Another photo from the Awa Odori Matsuri in Tokyo last month.

Here is another video from the evening. This time the video is in HD.

Posted on August 22nd, 2010 under Japan. Tags: awa odori, festivals, people, Tokyo, video. Comments: None

“Seihoku no Kaze” is a good restaurant with a nice view on the Waseda University campus. I was there at night and the windows were wet with rain so I went back the next day to take this photo.

A few things to note about this pic…
The direction is east and basically follows the Tozai Line. You can pretty much see the above ground view of the next few stations from Waseda like Kagurazaka, Iidabashi, Kudanshita, Takebashi, and Otemachi.
To the left, in the far distance, you can see the mostly complete Tokyo Sky Tree.
To the right of the Tokyo Sky Tree (but still on the left side of the picture), you can see part of the Tokyo Dome and rides at Tokyo Dome City.

Posted on August 19th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: sky tree, Tokyo, waseda university. Comments: 1

To avoid the insane crowds, which can approach a million people, at the Sumida River Fireworks, we decided to stake out a place at the Adachi Hanabi Taikai (足立の花火) instead. Attendance the prior year was “only” 600,000 people so I arrived a little before 2 p.m. to lay down my blue tarp. Most spots were still available as it had been raining hard all morning. The wind and rain picked up at times; sometimes it seemed like a typhoon. I had to head for cover on several occasions during the afternoon.

The rains ceased just before the show began at 7:30 p.m. The atmosphere was electric. People filed in from who knows where at the last minute. The show was spectacular. Here is a short video showing just a few seconds of the full hour worth of fireworks.

Posted on July 29th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: fireworks, Tokyo, video. Comments: None

I wish there were more skies like these in Tokyo during the spring and summer. Usually the sky is completely white due to the humidity, but sometimes we get lucky. I took this pic after we left Gyosen Park and crossed the Arakawa into Sumida Ku.

Posted on July 28th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: clouds, Tokyo. Comments: 1

Last night (and tonight if you are in Tokyo) was the annual Awa Odori Matsuri at nearby Kagurazaka. The day was very hot so I remained indoors (with AC) until I walked the 30 minutes or so to Kagurazaka in order to arrive by the start at 7 p.m.

Summer nights have that magically feel in the air already. Add thousands of Japanese musicians and dancers to the smiling members of the audience and the evening becomes that much more special.

I have never witnessed the Awa Odori before, and I hope it won’t be my last such experience.

Here is a video I took:

Posted on July 23rd, 2010 under Japan. Tags: awa odori, festivals, people, Tokyo, video. Comments: 4