Kaminarimon - the "gate" into Senso-ji, Tokyo's most prominent Buddhist temple. This temple was in my neighborhood, less than a kilometer's walk from my hostel. It constantly draws tourists to the blocks of surrounding shops and restaurants, and *especially* around New Year's Day. Everyone and their dog (literally - see album) comes out to visit the temple, which brings a swift kick of activity into an otherwise quiet neighborhood. The New Year's season lasts roughly a week in Japan, so it was a good time for me to be in the neighborhood.
This is what's directly behind the Kaminarimon. It's a half-kilometer of nothing but shops in itty-bitty stalls. That tiny grayish square is the roof of the temple.
Buddha. One of many in Japan. "Buddha" here corresponds to bodhisattva, which is a sort of "lesser" Buddha, yet is still equal.. Buddhism is confusing. It traveled to Japan through China, so there is a Chinese influence throughout all of it, with the exception of Japan's self-developed Buddhist schools, most famously Zen.
The most common vending machine in Japan: Suntory Boss Coffee. Suntory, famously known as an alcohol producer, makes beverages of all kinds, including coffee. Coffee can be bought from vending machines hot or cold. Also, Tommy Lee Jones is the flavor of the week over there, and in every piece of media featuring him he's that austere-looking.
From a Japanese arcade: this is the new trend. One big screen showing a game's overall action, but each player has their own terminal with a screen and controls. The other half of the trend is how this game is controlled: a tricky flat surface on which you put collectible cards. Most games hinge on how you move or arrange the cards, such as formations in sports games and tactics in combat games. This is the latter, and it's based on some space-combat-robot anime. The cards are bought from vending machines, which are usually nearby the location or built into terminals.
The other trend in Japanese gaming: gambling. Most arcades are split into two sections, for-fun and for-money games, for which you buy "tokens" that you can cash back out. Keeping in spirit with the big-screen-and-terminal setup, this is a horce-racing game made to simulate a luxury suite at the tracks. Swanky leather chairs and ashtrays are standard to each terminal.
End of the day in Ueno, near the station. Traffic is horrendous, though you can't see it too well in this shot. Most of the neon lights here are for either karaoke or pachinko and slot rooms.
A few blocks away from the last shot, this one's in Ueno Park. Most Tokyo parks are smack in the middle of the city, and the combination of serenity and glowing lights makes it hard to unwind, but rather all the more exciting.
Just outside Ueno Station, just after sunset (which is at 5pm sharp in winter). Commuters who are lucky enough to get off work at 5 are on their way home.
Back to Ueno Park the next day. Most of the place's monuments are tributes to Japan's opening up to the Western world which started in 1868. There's a monument to President Grant not far from this picture. This very European-inspired courtyard is the path to the Tokyo National Museum.
And what is Japan's opening to the West without the story of the last samurai? This is Saigo Takamori, in essence the real last samurai. When Japan modernized, it stripped the shogun (military power) of its power, reinstated the Emperor, and disarmed the samurai, who had previously been society's highest class. As the samurai's status began to take a fall, Saigo led a rebellion not far from Tokyo, but was swiftly put down by Japan's new-age conscripted army.
More importantly, what is Tokyo without Shibuya's most famous intersection? JA decided to meet up here for our first get-together of the break.
This crowd is a mix of UT people, JA members on study abroad in Japan, Japanese girlfriends, and the few people on the left are from CU Boulder, since one of them sat next to me on the ridiculous flight from DFW.
Private dining is restaurant dining, but each table has its own box-sized room. It's a door, and you walk across the seats to get to yours, and then stick your legs down into a recessed part so you're sitting at the table. Waiters come one at a time to bring orders. 3500 yen (a cheap $35, because cool people ignore the details of the Japanese exchange rate) each got us a four-course meal and two hours of nomihoodai - all you can drink. The girls in that shot got utterly loaded, thanks to that.
Some river, just on the other side of Kaminarimon from my place. It's a starting spot for boat tours, but best known for the Asahi building, which is made to look like a glass of beer. The Asahi Annex building next door is supposed to symbolize something, but everyone just calls it The Golden Turd.
Car guys: "Sporting" vans are all the rage in Tokyo. That thing is the size of an American-market minivan, and I mean the big ones, not these new-breed crossovers. They get all the same tuning tweaks as Civics do here.
An arcade, signs for electronics makers and Windows Vista. Must be... *ding ding ding!* Akihabara, the famed electronics district, and considered mecca to most Japanophiles. In reality, it's heaven to the hardest-core otaku (anime freaks) and everyone else will find it underwhelming. If there's truly something you need, it's a good place to go shop. I, for one, dropped my camera mid-trip and destroyed the LCD, which meant I went shopping the next day. I found my same camera at a second-hand shop for $200, after 3 hours of browsing. The game shopping here is good too, but most game stores are multi-floor. As you go up in floors, the same stores slowly evolve into anime floors, and then hentai floors, and eventually full-blown hardcore porn floors. See the yellow signs in this picture? That's a Japanese fast-food place, where you can get cheap versions of straight-forward rice-and-meat bowls.
Traditional New Year's food, thanks to the Tanji family. These guys were amazingly nice to have me over to let me experience a Japanese home, and an actual tradition. A walk-through of the food: Pink and white is basically a "fish sausage," the meat surrounded in tomatoes is pork, the red and black fish eggs (in separate dishes) are just that, the brown in the lower right is the edge of cake slices, and everything else is root vegetables.
This is the living room of a well-off Japanese family living in the suburbs of Tokyo.
Ginza, Tokyo's high-end shopping district. Home to every named designer on the planet, a few high-end department stores, a few trendy shops (Apple Store is here), and advertisements for watches and Bentleys.
I happened upon the Hakone Ekiden, essentially the Tokyo Marathon. It's a national television event in Japan - when it comes on, everyone watches with family and every store that sells a TV has it on. This is day 2, the professional marathon, but day 1 - the college marathon - is really where it's at.
The Tokyo International Forum - the newest exhibition hall, and a true architectural masterpiece. Easily my favorite place that I visited. Lots more pictures are on the album.
An example of the light-centric artwork being shown at the Forum for the holiday season. The Japanese love their Christmas lights, and they are *meticulous* in their set-up. This isn't the best example of that, but it does go to show that glowing lights do just as much for the Japanese as they do for Americans.
Bic Camera, one of Japan's biggest electronics chains. That whole building, plus two basement floors, is the store.
The ride out to Tokyo Bay
Tokyo Bay - the newest urban development. Mostly home to high-end shopping and museums for interesting stuff like cars and TV, instead of old history and religion. Makes a great date activity.
The inside of VenusFort, a largely female-targeted shopping mall. Like most of high-end Japan, obsessed with all things Italian.
The world's largest Ferris wheel. I didn't take a ride because doing so alone would have been The Lamest Thing Done Ever.
A random shot from a temple in Kamakura, an hour outside Tokyo, and home to several famous Zen Buddhist temples.
Yes, the "triforce" is actually part of Buddhist symbology. Also: my best shot of the trip.
Runner-up for best shot. Dear God, this camera can do anything.
Daibutsu - the Great Buddha. Second-largest Buddha in the entire world.
This is from Shinjuku, at the entrance to Kabuki-cho, one of Tokyo's famously "seedy" districts. This is actually home mostly to bars and pachinko rooms, hangouts for salarymen or loser guys who don't want to go home, but it also has lots of strip joints and massage parlors.
An example of those meticulous Christmas lights. This is also in the luxury hotel district of Shinjuku.
I made the pilgrimage. This is the New York Bar. Look familiar? Thought so. My amigo Toshio and I ran up a $110 bar tab here - on 4 drinks. I found it the perfect place to try a fine scotch, and I enjoyed every drop of it. This was probably the single highest-class place I've been in my life. It was ungodly luxurious, ungodly expensive, and worth every penny.
The view from the bar - absolutely breathtaking in person, because two dimensions sometimes just won't cut it.
Sato Koichi - this guy is a character in my girlfriend's favorite manga (comic book). I was sent on a pilgrimage to find him and his restaurant, to find out how closely they both compared to the manga. After my report, the girl was pleased, but so was I - Koichi said I was welcome back anytime. He was the type of guy who looks like he might be stand-off-ish, but when you actually strike up a conversation with him, he actually turns out to be one of the most laid-back people on the planet. Everything about him, from the tattoos to the look to the attitude, added up to the Japanese version of Brandon Boyd. You know, pre-Incubus-goes-lame Brandon Boyd.
Domo-kun: he's a TV show! And not just any show, oh no, this guy is a commercial phenomenon. All he says is "Domo! Doooomoooo!" in a thickly American accent.
Just to close things off, a bit of Engrish fun.There's lots more in the albums. Click the link in the previous post to see all 260-something pictures, with lots more on arcades, home life, cars, art, temples, artistic shots, and more of everything I described above.
