Welcome to Japan

---

A new day in a new country Tokyo, Asakusa and some exploring for me to do. I headed to the temple (Senso-ji) armed with my camera let off a few shots.
The place was pretty busy (being last day of New Year holidays) as people went in to prey and light incense. Many markets were to be found and I bought some cookies from one of the more famous stalls there. After finishing a walking tour of Asakusa I then went to a restaurant with a guy I met at the hostel named Donald from Hong Kong but studying in the states for the past few years, Donald was on a mission to eat as much Japanese food as he could, armed with his guide book we found what was supposed to be one of the more famous places for tempura named Daikokuya in Asakusa (Asakusa is said to be the tempura suburb) although it was not cheap with meals averaging 3000 to 45000 Yen the food was great! After some more wandering around I went back to the hostel and did some research on the net when I bumped into a couple and had a chat, funny enough once more I was to be shown how small a world it is when we discussed what we have been doing and what we were going to be doing.

The couple had been staying up in Niseko at the place where I am going to be staying and had been hanging out with my brother Dane. They were shocked to find out who I was and we all decided to see if we could shock Dane. I met their travel buddy (a toy sheep named Shaun) and when Dane came online I set up a web cam conference and put Shaun on. As expected Dane was rather shocked but I won’t repeat the words he used.

---

Photos

the temple (Senso-ji)
Very busy at this stage, since it was the last day of the new years holidays

the temple (Senso-ji)
Another side of the temple except far less people here, I prefer this side
:-)

the temple (Senso-ji)
These bears are everywhere but I can't seem to find out what they represent or what they are called yet

A small word
I bumped into these 3 in Asakusa. After a short chat it appeared that these guys had been staying at the hostel I am going to in Niseko and they ofcourse knew Dane (my brother) very well. Pictured; Me, Shaun (the sheep), Jason and his girlfriend.

Comments

[James Hebden]

Tanuki
The animals are called Tanuki. They are sort of like a racoon. They are usually found in the forest. They are fairly symbolic of nature and good fortune. They have huge testicles. Because they are so fat and jolly, and often hold sake and such, they represent more or less having plenty to go around, so fertility and good living. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanuki