Shibuya

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The Ginza line to Shibuya was a little more crowded than the subways we had ridden thus far, but we still havent experienced the massive crowding Tokyo’s subway system is famous for. We then headed for the world’s busiest intersection in the heart of the Shibya. Across the street was a record store (the second floor of which is the starbucks from Lost in Translation). We listened to some Japanese music, even found a couple of bands we like (note to self: checkout Wolf & Cub), and tried to get some good pictures from the view at the starbucks, but it was too crowded. We checked out some of the shops in the area: The Gap, DG, and an electronics store. The Gap was pretty much the same, they are promoting some new look that looks a lot like the Blues Brothers outfits: white shirt, skinny black ties (I asked inside where I could get one of the ties, but they were sold out: I’ll have to look for them in the States). We walked towards Yoyogi Park (where the Meiji Shrine is). We passed C.C. Lemon headquarters and a staircase that reminded me of the Rocky training montage. I took a video of myself running up it, I will post it later once I can overdub the audio with the Rocky Theme. Yoyogi Park was beautiful, although few of the Sakura trees were in bloom. Japan definitely still has a raven problem, huge flocks flew overhead the whole time we were there. We tried to take a shortcut to the Meiji Shrine but realized we were fenced in and had to head back. The Meiji shrine and surrounding gardens were also beautiful. At the actual shrine, some television cameras were taping someone (our guess is they were filming the prayer cards, student examinations are coming up and there were many students filling them out). We walked back through an area I think was Harajuku, filled with expensive designer stores. Back in Shibuya, we got lunch at Miami Gardens, a chian restaurant we have seen around that serves pizza. It seems as though there are duplicates of everything in Japan - there were two of these within a few blocks of each other, and earlier in the day we passed two identical Gap stores, also within almost visible distance of each other. By this time the Shibuya intersection was looking more crowded and gave a better impression of the area. I went in search of a Gin and Tonic at this point, and went in a british pub, only to be told by the British-accented owner that they were not open yet (I guess drinking on Monday at 15 is a little early). Oddly enough, with all the British pubs we have seen this was the first with an authentic English bartender. We headed back to Asakasa for the night

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