The typical picture of the Waseda University campus looks something like the above. In the background is the Okuma Memorial Hall (which has the Okuma Auditorium inside). Actually, it’s just the bell tower you can see here. In the foreground is the statue of Shigenobu Okuma.

From this angle, with the help of the trees, it almost looks like the trees form, or frame, a heart around these icons of the campus. I suppose I could make t-shirts that say “I heart Waseda University” with this photo serving as the heart.

This next photo is not of Waseda University but is the view from the building on the Waseda University campus where I teach. The Shinjuku skyscrapers are a bit left of center. On a clear day I’m hoping I can see Mt. Fuji from here. I’ll let you know if that ever happens.

Finally, here is a not-so-typical angle on the Okuma statue. I took this one from Building 11, 14 stories above the statue itself.

Posted on October 13th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: shinjuku, Tokyo, waseda university. Comments: 9

After a business meeting one morning in Akasaka (赤坂) I had an hour or two to kill before I needed to jump on a train for Kanagawa Ken. I found Hiejinja (日枝神社), and spent some time there (photos coming soon). As I wandered away, looking for a Tokyo Metro station, the sky got really beautiful. As blue skies broke through multiple layers of crazy cloud shapes I decided to pull out my camera and take the above picture.

It wasn’t until I got to the bottom of the hill (where there was still no metro station) and found a large, public map on the street corner board that I realized I had just accidentally photographed the Prime Minister’s Official Residence in my attempt to capture a cool looking sky. Compare this to someone walking down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC with no awareness that the White House could be found on the street. Seeing an impressive array of clouds they take a photograph and end up with a picture of the White House in the process. This is essentially what I did in Japan.

Posted on October 8th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: buildings, clouds, skywatch, Tokyo. Comments: 2

As promised, today I have some photos of beer girls for you. These girls trot around the stadium with a smile on their face and a keg of beer on their back.

I have been to three different stadiums now and the beer girl situation is very different at each. At the Lions’ games there are almost as many selling whiskey as selling beer. Whiskey was not available from the mobile vendors at the Marines’ or Swallows’ games.

Posted on October 7th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: baseball, beer, people, Tokyo. Comments: 3

These two makuuchi (top division of 42) wrestlers (Toyonoshima (豊ノ島) on the left and Takamisakari (高見盛)) are an instant away from smashing into each other. The referee stands between them with his gunbai. You can also see one of the five shinpan (judges) to the left of the referee in this picture. Don’t miss the expressions on the faces in the crowd either.

One thing I hadn’t noticed when I first witnessed sumo in person 21 years ago, nor have I seen on the NHK broadcasts of sumo, is that the higher ranking sumo wrestlers each have their own special cushion to sit on while waiting for their bout. Most are brightly colored and feature the sumo’s theme. For instance, the wrestler with this orange pillow (武州山 隆士, Bushuyama) may also wear an orange kimono into the stadium (pictures of the top sumo wrestlers entering the stadium forthcoming) and may also have an orange, embroidered apron (keshomawashi) to wear during the ring-entering ceremony before his matches.

It seemed a bit silly to see the colorful seat cushions trotted in and out on a continual basis.

The advertising between matches was also somewhat ridiculous. You sort of miss it on TV as NHK usually switches to commentators or have writing over the ads featuring the upcoming wrestlers’ names and records. You can’t miss it in person though. The ad for Ozeki Sake before the ozeki matches seemed somewhat clever and brought a smile to my face, but ads for McDonalds and one for a place to have your pet cared for are very much out of place. The ads are walked around the ring, sometimes after the wrestlers are already in the ring, and can actually prevent the sumo guys from getting into the ring or back to their corner.

I understand the sponsored bouts feature more prize money due to the advertising; the money is presented to the winning wrestler in an envelope on the gunbai immediately after victory. I’ll show you a photo of that performance in a future blog entry.

Posted on October 1st, 2009 under Japan. Tags: japan pictures, people, sumo, Tokyo. Comments: 1

The guidebook in our apartment (copyright pre-2003) said there is no point in going to Roppongi unless you are going at night. Well, we had no plans one Sunday morning so we went anyway. It turns out things have changed since the Mori Tower was built in Roppongi Hills (六本木ヒルズ森タワー) and now there is plenty to do any time of the day or night.

My son went to a movie in Mori Tower with his friends, my wife went shopping in and around Mori Tower, and my daughter and I went up the Mori Tower to the top. It isn’t free to get to the top. On this day it was 2,000 yen for adults and 700 yen for kids, but there are several things to see at the top. The “Tokyo City View” offers a very nice 360 degree view of the city. Unlike the free views in Shinjuku, there are no other skyscrapers in the area to block your view. You’re also close enough to the Tokyo Tower to get a really good angle on it.

Currently there is a Sky Aquarium at the top included in admission. The various fish and their tanks would have seemed quite cheap with the music turned off and the houselights on, but in this environment they were very Japanese–mysterious and somewhat magical.

One of the nice things about the views from the top is that you aren’t just pressed up against glass like you usually are from typical observation points. Instead, you can get a drink, sit, relax, and enjoy the view. Besides the bar setting, there are somewhat private bench sitting/viewing places, rooms with built in seats around the edge, and a variety of other options as well.

I’ll show you some more pictures from the top as well as some of the museum, which is also included in admission, on a later date.

Posted on September 27th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: mori tower, Tokyo, tokyo tower. Comments: 1