On March 26 we visited Shinjuku Gyoen (新宿御苑) for the first time. It was still a week or so too early for the peak of the cherry blossoms (sakura), but a half dozen of the trees were in full bloom. Hanami was in full swing regardless. The best cherry blossom viewing time varies a bit each year, but this year, like most years, it looks like the first week of April will be the best time to view sakura in Tokyo.

Some didn’t care about the flowers. They were there to play on the grass.

Others came only for pictures of the flowers with some serious equipment.

There were other flowers in full bloom, like these Chaenomeles.

Posted on March 26th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: buddhist, cherry blossoms, kids, people, sakura, shinjuku. Comments: 2

I loved this book. I could picture each scene so clearly; it was more like a movie than a book. I frequently read Norwegian Wood while on the train in Tokyo and happened to be at the exact location Murakami was describing on more than one occasion. I read the part in which the narrator (Watanabe) visit’s Midori’s father in the hospital on my way back from Ochanomizu. I walked past the same hospital he describes from the late 1960s just 10 minutes before. On another day I read about him meeting Midori at Iidabashi at the same moment the train I was on stopped at Iidabashi.

Norwegian Wood has some similarities to Murakami’s other works, but the super strange and supernatural elements are missing. I rather like the super strange in his works, but I also like the omission of the supernatural.

The college scenes at Waseda University always brought a smile to my face as well. Things haven’t changed much, except the students don’t shut down the campus for five months like they did in 1969. Actually, much of this book is timeless. Murakami wrote it in the 1980s, although the setting is the late 1960s. He wouldn’t have to change much to make it fit in fine in 2010 though. Tokyo has changed much in the past forty years, but at the same time, on another level, it hasn’t changed at all.

Here are some quotes I copied while reading. I’ll have a few more in entries over the next month or so.

“Memory is a funny thing. When I was in the scene I hardly paid it any attention. I never stopped to think of it as something that would make a lasting impression, certainly never imagined that 18 years later I would recall it in such detail. I didn’t give a damn about the scenery that day. I was thinking about myself… Scenery was the last thing on my mind.” pp. 2-3

“I have to write things down to feel I fully comprehend them.” p. 4

“I can’t leave anything out. I’ve been doing the same thing every day for ten years, and once I start I do the whole routine unconsciously. If I left something out, I wouldn’t be able to do any of it.” p. 20

“‘What possible use is stuff like that for everyday life?’

‘None at all,’ I said. ‘It may not serve any concrete purpose, but it does give you some kind of training to help you grasp things in general more systematically.'” p. 232

Posted on March 26th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: book quotes, book review, haruki murakami. Comments: 3

Unfortunately, the People’s Republic of China blocks those within China (including me at the moment) from accessing this and many other websites. This is my first, and only, post I have made or will make from China. I’m doing so by using an internet proxy. However, the proxies are very unstable and only last for a minute or two so rather than getting kicked off in the middle of a post and losing my work, I will put blogging on hold for another week until I am back in Japan. Thank you for your patience.

Today’s photo was my view of Mt. Fuji from the air on my way to Beijing.

Posted on March 15th, 2010 under China, Japan. Tags: aerial photography, mt. fuji. Comments: 4

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

I’m in China now. Or at least I hope I am. I’m actually typing this a few days before heading to China, and scheduling it to post later, so today’s pics aren’t from China but from Yokohama’s Chinatown (横浜中華街).

Posted on March 12th, 2010 under China, Japan. Tags: food, night photography, yokohama. Comments: 2