Tokyo, Japan

Almost every page on this site starts out with me saying something like, "In July, 2007, I took a trip to ..." This time, I'm going to say, "In summer, 2007, I didn't go anywhere." Or, at least I didn't leave Tokyo. Instead, I decided that what I really needed to do was to lose 10 pounds, and to do that I started to eat less and exercise more. Specifically, I decided to walk 45 minutes to an hour every day. I started out here in the neighborhood around the house, but that got old in a hurry. Before you know it, I was jumping on a train and heading into Tokyo to walk around places I hadn't been to in a long time, or places I'd never been. Since I've always been a shutterbug and I was seeing some pretty nice sights, I began taking a lot of pictures, and before long I thought I had to put them on my web site. I'm writing this on September 18, 2007, which means the summer is basically over, so it's time to follow through and get the page done.

By the way, I've lost 9 pounds so far and it feels great. Anyway, here's a look around my city, Tokyo.

I started out walking around the Ueno area. Ueno is famous for Ueno Park and Ueno Zoo, but it actually has much more to offer, as there is a large concentration of museums in Ueno as well.

Ueno Park has a lake in it, as most do, and you can rent swan boats to paddle around for a while. I thought the heads peeking up made for an interesting shot.

Here a father was taking his daughter for a ride. I'm sure he didn't realize a pigeon was hitchhiking on top.

As I walked up from the park, I ran across a temple area and took this shot. Temples always make me feel like I'm in Japan and they're always good for pictures. I'm afraid I don't know what it's called.

I guess I had entered the temple grounds from the back, because as I walked up the hill from the lake I found the entrance to the temple with its multiple-multiple torii.

Right in the middle of Ueno Park I found what looks to be a Thai chedi. What is the history on this? I need a guidebook.

As I said, there are a lot of museums in Ueno, and this one, the Museum of Natural History, is famous for the huge statue of a whale in front.

When my son saw this, he ran and got the picture he had taken of it when he went there on a school field trip and said, "See, I've got a picture of it, too."

The Ueno area is famous for its Ameyoko shopping area. This shop, although you can't tell it here, is under the tracks of the Yamanote Loop Line that circles "downtown Tokyo."

This area has a very third world Asia feeling, and for a minute I felt as if I had left Japan. You can find almost anything here, although watches are what Ameyoko is famous for. But this shirt shop was most interesting for me, especially with this female clerk looking all smiles as she is chatted up by some hunky guy.

The Asakusa area of Tokyo is de rigueur for any visitors, and it was one of the first areas I was taken to back when I was just a visitor to Tokyo. The Asahi building is in the background with its distinctive golden flame, golden turd, golden sperm, or whatever you want to call it.

Taito Ward has picked up on its tourist focus and has added rickshaw rides, and you can see one in the foreground. Probably fun for tourists.

Sensoji Temple is the main tourist draw of the area, and if you take the Hato (dove/pigeon) tourist bus you will certainly be taken here. And yes, I bring foreign visitors here, too. The famous gate, not pictured, is called Kaminari Mon, which translates to "Thunder Gate."

On the side of the temple you will find chocolate-dipped-banana-on-a-stick vendors, etc., but you will also find beautiful little scenes like this carved stone.

Other times I had been to Sensoji, I had just toured the grounds and left. This time, though, as my purpose was to walk off a few calories, I walked around the area kind of in widening concentric circles. What I found was a delightful time capsule of turn-of-the-century shops, like this noodle shop.

There were also akachouchin (red lantern) eateries in the area, where people were drinking beer and eating noodles in the early afternoon. I haven't seen too many other areas in Tokyo with seating on the streets.

A block or two away from the temple grounds is a small amusement park that provides some interesting shots like this one.

I started to walk out of the Ueno area. Tokyo has an incredible train and subway grid, and it's always interesting for me to see what types of shops have been built under the overhead train lines. Here's a gift shop, darkened because it is under the Yamanote Line, I believe.

The Sumida River is famous for its fireworks festival every summer, which I have missed for 16 consecutive years. As it turns out, I was actually even there on the afternoon of the festival, but since I didn't know it was going to take place that evening, I just walked away. Maybe next year.

Building highways along rivers and even down the middle of rivers must be cheaper than buying property rights and knocking down buildings, so you will see lots of scenes like this one on the Sumida. The shelter afforded by the highway above makes it one of the many shantytowns of Tokyo, where homeless men live in makeshift blue tarp tents.

A student of mine from Metropolitan Expressway taught me that 80% of Tokyo expressways are overhead structures.

Lots of canals spur off the Sumida River, giving this area of Tokyo a bit of a Venice or Amsterdam flavor. A lot or tourist boats dock and take on customers here, and I caught one of them coming in possibly from the last run of the day. If you visit Tokyo, I suggest a ride in a Japanese bateau mouche.

This day I headed toward Akihabara, the electronics district. No surprise there - as an old geek, I have spent more time in Akihabara than in any other area of Tokyo.

What I hadn't seen, though, was how they had developed the area under the Sobu Line with restaurants such as these.

Akihabara is Mecca not only for electronics, but, since it is one of the streets that is closed to vehicular traffic on the weekends, it is a favorite area for street performers as well.

This isn't the main drag, though; this is the area in front of the new Yodobashi Camera complex. Although there are signs right behind this 3- piece band saying "No live performances," it didn't stop them from rocking out with their miniskirted teenage lead vocalist.

One other weekend I decided to visit the Imperial Palace area. If you have any look at Tokyo, such as on Google Earth, you will certainly notice quickly that Tokyo has what looks like a circular version of Central Park right in the middle of it.

This area is home to Japan's Imperial family, however, and although you can walk though a lot of it, you obviously can't come too near the Imperial Residence itself. However, it's a wonderful place for a stroll, and you will find many, many fitness-conscious Japanese jogging around its perimeter.

Yes, this picture really was taken right in the center of Tokyo.

The Nijubashi Bridge is maybe the most photogenic part of a walk around the palace grounds, and you will find pictures of it everywhere on the Internet.

Not far from the bridge I came across this field of strategically placed trees, which of course you are not allowed to walk through. The high buildings of the Otemachi area in the background make for an interesting contrast.

Right there on the Palace grounds is the national martial arts theater, better known by its real name the Budokan. I still associate it with the concert footage of the Beatles there in 1964. The afternoon I took this picture people were already gathering for a Bon Jovi concert that evening.

Every day my commuter train stops at Gokokuji, but as we are underground at that point I never knew what was up above. One day I decided to find out. Gokokuji, if you look at the Chinese characters, means "Temple to protect our country," so I knew that a temple awaited me. At the entrance was this Buddha and lantern, with made for a nice picture.

The alter of the temple was all done in brown, and looked like this.

I often walk the main streets, but of course it's interesting to get lost on side streets, and I've begun carrying a compass to know which way I'm going in case I get very, very lost. One day around 4:00 pm the afternoon light made this little street scene look nice, nicer than this picture can show you. Just somebody's houses in an older section of Tokyo.

I know this was somewhere in the Nezu area, but I could never find it again if I tried.

A little later I happened upon Nezu Jinja, or the shrine at Nezu. Tokyo is dotted with shrines and temples, and it is just as tempting to end up with a stack of temple pictures in Tokyo as it is to end up with a stack of church and cathedral pictures in Europe. This is no great picture, but the dad watching his son play with the pigeons in the fading light of late afternoon made a nice impression on me, and I'll share it with you.

Since I'd walked about three hours the day before, the next day (this was early August) I rode my bicycle to the Minkaen, or "people's house park." It's not actually in Tokyo but rather in Kanagawa Prefecture, but since I was able to ride my bicycle there in an hour I'll call it Tokyo.

What they've done is to take old houses from all over Japan and move them to this one area and restore them. It's a tranquil setting and and nice way to feel like you've gotten away from the hustle and bustle. This house pictured at left is a restaurant and I was able to get a reasonably priced lunch in a rustic setting.

If you aren't on your bike, take the Odakyu Line from Shinjuku to Mukogaoka station and follow the signs.

The opposite end of the house pictured above faces onto this little courtyard. In the far right corner you can just make out the easel of a person who was painting a picture of the scene.

You'll find lots of artists working in paint, charcoal, watercolors, etc. here, as well as guys like me walking around with digital cameras.

Partially because of the Imperial Palace in the middle of it, I suppose, Tokyo doesn't really have a city center that you could put your finger on and call it "downtown Tokyo." There is a train station that is called "Tokyo," but it would be hard for me to say that that is really where you can take the city's pulse.

Three areas where you could, though, are Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, and Shibuya. Ikebukuro is that one that I current go through on my daily commute, and here is a street scene from one popular street in the entertainment district.

Several summer days after class, I changed into clothes I didn't mind getting sweaty and walked across Tokyo from Iidabashi to Ikebukuro. This meant walking through the university area of Meijiro, and it was on Mejiro Street that I passed this menu outside a restaurant.

I thought the restaurant owner had created an inviting little scene that made a nice picture.

Although I don't eat out much, a foreign friend of mine told me that he thought Tokyo was a food-lover's paradise. I didn't realize what he meant until I started walking Tokyo's streets. There are a lot of interesting places to eat.

As I said, Shinjuku is another city center, but I don't have many pictures of it as I didn't walk through it much. One Sunday, though, I walked through Meiji Jingu Park, and from there you can see what looks like a Shinjuku skyscraper.

That is an illusion, though, as this is a telecommunications tower with a building-like shell around it. Somebody thought that a fake skyscraper was a better idea than a competitor for the Tokyo Tower, and I guess I agree. Can you see the actual tower sticking out of the top?

As I was walking through the park, I began to hear music and drums, and I found that I had bumbled into a traditional dance festival, with dance troupes from all over Japan performing. There were three different stages, and this was one.

It's kind of stupid to take pictures of dancers; video is what is required. I should have a YouTube link here, but I don't. Next time.

Harajuku, between Shinjuku and Shibuya, is really the place to see and be seen, especially on a Sunday afternoon. This is where you can see young Japanese dressed as gothics, gingerbread maids, Elvis impersonators, you name it. It's also another good place for street musicians, such as the big band sound of Loovee.

On this particular walk I continued south and found myself in Shibuya, a place I rarely go to otherwise, and I took this shot to kind of represent the area.

On a cloudy Sunday in early September, I started out in Tokyo's Ginza, which literally means "the seat of gold." I found that the Ginza is also closed to vehicular traffic on Sundays, and that the city goes one step further and sets up umbrellas and chairs for people to hang out under.

Here's the famous marubiro, or "round building" that I remember from my first Japanese textbook 20 years ago.

The "seat of gold" is naturally home to some very upscale stores, and here you see a sample.

I started walking from Ginza toward Tsukiji and Tokyo Bay and found this scene. I include it here just to give you an idea of the streets of Tokyo, the ones that are not bustling with people.

At a time when I was feeling quite lost I ran across this theater, which I didn't know existed. If you know anything about it, let me know. I just took a picture and kept walking.

As I got closer to Tokyo Bay, I got into the reclaimed land area again with its canals. This was a striking red arching bridge over a canal, but it looks less than striking in this low resolution picture.

After I hit Tokyo Bay, I walked over a bridge from one manmade island to another, and I got this view of the Rainbow Bridge. The skies were heavy, making it a comfortable day for walking but not a good day for photography. I noticed that there was a pier with tourist boats, and I thought that I would like to get closer to the Rainbow Bridge and maybe take a boat someday. Then I started walking north away from the bridge.

This is walking north toward Akihabara. Note the two buildings in the center background, the ones with the diagonal stripes, as you will see them again on a nicer day below.

I have a student from Brazil who told me that there was going to be a Brazilian Festival to celebrate the Brazilian Independence Day, so here is one happening in Harajuku that I didn't bumble into.

This band, according to her, was a top national act in Brazil. How amazing that they came to Japan to give a free show, then. There are a LOT of Brazilians in Japan, and it felt like most of them must have been at the festival that day.

I've never been to Brazil, but I got a feel for what it must be like. This was an impromptu gathering of percussionists (not pictured on the right) who got together to chant to rhythms obviously from Africa. In the center people came out of the crowd to do what I could only describe as break dancing, but it wasn't New York style break dancing.

The following weekend, I decided to go to a place I'd never been before, namely Gotanda on the southernmost part of the Yamanote Line. From there I started walking east to Tokyo Bay. Although I originally hit the bay south of the Rainbow Bridge, I walked north to meet it. There the traffic, including the monorail, loop to get up to bridge height. When I walked over closer to the bridge itself, I was delighted to find that there was a seven-story elevator taking visitors up to walk across the bridge itself, and it is free. I thought it was great and I had to try it.

When you get to the center point of the bridge, there are markers on the sidewalk telling you that Shibaura is on one side and Odaiba is across the bay on the opposite end.

As the bridge starts to curve, you get this view looking back at Shibaura.

Looking north, you get a breathtaking view of Tokyo, including those two towers I mentioned earlier as well a tourist cruise ship. I had seen this scene a few times before, as when I drove over the bridge to get to Tokyo Disneyland, but this was the first time I could just savor it slowly.

On the other end of the bridge is Odaiba, which translates to its English name "Big Site." The most eye-catching landmark is the Fuji TV building with its trademark globular observation deck. I had lunch there and was wanting to walk back across the bridge on the other side, but I found this tourist boat leaving from there and decided I couldn't miss the chance for a cruise.

So this is taken from the top deck of the boat just before departure.

As we cruised across Tokyo Bay, we got this look at the Rainbow Bridge, which I'll leave you with.

OK, there you have it - the summer of my content-ed walking around Tokyo. I've found that the more I get to know Tokyo, the more I like it, and I didn't need to go trotting all over the globe every vacation, because this is a pretty darned nice place to live or visit. Actually, I don't think a lot of people just buy a ticket and come to Tokyo, guidebook in hand, but you could. Tokyo and the surrounding area have much to recommend them.