It’s a great feeling at night when I’ve finished my class and commute and find myself at Takadanobaba Station ready to walk the final stretch home. Recently I’ve come to anticipate the street musician just outside of the station. He plays a shamisen but not like the geisha. No, he plays a heavy metal version that is quite unique. I really like the vibe.

I was going to talk to him on the night I took the above picture. However, as I approached him he scowled as he tuned his three strings. I figured I should keep my distance. So I went across the street to get a picture. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a clear shot as people kept passing before him.

While I waited for people to clear out, I turned my lens to an icon of the area, Big Box.

The view got nicer, at times, but I still didn’t ever get a good photo of the Metal Shamisen Dude. Next time, if I get up the courage, I’ll ask him if I can take a video.

From there I walked down Waseda Doori passing many curious shops. The one above features an 赤提灯 (あかちょうちん, akachochin, or red lantern) that seems to have been in use for decades. Rather than replace it, they have put plastic over it to keep it from wearing out so fast. The bottom half is literally hanging by a thread.

Places with an akachochin out front are great for a drink and/or bite to eat.

Farther down the street (upper right corner of the above photo) you can see Wendy’s, one of the last places in Japan to not ban smoking. The place reeks inside. Japan’s smoking habits have really changed in the past 20 years. When I was here in the 1980s people smoked everywhere. Now, seeing someone smoking is something of a rarity. There are small, designated smoking areas outside of most train stations, away from the major traffic areas. I no longer have to experience the stink, unless I’m walking by Wendy’s at the same time a customer is coming out the door.

Posted on September 21st, 2009 under Japan. Tags: japan pictures, night photography, nishi-waseda, people, takadanobaba. Comments: 2

Every time the mikoshi was scheduled to stop somewhere, a guy would appear on a box and begin directing it in to its parking space like someone helping an airplane into the proper gate.

At the end of the day a speech was made which included the admonition to continue these traditions by including the ever-shrinking population of Japanese children in them.

At the first rest spot a Shinto ceremony took place. I wasn’t quite close enough to hear what was said.

I’ll leave you with a video I took from the first night’s festival. This was my first real video with my TZ7. I’ve been a bit underwhelmed by the quality of photos the TZ7 has been taking, but this video came out much better than I was anticipating. Not only were the lighting conditions horrible, but I was far from the stage. However, the sound and video are both very good.

Posted on September 18th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: matsuri, nishi-waseda, shinto, video. Comments: 1

There are tons of restaurants between Takadanobaba Station and Waseda University. Our apartment is located right in the middle of them all. The restaurants are almost all winter-related menus (udon, ramen, curry, etc.) For escaping the heat, while satisfying one’s hunger, there is nowhere to turn.

I am a huge fan of shabu-shabu and sukiyaki. Even though they are winter foods, I can eat them anytime. Just across Waseda Doori from our apartment is a shabu-shabu place called 歌千代さらしな. We decided to give it a try.

The sign above my daughter basically says that this establishment uses the finest, organic meat in their shabu-shabu. The fields the animals lived in are pesticide free. The animals were raised on clean water as well. Our shabu-shabu featured pork instead of the more typical beef.

The food was great and the price was very reasonable as well. The shabu-shabu included four courses: soba, yasai (vegetables), butaniku (pork), and udon. I should have ordered some rice too. I assumed it would be coming with, but that wasn’t the case. We split two orders between the four of us and that was perfect. Total price was 3,000 yen or about $33–not bad for a family of four. In Japan there is no tipping so eating out doesn’t have to be as expensive as in the U.S. Next time we’ll go for the sukiyaki (which I tend to like better than shabu-shabu).

Posted on September 8th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: food, nishi-waseda. Comments: 3

Yamituki Curry is the closest restaurant to our abode. It is also quite yummy. There are 12 curry dishes to choose from and go for about 800 yen each. Unless you are extremely hungry, splitting one with a friend is the way to go. They taste quite different from typical Japanese curry. Many feature cheese in the sauce–very unique and delicious. I believe this is a chain and can be found outside of Nishi-Waseda as well although I’m not sure where.

Posted on September 3rd, 2009 under Japan. Tags: curry, food, night photography, nishi-waseda, recommendations, reviews. Comments Off on Yamituki Curry (やみつきかりー)

When I was a kid I played some form of baseball (frequently wiffleball due to space and number-of-participants constraints) at least 200 days a year. I don’t see that anymore in the states in this age of soccer and video games. But in Japan I see kids playing baseball nearly every day.

The location for these shots is the open area on the north-west corner of 甘泉園公園. I’ll be posting more pictures from and information about this park near Waseda University soon.

Posted on September 1st, 2009 under Japan. Tags: baseball, japan pictures, nishi-waseda, Tokyo, 甘泉園公園. Comments: 2