Big in Japan
Our first night in Tokyo - here's Michael in bustling Shinjuku (the
district of Tokyo where we stayed):
These next 2 were taken in Kabuki-Cho - the "red light" district of
Tokyo, also in the Shinjuku district. Each of those lights on the
buildings represents an individual business (restaurant, bar, club,
"hostess bar," etc.) - all competing for your attention. In Kabuki-Cho
Michael and I were approached by several pimps trying to sell the exotic
pleasures of Japanese girls they had tucked away in one of these
businesses:
This is famous Takeshita Dori (street) in the Harajuku district of Tokyo.
This is where all the crazy street fashion that Tokyo is known for was
born. Harajuku is crowded, noisy, and packed with thousands of
interesting stores and restaurants:
The Prada building (designed by famed Herzog & de Meuron) in the Aoyama
district (which borders Harajuku). Aoyama is home to every major fashion
house in the world - each with equally impressive flagship stores:
Mmmmmm - doesn't McDonald's look delicious? Or not:
The swastika is used on just about every Buddhist temple in Japan - this
is from the Asakusa Kannon Shrine in Tokyo:
We had tea at this beautiful tea house in the Hamarikyu botanical gardens
in Tokyo:
A super modern boat on the Sumida river in Tokyo:
A small sampling of the offerings at the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo.
The Tsukiji is the largest open-air fish market in the world, and
occupies three stadium sized piers on the Sumida river. Boats come up
the Sumida from the ocean every day to unload every sort of seafood one
could imagine. Some of the tuna sold there can sell for as much as a
small car:
This is the Shibuya crossing in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. This
crosswalk is the largest pedestrian crosswalk in the world - when all the
lights are green, more than 1000 can people can be on the street at one
time:
Mandarake (pronounced Man-dahla-kay) in Shibuya - an amazing manga
comic book & vintage Japanese toy store:
The Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto. Due to some serious
superconductor technology, this train travels at speeds of over 200 miles
per hour:
These were both taken at the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto - in the hills of
Higashiyama, an ancient district of the city filled with dozens of
beautiful temples and shrines:
The streets of Higashiyama:
Crows are everywhere in Japan - giant, beautiful crows fill trees, and
flock around temples and parks:
These are perched atop the oldest (300+ years) cherry tree in Japan,
Shidare-Zakura:
One of my favorite photos from our trip, and one of my favorite places
that we visited, this is from the top of the Otani cemetery in Kyoto -
not far from the Kiyomizu Temple. The Kyoto skyline in the misty
horizon:
Michael and I at the Shoren-In temple in Higashiyama. This is the
birthplace of Zen Buddhism:
Emerging from Shoren-In, we rounded the corner and were greeted by the
enormous gates to the Heian Jighu shrine, looming in the Kyoto skyline:
Not far from Higashiyama, the Gion district of Kyoto is the birthplace of
Geisha culture, and has some of the most beautiful streets in the world.
Here, old world Kyoto meets the flash of the city as a Geisha escorts a
business man from the placid back streets of Gion into the chaotic
metropolis of the city's main thoroughfare:
Truly a testament to the absolute beauty of the area, this is the
Floating World of Gion, not far from the lights and action of downtown,
but a place perfectly preserved in time. The Floating World is home to
the exclusive tea houses and restaurants frequented by Geisha:
A teahouse in Gion:
Another one of my favorite photos from our trip, we happened upon this
Maiko (apprentice Geisha) being hurried away in a cab in Gion. I love
how she averted her eyes subtly from the camera, as to preserve her sense
of mystery:
And on the outskirts of Kyoto lies Ryoan-Ji, home to the most important
Zen Buddhist rock formation in the world, created nearly 800 years ago:
The property at Ryoan-Ji is equally tranquil and stunning:
And lastly (although we have about 350 more photos), Michael posing with
the Asian-looking Colonel Sanders in downtown Kyoto. Every Japanese
schoolgirl we saw snapping pictures posed exactly this way, all over the
city:
