TOKYO/ODAIBA.

This dude was bad, and he knew it. A Jheri curl AND leather Harley jacket!

Giant spider sculpture in Roppongi.

Harujuku, a happenin' place for people who like to shop and walk in very crowded conditions.

ODAIBA.

Odaiba is an artificial island in Tokyo Bay. "It's like going to the future", Azusa said. I can see what she means, with the weird sky scrapers, looping overpasses, and shiny apartment buildings. Odaiba was originally a part of a series of six artificial island fortresses designed for defense purposes in late the mid 1800s. The word "daiba" actually refers to the cannon batteries that were placed on these islands. Today, it's a popular tourist destination and it has it's moments on a sunny day.

Azusa! Our guide in Tokyo. You may remember Azusa as the friend I made in Bangkok, Thailand this past summer. See September (thanks for the correction, Kennel!) 2007 post for more.

This is a restaurant with a junior-highschool classroom motif. In fact the entire floor in this mall (called Deck's) is designed to look retro so that people from "our mothers' generation" can revisit their youth, said Azusa.

Also in this mall was an indoor test-driving course for tiny futuristic Toyoto cars. It'd be nice to have a picture of it, but I didn't take one.

Rainbow Bridge.

A street performer with the best spot in Tokyo.

The view from a giant ferris wheel that, at it's apex, is 110m high which was a Guiness World Record in 1999(?) according to the automated voice that spoke to us in the box.

I have no idea why the Statue of Liberty is on Odaiba.

Tokyo Tower. I was rooted to the spot as I saw the blimp racing toward the tower in what could only result in a fiery disaster, but actually, that didn't happen.

Yamanashi - literally, "Mountain Pears".

The land of fresh air, fruit trees, mountains, and the best onsen (hot spring) I have ever been to. Also, it is the home of my grandparents, a fact which renders the aforementioned features to a merely complementary role.


Ojiichan and Obaachan! Also known as my mother's parents, or Takehiko and Tsutako Okada. I am sure you will note their casual yet elegant fashion. Why is it my grandparents can dress better than I?






Ojiichan and Tola in my grandparent's sitting room. You cannot fail to notice that Ojiichan has a charming smile ; also that Tola is obviously smitten.

These bamboo dragonflies are but one example of my grandfather's exceptional skill in handicrafts. Anything from glass bead-work, to little magic trick contraptions to amaze even the most skeptical schoolchild. The bamboo dragonflies pictured above are an amazing creation: they balance themselves in the air with their nose dug into the tip of (in this case) a tiny bamboo stalk. I actually managed to balance one on the end of my FINGERNAIL. They just float there, their bodies parallel with the ground...

Here are two of them perched on the same twig. The key is in the forward angle of the wings.

Aiko, Ojiichan and Obachan's tiny dog. She waits for Ojiichan as he gets his shoes on inside... she just waits... waits... ears perked, eyes alert.

Yaaay! Ojiichan!

Tola does not like dogs.

Taking a drive in the old van which, even when it's in 4th gear, sounds like it's in 1st.


Ojiichan preparing mochi which are pounded rice cakes. Traditional Japanese new year's food.

Mount Fuji.

Tola

YOKOHAMA: Funahashi Family.

Left to right: Uncle Eisuke (holding Harry), Aunt Eiko (holding Peta), Tola, Rieko, Jun, Hidemi.

The man.

Eiko (my Dad's "baby sister") and Jun.

Rieko (Jun's wife) and Tola, staring.

The Anglican church where my parents got married exactly 28 years ago!!

An old car in Motomachi , a posh shopping district of old Yokohama.

A door made just for me.

Yokohama Chinatown.

Under the bridge.

Yokohama harbor-front.

Bay Bridge.

Winter Vacation: Tola Takes The Plunge.
[KYOTO]

This winter my good friend Tola came to Japan to visit me. Our time was thus divided: first week in Kudamatsu, second week visiting my relatives across Japan (West to East). We had many laughs and good times despite the fact that, as Tola quickly found out, you never feel more foreign than when you come to Japan.

Never mind the language barrier, which is probably the biggest impediment to comfortable interaction in Japan; the other major culture shocker is the fact that Japan is inhabited by mostly Japanese people. Tola, being black, stuck out like a ... well, a black person in Japan. If she thought she was a visible minority in Canada.... This meant being stared at alllll the time. Also, it meant people got really nervous when she went asked for help, directions, etc because the stress of communicating with a stranger in a foreign language is quite powerful for most Japanese people. Then again, we met people like the lady who approached Tola in Hiroshima and asked her, in English, where she was from, what she was doing in Japan, and if her hair was real.

We shall now view the pictures I took during our two weeks. Not much to see (for me) in the first week so most of the pictures will be of the second week: Kyoto --> Yamanashi--> Yokohama --> Tokyo.

Tola, in what she claims is "housewear". "I would never wear that in public!". You are now, sucka!

KYOTO.
My great uncle and aunt Takeshi and Kaoru Kagawa (Takeshi is my grandma's younger brother and they look exactly the same) who were our guides in Kyoto. I hadn't seen these people in 15 or 16 years(!) but when they met us at the hotel, they were so friendly and welcoming it was like seeing old friends again. They were super-generous; they paid for our taxi rides, our meals, our admission to the temples....Tola and I tried to pay for dinner (which was had at "Sara", by far the nicest buffets I had ever eaten at.. actually, one of the best restaurants period.) but my aunt nearly got mad at me for even attempting such treachery (My uncle, hilariously, said, "Let him pay for it!").


Kinkakuji. The famous golden shrine. I could tell it was famous because approximately a million other tourists were there that day.

A temple in the Kinkakuji grounds... note the meticulously raked gravel.

Tola buying an English fortune.


Extremely well-dressed Mother and Daughter making their petition to the gods. In Japan, if you see a woman wearing fur, or carrying a Gucci handbag, you don't have to wonder if it's real. It probably is.


Kiyomizudera temple. An amazing feat of architecture. The drop is 13 meters from the stage to the ground. The temple stage (main floor) is supported on the hillside by these massive cedar columns. Apparently, daring young men back in the day would play a traditional Japanese version of hackey-sack while balanced on the wooden railing!! If you missed, either you or your ball would have a nice 13 meter drop to look forward to.


Spring water from the mountains at Kiyomizudera Temple. You drink blessed water if you want to ace your exams.

Kyoto in the evening as seen from Kiyomizudera temple.