Blogs from Tokyo, Japan, Asia

I love zoos and this is a pretty good one! Ueno zoo in the huge Ueno park! When i last visited it was november and the weather was not great so the zoo was pretty empty, not so this time round there were more tiny kids in little coloured hats than i have ever seen before 😲 it was total carnage! The animals are presumably used to it having the screaming masses come charging around shouting kawaii in high pitched voices!! Loved every second of it tho i got jumped by 3 or 4 groups of school kids to get my picture taken and fill in the "meet a foreigner" sheet, AWESOME! I did have to buy a second umbrella tho as it rained a bit 😓 got lots of pictures tho! I'll do another post ... read more

So I visited the skytree! The tallest tower in the world!! It's pretty dam big, kinda dominates the eastern tokyo skyline now. As per usual with the opening of something new in japan, the place was packed to the rafters with people! Trips to the top floors are booked solid until july 10th, which luckily I will probably be here for 😃 There was an aquarium inside but it was kind of pricey but today i'm gonna go to the 動物園 or zoo! Time to get the big camera out!!!... read more

After visiting Nikko, my friend Hiro and I went back to Tokyo for a few more days. I did some more sightseeing while he took care of apartment hunting, as he is moving back to Tokyo soon. I checked out some of the popular tourist spots, including Harajuku, which is essentially a shopping area, packed with tourists from all over the world. It was crazy!! There were so many people it was hard to even walk around - but there were lots of girls donning the Harajuku look - kind of a mix between porcelain doll and goth. There are also lots of hip and trendy stores, which kind of remind me of the haight ashbury district of San Francisco, or the 3rd street promenade in Santa Monica. I also went to Yoyogi Park, where I ... read more

Eilen maanantaina oli ehka paras lomapaiva tahan asti. Osallistuttiin CS:n kautta puutarhakierrokselle. Koollekutsujana oli amerikanjapanilainen Elaine, joka halusi seuraa puutarhakierrokselle. Kierrokselle osallistui yhteensa yhdeksan henkiloa. Saa oli loistava, aurinko paistoi koko paivan. Kavimme Rikugi-enin ja Koiskikawa Korakoenin puistoissa. Kirsikkapuunkukinta meni meilta sivu suun - se tapahtui kuukausi sitten Tokion leveysasteilla. Puistot olivat silti nakemisen arvoisia. Jotenkin on janna, miten Japanissa on usein vierekkain uutta ja vanhaa kuten pilvenpiirtajia ja perinteisia puistoja. Ehka parasta paivassa oli kuitenkin seura. Kiinnostavaa meidan kannalta oli se, etta puolet osallistujista tunsivat erittain hyvin Japanin kulttuuria - mukana oli kolme japanilaista, em. koollekutsuja ja Japanissa tutkintoansa suorittava henkilo, opimme heilta paljon uutta Japanista. Paiva pa... read more

Visiting the memorial of Reiki founder, Dr. Mikao Usui - Tokyo For my first real day of sightseeing in Tokyo, I decided to visit the memorial grave site of the founder of Reiki. The site is located off the beaten track, and is not a tourist sight per se, so it took some research to find the location, and luckily, I found perfect directions on the Internet before arriving. I took the Maronuchi subway line to Shin-Koenji station and proceeded through a neighborhood to the grounds of the Saihoji Pure Land Buddhist Temple where Dr. Mikao Usui and his family are buried. Reiki is a healing art, a type of energy work, that I began practicing at age 17, and visiting was high on my list of things to do. The grounds of the temple and ... read more