Highlights from Tokyo

Hong and I had an exceptionally good time touring Tokyo this weekend with our friend Kay as well as our friend from UCLA, Reina, who is in Japan for a month touring. We stayed in the ritzy Roppongi district for free, courtesy of Kay's sister's boyfriend. We had, I think, my best time in Japan yet. I know that's saying a lot, considering the almost ludicrous good fortune I have to be able to do the things I do so often. But, somehow this weekend just came together like few others have, and I'm gonna put it down in my personal memory book as one of the best ever. Here are a selection of some of my best photos from the weekend.

I was big pimpin' as never before. It's good to be the king. The ratio: 2 Asian girls to 1 white dude (me), and this is BEFORE Reina came on board, bringing the total to 3-to-1. The Japanese people were scandalized.

My trusty companion, as always.

Our good friend, Miss Reina. She was in fact born in Japan, but you could have fooled me. I would have guessed Mars.


This is part of the Imperial Palace. Apparently, at one point in the '80s, this piece of real estate was rumoured to be worth more than California. That's a little hard to believe, but it's a hell of a nice bridge.



A goose:



He came up to us expecting food. Unfortunately, we had nothing for the poor guy. But how beautiful he was!



In the Imperial Palace East Garden, there were a few cherry blossom trees that were blooming. It's been an unseasonably warm winter, so a few trees have bloomed. It's unheard of in early February!



The model, posing with the sakura blossoms. Wonderful.



In another month or two, Japan will be covered with these beauties. I cannot wait.



It's hard not to be giddy around cherry blossoms.
























On our way to the Meiji shrine, we ran into this massive parade of shrine-carriers. We had completely forgotten that today was Japan's National Foundation Day. We got swept along with the crowd into the shrine and down the dusty path. It was wonderful, utter mayhem.



Some experimentation with light and color:



I think this actually gives a good impression of what it was like there:



A team effort.



One of the ringleaders of the shrines. These guys are important for morale and discipline. Those things are really heavy.



The shrines making their way to the main shrine at Meiji. What a sight.



The lion's head crosses the gate into the main sanctuary.



This was scary and fasctinating. I forget his name, but apparently he wards off evil spirits. He staggered around in a menacing way and generally looked pretty scary, but people still wanted to have their picture taken with him.



This man seemed to be his attendant, because he followed him around everywhere he went. What a face.



A beleagured shrine carrier continues to lift his heavy load.



A taiko drum group performed. They sounded so awesome and looked so cool, I want to join one now. This lady in particular had stunning poise and looked so joyful and skilled while she was playing. I was pretty captivated.




































































These ones are a little strange. Harajuku is famous for attracting off-beat types on the weekend who sit or strut around in "Cosu-Play" ("Costume Play"). Who knows why, but it's a great if strange show. These girls were doing all sorts of sultry and provocative poses, to the delight and discomfort of the crowd.
























A little nasty.



Hong and Kay went up and posed with them! Although their poses weren't quite as...provocative.



At night, we went up to the free observation tower at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building. This is Shinjuku from the air. A beacon of light in a sea of darkness.



On the bus ride home, something unexpected happened. After the rest stop, I looked out the bus window and saw what looked like a big mountain. I hadn't seen any other mountains around, so I was confused. I couldn't even see the top. Then, it hit me. This is Mount Fuji! We were right next to it and I hadn't noticed. I can't tell you how surprised and excited I was. To see pictures of this my whole life and then to finally see it with my own eyes was quite an experience, even out of a bus window. It really is as dramatic as the pictures make it seem, and it absolutely dominates the landscape. What an incredible sight. I mean look at that conical shape. That is a really huge volcano right there. Incredible! This right here was my first view ever.



What seemed like at least an hour later, we came around the other side of it. This time it was even clearer.
























What a sight. I snapped this while the bus drove along the coast road. I don't think I'll get over this. It's just such an impressive sight.



This is but a smattering of the good fun we had this weekend. We took so many photos I wouldn't even know where to begin, so I'll just keep those memories to myself. But, I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the incredible things I saw, and I hope if you ever get the chance, you can see them too!

Jay