Hey There! I got back from Tokyo recently (and then had to fix my computer) and thought I would share some pictures from the vacation. It was a cool experience and I had a blast. New Year's is the bigger celebration in Japan, like Christmas is here (for many).
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w90/RoninLost/tokyo01.jpg
A shot of buildings in Tokyo.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w90/RoninLost/clubsega.jpg
The bottom floor of Club Sega, an 8 floor arcade!
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w90/RoninLost/kabuki.jpg
The national kabuki theater in Tokyo, surrounded by modern buildings. We saw an actual kabuki show there. It was amazing! The new year's kimonos they were wearing were valued at between $10-$20k each. Unfortunately, there are no photos allowed inside.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w90/RoninLost/takedatoy.jpg
A toy of master strategist Shingen Takeda. Real fur and amazing details. About $300.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w90/RoninLost/toys.jpg
Toys in Japan are expensive and very cool. I also saw a 6' Gundam action figure. Yeah you heard me right, an action figure that is 6' and fully poseable. Only $3500, get yours today!
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w90/RoninLost/toku01.jpg
The last era in feudal Japan was named after Tokugawa. We went to his graveyard, where he is buried and the temples there are beautiful. This is one of many in several gardens there.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w90/RoninLost/toku02.jpg
Tokugawa's actual grave.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w90/RoninLost/monh.jpg
The Museum of Natural History. Here we saw a tachi sword that was 700 years old and still sharp. There were handwriting samples that were over 1200 years old. We saw four suits of original samurai armor and a 6' yumi bow with a complete quiver of arrows (all 200+ years old).
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w90/RoninLost/shishimai.jpg
A "shi shi mai" (dancing lion spirit) showed up at the museum with a parade of others in traditional dress from feudal Japan as part of the New Year's celebration. He "bit" my arm after chosing me in a crowd. This is supposed to be a sign of good luck for the year. This is the same costume, on display. The shi shi mai I saw was too fast to photograph. The kabuki theater show we saw also had a story about a father and son shi shi mai. It is a traditional new year's symbol/character.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w90/RoninLost/taiko.jpg
A taiko drumming display was given in front of the museum and sounded fantastic. Those drummers are very graceful and energetic.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w90/RoninLost/krispy.jpg
The first krispy creme in Tokyo and people really want to try something new. That sign indicates that it is a 50 minute wait from that point in line. O_O
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w90/RoninLost/rapper.jpg
It's normal for shop owners to have microphones in hand as they call out to the passing crowds about their sales. This was very unusaul as this guy was holding up a shi shi mai wind sock as a puppet and rapping about eyeglasses. The locals thought it was as strange as I did.
I have a lot more photos but I didn't want to write a book here. I just thought some people might be interested and thought I would share. It was a blast! =)
-Mowgli
Neat pics. That's the Club Sega at Shinjuku, right (the one by the train station)? Did you actually get to play in there?
Yes, that's right near Shinjuku station. My girlfriend grew up near there and her parents still live there. They had one whole floor dedicated to Virtua Fighter 5 and announcers were reporting play by plays on a bigger screen. I played some Street Fighter on the 6th floor where the fighting games are mostly located. There were several multifloor arcades in that area, also known as "electronics town".
Pretty cool though. Have you been there Zulu?
Quote from: Mowgli on January 15, 2008, 03:04:42 PM
Pretty cool though. Have you been there Zulu?
I visited Tokyo "by accident" a few years ago. I was traveling to Manila from Vancouver, and we had a stopover in the Narita airport. But our plane had a technical problem and had to go in the hangar for repairs and the captain of the plane was kind enough to ask the immigration authority to grant his passengers those "special landing permissions" that allowed us to stay in Tokyo for a couple of days for sightseeing (well, those of us who had Canadian, US, or other NATO-member passports, anyway, since Japan has a visa-waiver program in place for residents of those countries). A bunch of us passengers got together and toured the city, didn't really have much time to take it all in, though (and boy, was everything expensive!).
Did you find any time to do some sketches in between the pix?
-MJB
Quote from: zuludelta on January 15, 2008, 03:44:33 PM
Quote from: Mowgli on January 15, 2008, 03:04:42 PM
Pretty cool though. Have you been there Zulu?
I visited Tokyo "by accident" a few years ago. I was traveling to Manila from Vancouver, and we had a stopover in the Narita airport. But our plane had a technical problem and had to go in the hangar for repairs and the captain of the plane was kind enough to ask the immigration authority to grant his passengers those "special landing permissions" that allowed us to stay in Tokyo for a couple of days for sightseeing (well, those of us who had Canadian, US, or other NATO-member passports, anyway, since Japan has a visa-waiver program in place for residents of those countries). A bunch of us passengers got together and toured the city, didn't really have much time to take it all in, though (and boy, was everything expensive!).
Expensive indeed! I had a lay over in Narita and thought I would buy some post cards and key chains to give to friends.....a post card cost nearly $3. I also wanted to get a beer but forgot it quickly after seeing it was $10 a glass! I was happy to get to China where a good beer is just $0.50
Anyway, nice pics. I want to travel around Japan myself when I have more time...and money.
Sounds and looks great Mowgli, and thanks for sharing the pics.
Quote from: zuludelta on January 15, 2008, 03:44:33 PM
I visited Tokyo "by accident" a few years ago.
Did you get the opportunity at any stage to utter the lines "We've gone on holidays by mistake"?