While on a walk, just to the northeast of our apartment along the Kanda River (神田川), we came upon an open gate with nice looking grounds inside. We went in and strolled around, only later finding out that this property is part of the Four Seasons Hotel in Tokyo.

The above photo is of part of the pagoda on the grounds. There are only three pagodas in Tokyo. This one survived World War II, unlike most others in Tokyo. It was moved to this location in the early part of the 20th Century. On the pagoda itself it says the age is unknown but is thought to be about 500 years old.

Closer to the Four Seasons Hotel is this picturesque bridge. I need to head back to this spot when the leaves change colors soon.

Posted on October 26th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: chinzanso, pagoda, Tokyo. Comments: 2

Bentendo (弁天堂) sits on an island of sorts in the middle of Shinobazu Pond.

This temple is nothing spectacular, but with the lotus pond, in the background, at its peak in size and greenness no one could call it an eye sore either.

Posted on October 23rd, 2009 under Japan. Tags: Tokyo, ueno. Comments Off on Ueno Park – Part 2

On a gorgeous, Sunday morning we headed over to Ueno Park for the first time in two and half years. It was still early so few of the duck paddle boats were in the middle of the pond yet. We found out a couple hours later that we should have arrived even earlier as the number of people in Ueno Park on a Sunday afternoon becomes rather insane.

Shinobazu Pond was ripe with giant lotus. It turns out this pond is natural and looks very different depending on the season. I had never seen it like this before.

Posted on October 22nd, 2009 under Japan. Tags: Tokyo, ueno. Comments: 1

While out for a walk along the Kanda River (神田川) we came upon some Tokyoites taking their pets for a walk.

Someone had a dog on a leash. Another had his pet tortoise walking behind him, no leash required.

The tortoise was almost as fast as the dog and seemed to know exactly which way to go.

The tortoise sported some fancy booties. I’m not sure if the booties were just for looks or if they protected the tortoise’s hind feet.

Another time I was out in the rain, without a camera, and watched pet owners walking their dogs. The dogs had on raincoats. They looked rather miserable–not because it was raining but because they had to wear raincoats. I think they wanted to enjoy the rain hitting them, but that wouldn’t have been fashionable in this town.

Posted on October 21st, 2009 under Japan. Tags: people, pets, Tokyo. Comments: 2

Typhoon 18 recently ripped through Tokyo. The rain stopped in the morning, followed by some incredible cloud displays. While the sky was mostly blue, a few clouds seemed to be trying to catch up to the typhoon. They zipped across the sky at amazing speed. The blue was bluer than I think I’ve ever seen a sky. I have never experienced such clear Tokyo air before. The hard rain of the night combined with high winds of the morning really cleaned things up.

We ate lunch that day on the 49th floor of the Sumitomo Building in Shinjuku with a window seat to enjoy the view. Unfortunately, my kids had both cameras on their field trips to Cambodia and Hiroshima so that view will have to remain only in my memory. After spending the rest of the afternoon in parks and museums, we headed over to the Ebisu Garden Place Tower to enjoy the sunset from the 39th floor. This place has the best free views in Tokyo. Unlike the buildings in Shinjuku, from Ebisu you have great angles on Shinjuku, Shibuya, and the Tokyo Tower. On top of the superior vantage point on this evening, the sky was freakishly clear. Not only could we see Mt. Fuji (my first time seeing it from the Tokyo city center) clearly, we could see as far as possible in every direction. We could even see stars. It was magical. Too bad I didn’t have a camera. Next time a typhoon hits Tokyo I will be sure to hit the Ebisu Garden Place Tower at sunset with camera in hand.

A few days later, after the kids brought back the cameras, I did get some night shots of Tokyo (featured in this post) although the air wasn’t even remotely as pure. I took all four photos from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office. The top picture is of the Shinjuku Park Tower (on the left). It is the building featured in “Lost in Translation.”

Looking out the windows on the opposite side of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office you can see the Shinjuku Station (down and to the left), Tokyo Tower (very small in the distance just to the right of center), and the NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building (featuring the tallest clock tower in the world).

Above is basically the same picture as the one I took in the sunshine more than a month before.

Staring out at this view is something I can do all night long. It looks like I’m not alone.

Posted on October 18th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: buildings, night photography, shinjuku, Tokyo, tokyo tower. Comments: 9