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Tokyo Tower (東京タワー) Mori Tower (六本木ヒルズ森タワー)
When the Tokyo Tower was built in 1958 I bet it dwarfed everything else in Tokyo. There probably weren’t many buildings at the time that were more than a few stories. All that has changed of course. Although it is still technically taller than the Mori Tower, the location of the Mori Tower is higher so from this angle the Tokyo Tower looks far shorter. Here’s a photo of the Tokyo Tower from Mori Tower.
Arashiyama – Kyoto, Japan
Shopping street in Kyoto, Japan – Demachi Masugata Shotengai (出町桝形商店街)
Soon after I took this previously published photo, rain began to fall quite heavily so I headed for refuge in the nearby covered shopping street. I purchased a chuhai and sat on a bench at the end of the street to wait out the storm. That’s when I took today’s photo.
A French man with a dog in his bike basket came down the street and stopped. He was surprised to see another foreigner in this part of town. We started talking in English, but I had difficulty understanding him and he me. So when I figured out that he had lived in Japan for 15+ years I asked him in Japanese if he would prefer to speak in Japanese. He was thrilled since his Japanese was much better than his English. We had a long chat until the rain slowed down, and then we both got on our bikes and headed in opposite directions. The best part of our conversation was seeing the looks on people’s faces as they passed. They were either stunned or smiling to see two white men speaking to each other in Japanese.
Nijo Castle (二条城) – Kyoto, Japan
Photomerged panorama of the interior Kabuki Theater known as Kurehaza (呉服座) currently on the grounds of Meiji Mura (明治村)
The exterior of this theater can be seen in my earlier post.
I wanted to sit, relax, and soak in the ambiance of this 19th Century theater, but one isn’t allowed in unless doing the tour. Once in, the tour began almost immediately so I fired these photos off in quick succession as my group headed to the stage. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to perfectly center myself or wait for the people to clear out of the way and make this photomerged shot showing more than 180 degrees of view more perfect.
Metal Rock Bar in Nagoya, Japan (Scum)
Since the first time I heard Outrage in 1989 I always wanted to visit Nagoya. Despite living in Japan for three years, the opportunity never presented itself (despite having passed Nagoya on the train several times) until 2013. I asked Shinya Tange, Outrage’s drummer, if there were any metal bars or clubs he could recommend. He recommended Scum. The place was much nicer than the name suggests. The owner is super nice and can speak English having lived in California for a while. We spoke in Japanese though. He hands you his iPad and let’s you pick the music. The cover of the album of the currently playing song is projected on the wall. As you can see, I must have picked something off of Mastodon’s “Crack the Skye.”
The other customers were wonderful too. I chatted with a young local who had never even heard of Outrage. I found it rather ironic that I, a foreigner, was able to introduce a native from Nagoya to Outrage.