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Shibuya (Tokyo, Japan) on a rainy November evening
After checking out Opeth at O-East, I headed out into the rain to catch my train home. The darkness, coupled with the sea of umbrellas, made the scene too cool to merely walk through on my way home so I went up in Starbucks to get a better view of things.
Even though I live in the Pacific Northwest, a place known for rain, I don’t see nearly as many umbrellas in Oregon as one does in Japan. The day after a day of rain in Japan becomes a bit of an umbrella display festival. Everyone in Japan opens their umbrellas to air out in the humid conditions. The umbrellas can be seen hanging from balconies, front doors, and any other appropriate structure. It turns a typical Japanese street scene into one with ornaments, umbrella ornaments. It’s sort of like transforming the neighborhood into a giant Christmas tree.
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.
I hadn’t really seen Daiba Park (第三台場) before on prior trips to Odaiba. From the north walking path on the Rainbow Bridge (レインボーブリッジ) you don’t see it. From Odaiba itself you see it, but don’t really realize what it is. Only from the air or from the south walking side (サウス側レインボープロムナード) do you really get a good idea as to its size and layout. The above photo is from the bridge. Fuji Television Studios, designed by Kenzo Tange, can be seen in the background.
We walked from Shinagawa Station to Odaiba and back last week. The clouds threatened rain the entire time, but we only had a few drops fall on us on the way back.
The top picture is similar to one I took at night back in January.
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…