In order to get to Asakusa from Shinagawa, we had to take the JR to Ueno station and swap to a Tokyo Metro line to get to Asakusa station. Since Ueno was now familiar to us, getting there was a synch…

btw, Hard Rock cafe is in Ueno station itself, if you’re interested in that sort of thing that is.

We went out a different entrance and of course had to figure out how to get to the Metro. Its underground of course, but how to access it from within the station, your guess is as good as mine. Definitely another first experience: Swapping form a Rail to a Metro Lesson 1.

Basically you have to exit the Rail, walk to a different part of the station (not OUT like we did the first time), find some hidden underground link (the signs do help somewhat)…, buy the Metro tickets and find again the platform to take the met.

It sounds a little daunting (and it can be for some stations), but after a while you do get the hang of it. If in doubt, just ask the guys at the Information (if the station has one) or the guys and the ticket gates.

Here’s a tip for those that don’t speak Jap (like mua):

forget your smatterings of sumimasen and arigatos and what nots… you try speak jap… they speak jap back at you. you do that, good luck with finding your answers.

i say, “excuse me,” with a smile, “<destination here>”, <point finger downwards to indicate, “is this where i enter”>?

so… something like this: “excuse me, Asakusa? (finger point downwards)”

they will reply with a nod for ‘yes’ and tell you the platform number in English OR indicate with their fingers the platform number. Then you just nod and say “Thank you” in English. Thats that. Or if you’re unsure, just repeat what he said, indicating with your fingers, “Four?”… and he will reply back with a nod… okay wad… not that difficult, no?

okay… Back to Asakusa…

Coming out of Asakusa’s Exit we almost headed the wrong direction (again)…

Buildings were our guide again… i spotted the Asahi building on our left and headed RIGHT instead… the Asahi building is nearer the sea, so we want to go opposite of that, heading inward…

another note… it’s no point following crowds… we generally think that if the crowd is moving towards a particular direction, THAT’s where the attraction is right? nope, doesn’t work that way in Tokyo.

Crowds move in ALL directions.

So… turning right…

…we saw the street entrance with lots of people taking the snaps and failing hopelessly at getting a worthy snap. the reason is because unless you have a super wide-angle lens (at least 24mm or wider), you can’t get the gate entrance unless you stand in the middle of the motor traffic.

People go to Asakusa for a variety of reasons. Some for  Sensō-ji temple, some for religious reasons, some for the market street, some to catch a glimpse of little girls in Kimonos…

Singaporeans usually go for the food of course.

PHEW! that was alot of images of the street!

do a u-turn and meander-off to some side shopping… really bargain basement stuff…

Asakusa has an older feeling to it… we has first lunch at Macs…. even spotted a woman in Kimono having a burger…

Since Ueno was a sort of transit area… we decided to have another look-see…

Fancy some Tako?

The octopus tentacles you see above is for sale and is thicker than a man’s forearm…

…

November 3rd is culture day (文化の日) in Japan. There will be Tokyo Jidai Matsuri (東京時代祭り) which is held every year on this day. Every year, there is parade about Japan culture in this Tokyo Jidai Matsuri. This year the Tokyo Jidai Matsuri was held at Asakusa (浅草). I don’t know whether Tokyo Jidai Matsuri is always held at Asakusa or not.

On that day, I went to see the Tokyo Jidai Matsuri with my friends. The parade started at 1.30 pm and ended at 3 pm. I was late, so I did not see the parade from the beginning. The parade showed various clothes and cultures of Japan from time to time, from the ancient time to the modern days. Since the parade was held only once a year, and it was also a very interesting parade, it was very crowded that I could barely see anything. But fortunately, I got a chance to take a photo with two guys with red faces in the parade.

In Asakusa, there is a gate called Kaminari-mon (雷門) and there is a temple in it. The temple is big, and people said that in New Year, the temple would be very crowded because many Japanese would go to the temple to pray for the new year.

There were many souvenir shops along the street to the temple. They sold many kinds of things like handphone accessories, swords, Japanese fans, Japanese pottery, Japanese clothes (there were even ninja clothes) and some Japanese cakes.

I bought some Japanese cakes there. If I’m not mistaken, it’s called　あげまんじゅう. There were several kinds of あげまんじゅう sold, but I chose the one with red bean in it. It was quite cheap, but I forgot whether it was 100 yen or 80 yen for one あげまんじゅう.

I also bought another kind of Japanese cake, but I didn’t know what its name was. I bought it because it was on sale (they called it ﾀｲﾑｻｰﾋﾞｽ). They sold the cake 200 yen for ten. So I thought it was quite cheap. This cake also had red bean filling in it. It was shaped into several different cute shapes, like bird, tree, Japanese lamp with 雷門 written on it, etc.

Uma das moças da APIC me convidou para ir em Asakusa no domingo, 11 de outubro, pra conhecer um dos templos mais famosos de Tóquio, o Templo Senso-ji. É conhecido como Asakusa Kannon porque conta-se que dois pescadores apanharam no rio uma estátua de ouro da deusa budista da misericórida, Kannon, e o mestre dos pescadores construiu um santuário no século VII e depois outros homens santos e governantes foram aumentado e enriquecendo o templo. Este templo sobreviveu ao grande terremoto de 1923 mas foi completamente destruído na segunda guerra mundial (como quase toda Tóquio, aliás). Ou seja, tudo que se vê é relativamente novo, mas tudo construído no estilo Edo.

Portão Kaminarimon.

É pertinho do metrô. Inclusive a saída do metrô já tem uma lanterna vermelha enorme. Vira-se à direita e já se vê a multidão. Eu cheguei às 11hs e estava lotado de gente…. voltei mais duas vezes lá. Uma no sábado 24 (estava chovendo) pra comprar lembrancinhas pra levar para o Brasil no fim de semana seguinte e outro no sábado 21 de novembro só pra tirar mais fotos. E nesse dia estava ENTUPIDO de alunos. Deve estar perto da época de provas e eles devem estar indo lá pedindo bençãos e boas notas.

Na entrada há um enorme portão (Kaminarimon – Portão do Trovão) com uma lanterna gigantesca e duas estátuas de cada lado, os guardiães Fujim e Raijin, fazendo caretas…

Eu no portão... e mais zilhões de turistas tentando tirar fotos!!!

Depois da entrada há uma imensa alamenda ladeado por uma série de lojinhas tradicionais que vendem souvenires, doces, roupas e artesanato. Como no último dia que eu fui era mais cedo eu cheguei a ver algumas das lojas fechadas. Muitas lojas aqui em Tóquio pintam ilustrações nas portas. Algumas muito bonitas.

Na alameda logo após o portão olhando em direção ao templo... e olha que esta foto foi tirada no dia que cheguei antes das 10hs! Reparem na quantidade de mascarados!!! Medo da gripe suína.

Loja fechada. Eu já vi portas com desenhos mais legais ainda, mas eu estava sem a câmera.

Ao fim da alameda mais um portão com 3 lanternas. Depois disso o prédio principal do templo. Lindo…. O teto é todo pintado, e lá ao longe a imagem da deusa Kannon. Os devotos jogam moedas, batem palmas 3 vezes e fazem seus pedidos. Também pode-se colocar uma moeda e pegar papeizinhos com uma sorte (dessa vez eu não fiz isso… mas bati palmas 3 vezes!!).

Segundo Portão. O nome é Hozo-mon.

Pavilhão Principal.

Parte do templo onde estão os tesouros. A estátua da deusa Kannon tá lá dentro... bem pequenininha.

Teto do pavilhão principal.

Interior do pavilhão principal.

Ao lado do templo há outros prédios fofos e um pagode de 5 andares. Como vcs podem ver eu fiquei tentando pegar detalhes arquitetônicos do telhado de um dos prédios com o pagado por trás…. realmente os telhados aqui são um barato… Muitos têm uma versão nipônica das nossas carrancas… maneiríssimo. Ah sim… reparem na suástica no detalhe do prédio a frente do pagode, logo abaixo da cimeira. Aqui, nos mapas em japonês, os templos são todos identificados por suásticas.

Pagode de 5 telhados.

Pagode com detalhe do telhado do prédio a frente. Reparem na suástica...

Foco nos detalhes do telhado a frente.

Um dos budas do jardim.

Depois de explorar o templo, ficamos andando em volta. Um bairro normal cheio de lojas e lugares para comer. Há também um parque de diversão pequeno. Minha acompanhante perguntou se eu não queria ir. Eu disse que não… por quê? Porque outros integrantes de outros cursos eram verdadeiramente loucos por parques de diversão e queriam conhecer todos…. Por alguma razão eu não acho parques de diversão muito divertidos. Especialmente os tradicionais.

Perto do templo há um prédio famoso porque tem um “troço” projetado pelo Philippe Starcke no telhado… O prédio é um cervejaria e eu realmente não faço idéia do que seja aquilo… Prefiro ficar vendo os japoneses em roupas tradicionais oferecendo passeios em riquixás.

Admito... achei horroroso!!!

Riquixá!

Depois de piruar em Asakusa, minha acompanhante, desculpe, ela se chama Yukiko, me levou pra conhecer os arredores de Harajuku. Pegamos o metrô, cruzamos a cidade e paramos em um estação que fica em uma enorme, larga e moderna avenida chamada Omote-Sando. Essa avenida é cheia de lojas famosas como Chanel, Gucci, Prada e outras. Tem também uma loja ótima pra turistas: Oriental Bazaar. Onde eu também voltei pra comprar lembrancinhas no dia 24 de outubro. Tem de tudo que se possa imaginar de tradicional lá dentro. Subimos a avenida e chegamos ao parque Yoyogi, onde também está localizado o santuário xintoísta mais importante da cidade, o Meiji Jingu. Na entrada do parque há uma torii imensa (eu também voltei nesse parque no dia 21 de novembro pra tirar mais fotos). O parque é imenso, super arborizado e as pessoas levam crianças vestidas com roupas tradicionais lá para serem abençoadas no fim de semana. De acordo com Yukiko-san, a mortalidade infantil era muito alta em Tóquio antigamente, então as famílias levavam as crianças aos 3 e aos 7 anos (acho) para serem abençoadas e agradecerem por estarem vivas. Também ocorrem muitos casamentos lá. Eu até vi um, mas não cheguei a tirar foto da noiva, mas tirei dos convidados.

Mega torii no parque Yoyogi.

Barris e barris de saquê (tinha mais do outro lado)... mas tira o olho que é do templo!

Entrada do santuário Meiji. Ah... manhã de sol... que maravilha!!

Ôi ki fofa!!!

Ôi ki fofo!!!

Convidados do casamento.

Estas duas, depois de simpática e pacientemente terem posado para uma porção de turístas, resolveram tirar fotos uma da outra.

Novamente no templo as pessoas jogam moedas, batem palmas e fazem pedidos. Aqui elas também compram plaquinhas de madeira, escrevem seus pedidos e penduram para que sejam devidamente repassados pelos monges. Vc vê plaquinhas em absolutamente todas as línguas. De uma delas eu realmente tive que tirar foto. Na saída passamos por algumas pessoas fantasiadas, mas o forte mesmo da galera modernosa é no domingo à tarde.

Placa votiva no templo Meiji. Tô torcendo por vocês!!!

Como eu disse, eu voltei ao Oriental Bazar no dia 24 de outubro pra comprar lembranças. Eu saltei na estação certa, mas meio perdida sem saber se eu queria ir pra direita ou pra esquerda. Comecei a andar e reparei que havia algumas crianças fantasiadas… estranho… Em certo momento em que eu percebi que estava indo na direção errada e comecei a voltar eu vi uma família inteira fantasiada!!! Pensei comigo mesmo que devia ser uma família daqueles jovens que gosta de se fantasiar em Harajuku….Só que mais a frente havia mais gente fantasiada… especialmente crianças… E aí eu percebi que algumas levavam baldinhos com cara de abóbora.. AH-HA!!! Dia das bruxas!!! Tudo bem… o dia das bruxas seria só no fim de semana seguinte… mas talvez houvesse algum evento infantil por lá…

Uma das muitas famílias fantasiadas pra parada.

Achei a loja e entrei. Depois de algum tempo escolhendo coisinhas, não é que estava eu lá, distraída quando comecei a ouvir SAMBA do lado de fora? Como eu já estava me encaminhando pro caixa, lá fui eu e saí da loja e estava rolando uma parada de Halloween ao som de samba brasileiro!!! E bem tocado ainda por cima. Abaixo o vídeo exótico que eu já havia mandado pra um monte de gente antes…

E as fotos que eu tirei… As crianças são muito fofas. E o legal são que há muitas famílias fantasiadas… eu quase persegui a família cabeça de abóbora pra tirar uma foto boa deles. E os cachorros?! Pena que não consegui tirar foto do lobisomen… eu já tinha parado de fotografar e ele passou correndo agarrando as pessoas (de leve) pelo ombro. Muito boa a fantasia.. devia estar quente embaixo de todo aquele pelo e as garras deviam ter uns 8 cm de comprimento.

Essa bruxinha ria ria e ria!!!

As crianças são muito fofas... parecem um bonequinhos!!

Pumpkin family... E eu os perseguindo até conseguir uma foto razoável...

A galera arrebentando na bateria (no bom sentido).

Eu ainda vou voltar a Harajuku, só pra tirar fotos dos malucos fantasiados… Eles adoram… fazem pose e tudo. Mas tem que ser num domingo à tarde.

Asakusa & Ducky Duck

I don’t have class on Thursdays, and I promised myself that I would use Thursdays to explore around Tokyo. Sadly, I hadn’t actually done that…until yesterday! I’ve been wanting to check out Asakusa for a while, so I decided to finally get off my butt and go.

I started off with the typical tourist route and headed straight to Sensoji.

Nakamise shopping arcade

They sold a lot of random things here. There was a lot of “Japanese” stuff like cheap kimonos, yukatas, fans, swords, lanterns, chopsticks, etc. Plus keychains, bags, food, toys and JE stuff(!). I wanted to buy stuff for people back home, but I’ll hold out on that until next year.

I also made my way over to Kappabashi-dori, but I just walked by pretty quickly. It was really quiet, which was nice, but the fact that I was the only tourist on the street at the time seemed really intimidating with all the shop owners just staring at me. Yeah I’m weird like that. I want to go back and buy some plastic food though…it’s SO cool. Sadly, I also didn’t get to take photos because my camera decided to run out of battery.

After I made my way back to the Sensoji area, I wandered around the small streets surrounding Sensoji. So many cool shops and things like that. It was pretty fun just getting lost in the streets. My feet got tired after wandering for about 5 hours though, so I decided to head back home. I’ll definitely go back to check out what I missed another time.

Later that night my friend and I met up with a couple Japanese girls we met back at the Halloween party at the Canadian embassy. We met up at Shinjuku station and ate at a cute pasta & cake restaurant called Ducky Duck. It was really good because I got to speak a lot of Japanese. I also realized my speaking skills don’t suck as much as I thought they did. I’m pretty sure my Japanese was really broken, but it was still a nice confidence boost knowing I could communicate 80% of the time without much English. Maybe I just get nervous in class and around my cute study partner haha.

Asakusa & Ducky Duck

I don’t have class on Thursdays, and I promised myself that I would use Thursdays to explore around Tokyo. Sadly, I hadn’t actually done that…until yesterday! I’ve been wanting to check out Asakusa for a while, so I decided to finally get off my butt and go.

I started off with the typical tourist route and headed straight to Sensoji.

Nakamise shopping arcade

They sold a lot of random things here. There was a lot of “Japanese” stuff like cheap kimonos, yukatas, fans, swords, lanterns, chopsticks, etc. Plus keychains, bags, food, toys and JE stuff(!). I wanted to buy stuff for people back home, but I’ll hold out on that until next year.

I also made my way over to Kappabashi-dori, but I just walked by pretty quickly. It was really quiet, which was nice, but the fact that I was the only tourist on the street at the time seemed really intimidating with all the shop owners just staring at me. Yeah I’m weird like that. I want to go back and buy some plastic food though…it’s SO cool. Sadly, I also didn’t get to take photos because my camera decided to run out of battery.

After I made my way back to the Sensoji area, I wandered around the small streets surrounding Sensoji. So many cool shops and things like that. It was pretty fun just getting lost in the streets. My feet got tired after wandering for about 5 hours though, so I decided to head back home. I’ll definitely go back to check out what I missed another time.

Later that night my friend and I met up with a couple Japanese girls we met back at the Halloween party at the Canadian embassy. We met up at Shinjuku station and ate at a cute pasta & cake restaurant called Ducky Duck. It was really good because I got to speak a lot of Japanese. I also realized my speaking skills don’t suck as much as I thought they did. I’m pretty sure my Japanese was really broken, but it was still a nice confidence boost knowing I could communicate 80% of the time without much English. Maybe I just get nervous in class and around my cute study partner haha.

One of the more off-the-chart tourist spots in Tokyo must be Kappabashi Street, between Asakusa and Tarawamachi subway stations on the Ginza line. Kappabashi is the heart of the Japanese kitchen and restaurant industry. this is where you must go if you plan on running a restaurant anywhere in Japan. It is lined with shops selling everything from chef uniforms in packs of 20 to spun cotton machines to plastic models of spaghetti and shrimp. Great if you run a sushi restaurant back in your home town or if you usually cook for a family of 40.

The start of the street is marked by the head of Chef Niimi on side and a row of very interesting looking ’70s balconies on the other (see the first picture). Kappabashi Street takes its name from the mythical Japanese monster, the Kappa, one interpretation of which you can see in statue on a side street, with a golden rather buff body. The Kappa was a charming race of creatures believed to be living near rivers and swamps and luring people into the water to feast on their intestines. Not very pleasant but luckily enough they were easy to trick by offering them cucumbers! Which, if you happen to be a sushi fans explains the name for the kappa-maki (in case you ever wondered). These days they have had a bit of an image change and are now portrayed by kindergarten kids in annual parades.

One of my favorite walks when I have few hours to spend is to take a long walk from Asakusa to Ueno, passing Kappa-bashi. It’s also a great place to pick up weird souvenirs in the form of the plastic food samples you will see outside restaurants all over Japan. Every single one is handmade. Amazing.

I wrote about the new broadcast tower being built in Tokyo called the 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) last summer. (Click here to read that post. I compare the new tower to the original 「東京タワー」 (Tokyo Tower) in that post).

A promo ad showing what the skyline will look like in 2011 with the completed tower.

The 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) is scheduled to be completed in late 2011 and stand 611 meters tall (making it the tallest structure in Japan, and one of the world’s tallest). The tower’s observatory will be open to the public in the spring of 2012.

Once this tower is completed it will stand out in Tokyo’s skyline. Far above the current 「東京タワー」 (Tokyo Tower), which is 333 meters tall. The 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) will replace the 「東京タワー」 (Tokyo Tower) as the Tokyo area’s broadcast tower and at that point all TV broadcasts will be digital (because all analog waves will be used for cellular phone service).

The "Tokyo Sky Tree" will tower above all else.

The construction of the 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) began last year. Right now, it stands at 191 meters (less than 30% complete).

Here’s a recent photo of the tower’s construction:

"Tokyo Sky Tree", autumn 2009

Unlike the 「東京タワー」 (Tokyo Tower), which stands in Tokyo’s upscale 港区 (Minato Ward)…the 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) is being built in the blue-collar, 下町 (down-town) area of 浅草 (Asakusa).

It will stand very close to the Asahi Beer headquarters. So, that probably explains why Asahi Beer sold their beer last summer in commemorative 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) cans.

Asahi Beer's commemorative "Tokyo Sky Tree" can

Here’s a promotional video for the 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“):

Time to get back to this blog and post some more photos and because I think I’m still under the influence of the trip I took to Japan the posted photo will illustrate that.

Following is a photo I took on sunny afternoon at Asakusa, Tokyo. Street merchants were selling lots of traditional rice sweets and or course chopsticks.

Japanese chopsticks cutting through the afternoon sunlight

On November 3rd, Culture Day, the Dance of the White Herons, shirasagi no mai (白鷺の舞) takes place. This year, it was on one of these steel blue Tokyo autumn days with crystal air that bring views of Fuji-san.

Child Guardian

Coming up Nakamise-dori

The origin of the White Heron Dance can be traced back about 1000 years to the Yasaka Shrine Gion Festival in Kyoto, where it was used to drive away the pestilence.
The dance is linked to Senso-ji by a historical picture scroll which depicts the white herons in a ceremonial parade to pray for peace after the large-scale restoration of the temple in 1652. Long discontinued, Shirasagi no Mai was resuscitated in Asakusa only in 1968, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Tokyo becoming the capital. Since then, it has been a yearly event.
The crowd around the dancers is considerable. Being taller than the average for once becomes a plus. The birds circle around, bend down to peck turn their heads. Why white herons, I wonder? Do they symbolize purity, are they messengers for the gods?
After the dance has ended, I realize that the colored paper strips must be very lucky, since people precipitate themselves to gather them. By the time I figure it out, there are none left, the old ladies already took care of them.

Shirasagi no Mai - Dance of the Snowy Egrets

Die letzte Woche war ich mit meinem Onkel viel unterwegs. Wir haben allen möglichen Touristenkram gemacht und viel erlebt. Hier mal ein paar Bilder von einer typischen  Woche in Tokyo mit Tempelbesuchen, Karaoke, Izakaya, Shopping, Clubbing…

Es gibt noch jeden Menge andere Fotos die aber besser nicht an die Öffentlichkeit kommen

There are various ways to discover a country, here are what is usually visited by first time travelers to Japan.

Everything depends on the length of your stay. But usually, you leave for 2 weeks, right ?

So, here is a classic for a 2 weeks trip :

Tokyo – Asakusa, Akihabara, Shibuya, Roppongi

Kyoto – Gion, the Golden Pavillon, Imperial Palace

Nara

Osaka

What I think :

When I go to Japan, I want to see the “real” Japan. Going to a place that looks like a Japanese district in the USA doesn’t interest me at all. What I mean is, I hate really touristic places. Gion was the biggest deception for me. Asakusa is the same way, though I like going there to buy souvenirs, hence why I went there once every time I was in the country.

What I have to say about these places, though :

Asakusa : despite what I said, it’s a nice place to see once. You might want to go elsewhere to eat, I personnally found there wasn’t a lot of restaurants.

Avoid going to Hanayashiki, the oldest amusement park of Japan : you have to pay to enter, and inside you have to pay for every single ride you want to do. And it’s not worth it for adults. If you have children, you may want to go to Disneyland instead, it will cost you less.

Akihabara : video games, electronic stuff, anime… if you like this, and want to have fun and find every single thing concerning your favourite manga, GO ! I went only twice : the first time it was very late and I was tired, so I didn’t appreciate it, and the second one was during a typhoon and I just had to go there to purchase a RJ45 cable, so I just ran out of the station, inside the first shop I saw, and then ran back to take my train. Did I mention I had forgotten my umbrella ? I’ll make sure to go back there next year.

Shibuya : I personally hate Shibuya. It’s crowded no matter what day it is, and the shops around there don’t interest me. You can’t understand what “crowd” means until you’ve been there. But Shibuya is THE fashion place.

Roppongi : Xmas is the time to go there. It’s amazing, with lights everywhere. Otherwise it’s a trendy place, expensive, a bit like Ginza, and it’s the “foreigner’s district”.

Kyoto : is a must see once in a lifetime. True, it’s touristic, but tourism has a good side : it’s easy to go there and you can find English speakers. There are a lot of other towns like Kyoto around the country, even prettier, older and so on, but Kyoto is the most famous.

Osaka : I didn’t like this town because I had no money when I went there. It might be seen like a smaller version of Tokyo, but I didn’t see enough of the town to be able to say something.

Música: Falete – Señora (3,8MB – mp3)  -  play  |  download

” The Sumida River (隅田川, Sumida-gawa) is a river which flows through Tokyo, Japan. It branches from the Arakawa River at Iwabuchi and flows into Tokyo Bay. Its tributaries include the Kanda and Shakujii rivers. What is now known as the “Sumida River” was previously the path of the Arakawa, however towards the end of the Meiji era work was carried out to divert the main flow of the Arakawa to prevent flooding. It passes through Kita, Adachi, Arakawa, Sumida, Taito, Koto and Chuo” (Wikipedia).

When some friends of mine and I first visited Tokyo in 2003,  I’ve tried to convince them to visit the Sumida River as it’s one of the land marks in Tokyo, they were partially convinced about it. Then, the next day, we’ve arrived in Asakusa train station which is just next to Sumida River, I didn’t know how far it’s located away from the train station, so once we went out the station we kept walking ‘n’ walking for ages! Nothing appeared on the horizon yet, as I’ve mentioned earlier, they were just partially convinced about visiting it, so suddenly we’ve they’ve decided to forget about it and go back to whatever is left to visit/see in Tokyo. FOUR years later, in 2007, a friend of mine and I, have made it at the Sumida River at the right time and the right place, the station this time was just a couple of minutes away from the river, and the timing was just perfect for it, it was late March, you know what I mean! Cherry blossom, Sakura trees, were covering the streets of Sumida. It was crowded with public enjoying the weather, the scenery and the river at that delightful moment. What’s so special about Sumida River in addition to the Sakura trees, the bridges, it has many bridges passing over it and some are dedicated for trains, it’s wide and relaxing for sight. I remember how people there were so happy and joyful! Sumia River now means a beautiful moment for me!

Little by little the clear blue skies became overcast, day seemed to turn to night, the temperature dropped instantly, and all of a sudden our coats and umbrellas seemed out of their depth. The next minute you could see your breath in the air, torrential rain and huge amounts of hail fell from the sky,  everyone was sent scurrying for cover.

Here is a small collection of photographs taken in Asakusa, Tokyo, before, during, and after a tornado passed the Eastern Honshu coast line of Japan.

Lomo LC-A

www.christopherjonesphotography.co.uk

Tornado, Asakusa, Japan

Tornado, Asakusa, Japan

Tornado, Asakusa, Japan

Tornado, Asakusa, Japan

Tornado, Asakusa, Japan

Tornado, Asakusa, Japan

Tornado, Asakusa, Japan

Tornado, Asakusa, Japan

Tornado, Asakusa, Japan

Tornado, Asakusa, Japan

Tornado, Asakusa, Japan

Tornado, Asakusa, Japan

Links:

• Senbei: una mena de galetes d’arròs que als japonesos els agraden molt
• Senbei Norimaki: Dr. Slump

Música: Marlango – It’s all right (3,5MB – mp3)  -  play  |  download

Japan

I found the cleanest place in the world I have ever seen, in July 2002… Japan. I toured the southern part and went back six years later, in 2008, to see the northern island of Hokkaido.

Asakusa
After landing at the Tokyo Narita International Airport, we started our tour in Asakusa, seeing a temple. It’s almost like, if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Nevertheless, Japanese temples are tranquil places, where beautiful cherry blossom trees flourish and the sound of flowing water is usually never far.

Mt. Fuji

Tokyo
The capital of Japan is what you would imagine but so much better. It’s a high-tech mecca full of business people rushing around, but it’s not like New York City (no offense) — Tokyo is clean, and the people are ultra polite. The Ginza Tower, well, towers over one part of the city. And from our hotel room, we could see Mt. Fuji, the country’s tallest mountain and what I think is the world’s most beautiful mountain.

Yokohama
This pretty oasis of serenity is also Japan’s second largest city, where modern buildings line the skyline and young men (they could have been teenagers) await customers wanting a ride on a rickshaw.

vending machines in Toyohashi

Toyohashi
We took a bullet train from the Hamamachi train station to Toyohashi. Bullet trains are among the fastest in the world, screaming toward you like a white ghost while you wait on the loading platform. You shouldn’t stand too close to the track because the wind produced by the high-speed train is so strong, you might get blown over. The ride, though, was amazingly smooth. Everywhere we went, including in this city, I bought green tea ice cream: from vending machines, from ice cream stands, from cafes. I took full advantage of its widespread availability. We also visited the beautiful Kinkakuji Temple’s Golden Pavilion.

Kinkakuji Temple's Golden Pavilion

Kyoto
Models put on a fashion show at the Nishijin Textile Center, where we saw seamstresses make kimonos, yukatas, and other Japanese clothing.

Osaka
Perhaps my favorite city in Japan, it’s home to the majestic Osaka Castle and Shinsaibashi Suji (a mile-long, outdoor shopping arcade), where I had my first Starbucks green tea frappuccino. I prayed that Starbucks would start selling it in the U.S., but I had to wait a couple of years before this delightful drink made its way to my home country. With several blocks of stores, I indulged in more than just green tea frappuccino; I had green tea, green tea ice cream, green tea frozen yogurt, and green tea slushie. I also fell in love with the Sony store — designed so much more high-tech and modern than computer/technology stores in the United States. Pachinko (a cross between pinball and slot machines) parlors were abundant in this shopping arcade, and there was no shortage of people playing the game. Funny enough, I felt like I stuck out in Japan, especially in Shinsaibashi Suji, because I have naturally black hair, whereas most Japanese young people dye their hair brown or even blond.

Shinsaibashi Suji

Nara
In Nara Deer Park, we got up close with graceful deer. And of course, we visited Nara Temple and Todaiji Temple.

Kobe
Kobe Tower at Kobe Port is an impressive red structure that’s a landmark among other uniquely designed buildings.

Read about my second trip to Japan, during which I traveled throughout Hokkaido, in an earlier blog entry.

Izumiya Sembei Shop #2 in Asakusa

Izumiya 和泉屋

Taito-ku, Asakusa 1-1-4

Tel. 03-3841-5501

10:30 – 19:30 (closed Thursdays)

www.asakusa.gr.jp/nakama/izumiya/ (Japanese)

This quaint sembei shop presents the rice crackers in glass jars with tin lids. A wide variety of flavors include both sweet and savory like shiso, zarame (rock sugar), and a very spicy dried red pepper covered ookara. The very delicate and thin usuyaki, nori wrapped, and an unusual type, an extra hard genkotsu. There is also a shop in the Nakamise Dori, but this selection is much bigger. These two shops are across the street from each other. These are not on the Nakamise Dori.

Izumiya Sembei Shop in Asakusa

To update you on whats been happening I should start with my move. Yes I moved from Chiba to Asakusa Toyko 3 months ago! And I must say I like Asakusa a lot. There is tons to see and to eat around here, it’s closer to the parts of Tokyo I like (Shibuya, Harajuku…) and I have a rooftop to sit and drink beer at night or enjoy the sun on a nice day.
I also got me a TV so I can finally play some Xbox in my room and don’t have to go upstairs into the kitchen anymore. Plus I hooked it up to my MacBook so I have a second Monitor…still not like working on my 24″ iMac, which i miss dearly, but a lot better.

Here some pics:

But not everything is better at my new place…I don’t think I have to explain just take a look at my unbelievable view:

And since I live on the first floor I get visits from roaches like once a week…sucks but can’t do anything about it!

Morgens bin ich um halb 10 aufgestanden und habe mich schnell fertig gemacht, weil wir ja um 10 Uhr nach Asakusa losfahren wollten. Es hat sich dann aber alles nochmal ein bisschen verzögert, da An und Ren irgendwie nicht aufstehen wollten^^ Gegen halb 11 sind wir dann alle ins Auto gestiegen und losgefahren. Auf dem Weg haben wir sogar den Kaiserpalast gesehen

In Asakusa angekommen sind wir erstmal die Nakamise-dori entlanggelaufen. Das ist eine Art Straße mit ganz vielen Souvenir- und Essensständen. Ich habe mir endlich Postkarten kaufen können! Wir haben Anko-Manju gegessen und uns später noch eine Schokobanane gekauft Beim Senso-ji war gerade ein Drachetanz, der wohl aus Kyoto kommt [?] und sonst in Tokyo nicht zu sehen ist! Weil aber so viele Leute da waren, konnten wir leider nicht viel erkennen

Wir sind dann in den Tempel reingegangen und haben uns etwas gewünscht [10 Yen oder mehr in ein extra dafür vorgesehenes Becken werfen, sich verbeugen, die Hände zusammenlegen, sich etwas wünschen, nochmal verbeugen. Auf das sonst übliche Klatschen haben irgendwie alle verzichtet]. Außerdem haben wir uns noch alle für 100 Yen eine Art Horoskop gekauft. An und ich hatten Pech und haben das schlimmste erwischt, dass man bekommen kann [Die Aufschtrift war in etwa: Dein Wunsch wird nicht erfüllt. Der Patient wird nicht geheilt. Das Problem wird nicht gelöst. Du wirst keinen Erfolg haben. ], weshalb wir es zusammenfalten und an einer Stange festknoten, damit es nicht in erfüllung geht. Ich dachte irgendwie immer, man müsste die guten festknoten, DAMIT sie in Erfüllung gehen, aber da hab ich mich wohl geirrt xD

Wir sind dann nochmal durch irgendeine Einkaufspassage gelaufen und kamen an einer Straße heraus, in der es ganz viele Spielhallen und Restaurants gab. Wir hatten alle Hunger, weshalb wir beschlossen haben, als erstes zu essen. Wir waren in einem kleinen Restaurant und haben Tendon gegessen. Das ist eine Abkürzung für Tenpura-Donburi. Tenpura bezeichnet frittiertes Gemüse, Fleisch oder Fisch und Donburi ist eigentlich einfach nur Reis in einer Schüssel mit variierenden Sachen obendrauf^^ In unserem Fall also frittierte Garnele, frittierter Fisch und frittierte Aubergine auf Reis. Eigentlich alles etwas, was ich nicht besonders gerne mag, aber es hat eigentlich ganz gut geschmeckt.

Nach dem Essen sind wir in eine Spielhalle gegangen, wo An und ich bestimmt eine halbe Stunde lange in Spiel gespielt haben, wo man passend zur Musik verschiedene Buttons drücken musste, was sxtrem viel Spaß gemacht hat! Wir sind dann nochmal durch ein paar Läden gegangen und haben uns dann auch schon auf den Heimweg gemacht. Zuhause angekommen, war ich irgendwie ziemlich müde und bin im Wohnzimmer auf dem Sofa eingeschlafen. Zwischendurch bin ich mal aufgewacht, als An Hausaufgaben machte, hab dann aber weitergeschlafen. Irgendwann später bin ich dann davon aufgewacht, dass An und Miu sich auf den Weg zu einem kleinen Festival gemacht haben. Sie haben gefragt, ob ich mitwill, aber ich hatte irgendwie keine Lust und wollte sowieso noch zum Keio [Supermarkt!]. Yuka, Babo und Ren hatten sich in der Zwischenzeit auch hingelegt und waren eingeschlafen, sodass ich mich leise aus dem Zimmer geschlichen habe^^ Ich habe den Weg zum Glück auch im Dunkeln und trotzdem ich ihn das erste Mal alleine gegangen bin gefunden und habe einen Apfel [Die sind hier so riesig, dass man nur einen braucht^^] für die Pfannkuchen und Oreos gekauft Als ich wieder zurückkam war Yuka auch aufgewacht und machte gerade das Abendessen. Ich habe mich nochmal ins Wohnzimmer gesetzt und habe gelernt. Irgendwann später habe ich dann noch geskyped. Zum Abendessen gab es heute noch Fleisch von gestern, Reis, Salat und Suppe. Ich habe erfahren dass das Fleisch, dass ich gestern etwas “unlecker” fand, in Wirklichkeit Darm ist und war recht froh, dass ich davon eigentlich nichts gegessen habe. An wusste das vorher auch nicht und guckte erstmal etwas angewiedert…Lustig zu sehen, dass ich nicht die einzige bin, die die Vorstellung Darm zu essen eklig findet ^^

Nach dem Essen habe ich nochmal geskyped und mit Amikura-kun Mails geschrieben. Er meinte, dass er noch nie auf dem Tokyo Tower war, was mich irgendwie etwas geschockt hat^^ Wir haben beschlossen, irgendwann vor meinem Abflug einmal raufzusteigen!

Gegen 12 bin ich dann ins Bad gegangen und dann auch ins Bett.

[taken in 2009|08 at Tokyo, Asakusa]

I couldn’t walk and it was damn hot because of the two towels I had to wear underneath the Obi BUT Hana-chan made it look good. Hana-chan, my hero!!

Dad and I return- 19 years on

In a Kimino at age 4. The Japanese culture and the travel bag would stay with me

This is a recent letter from my Dad to my brother about the VERY FIRST trip I ever took.  It’s amazing to read about my parents travel experiences with me. At the age of just 1.5 years old, I was already on the traveller’s path.

Dad is my guest blogger this week!

Re our trip to Japan when you were very young, in 1989.  This is what I remember:

We flew on Japan Air lines (JAL) 747 from Sydney – Tokyo – London. The Tyo – Lon sector was about 12 hours via the North Pole and we saw some great snow and ice covered lands and mountain sights en-route from the plane’s windows.

We stayed in the Shinjuku area west of Tokyo in a Ryokan ( traditional Japanese Inn) complete with Rice-Paper screen doors and a wooden bathtub with a saucepan to wash water over yourself with  No shower).  I wasn’t too keen on it but it was an experience.  I remember walking to find the beer can vending machines I had heard about and came back with a couple. They were all over the place as were machines dispensing cold coffee in cans. I saw many people cycling around. We met some people who had travelled from Canada in the recreation section of the Inn.

On the  day after our arrival, the representative from our Japan freight agent (Tokyu Air Services) looked after us for a whole day and evening and took us on a trip to the Temple at Asakusa, one of the features are it’s giant Red lanterns out the front and markets leading up to it.  There was a also a religious procession in the streets nearby that we stood and watched.  I have some recent photos of the temple as I went there in 2008 with Emma.

We also went to Akihabara – a shopping district specialising in electrical items.

During the time in Tokyo, we travelled on the underground system which was very clean and efficient and had a meal in a another area of Tokyo. Mum might remember where? Many local Japanese people wanted to touch Emma as she had bright blond hair and it is supposed to bring good fortune!

I  hope my recollection helps you.

Cheers

Dad

xo