Our 8th usage of the Grutt Pass was going to be at the Bridgestone Museum of Art near Nihonbashi. For the second time we encountered a museum that was closed due to a rotation in exhibits. Ugh.

We flipped through our pass booklet to find the closest museum, and it turned out to be the Mitsui Memorial Museum. We had no idea what to expect as we hadn’t researched this fall-back museum at all. We got really lucky.

Nothing was available in English so we didn’t know what we would be seeing. In the second room of the exhibit I realized that we had stumbled upon some of the most famous works to ever be created in Japan. Thank you Bridgestone Museum for being closed! Otherwise we would have never seen these originals.

Photography was not allowed so the pics below were not taken by me.

First up was Hokusai’s “Great Wave off Kanagawa” (Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 神奈川沖浪裏). The original is not as pretty as the prints you normally see which have been altered, but the feeling while seeing the real thing is far better than the cleaned-up prints. The above is a photo of the original. Click on the above to see the version you are probably more familiar with.

The above was drawn from basically the same spot that I took this next picture on Enoshima.

Another ukiyoe that brought back a recent memory was this next one by Hiroshige (歌川広重) from his series “The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō.”

We were near that spot a few weeks back in Hakone at the Old Tokaido Hakone Checkpoint. Here is a photo I took then from the same general location. Unfortunately, the clouds obscured Mt. Fuji for my picture, unlike Hiroshige’s.

By the way, the museum entrance fee would have been 1,200 yen. We got in free with the Grutt Pass.

Posted on November 9th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: enoshima, grutt pass, hakone, hokusai, museums, Tokyo. Comments: 3

The above photo was a lucky shot of mine from a distance. I like the way the little Japanese girl happened to turn her head just as I was taking the picture to have nearly the same pose as the emu on whose egg she is sitting.

The Ueno Zoo doesn’t have giant pandas anymore. Their giant panda died in 2009. They still have some Red Pandas.

The Ueno Zoo (上野動物園) is very old; I think it has been around for well over a hundred years.

This gorilla seemed to be as intrigued by Ellie’s blonde hair as the Japanese people. He came right over to the glass for an in-your-face visit.

Posted on November 8th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: Tokyo, ueno. Comments: 1

We recently purchased a couple of Grutt Passes (ぐるっとパス or gurutto pasu in Japanese). Included with the pass is free admission to the Ueno Zoo. The Ueno Zoo is wonderfully peaceful on a Sunday morning. On a Sunday afternoon it turns into what you see below.

The zoo opens at 9:30. We didn’t arrive until a bit after 11. Had we been there at 9:30 I think we could have seen everything before the crowds arrived. As it was, we spent more time watching Japanese people, after noon, than we did the animals. The Japanese people were on the same page; I think the Japanese people spent as much time looking at us as they did the animals.

See if you can spot my daughter in the above photo. She sticks out a bit more among Japanese people than Waldo does on the pages of “Where’s Waldo?” books.

The Grutt Pass is really a super deal if you live in Tokyo or if you plan on visiting for more than a few days and plan to visit more than about four museums, art galleries, or zoos. The Tokyo Sea Life Park is included too. Most museums, zoos, etc. in Tokyo cost between 500 and 1,300 yen each. The Grutt Pass makes most of them free. For some of the more expensive ones, like the Mori Art Museum in the Mori Tower, you get 300 yen off admission. Here is a full list of places.

Supposedly you can purchase the passes at convenience stores. The Sunkus near our apartment knew nothing about them. Nor did their machine, which I’ve purchased concert tickets from, list the Grutt Pass. You are probably best off just going to one of the places listed on the above link and purchasing the pass there when you use it for the first time.

The pass is good for 2 months. I’m guessing they will come out with a 2010 version in February.

Grutt means absolutely nothing. ぐるっと (which grutt is sort of an English abbreviation for) means something like going all around a circle. They should have called it something like the “Tokyo Circle Pass” in English.

Once you have gone to at least 10 places in at least 7 different areas you are eligible for a prize. I’ll let you know what that is if we win one.

As you can see from the above stamping of our 10 places, we have used our pass 7 times so far. Had we paid admission for those 7 places the total cost would have been 3,700 yen. The pass was only 2,000 yen and we have 59 more places to potentially visit for free or a reduced cost in the next month.

The pass comes with a handy map that shows all 66 locations. With the map in hand and an early start you can sometimes visit three places in a single day.

Posted on November 7th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: grutt pass, museums, Tokyo, ueno. Comments: 4

Last week we had our names selected from a drawing that we entered to attend the “Ginza International Jazz Festival.” The day before we got hit with the edge of a typhoon so the sky was particularly clear. The weather is never better in Tokyo than the day after a typhoon.

Anyway, after the festival, we walked around Ginza and had dinner at the Ginza Lion Beer Hall. Actually we were on the second floor in the ビヤレストラン as the first floor was full in the no smoking section.

“Bikkuri” means surprise. So how does this sushi surprise people? The taste is surprisingly good? What you get is a surprise? I don’t know.

Unfortunately I didn’t have my LX3 on me as it takes much better pictures at dusk and after dark. These came out OK though given the clear air.

The blue sky in these photos is completely real–not some Photoshop trick. The sky in Tokyo is super after a typhoon.

Posted on November 6th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: buildings, ginza, night photography, Tokyo. Comments: 1

My last post on Waseda University was so popular, and one person who responded wanted more, that today I will offer a part two.

This first photo, above, is the view from my Friday night class in Building 11. Waseda University is in Shinjuku-Ku but is far enough away from downtown Shinjuku that you can see the high-rise buildings rather nicely.

The second picture is the view out my office window in Building 6. Even though this part of the building is covered in ivy, Waseda University is not part of the Ivy League. 😉

Finally, for today anyway, here is a shot of the university on the approach from Waseda Station on the Tozai Subway Metro Line. The Okuma Bell Tower can be seen in the background. Some sort of festival is going on pretty much non-stop. On Friday, November 6, the Athletic Festival will be held. Later this month, it appears there is going to be a Photo Journalism Festival.

Posted on November 4th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: night photography, nishi-waseda, shinjuku, signs, Tokyo, waseda university. Comments: 5