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

I took today’s photo a month ago on our way back from Tsukiji. While the day seemed like it was well underway for us (as we had been up and about for six hours) it was just beginning for these morning commuters on the Tokyo Metro.

Being 6′ 4″ in Japan has its pros and cons. On a crowded train you aren’t face-to-face with those crowded around you. On the other hand, I hit my head on the dangling hand grips on a very regular basis.

A funny story happened shortly after I took this picture. At one of the main stations most people got off, and I grabbed a seat next to a sleeping beauty. She looked very similar to the lady in the advertisement holding the “Zasshi” (magazine). She was sound asleep though and had no idea a strange gaijin was now sitting next to her. As soon as the train started she put her head on my shoulder and proceeded to sleep on me. My 11-year old daughter’s eyes grew quite wide as she observed this woman sleeping on her father. I tried to get her to take a picture of the two of us, but she was unwilling. 😉

At the sleeping beauty’s stop she promptly woke up and made a beeline for the door, never looking back or noticing who it was that served as her pillow.

Lest you think that being slept on is all fun and games, I’ve had similar experiences a half dozen times since then and they have all been far less pleasant. Usually it’s a fat, sweaty guy, or a pimply-faced teenage boy, or simply far too hot to have anyone asleep on your shoulder.

Posted on September 19th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: people, trains. Comments: 8

Sometimes the trains are calm, clean escapes from the rat race outside. Such was the case on the Saturday I took the above photo on the Tokyo Tozai Metro line. But then you get a rebel rouser on board who shakes everything up…

You should have heard the thunderous applause! I had to pop some earplugs in and change trains at the next stop to save my eardrums.

Posted on September 16th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: people, trains. Comments: 2

竹下通り in 原宿 on a Sunday is interesting to see once. I can’t imagine wanting to ever walk down it again though–at least not in the heat and humidity that we encountered on this day.

You can pretty much point your camera in any direction while in Harajuku and be able to photograph something interesting.

I pointed mine at the sky and a blimp flew by.

We picked up Maya’s birthday present in Harajuku at a place called Kiddy Land. I asked Maya if she went to Harajuku (or Shinjuku or Takadanobaba) much. She said she hopes to go there someday which surprised me. We go through Harajuku nearly daily as foreigners living in Tokyo, yet a Tokyo native who lives 20 minutes to the east has never been there. Sure she is only 11, but it reminded me that we frequently miss the things in our own backyard.

As a kid who grew up just across the bay from San Francisco I remember thinking how rarely we ever went to San Francisco.

Posted on September 10th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: buildings, harajuku, people, Tokyo. Comments: 2

The food at this party was more than I had anticipated. When Maya said it was a barbecue, I was picturing yakitori and yakiniku (shish kabobs). While there were those things, there was also much, much more. The above is one round of more than a dozen, different BBQ sessions. I didn’t count, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me that 30 different things were cooked for this party of about eight kids and six adults. There was salmon, oysters, octopus, squid, beef, chicken (many different parts), pig, shrimp, several other kinds of fish, many different vegetables including corn on the cob, many items I’ve never seen before (nor do I know what they were), and others that I’m probably not remembering. On top of things coming off the grill, there was onigiri, yakisoba, and several other things to choose from.

I think Maya’s mom cooked barely half of what she had purchased and barely half of what she cooked was eaten, even though we were all stuffed. Speaking of moms, I was the only dad there until later in the evening when one of the moms went home and told her husband to join us. He was hesitant to come at first because he didn’t realize I’d be able to speak Japanese. His wife assured him that I was harmless, and we’d be able to communicate in Japanese just fine. Until he arrived, it was rather embarrassing to have five Japanese ladies wait on me. I suppose there are worse fates in life though. 😉

After dinner we had a fireworks show in the street.

This last picture from the party is of my favorite little girl of the evening. She was the little sister of one of Maya’s friends and so darling. She was the only one of the kids–other than Maya–who, from the outset, was not the least bit afraid of us. She introduced herself to my daughter and gave my daughter the lowest (and most respectful) bow I think I have ever seen. She was the first to play with my daughter at the park. She said some of the most polite things I’ve ever heard come out of a Japanese child’s mouth.

During the fireworks she would go around to the adults to ask them if they had any fireworks for her with a cat picture on the side. I gave her all of mine with the cat pictures, and she was most gracious in accepting them. She came back after lighting them off to see if I had any more. I did not, but we chatted about what I did have. Eventually I sold her on lighting off the remaining fireworks I held which had pictures of apples, grapes, and other things. Again, she was so courteous in her acceptance that I wanted to have more to give her just to continue to hear her amazing responses.

The evening ended with Maya, and her two friends who bonded well with my daughter during the evening, walking us part way back to the train station. They disobeyed their moms who told them to only go as far as the first stop light with us. At the second stop light I told them, somewhat jokingly, they had better turn back to go home at that point as I didn’t want their moms mad at me. They did, but it was a tough parting. The girls had gone from complete strangers to near tears at parting in just a few hours, despite no common oral language in which they could communicate.

Posted on September 5th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: fireworks, food, kids, people. Comments: 1