Friday, October 3, 2008

Conveyor Sushi





Sake Bar





Senso-ji




Asakusa








Sengaku-ji

This shrine is home to the graves of the 47 ronin. This was definitely one of the top three places I wanted to see in Tokyo. Bonus - the sun came out today!






Takanawa




Thursday, October 2, 2008

Harajuku

Harajuku is where the cool and stylish youth of Tokyo hang out. It's full of trendy stores, idol shops (boy bands - not religious icons), beautiful people, and these crepe places where they wrap cheesecake and fruit in a warm crepe full of REAL whipped cream. I may have had one. Or two. But hey - my clothes are too big already, so it was for the best. Really.



Yes, they really wear this stuff, and somehow they look good.

High school girl looking at posters of a boy band's new single. It's called "Happy Birthday" and released yesterday. How cool is that? Of course I bought one! It's NEWS! (My second-favorite Johnny's group. ..... Don't ask me how much I spent in those idol stores.)

Yep, they make a plastic version of every single flavor.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Rainy Day in Ueno


Map of the train and subway systems.



The men on the right are lined up waiting for the pachinko parlor to open. Some girls inside the door were preparing some potted plants - I guess for the first few customers.



You really can't take 50 steps without finding another bank of vending machines.




Plastic food. Most restaurants have windows like this, and list all their prices.


All the shops on the right are built directly under the railway.



Hello Kitty shop. This isn't just for tourists - Kitty-chan is popular with everyone.


Health and beauty store, I think. There's a lot of pink, but that could mean anything.









Beautiful shrine where I tried to do everything correctly, but it's difficult while juggling a purse, bag and umbrella. Remembered the Japanese words for incense and charm, though, so all that time with the monk wasn't completely wasted.


Umbrella locker at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Hatagaya in the Rain



A wonderful little neighborhood just a couple stops from Shinjuku. This was around 6 pm when people were just getting home from work and school. I wandered around looking for an elusive bookstore and took a few pictures before it got dark. Today was pretty rainy so not a lot of photos, but my credit card can attest that I have enough used cds and books to last me for a while.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Maid Cafe




We went to a maid cafe today for dinner - something we had said we could never do by ourselves but really wanted to experience. Photographs of the maids aren't allowed, but we could take pictures of the food. We ordered "omurice" which we'd both wanted to try. The maid brought it to our table, kneeled down, held up her squirt-bottle of ketchup and asked us, in English, "What painting?" - asking what did we want on our omelette. We chose a cat and a bunny (the bunny for me) and she created the pictures for us. It was so cute. She and the rest of the maids were adorable in their black and white uniforms. The patrons were mostly men but there were some girls, too. It was a tiny place on the 3rd floor, seating twenty or so customers. When we left another maid opened the door, pressed the button for the elevator, and then bowed deeply until the elevator doors closed. I'm so glad we got to try this, because it's something you'd only find in Japan.