Skyscrapers across the tracks from the Shinagawa Prince Hotel (品川プリンスホテル) with a shinkansen pulling into Shinagawa Station

When Ryan came back from his school field trip to Cambodia, his bus from the airport dropped everyone off at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel. I went a bit early to welcome him back, even though the skies weren’t very interesting, to see what the views would be like from the top of the Shinagawa Prince Hotel’s 39 floors.

A bullet train is about to enter the Shinagawa Station in today’s photo. You can also see the buildings for the headquarters of Canon MJ (customer service I think) and Mitsubishi Construction. Tokyo Bay is in the distance (although easily reachable on foot from here).

Posted on October 17th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: buildings, Tokyo, trains. Comments: 1

A bicycle sits alone in Tokyo's Shakujii Park

If you like to people watch, head to one of Tokyo’s many parks on a weekend or holiday. For something more solitary, check ’em out on a weekday. Chances are pretty good that you won’t see anyone other than a few retired folk and/or some pre-schoolers. It may end up just being you, a parked bike, and a sign at Shakujii Park (石神井公園).

Posted on October 6th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: bikes, shakujii, signs, Tokyo, water walks in the suburbs of tokyo. Comments Off on Tokyo Metropolitan Shakujii Park

Tenso Jinja in the Fall

My neighborhood shrine (Tenso Jinja) looked great in autumn. I say autumn, but this was actually December. By December in my neck of the woods the fall foliage is long gone, but in Tokyo one can still enjoy fall colors.

Posted on October 4th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: autumn, nishi-waseda, shinto, Tokyo, 紅葉. Comments Off on More Autumn foliage in Japan

Japanese float @ 麻布十番商店街祭り

The wonderful thing about wandering the streets of Tokyo in the summer is you never know what you will run into. One day I stumbled upon a festival featuring this festival float (舞車) which looked like it could have been from a much earlier era (were it not motorized). The Japanese kids playing the instruments on the float could have looked a bit happier, but I suppose after a hot day of playing the same thing for hours on end they had lost much of the gusto I imagine they had earlier in the day.

Posted on September 29th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: lanterns, matsuri, Tokyo. Comments Off on Azabu Juban Shotengai Matsuri (麻布十番商店街祭り)

This is my favorite kind of sky–a mixture of bright blue and crazy cloud action. Akihabara in Tokyo was the place.

Posted on June 15th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: akihabara, buildings, clouds, skywatch, Tokyo. Comments: 1