Recent Destinations . . . Tokyo, Japan

April 2001

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From the old ...

 
My Sweetie huddles in front of Kaminari-mon, the gateway to Sensouji Temple, as it begins to rain ... The temple and all of its shops and tempting foods are just down the street from our hotel. Now let's see ... how do you spell foreign exchange in kanji?

We found our way to our hotel, a few blocks from the train station. The next morning, we managed, through broken Japanese and kind gestures to exchange bucks for yen, and we're on our way. Along the way were some small interesting shops.

 

Spirits only slightly soggy, we hopped on one of the city's plentiful, clean and convenient trains, and head across town to Shinjuku . . .

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To the new.

   

Not hard to imagine this place, at night, as the basis for scenes in Ridley Scott's Bladerunner. That's not really an ad for real-life mortal combat, just good old fashioned horse-racing.

 

 

We stepped into the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building to admire the skyline at the 45th floor, get our bearings, and warm up with some cocoa and coffee.

By Saturday, 31 March, the Tokyo weather put aside any attempts at hospitality, and it began to snow. The train stations are sometimes floored for hundreds of meters with ceramic tile -- you'd best watch your step! I missed my Mom but was glad she was not skidding on the ice there and shivering in the cold.

 

Viewed from above, it surely is a lot of city, on all sides of the building's many windows.

In the evening,we went to visit my cousin Hitoshi and his girlfriend, who showed us around the streets of Yokohama, and introduced us to some really great sake . . . which tastes as good as it is subtly strong!

  
    Next Stop: Nikko . . .^M