Blogs from Azabu-juban, Tokyo, Japan, Asia

Well I finally started looking for a job after wandering around the streets in a daze for the last week getting lost in the maze of neon and bicycles. I remember someone once told me that in Japan you have to go to the zoo to see a dog, well those days are definitely gone! The little fluffy dog@is the latest fashion item, @of course it must be dressed in the local baseball team jackets or little fluffy dresses. There are whole stores devoted to dogs' and cats' fashion anaccessorieses. I feel sorry for the little buggers, most of the apartments here wouldn't be big enough to spin a mouse let alone keep a dog. Hotel rooms must be very expensive here I have often seen business men at the 24hr internet cafe, sleeping in their ... read more

The road that curves from the downtown section up into the hills flanks Zenpukuji, a temple constructed in 824. Starting in 1859, Zenpukuji temporarily served as home to Townsend Harris, the first American ambassador to Japan. The temple was chosen due to its high ceilings which more readily accommodated the height of the American ambassador. Ceilings in Japan are all around higher today, due to increased heights resulting from a more protein-rich diet. Alongside Zenpukuji, climbing into the hillside is an ancient, meandering cemetery, the centerpiece of which is a giant ginkgo tree with a girth of 10 meters which, according to legend, started its life as a consecrated staff stuck in the ground by Shinran Shonin in the ninth century that subsequently blossomed into a massive explosion of divine flora. It is probably the oldest ... read more

Welcome to MotoAzabu Hills, a concrete building that wants to be a mushroom. It’s our home here in Tokyo, and its shroomy nature is actually extra padding against constant earthquakes. We like that it is so tall because it is so easy to find our way home by looking up. It presides over the cozy ex-pat area of MotoAzabu, the older section of Azabu-juban, our hamlet within Tokyo proper. It’s the only area in Tokyo so far (other than major tourist sites) where we have seen many Westerners walking around. There are a few requisite French patisseries, Italian trattorias, and one Irish pub, but largely, the neighborhood culture is still very Japanese. The small unnamed streets are lined with upscale boutiques, pachinko parlors, tea shops, and tiny restaurants. Many people bicycle everywhere. Most people do not ... read more