Kita Senri Love Rollercoaster

Rainy Day in Tokyo

The plan was to spend the day at Mt. Fuji, something I felt I had missed when we lived there. Unfortunately, the weather was absolutely not cooperating, and since it was raining and foggy, there was no point in going to see the famous volcano. So, we went to the Metro Tokyo Museum, stopping along the way to buy some 100 yen umbrellas. The highlight for me in the museum was an older Japanese gentleman who had survived the "Pacific War" and the firebombing of Tokyo as a child. He was a volunteer guide who spoke to us in English, being very patient to tell us they didn't resent the Americans for their suffering, but were glad over America's post war generosity and introduction (imposition?) of the fruits of democracy.

This lady (right) apparently really wanted to be in my picture.

Meet me at Hachiko. Amanda writes (pre-trip) of this famous statue of a dog in Tokyo .... HERE. Here is Ashley Wilkes' Momma and Daddy posing in front of the statue.

Rebecca prepares to take a photo at Shibuya. Hachiko is in the background.



They are probably smiling because I said something extremely witty and funny.


It is very crowded in Tokyo, even on a rainy day there are a lot of folks out and about.


Can you find Waldo? There are actually two Waldos in this photo. It was taken across the street from the last photo. (click on the picture for a bigger view).

Shinkansen from ShinOsaka to Tokyo

Very creative. I didn't put this together, but I recognize the photos.

Shinkansen ver.2 from daihei shibata on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday to Chocolaty Feet

The girl with Chocolaty Feet shows off one of her toes for her birthday.

Tsukuda-jima: The fishermen's Island in Edo Bay

An interesting but brief stop, Tsukudajima's history is interesting. In 1603, Ieyasu Tokugawa became the first Shogun, a military dictator, after taking power in a series of battles in the southwest in Osaka and Nagoya. Edo was a very small village at the time, and he made it his functional capital, with the Emperor safely tucked away in Kyoto. Edo was renamed Tokyo. In order for Edo to become the functional capital, Tokugawa inticed a group of fishermen from Osaka by giving them a sand bar. The sand bar was underwater most of the time, but they accepted, and quickly filled the sandbar in, forming Tsukuda-jima. Over time, the fishermen became very prosperous, and the island fill expanded, and now, it has expanded so much that it is connected to the mainland and is no longer a separate island, and has only a small fraction of fishermen living there. The rest of the island is a very nice, expensive neighborhood. Above is the cycle group admiring the fisherman's shrine underneath the Tori, or gate.

The shrine has a hand washing station that is part of the shinto ritual.
There are several intricate wood carvings on the shrine that celebrate the fisherman's work.
And occasionally a decorative ironwork that celebrates the shrine and the fishermen.
Matt and Ryan enjoy the scenery.

The sense of scale is amazing, from the small shrine, small remnants of the fishing village to the tall buildings growing up out of what used to be the bay.
Part of Tsukuda-jima's small fishing fleet.
Did I mention that Tokyo is proud of their azaleas? The residents of Tsukuda-jima are, too.

Bike View: Bridges of Tokyo Part 2

This suspension bridge over Edo Bay has supports on the little island that appears to be a fort. That is because it is. This island is one of several constructed by the Shogun shortly after American Admiral Perry forcibly opened Japan from its approximately 350 year of self-imposed isolation in 1853 by firing cannon from his fleet of "black ships" into Tokyo from Edo Bay. The Japanese agreed to the opening of the country but built these little fort islands and stocked them with their own cannon to prevent their vulnerable situation from continuing. Within 15 years, the Shogun had completely lost power, and the Emperor obtained it, starting very cultured, and very backward Japan on a fast path to modernization during the Meiji Restoration. (click on the picture for a bigger view)

The above bridge runs along and above the old Imperial outer moat.

This lovely garden isn't on a bridge.

tower and temple 2 on the bike hike

Just past the gate, but before the Temple was this bell. The bell is original, I think, but the housing burned down during "The Pacific War".
Inside the temple was this colorful thing. I see the ying and yang in the center, but otherwise, I have no idea what it was. The corner was dark, so it was a challenge to capture it without a flash.
Inside the temple was this here Booder. There were a half dozen people there, worshiping or something, and we tried not to take their picture. There are a lot of graven images in Japan. And to quote a wise man who wrote a travelogue around 13 years ago: "In the US we are more guilty of idle worship, but in Japan, there is real idol worship."
So, you go to the temple stand and buy your fortune, printed out on a small sheet of paper. Pooh! The darn thing says Auburn is going to lose to Bama four years in a row! Well, we can't have that!, so you tie the fortune up on the rack and leave it in hopes that you shake the bad luck off. We shall see.... I think a lot of Tennessee fans have been by here....
Clearly there was less power in my pedal, and I was having a little trouble getting the shot straight! I swear I wasn't drinking. Yet. This was getting close to the end of the bike hike, and was up near the top of a hill. The Japanese really don't build things this crooked, but I thought the "modern" Eiffel tower behind the ancient temple was a nice metaphor. (whatever that is).

Tokyo Bike Hike: the tower and temple

As we were winding down the first half of the bike hike, we rode a ferry across Edo Bay. I was having some trouble getting the exposure right, as you can see.



I actually ruined a couple of the other pictures I took, due to overexposure, but htis one is at least lookable. There is something not quite right about the photo, can you spot it?

As we entered the temple grounds, we passed through the gate, and just inside was a very large cedar tree that was planted by the man whose face is on the US $50 bill. It is a lovely tree. While there, we watched a huge crow snatch a baby bird, tear it half apart and hide it for later snacking among the boughs. Our guide had commented that Tokyo was trying to figure out something to do with their excess and excessively aggressive crows. I have friends who have solutions!

Fish market part 2

The youth group admires the huge slabs of fish. This picture doesn't quite do the slabs justice as far as size.
Our guide had a relationship with these shop owners, they showed us a tuna head and tail and we (she) bought some sashimi from them, the light and dark. The youth group and Frances ate it for lunch, and had nothing but good things to say about it.
I tried to tell this fellow that you could tune a piano, but you couldn't tuna fish and he just looked at me like I was crazy.
Mo fish than you can shake a stick at.

TSUKIJI FISH MARKET part 1

As I used to tell the girls, when you suck on this octopus, it will suck you right back.











The Tsukiki fish market is the largest fish market in the world. It was about the third stop on our bike hike of Tokyo, and sits on Edo Bay, near downtown, near the upscale Ginza district.















They ship fish to and from all over the world.













You would almost think the place smells bad, since fish goes in and out of here all day. However, it didn't. Ive never seen so much fish, and smelled so little.


Fish, that is.

Bike view Bridges of Tokyo

There were many interesting bridges we saw on our bike hike around Tokyo, especially since our tour concentrated on the bay area. I love this very Japanese looking suspension bridge. I want one for my farm.




























I wish I had taken two more seconds to better frame this shot. Still, I like it.










The tower under construction in the distance (center frame) is off toward Disney Tokyo. Later, our tour gets fairly close to it. It will eventually be three times as tall as the current tall tower.









A lot of what you see has been filled into Edo Bay (Tokyo), where there was previously no land.

Tokyo Bike Tour part 1

Amanda and wade listen to the bicycle tourguide as she tells us where we are. We started this 30K bike tour first thing on the morning after spending a full day traveling to get to Tokyo.










We are at the outer edge of the old Imperial Palace. The inner part of the old Imperial Palace is today the only part that remains as such. The outer ring has since been devoted to new development, except for a few places such as this one.





Rebecca and Matt listen to the guide.













Here you see an old rampart of the pre-war Imperial Castle's outer wall.






















This is a signpost at the edge of the old Imperial Castle, looking back into where the outer ring of the Castle/Palace grounds were.














This image shows the edge of the old Imperial Castle ground looking down the old formal exit. The old building in the center is the old Bank of Japan building that survived the firebombing of "the Pacific War" (WWII).

Tokyo , where the bay reaches up into the City