First thing is first. Almost every bathroom you go in here in Japan has this set of buttons on the right side of the toilet. Most of the time the seats are heated as well. I particularly like the "flushing sound" for making sure your time in the bathroom is discrete. For those entrepreneurs in the US reading this... take note :)
To begin our first full day in Japan, we walked the streets of Tokyo to get to the Imperial Palace and gardens. We got to see the actual tea store where Cristin (one of my colleagues) buys her tea online from the US, and mostly just took many more pictures than we will probably every know what to do with. I think I have at least one shot of every building along our route. I've also discovered that loaning my camera to my fellow students is actually a really great way to get some awesome photos I normally wouldn't have taken (thanks Joe and Chen!). It's also a good way to get some pictures of me in here. The photo above was taken by Joe in front of Takashima Department Store, which we were told is a major department store here in Tokyo. Looking inside I don't think I could have afforded anything.
This is the whole group at the Imperial gardens. The Imperial Palace is in the middle of the background. Thanks to my 250mm lens (thanks again mom and dad) I was able to get the really pretty close-up below (it was overcast all day).
You can't get any closer to the imperial palace and the entire area where walking is allowed was covered by the gravel you seen under our feet in the group picture. I think it is amazing how well the Japanese obey all the rules. It makes for a very clean and beautiful place. In the entire day we were out we only saw one piece of litter, even in the metro stations, and on escalators everyone automatically stands to the left so that if anyone wants to walk up, they won't have to excuse themselves the whole way. It's really quite nice!
We stopped by the Imperial Hotel on our way to a huge festival and were lucky enough to be there during two weddings. The first was a photo session for a bride and groom right when we walked in the door, though they were wearing traditional American wedding attire so I left the picture out. This couple to the left however, was walking down the hall towards us, so Paul nicely asked if we could take pictures. They are wearing traditional Japanese wedding attire which Keiko said is not comfortable. You can't see it in the picture but the bride had to take very small steps and apparently the dress is very heavy. When we first saw them, only the bride was walking towards us with an another lady, but I found it very cute when she noticed her husband and pulled him into the picture too. I don't think she wanted all the attention for herself.
After the Imperial Hotel we went to a festival that I still don't entirely know the reason for. Apparently it is some sort of welcoming that they do one a year, and it was PACKED. This is one of the many vendors. She was making balls of batter with octopus and vegetables in them. They were pretty good, but I couldn't eat all six. You can see by the signs above her that the cost was 500 yen, which is a little less than $5. Not bad for festival food. We also saw a beautiful temple at the festival, and experienced a traditional blessing by walking over to a very small roofed building where incense was burning and wafting the smoke over our heads.
This is just a bunch of the group getting a little loopy on the ferry ride across Tokyo Harbor to Odaiba. I actually took 10+ pictures in succession and this one was my favorite. :)
On the second ferry, we met up with another group of students. They were having a great time pretending part of the upper deck was a catwalk, so I took out my camera and started snapping pictures. This sparked a whole host of schenanegins (sp?) but was very funny. What you can't tell by the picture here was that it was INCREDIBLY windy.
Once in the Odaiba district (an island), we visited a couple of malls and saw a giant ferris wheel. My favorite part was the 4th floor of one of the Seaside Mall, where there were many stores with traditional Japanese items. This picture was of a small fast-food style restaurant that was themed with American 50's seating, and decorations, but serving Japanese food. I find their facination with American culture really great because I think their culture is so facinating myself.
Tokyo tower at night with my 250mm again. (Love it!)
Finally, the last picture below (along with the Tokyo tower picture) is from the deck of one of the malls in Odaiba and shows a miniature statue of liberty, the Tokyo Rainbow bridge, and Tokyo tower at night. I really loved this picture so I hope you enjoy it too. Have a good evening everyone!
First thing is first. Almost every bathroom you go in here in Japan has this set of buttons on the right side of the toilet. Most of the time the seats are heated as well. I particularly like the "flushing sound" for making sure your time in the bathroom is discrete. For those entrepreneurs in the US reading this... take note :)
To begin our first full day in Japan, we walked the streets of Tokyo to get to the Imperial Palace and gardens. We got to see the actual tea store where Cristin (one of my colleagues) buys her tea online from the US, and mostly just took many more pictures than we will probably every know what to do with. I think I have at least one shot of every building along our route. I've also discovered that loaning my camera to my fellow students is actually a really great way to get some awesome photos I normally wouldn't have taken (thanks Joe and Chen!). It's also a good way to get some pictures of me in here. The photo above was taken by Joe in front of Takashima Department Store, which we were told is a major department store here in Tokyo. Looking inside I don't think I could have afforded anything.
This is the whole group at the Imperial gardens. The Imperial Palace is in the middle of the background. Thanks to my 250mm lens (thanks again mom and dad) I was able to get the really pretty close-up below (it was overcast all day).
You can't get any closer to the imperial palace and the entire area where walking is allowed was covered by the gravel you seen under our feet in the group picture. I think it is amazing how well the Japanese obey all the rules. It makes for a very clean and beautiful place. In the entire day we were out we only saw one piece of litter, even in the metro stations, and on escalators everyone automatically stands to the left so that if anyone wants to walk up, they won't have to excuse themselves the whole way. It's really quite nice!
We stopped by the Imperial Hotel on our way to a huge festival and were lucky enough to be there during two weddings. The first was a photo session for a bride and groom right when we walked in the door, though they were wearing traditional American wedding attire so I left the picture out. This couple to the left however, was walking down the hall towards us, so Paul nicely asked if we could take pictures. They are wearing traditional Japanese wedding attire which Keiko said is not comfortable. You can't see it in the picture but the bride had to take very small steps and apparently the dress is very heavy. When we first saw them, only the bride was walking towards us with an another lady, but I found it very cute when she noticed her husband and pulled him into the picture too. I don't think she wanted all the attention for herself.
After the Imperial Hotel we went to a festival that I still don't entirely know the reason for. Apparently it is some sort of welcoming that they do one a year, and it was PACKED. This is one of the many vendors. She was making balls of batter with octopus and vegetables in them. They were pretty good, but I couldn't eat all six. You can see by the signs above her that the cost was 500 yen, which is a little less than $5. Not bad for festival food. We also saw a beautiful temple at the festival, and experienced a traditional blessing by walking over to a very small roofed building where incense was burning and wafting the smoke over our heads.
This is just a bunch of the group getting a little loopy on the ferry ride across Tokyo Harbor to Odaiba. I actually took 10+ pictures in succession and this one was my favorite. :)
On the second ferry, we met up with another group of students. They were having a great time pretending part of the upper deck was a catwalk, so I took out my camera and started snapping pictures. This sparked a whole host of schenanegins (sp?) but was very funny. What you can't tell by the picture here was that it was INCREDIBLY windy.
Once in the Odaiba district (an island), we visited a couple of malls and saw a giant ferris wheel. My favorite part was the 4th floor of one of the Seaside Mall, where there were many stores with traditional Japanese items. This picture was of a small fast-food style restaurant that was themed with American 50's seating, and decorations, but serving Japanese food. I find their facination with American culture really great because I think their culture is so facinating myself.
Tokyo tower at night with my 250mm again. (Love it!)
Great job Christine! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteTodd Saucier
UM Alumni Exec. Dir.
It turned out to be a pretty nice day! If it were sunny, it might have been harder for us to walk around that much. I am glad you don't hesitate to try news things! We are getting up early tomorrow, but eat some sushi after the Tuskiji tour!! Hey, did you go to Roppongi??
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for the sushi! I did no go to Roppongi. Mike T. and I got a little lost in the metro station looking for a restroom, so we decided we were hot and tired and just took the metro home :) I'm glad we did though because it is 4:30am right now and I'm already dressed!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you Todd. We are having a wonderful time here so I'm glad people are getting to share it with us!
ReplyDelete