At first glance, I wasn’t sure when I took this photo. The Japanese maples have green leaves, yet there are leaves on the ground and on the shrine roof. In well-populated parts of Japan the leaves are swept up so quickly that autumn doesn’t seem like autumn for long once the leaves fall. However, this isn’t autumn at all or the maple leaves wouldn’t be green. Someone just got a little “lazy” with the leaf sweep the prior fall. I took this photo of the most rear structure in the 王子稲荷神社 complex in early May of last year. The angle is a bit unusual. Normally you don’t find yourself above a shrine and above the torii.

Don’t confuse Oji Inari Jinja with Oji Jinja. This one is better even though Oji Jinja is one of the “Tokyo Jissha” (東京十社 or ten shrines of Tokyo).

Posted on April 28th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: oji, shinto, torii, water walks in the suburbs of tokyo. Comments Off on Oji Inari Jinja

My random desktop image today of Mt. Fuji takes my mind back to the day I took this photo. A wonderful sensation…

Posted on April 26th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: enoshima, fishing, mt. fuji, sunset. Comments: 2

Back in the 1980s, when I first lived in Japan, the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building was the building to go to the top of if you wanted a great view of the city. There was no Sunshine City, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office, Mori Tower, or Ebisu Garden Place Tower at the time. The two times I revisited the Sumitomo Building on our most recent adventures in Japan the observation deck was empty. It’s still a great place to view the city (although with the other high rise buildings that have since been built some views are more obstructed than they were 20+ years ago), and you can avoid the crowds at the other places here. Also, there are several floors of relatively inexpensive restaurants at the top with fabulous window seats.

Posted on April 25th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: aerial photography, shinjuku, Tokyo. Comments Off on Tokyo from the Sumitomo Building

…but not in Japan.

We do an annual Easter brunch and Easter egg hunt at a friend’s house in Ashland, Oregon. We missed last year’s festivities because we were in Japan. This year we were there, but it felt kind of like we were back in Japan since their house is surrounded by Japanese gardens.

Posted on April 24th, 2011 under Japan, Oregon. Tags: lanterns. Comments Off on Japanese garden…

I never tire of looking at what Japanese people put on their feet. I suppose that could be the case in any big city. However, it seems like Tokyo has more than its fair share of unusual shoe styles.

Today’s photos, below, come from Joypolis on Odaiba in Tokyo. This couple was on a date. She waited for him at the Claw Machine Game while he went to buy some tokens to play. I’ll narrate what is going through her head, based on her foot language, for you.

“Finally, he’s back. I really want him to win me one of those prizes.”

“He’s going to win it for me!!!!”

“This could take a while. Time to settle in.”

Posted on April 23rd, 2011 under Japan. Comments: 1