Occasionally in Tokyo, and in several places in Yanaka, you can spot these old water wells. I’m not sure the era in which they no longer became the main source of water, certainly pre-WW2 but how much earlier I don’t know. This one is at Tennoji (天王寺), near the Nippori Station in Yanaka. Few things are better in life than a blue sky day, at the peak of the cherry blossom season, in Yanaka. To top it off, this was a weekday so there were no crowds, and the temple was giving away free tea and snacks.

Posted on December 13th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: buddhist, cherry blossoms, sakura, temples, Tokyo, yanaka. Comments Off on Yanaka Water Well during Sakura

The other night I was going through a box of old things and found some postcards I purchased in the 1980s while in Japan. One was a picture of Shinjuku. I showed it to my son (who looked at the Shinjuku skyline on a daily basis for the past year) and asked him where the picture was taken. He had no idea. The place has changed that much. In the postcard there are about a half dozen skyscrapers. In the picture I took above (from Shinagawa) in 2009 there are over 50 buildings that are more than 20 stories high, most can’t even be seen because they are being blocked by other, taller buildings.

Posted on October 7th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: buildings, shinjuku, Tokyo. Comments Off on Shinjuku

You may remember this view from an earlier post. This shot, from Ebisu Garden Place Tower, was taken as the sun set to the west (left side of photo). You are looking north up the Yamanote Line to Shibuya and then Shinjuku in the distance.

Note that this looks much better if you have a big screen and click on the above image.

Posted on September 27th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: night photography, sunset, Tokyo. Comments: 1

The Tokyo National Museum kills you on most days with this view of the lush garden and tea house they have out back. There are doors to go out and enter this wonderland, but they are locked except for a few days of the year during cherry blossom season and when fall foliage hits its peak. We were there on a rare cool day in summer. The rain had just stopped and the outdoors looked like the perfect place to be. Instead we were locked (it felt like trapped) inside.

Posted on September 23rd, 2010 under Japan. Tags: japan pictures, museums, Tokyo, ueno. Comments: 1

This is really cool.

Posted on September 15th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: Tokyo, video. Comments: 1