Our trip to Shirakawago included a night in Takayama (高山市) on the way there and two nights in Kanazawa after visiting Shirakawago. Today’s pic is from Takayama (Hida-Takayama in Gifu Ken).

There are some really old buildings in Takayama. We had a fabulous lunch in the restaurant to the far right of this picture, Kibun (紀文).

And, as you can tell, it rained about half the time we were in Takayama. Traveling during rainy season on a weekday does have its advantages though. We saw very few Japanese tourists. I’m guessing the place is crowded with Japanese tourists on a weekend outside of rainy season or on Japanese holidays.

Takayama is a five and a half hour bus ride from Shinjuku and costs 6,500 yen each way.

Posted on August 23rd, 2010 under Japan. Tags: buildings, rain, takayama. Comments: 2

I hadn’t really seen Daiba Park (第三台場) before on prior trips to Odaiba. From the north walking path on the Rainbow Bridge (レインボーブリッジ) you don’t see it. From Odaiba itself you see it, but don’t really realize what it is. Only from the air or from the south walking side (サウス側レインボープロムナード) do you really get a good idea as to its size and layout. The above photo is from the bridge. Fuji Television Studios, designed by Kenzo Tange, can be seen in the background.

Posted on May 26th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: odaiba, rain. Comments: None

We walked from Shinagawa Station to Odaiba and back last week. The clouds threatened rain the entire time, but we only had a few drops fall on us on the way back.

The top picture is similar to one I took at night back in January.

While waiting near the dressing room in a store in Aqua City I took the following video through a wall of windows. I zoom in three times during the video. The first time is on Tokyo’s more-than-half-finished Sky Tree. The second time is on Tokyo Tower/Rainbow Bridge. The third time is on the Statue of Liberty.

Posted on May 11th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: clouds, odaiba, rain, sky tree, tokyo tower, video. Comments: None

For all of the Tokyo Marathon 2010 pics click here.

The above picture is my last of the day, just before heading into the Iidabashi Metro Station. I was very cold and very wet at this point. Watching the rest of the race in front of the TV provided a nice contrast. How often do you get to witness the same sporting event in person and on TV in your home and have them both be live?

I took this one from the steps leading up to the pedestrian crossing overhead.

The view from the crossing was great but police kept people moving.

Runners were in shower caps, wet suits, garbage bags, and anything else they could think of to try and keep dry.

More to come…

Posted on March 13th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: people, rain, Tokyo, tokyo marathon, trains. Comments: 1

During the past week, by far the most popular post has been this one on the Tokyo Marathon. Maybe the weather was such that the usual number of pictures weren’t taken and people are looking for more? I have a few dozen decent shots that I’ll upload in the near future.

The one above is of the promotional poster for the 2010 Tokyo Marathon that was plastered all over the Tokyo Metro stations in the weeks leading up to the race.

The sign in the above photo asks road users to slow down. Of course it’s intended for the drivers normally on the street and not the runners. It’s kind of funny right next to the GO! GO! GO! sign.

This pack of runners must have had a celebrity in their midst, or maybe the female runner who was in the lead at the time, as there were two camera vehicles in front of them.

Iidabashi 飯田橋

The runners are coming down Sotobori Street (外堀通り) and are turning right onto Mejiro Street (目白通り).

One advantage of being 6’4″ in Japan is you can take photographs like the above.

Posted on March 6th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: people, rain, signs, Tokyo, tokyo marathon. Comments: None