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The blog-worthy events of a foreign resident of Hachiyama-cho, Tokyo - visitors to Japan might get a few ideas for some places to go and things to do.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'tokyo'
Have an adjectival Christmas
Christmas in Japan brings elaborate and beautiful decorations and displays, perhaps even of a higher quality than other countries that traditionally celebrate Christmas. Many shops are decorated; it’s largely a commercial event. After all,...
Yoyogi Park didgeridoo players
All sorts of performances and displays can be found in Yoyogi Park on a Sunday afternoon. Even then, I was surprised to find a bit of local Australiana a few months ago – a group of guys playing their didgeridoos. I had a chat to them, a...
Ginkgo trees
Ginkgo trees (ichou 銀杏) turn a resplendant bright yellow in autumn. The ginkgo trees in Hibiya Park are looking rather impressive this week. These photos are from lunchtime today. Share: Related posts:Vivid ...
Political sound trucks
On my way from the office yesterday, I found the Japanese opposition leader, Mr Tanigaki, atop a minibus parked outside Shimbashi Station, with microphone in hand and loudspeakers blaring in mid-political speech. He was drawing a larger crowd tha...
Unagi restaurant
A week or so ago, I went with friends to a old Edo era restaurant, in a kura style building. It was just near Tokyo Tower, which for some reason was lit up blue that night. The food came out in a lacquer box. What was inside? Unagi! Eel! No...
Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba
I found out recently that it’s possible to walk across the Rainbow Bridge. On a nice sunny afternoon, what better way to explore Tokyo than walk across the bridge to Odaiba? On reaching Odaiba, I found old Edo-period fortifications, a beach...
Looking down on Tokyo
Looking down on Tokyo? Only from the Sky Deck of the Mori Tower at Roppongi Hills, which at 270 metres above sea level, offers some better than ordinary vistas of the megatropolis skyline. I had some complimentary tickets to the observation deck ...
Local festival in Nakameguro
Sunday was a sunny day in Tokyo, which was good for a lot of local festivals that were being held around my neighbourhood. In nearby Nakameguro, I came across a small festival based around a jinja (Shinto shrine) called Kitano Jinja. We saw a miko...
Madeline the micro cafe in a Citroen
A lot of things in Japan are compact, including this French style retro micro-cafe inside an old Citroen car called Madeline. This cafe is sometimes parked in a vacant block along the Meguro River in Nakameguro. The driver/cafe owner sits in the ...
Chocolate Yamanote Line train
The Yamanote Line is the central nervous system of Tokyo’s transport system, looping around the city joining 29 stations. To commemorate 100 years of the Yamanote Line, Japan Railways (JR) has released one train in an apparently original choc...
Tokyo micro car parks
Micro car parks with only a few car spaces are popping up over Tokyo as fast as old buildings are demolished. I’ve noticed a few blocks of land near my office where it seems that there’s a building one day, and a two-space car park t...
Japan’s most colourful election candidate
Mac Akasaka (マック赤坂) is no regular Japanese political candidate. He’s standing in the general election on 30 August for his own 日本スマイル党 (Japan Smile Party), with the intention of making us all a little bit happier. I ...
Shaky Tokyo shakes again
Tokyo’s been a bit shaky this last week. We had three sizeable earthquakes between Sunday night and Thursday morning. As I reported in my previous post, I was outside at a BBQ when the Sunday evening quake hit, and was surprised to feel the...
BBQ, fireworks and an earthquake under the Tamagawa bridge
For many, summer in Japan means BBQs and do-it-yourself fireworks at the coast or along a river. So when I received an invitation to a BBQ on the banks of the Tamagawa, I didn’t want to miss out. This BBQ had an unexpected additional featur...
Guerilla downpours & a rainbow
I emerged from Meguro Station this evening on my way to my weekly language class, to find a wall of people standing on the corner pointing their mobile phone cameras in my direction. Not so vain to think that they were aiming their cameras at me, I...
Changing Shibuya skyline
It’s been just over year since I arrived in Shibuya, the district of Tokyo where I currently live, and I’ve already noticed changes to the skyline showing the city evolving and renewing itself. My balcony has a view of the Cerulean ...
WorldWideBikeRider in Tokyo
For the last week or so, Tokyo (and more specifically, the couch in my living room for a few nights) has been host to a round-the-world cyclist, Matt Blake, who arrived from England overland after an epic 14 month ride. (The above photo is Matt &#...
Warning signs on the subway
Warning signs are rife in Tokyo, and I’ve taken on a curious fascination with them. They’re an indicator of how society (or at least authority) expects people to behave, and what behaviour is perceived to require addressing! In Tokyo,...
Ajisai, Hakusan-jinja & Rikugien
When the ajisai (hydrangea) are blooming, you know it’s the rainy season. First it’s ume (plum) blossoms in March, then sakura (cherry) blossoms in April, then tsutsuji (azaleas) in May, and now ajisai in June. Next it’s summe...
Suijo Bus to Asakusa
The Suijo Bus is a tourist ferry with a different few routes along the Sumida River and on Tokyo Bay, and is a great way to see Tokyo from another aspect that many people don’t see. It’s a good reminder that Tokyo is actually a waterfro...
Clash might lead to a crash?
Clash leads to crash! Actually, it’s not an “L” sound and “R” sound error – just a bad translation of “shototsu” (衝突), which means “collision” – or perhaps “clash”. T...
Fastidious face covers
This weekend I encountered another level of Japanese change room etiquette and a socially acceptable way of covering your face rolled into one. When I tried on a T-shirt in a Shibuya store this weekend, I was politely and routinely asked by the store...
Please use your piston outside
It’s official: please use your piston outside. The Tokyo Metro’s own manners campaign currently has distinctively rude connotations! The Tokyo Metro has been running a series of public manners campaign posters for many months now, all...
Tsutsuji
Here’s a post that my mum will like. Now that the sakura have finished (at least in Tokyo), the next springtime floral onslaught is tsutsuji - azaleas. Hedgerows of purple flowers currently line Tokyo roads and footpaths, and are easily found...
Anzac Day 2009 in Japan
The Commonwealth War Cemetery at Hodogaya, near Yokohama, is the venue for the annual Anzac Day Service in Japan. It’s a cemetery with around 300 Australians interred, as well as from other Commonwealth countries. Today’s service was...
Hanami - hanafubuki spells the end for 2009
I learned this week that there is a special word for the flurry of petals raining down in the breeze - 花吹雪 (hanafubuki) - which is a beautiful sight of tiny pink flakes floating down from above. My Japanese friends especially love hanafubuki,...
Hanami fever hits Tokyo
This is what *EVERYONE* in Tokyo (or so it seems) has been doing today and yesterday - enjoying “hanami” (viewing the cherry blossoms). This is Kinuta Park in Setagaya-ku (around 4 or 5 stations west of Shibuya on the Den-en Toshi Line)...
Sakura season in Nakameguro
I was at Nakameguro last night, with a few thousand of my newest Tokyo friends, to enjoy the sakura along the Meguro River now at full bloom. There was a carnival atmosphere as people walked along the river, sat on plastic sheets and drank sake/b...
Sakura-ga-oka Sakura Namiki
Here are some photos taken tonight from my mobile phone camera of the hill leading up from Shibuya Station to the Sakura-ga-oka district - appropriately named at this time of year, with the row of cherry blossoms. Bring on the weekend and hanami! ...
Tourguide to Enoshima
My parents have come to Japan to visit, and I’ve been babysitting them around Tokyo for the past few days. I’ve tried to introduce them to some of the places in Tokyo that I frequent, and get them out and around to see some of the sight...
