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| Tokyo |
| Lonely Planet Japan Lonely Planet Tokyo home again, or, other places |
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| Charley this is my brother Charley (here modeling stylish hat in a gift store on Mt. Fuji). he is the reason i went to tokyo. his company sent him there to work for two months as something of a cultural ambassador, and also for something of a technology exchange between the company's labs in Higashiyamoto, Japan and Falmouth, Massachusetts. i was just glad of the fact that i was able to see him, get free lodging in tokyo, and miss Thanksgiving in the U.S.! (sorry mom & dad) |
| Charley lived in this apartment building in a town called Higashiyamoto, which is a suburb of Tokyo - but very urban in its own right. The area around Tokyo is full of these rather ugly apartment complexes. For a country as into aesthetics as Japan, it was surprising that they would allow these things to be built. I couldn't imagine coming home to an apartment like this every day of my life, it would seem so depressing. |
| Getting around Tokyo has many different "neighborhoods", which are more like small cities. its easy to get around between them on the train... I didn't brave the subway, since I had the trains figured out so well, and they pretty much go the same places. I think the subway is a bit cheaper, but, hey, why mess with success? (and a mastery of the Seibu-Shinkjuku line with kanji only) |
| Shibuya one of the most popular (or so i hear) areas for young peole is Shibuya. A lot of the trendy "barbie doll" women hang out here. There are also a ton of stores... department stores, music stores, boutiques. I really got the feeling that the Japanese love to shop. There are soooo many people everywhere. At rush hour, this intersection was full of people. Hundreds of people gather and wait to cross the street. This is also close to the infamous love hotel hill, which I walked around, and you know, it was a hill... |
| Ueno Park Temples this is a temple in Ueno park. It was very beautiful inside, but of course, no picture-taking is allowed. It would seem that there would be temples all over the place, but I actually had to seek them out in Tokyo. There are a few tucked away here and there throughout the city, in the most unexpected places. For example, in the middle of Shinjuku, there is one right off the street. Not knowing any Japanese, however, I wasn't sure what it was for. But Ueno park has a lot of temples, so there I went one day (also to check out the "black market" located around the base of the train station). Here there were also explanations in english of the significance of some. One, I think, was where people would go to pray for new brides, or women they hoped would get married... |
| Akihabara of course Japan is famous for its electronics, and the place to go to see all of the latest and greatest is Akihabara. I went by myself one day, and knew instantly that this place could only be fully appreciated by a man (flashback to childhood experiences of being dragged through electronics stores by my dad), so I brought my brother here on the weekend. he was suitably impressed. you can find every gadget imaginable here, and the only thing to stop you from buying everything is that the power supply in Japan and the U.S. are different, so many things would not work at home. Fear not: the duty free shop carries most things, adapted for foreign countries. The prices are significantly higher though. But still... flat screen tv's, the tiniest notebook computers, digital cameras, digital camcorders, tiny cellphones imaginable... not to mention all of the other random junk that you would be hardpressed to find a use for... |
| Mt. Fuji one of the highlights of the trip was going to Mt. Fuji (or "Fuji-san" as our friends called it). you can drive about half-way up the mountain, to what is called the fifth step. Here you can see the snow-covered peak. There is also a temple, where climbers go for good luck. Our friends showed us how to do the prayer (throw a coin in, do some hand claps... I forget now), and then get a little sheet which tells your fortune. If your fortune is bad, you tie it to a string outside of the temple, which will supposedly help you have better luck in the future. There are also a couple of gift shops up there (again, shopping everywhere imaginable) which my brother and I raided for souvenirs to bring home to friends and family. Everything is so incredibly cute, it is hard to resist. For example, I am now the proud owner of a stuffed Fuji (yes, a stuffed animal mountain) which sits on a shelf in my kitchen. |
| Afterwards we drove down to a nearby lake, where we went on a wild boat ride. It wasn't the right time for the regular tours, so this one guy offered to take us on an impromtu tour. Even to get into a boat, we had to take our shoes off, and it was pretty cold outside! He had blankets in the boat to put over us, which was nice and warm. My favorite part of the ride was the foliage on the surrounding hills. It being my first fall in California, I was sad about missing fall in New England and all of the leaves changing color... imagine going all the way to Japan to see foliage! The rest of the trip went off smoothly, and I returned home safely to San Francisco on a beautiful foggy morning (which felt just like home) and immediately rushed off to Whole Foods to stock up on fresh produce, which is unbelievable expensive in Japan. $10 for a cantaloupe? I kid you not. |