The first few days Leah was in Japan we stayed in Tokyo.
Please take enjoy the pictures.Read more...We saw the famous Tokyo Tower and as we approached Leah did a Japanese Anime pose.
From the tower, the city looked like a model. I imagine a greying old man building this sky line in his basement, carefully painting the dirty and smog stains onto buildings. Mount Fuji watches over the city from a distance.
My fiancee poses with her back to the anthill city.
We happened upon a park while wandering the city. This torii gates greeted park goers.
Its amazing that in a city this size, you can find a place to sit under some trees in a park and peacefully read a book. I think to the japanese, having nature available to them like this, is as essential as rice and fish.
We also visited the Imperial Palace. Most of what we saw was rather unimpressive. I'm not sure if we missed the best part, or that the best parts are closed to tourists, but Leah and I considered this place a relative bust. But we were glad we went, if just to say we've been to the imperial palace. There were a couple highlights though. This bridge was beautiful. It was in the "inner garden" I think. We couldn't get to it.
This samurai statue was another highlight. He was pretty magnificent. His face was dark with oxidation and his horse looked downright insane. If I were a foreign invader or a peasant rising against the imperial forces, this guy would likely send me back to the fields at first glance.
I also really dug these trees.
We finally hit pay dirt when we headed for Ueno Zoo (which was sadly closed) and walked through Ueno Park. There was plenty to see, these cool torii for example.
We also walked through to this amazing shrine. Leah and I stood uncomfortably while a japanese family paid their respects. The signs were all in japanese so I didn't know what this was for, but it was beautiful.
In a large pavilion a saxophone quartet and a drummer hammered out a few christmas tunes and a few songs neither of us had ever heard of. Leah informed me that the little sax in the middle, the one being played by the guy in the cowboy hat, is the same type as Kenny G, a soprano sax. I think Kenny G's sax looks stupid, this soprano sax I like better actually. They were fabulous and we gave them some money.
We got a kick out of their dance routines.
As the brass quartet was wrapping up, this guy politely waited for the music to end. When they did he started his show. He is a yo-yo ninja. He used both a chinese yo-yo (shown here) and the conventional type.
He could juggle multiple chinese yo-yos, it was incredible. I can imagine this guy going to parties and all his friends are like "Koji! Do you have your yo-yos? Do that thing!!" And he feigns bashful saying "Well, if you really want to see, I've got a new trick!" I also see him practicing hours and hours, strutting around with this yo-yos flying.
His assistant was no less talented. She unicycled around for a bit, then began to jump rope whilst on the mono-wheel!
In the Rippongi area, we saw a big Christmas tree sort of deal. It had ornaments projected on to it and would change from time to time. The area was covered in lights and sweets shops lined the back of the pavilion. The smells of taco yaki (octopus balls), cotton candy and even pseudo hot dogs piqued then erased our appetites. The hot dogs looked kind of gross.
See a few more pictures :
Tokyo Picasa Album
