a lot of in America.


The tub is short but gratifyingly deep. Plus, though the shot doesn't show it, the whole room is a shower! You can see a run for drainage on the floor. It took me a while to get used to it being ok that all the water wasn't going into the tub...


Plus, digital water temperature setting. BRILLIANT! Even better than my German friends'.


Finally, the toilet. No Washlet (the infamous gadget that shoots water up your bum), but a very clever design with a small sink for cleaning your hands, using the water heading in to refill the tank.

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First off: today was clear enough that you could JUST see Mt. Fuji from the patio... this is gamma-corrected to make it more visible...


Back inside the apartment, Josh is doing a good job raising Erin:


Proof Japan is living 15 minutes into the future: their magnadoodles have TWO colors! AMAZING!


This Disenyfied bus was at Odawara on the way there.


Attractive restaurant by the roadside.


So, none of my pictures from the bus showing the lovely valleys or the constant hairpin turns really came out, so, uh, I give you this one:


Really dull American-tourist style shot at Hakone-Machi. We got some corn on the cob on a stick there, grilled, basted in soy sauce, wonderful. I wish I had taken a picture of the vendor pounding in the sticks with a mallet, it (sigh) would've made quite a nice shot.


An American-steamer themed ship "Frontier". Note the deer head at the top. Nice! Also, swan and panda boats on the other side of the dock.


So we started some hiking around the volcanic-crater lake. At one point, we came across this guy. At first we couldn't tell if he was, err, a guy, or some kind of recumbent scarecrow or something, and then we were suddenly thinking "bizarre horror film tableau" and hurried on our way.


There was a tree in the path.


The path was rather steep.


My attempt at a typical Japanese tourist photo.


Fuji behind trees.


Nice village view with boats, probably needs to be expanded.


Fuji and a Shinto Tori Gate.


Fisherman!


Fishmonger!


Tasty squid!


Badly reflective shot of a neat stylized version of "hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil." Missing monkey for "so just do it!"


So, weirdly washed-out view of the Onsen, traditional hot springs spa. I saw many naked Japanese men. I like how they (and I, when in Rome etc) carried arond small white towels in front of their thingies, and then put those same white towels on their heads when relaxing in the hot water.


So, on the walk back to Moto-Hakone (village with the fishmonger and stylized monkeys) I saw this protective fence, stopping rocks from falling on innocent passerbys such as me and Josh. At one point the chain link had a hole cut in it for chainlink to pass through but I had to wonder, how did they get the tree through the hole? Or the rest of the fence around the tree? The tree branches out quite a bit. Kind of a Ship-in-Bottle situation.


Crane, Water, Rocks.


Josh does not think this is a very pretty river.


Finally, back in Shim-Matsudo. I like this logo on the side of a vending machine. Tommy Lee Jones used to advertise this stuff.


Finally, ending where we began, sign for the supermarket below Josh and Tomomi's apartment. I was more interested in it when he mentioned it was family owned, only two of 'em around Japan.

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LAN3 asked for a shot of 7-11/iHoldings... here 'tis. Not too exciting.


Japanese shops usually put a sticker on stuff you just bought if there is no bag, or seal the bag if present...


So note the complexity of the Tokyo Japan Rail subway map. Also not the complexity of the ticket machines. Also ponder the difficulty in using said machines, which have an English mode, but often the maps don't have the place names written in Romanji, so figuring how much of a ticket you need is tough.


I was trying to make a balanced photo of the next subway train over.


Josh and I returned to Electric City Akihabra... this is the Taito Station arcade previously photographed, some gal DDRing, and a drummer drumming.


I was kind of surprised to see sit-down arcade machines, with little stools. When I met with Alex later he said this had been common for a long while.


This shop had nothing but those "gumball machine" type toy dispensers. My favorites were the Super Mario noise makers that played a sample from the game (200 Yen, ~$2 each) I have secret hopes that in a few years they'll be able to dispense little LCD video games. I mean they make those things for Happy Meals, why not here? Come on, get with it Japan!


Retro videogame store. I enjoyed the Pac-Man ghost wearing Mario's hat.


So I bought this random CD of Jpop (Alex was telling me something how it was actually some kind of synth voice) and when Josh and I came back to the store there was a costumed gal hawking it, so I got my picture taken.


So what I called a "department store" last week was actually just a "camera store", though it had pretty much the same range as a Best Buy, actually quite a bit more. Anyway, outside the store there was a robot for taking pictures with.


This was in a different store, "Bic Camera". Josh says "Bic" is probably Engrish for "Big". Which might explain these binoculars. My faith in Japanese miniaturization techniques is diminished.


Just a note on Tokyo fashion; this is a conservative version of what seems to be the most popular look, short skirt, and then either boots or socks almost up to the knee. I gotta admit, it's a pretty good look.


The 50 minute wait for Krispey Kreme donut. Oddly they were giving people in line free donuts to bribe them into waiting longer. But what if a single donut was all they wanted in the first place?


Demolishing some building or other...


Engrish on Alex's bag... "It is felt familiar always. SHELTER SPORTS. The time of when is also active and aiding people with a dream is continued."


NTT/DoCoMo tower, with lots of cellular and communication equipment.


At this point Josh headed back home to be with his wife and child so it was just Alex and me. Alex says this store is not actually pronounced "My Lord" even though it looks like "mylord"


Alex also had a bit of scorn for extremely strict Japanese interpretation of promising to meet someone "under the AltaVision" (Shown here). Waiting, you know, in the near area isn't enough... you have to be UNDER the SIGN.


Shinjuku district, entertainment and more.


Seperated at birth: this Tokyo building circa 2008, and the Northcal Headquarters of the Atari Technology And Research Institute, circa a 2005 that never was?


Design school ad image. It would seem to be a girltank.


Intriguing Traffic Halo.


Alex suggested this would be a cute photograph. He's probably right.


The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Its design is a little disturbing, this kind of modern reinterpretation of gothic spires.


The court area at the base of the building. Alex and I observed it looks like the area for a final boss battle. "Just break these statues on the outer part to reveal health powerups if you get damaged"


So you can go up that building, about 42 or so floors, and visit toy stores and see a pretty fantastic view of TOkyo.


The Eye of Sauron Shinjuku.


Shinjuku at night.


I would have liked this shot more except for the guy at the bottom.


So Shinjuku is a bit of a redlight district, which was kind of fun, we had a few offers of various entertainments, nothing too exciting. And we decided against this Stewardess cafe. That kind of things not my bag, baby.


So we went to a Shabu-Shabu restaurant, where there's a big simmering dish with broth and veggies in the middle, and you cook thin pieces of beef and pork in it. All you can eat in 90 minutes for around 20 bucks! Tasty.

Alex and I had some really nice conversation, talking about Tufts back in the day and our careers now. He's Chinese by origin, and actually I enjoyed his cynicism about Japan and the folks there, kind of a nice contrast to Josh's generally upbeat attitude.

Terrible shot of the nightlife. They had a number of little bands setup. The odd thing was that it seems like the most important instrumentalists of these buskers were the drummers. I saw some solo drummers, and even one case that had a prerecorded background, a live singer, and a live drummer. That's what you can't see in the back center of this photo.


I navigated to Shim-Matsudo on my own for the first time, but I had done it enough with Josh that it was pretty easy. Especially for the train to Ueno, that had this helpful digital map of the Tokyo loop.


Finally, like the free English lesson on the monitor next said, time to call it a day...

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It was a rainy day in Shim-Matsudo, though... I was impressed by all the people on bikes with umbrellas.


I was braving my first full-on Tokyo commute, but it wasn't bad as all that. I think I managed to avoid the worst of it by choosing cars at the ends, but I did see the classic image of uniformed railroad employees shoving folks in a bit further so the doors could close. I also saw these women with giant wicker baskets on their backs...


A beer ad I like, Josh says he's a well-known comedian.


Random digital annoucment board.I was just impressed because between the resolution and the font, it was the least electronic looking announcement billboard I've seen.


They generally have women cleaning all of the bathrooms, and guys just ignore them utterly and do what they need to do.


Sometimes, when two bullet trains love each other very much...


Shot from the train. I was in the bottom part of a 2 floor car, and the ground-level view was kind of neat as we sped past the platforms.


I changed trains in Echigo-Yuzawa. Outside the station things were covered with snow! (I was worried that I hadn't brought my fleece, but Kanazawa was only a bit brisker than Tokyo had been)


The scene outside the train was really beautiful;


I was thinking about how I had seen the image of snow used in Japanese art, and now I know why...


The train passed through tunnels (with a sudden pressure change to make your ears pop a bit) and eventually we got to ferris fairer climate...


At the Kanazawa train station, I think this is some kind of advertisement for Hermes.


More lovely big architecture that you so often find by the train stations here.


They also had a very clever fountaint, again with a digital clock, and then messages in English and Japanese.


Close up of the "K" in "Kanazawa"


Kanazawa is a very art-minded town, from their historical arts and crafts to more modern fare. Statues grace many intersections...


Sometimes they're all nekkid!


This is the Shinmon outside the Oyama Jinja shrine. It has stained glass at top, was made in co-operation with some Dutch, and once acted as a bit of a lighthouse.


It had a lovely garden inside; Kanazawa has a lovely formal garden I'll be seeing, but this was a lovely contrast.


I like the walkway over the water.


And a water strider! Hadn't seen one of those since summer camp in upstate NY!


Close up of the map at the Shrine, showing the garden. I was thinking the street maps are odd here, because none of them seem to agree which direction to put North at. It occured to me that some of them may try to make it so the map is oriented with the way the viewer is standing, but even printed material can't agree.


For some reason I wanted to take a picture of the lone figure in the park, but I like how the shot came out in general.


I stopped by the Noh museum. I'm kind of intrigued by the oldest living drama form, but even most Japanese don't understand it well. The museum didn't have a lot to it, really, but there was a nice video on Kanazawa in general that you could watch in English.


Again, I don't know what it is with me and random Japanese people, and how I take a picture of them but pretend to be mostly interested in something else. Guy and a bike and a cherry tree.


Finally, to the hotel. It's near a pretty happening place, as you can see out the window...


I'm at a funny level of "connectedness" when I'm on a trip on my own. On the one hand, sometimes I end up wishing I had rented a cellphone so I could dial up Josh and ask him things as they occur to me, othr times I think it's good to not be quite that wired. (Plus, maybe not having that security blanket is a positive for both me and Josh...) But I'm able to get online wherever I go, and make this travelog and e-mail and msg with people in the mornings and evenings, and that's a far cry from days of old, and there's a bit less adventure for that.

Also I think about how the camera changes my logging style; I think it's very cool and visual but I'm not writing quite as much, or as deeply. Maybe at the end I'll try to rectify that and go over some topics, for people here and for my future self. I hope people have been enjoying it this far, maybe the picture style helps people ahare in the experience a bit...

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Another show has a big dog, a little girl who also dances and sings, and then a bunch of younger kids who wander around and try to follow around. It's so very cute.


My breakfast from Mister Donut! (Nice counterpoint to Boston's Mister Sushi.) The shop seemed busier in the afternoon.


Japan is so 10 minutes into the future... Kit Kat with green tea AND Kit Kat with apple!
 

"Ah" and "Un" at the local Shinto temple. Thought I'd start the day making a token offering and asking for a good day taking in Kanazawa.
 

Since rain was forecasted for later I thought I'd start at Kenrokuen Garden, of Japan's best three gardens it's widely viewed as the finest. But many trees had supports to see it through the winter snows; I especially liked this one's crutch.


Midoritaki Waterfall; I guess waterfalls aren't common in this kind of garden, but I liked the way it breaks over rocks.


Nearby is Kaisekito Pagoda, nice stone structure.


I got interested in finding the source of the waterfall. This is part of the stream to it, I like how the path is broken by the small stream.


Another bridge, Gankobashi -- reminiscent of a geese in formation if taken as a whole, or of tortoise shells if taken individually.


The Neagarinomatsu Pine, majestic.


Plum blossom, purty.


In my typical attempt to find beauty just a little off the beaten path, a well...


Next to the teahouse it was SO GREEN.


I took green tea there, but was two shy to take this one shot of the lady serving it to us.


So I spent a few hours just walking around. After I headed over to neighboring Kanazawa castle. This is the corner of its wall.


Later, the view from where the last shot was pointing.


It strikes me Japanese is great for this kind of signpost, since you can write it vertically.


There's like a small forest up there. I of course got lost, because that's what I do in forests.


Who, me Tourist? I'm not sure if I found the actual castle or not. There was some part of something that was under heavy construction, and I never really went into anything. They had some storehouses but that was about it. So, not a very good tourist.


Many attractions in Japan have models of the area. I like that.


I really liked the 21st Century Contemporary Art Museum. These reminded me of my tuba playing days.


By far my favorite modern art work of the trip is Argentinian Leandro Erlich's "Swimming Pool"


Artwork you can really get into!


View from inside.


Another neat work was "Liminal Air", this kind of cloud of string things you could push your way through, like a stringy fog... very neat.


Don't know if it was art or design or what but I liked this rabbit ear chairs.


Compared to "Swimming Pool", American James Turrel's "Blue Planet Sky" was rather static...


So, that was the museum. I headed back and scouted out the territory near the hotel... lots of bars etc, the Kanazawa Scramble district, which I think is a refernce to the intersection where people can cross any of the six ways. Here's a scooter sporting something I've seen on a few bikes as well, odd handlebar mitts...


This is assembled from a snapshot of a McDonalds placemat (I know, I know... but they had this "Shaka Shaka Chicken" I wanted to try... kind of like DIY shake and bake. The lemon pepper version I had was really great, actually.) Anyway the placemat sported six people saying something about McDonalds, and ending with the same catchphrase (have to ask what it is.) Anyway, it got me thinking about people's handwriting with Kanji, which generally seems less robust to me than English letters... how bad can your Kanji be and still be legible?


Back at my hotel I realized... tonight is the season opener for the Red Sox! And they're in Japan too, so the time of day works out for me... here's Dice K warming up.


Here's Big Papi. The Sox struggle a bit at first, and I could kind of sense how the Japanese announcer was rooting for them... especially Dice K, it might well be a point of national pride there, seeing how one of their former stars is doing in American baseball...


Besides the grunts of disapproval and excitement at big plays, I like how the symbol for "Red Sox" (behind 0-2 in the 5th) kind of looks like a sock:

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A side note from the previous day... this is a close up of my stamped ticket for the gardens at Kanazawa. I was wondering why in printing the date they would put the first two digits of the year and not the final two, but, duh, that's just a coincidence... that's the "Emperor Year", 20 years into the Heisei era...


LAN3, dunno if your interest in Japan's take on 7-11 extends to "Sunkus", a similar store that seems to be borrowing the color scheme...


Man, Japan stores have a wide variety of drinks. I guess stores in the USA do to, but here there's a better variety of teas and coffees and fruit waters, not just colas and gatorades.


Including one called "Collagen Water". Tomomi says that's made of marrow of some kind. That's kind of gross. And very unkosher.


Went to a different Mister Donut. (Just a block or two from yesterdays


I suppose a truck full of asphalt chunks isn't particularly Japanese, but still.


So, Josh assures me this ain't a menorah. Actually it's satellite-based distance learning center.


So, besides being a photo of a pretty gal, this shows the result of what seemed like a magic trick... most seats in these express trains rotate 180 degrees! I was startled when one of the women fiddled with some leverish thing and whoop, there it went, facing the other way. A casual inspection of nearby seats didn't reveal the mechanism, so I was kind of relieved when a businessman guy turned that seat back; at least I knew it wasn't my imagination.


A sudden business meeting meant Josh couldn't meet me in Tokyo so I was on my own. I had two goals: get to the famous no-brand brand store "Muji" in Ginza, and then track down a store I had seen some gifts I wanted to pick up in the Electric District Akihabara. First mission accomplished:


Muji is kind of cool. It's probably most like Ikea (also like Ikea: it has a cafeteria. And like Ikea I got obsessed with it by reputation, the way I romanticize retail and chain restaurants I don't get to see). There's also a touch of, like, what the Gap was doing in the "Basic Pocket T" days. All this vehemently unbranded yet elegantly put-together stuff, it's kind of cool...


Back to Shim-Matsudo. I dunno if this is a gal cosplaying an anime character or an anime character designed to look like the gal, but either way the composition was interesting.


Ah, farewell to the Shim-Matsudo train station. I mean, I guess I'll see it on my way to the airport tomorrow, but still, it won't be the same.


Josh thinks that the Japanese aren't really big into flavors; like at Baskin-Robbins, a majority of people still go for Vanilla...


I just enjoyed the name of this breakfast place in Shim-Matsudo.... "Eggs Country!"


Really random note about Toyota cars here... this is is the Ist, the original of my Scion xA. But instead of a generic maker logo on the front, it's customized for the model... an interesting touch.


My final dinner in Japan; Pizza Hut! Josh is amused how this place lives up to the Hut-part of the name, just a little shack under the train tracks.


They had delivery scooters. I've seen similar scooters on the road elsewhere; it's crazy watching them take turns, the whole cargo section and seat tilts while the bottom section stays rock steady.


But it wasn't just America pizza.... it was Korean Barbecue Pizza! SO TASTY!


Pizza is pretty expensive here (like, $30 of expensive). So I guess they come up with stuff like this: hey... what if we put a HOTDOG into the crust? Or scratch that...a CHEESE HOTDOG!! But in this I'm afraid that Japan might be only like 4 or 5 minutes into the future and the USA will be hot on its heels.


So, this is probably my last daily update for the trip. I'll be doing some wrapup and summary stuff I'm sure, but tomorrow I fly back! I'll miss the place, I've had a great trip and I've enjoyed journaling it here, for folks to see and for my future self.

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Kamakura

Hiroshima

Osaka

Ginza

Hakone

Akahabara

Kanazawa

Shim-Matsudo