I foolishly thought I could avoid the heat in July by waking up early and taking a walk. I suppose it was a bit cooler before 7 a.m. than it was at 1 p.m., but the heat and humidity were still crazy. I decided to investigate the Waseda University campus with no one there (for a change) but myself and a few security guards. I was greeted at the gate by an “おはようございます先生,” something I will miss in the states.

I took today’s picture of Shinjuku from Building 11 before the sun got high enough overhead to wash everything out.

Posted on September 10th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: buildings, shinjuku, waseda university. Comments: 2

The building to the right is my former apartment in Tokyo. There used to be an old house next to it that reminded me of the overgrown-with-ivy one in “Shaking Tokyo” in the movie Tokyo!. One day it went up for sale. A few months later what looked like fumigation nets went up around it. By the end of the next day there was nothing left of it.

Don’t blink in this city or you may miss something.

Posted on September 9th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: buildings, Tokyo. Comments Off on Change

This was the perfect morning for a number of reasons:
1. Didn’t see a single tourist
2. Nice mix of clouds, blue sky, and mist
3. Temperature was perfect
4. Breakfast was coming and, based on the past night’s dinner, I knew it would be fantastic
5. Prior night’s rain left the air crisp and clean and the rice and flowers with water droplets my camera couldn’t miss
6. I love thatched roofs

Posted on August 29th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: buildings, shirakawago, thatch roof. Comments: 3

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: 3

Life doesn’t get much better than a stroll through the rice paddies of Shirakawago on a sunny morning after a downpour the night before.

Posted on August 16th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: buildings, rice paddy, shirakawago, thatch roof. Comments Off on Shirakawago (白川郷)