Back on February 11 Japan celebrated National Foundation Day. Japan was supposedly founded on this day and had its first emperor obtain his position as emperor almost 2,700 years ago. This was previously a big holiday in Japan, but since WW2 it has become rather tame. We went for a walk on February 11, 2010 from Ebisu Station to Azabu Juban and then to Roppongi before getting on a train for home. Between Ebisu and Azabu Juban there were hundreds of police in riot gear, dozens of prison buses ready to haul people away, and many vans preparing for some sort of demonstration or protest. I would have taken more pictures, but it was absolutely freezing. With the wind blowing, the temperature felt well below freezing. And later in the day it snowed. Anyway, my hands had no desire to leave their gloves to take photos.

We didn’t see an actual demonstration or protest. It was so cold if such an event did take place few were witness to the proceedings. I saw nothing about it on the TV or internet either.

The truck on the left says “Restore Emperor Military” (皇軍復活). The one on the right says “Japan National Party” (日本国政党). There isn’t a political party called the Japan National Party by the way. Apparently ultra-conservative Japanese still exist, but you have to be at the right place, at the right time, to find them.

Posted on February 27th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: signs, Tokyo. Comments Off on National Foundation Day (建国記念の日)

Fall semester ended at Waseda University early in February. The entire campus was immediately transformed into a giant testing center. For most of February there are daily entrance exams for high school students (and some college students looking to upgrade schools) trying to get into Waseda. Most of the normal entrances to campus have been closed. The one or two that are open feature tight security.

For the few of us walking around campus it is rather bizarre. Just a few weeks ago there were tens of thousands of students. Now you can do several laps around the buildings and see few, if any, people. Regular students cannot enter campus.

The other morning, a Sunday no less, I happened to arrive just as some test takers were. We were greeted with shouts of ohayo gozaimasu (good morning) and ganbare (good luck/hang in there/do your best) from a cheering section of people. Not only did I have to show my ID to several people in order to get to my office, I had to show my ID to leave campus as well. I’m guessing they had a problem with someone pretending to be someone else to get that someone else into school at least once in their history. Why else would they have this ridiculous amount of security?

The sign above says test takers are not allowed to leave campus until the last test has been completed.

Personally, I prefer the normal campus to the February “prison” campus.

Posted on February 24th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: buildings, signs, waseda university. Comments Off on Entrance Examinations (入学試験)

The first thing I noticed when I made it to the Tama River on my walk was the airplane, apparently coming from (and/or going to) the Yokota Air Base, a few miles to the north.

The plane flew fairly low, was very loud, and was the first of many during the day. I wonder if the air traffic and noise pollution is like this every day for the nearby residents. Even though the occupation of Japan by the USA technically ended in 1952, this day in 2010 felt like Japan was still occupied with the constant fly overs.

As I followed the plane with my camera on its course to the base, I caught this image of the most litter I saw all day, next to the only sign I saw all day saying not to dump garbage. Perhaps less is more.

Posted on January 29th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: hiking, signs. Comments Off on Tama River Walk – Part 2

Before leaving Lumpini Park, we encountered some more curiosities (beyond the water monitors). The first was when a song began to play over the loudspeaker system and everyone in the park froze. It was like a giant game of freeze tag. Hundreds of people who had been jogging just a second before were suddenly held perfectly still as if by some supernatural force. As soon as the song ended they resumed their activities.

The Thai people pretty much worship their king. Apparently the song was the king’s song. We heard it again when we saw a movie (Avatar) in Phuket. It played before the movie and everyone jumped out of their seats to stand at attention while it played. Seeing this is very bizarre as a foreigner. The king’s image is all over the country, plastered on street corners and virtually every business.

Anyway, the other unusual thing in this park were the aerobics sessions that were happening. They didn’t seem to be official classes–just people who happened to show up. The leaders/aerobics instructors also appeared to be random people. The “aerobics class” pictured above was actually after dark. The only reason it looks so light is I did a 5 second exposure.

After the park we headed down Silom Road towards our hotel. Like most streets in Bangkok, things are a bit “different.” The sidewalks are in need of serious repair. Every few steps you’ll find your foot in a pothole. There is also an elevated, pedestrian walkway down the middle of the street–something I have never seen before.

We made a right turn on Thaniya Road looking for a restaurant. This is actually a red-light district so we got an eyeful of non-food sights. We didn’t see any Japanese people in the area, but, as you can see in the above photo, many signs were in Japanese. Maybe the Japanese come out later?

After dinner we went down Patpong Road, another “red-light” street. This one has stalls selling goods to tourists between the bars, strip clubs, and brothels.

We ended up with several silk, pillow covers from this place.

Posted on January 1st, 2010 under Thailand. Tags: bangkok, night photography, signs. Comments: 3

We are back from Thailand, just in time for Japan’s biggest holiday, New Year (正月). We plan on going to Zojoji (増上寺) Temple, near Tokyo Tower, to do the New Year Countdown. If you see on TV balloons being let go in front of Tokyo Tower then think of Ellie as being the one who let them go. 😉

Tokyo is very peaceful at the moment (especially compared to Thailand) as most businesses are closed and many people have split town for the next 5 days to a week. Most doors have some sort of New Year’s decoration on them. These are called shimekazari (注連飾り). The one above I couldn’t even see before my flash went off, but I was sure Mrs. Uchida would have one.

Above is one more close up.

We didn’t want to be the only ones without something on their door so we put up a poster provided by our friendly, neighborhood Nishi Waseda Culture Association. 2010 is the year of the tiger.

And now back to our Thailand trip…

Posted on December 30th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: nishi-waseda, shogatsu, signs. Comments: 3