Yanaka cemetery (谷中霊園)

Posted on September 14th, 2016 under Japan. Tags: cemetery, cherry blossoms, sakura, Tokyo, yanaka, 桜. Comments Off on Japanese cemetery in spring

Gate City Ohsaki sunset

Gate City Osaki (ゲートシティ大崎) is an artificial (urban renewal) city constructed on the Yamanote Line about 10 years before I took today’s photo in 2010. I’m not a big fan of such places, not being a shopper and all. However, the sunset on this day was lovely.

Posted on September 8th, 2016 under Japan. Tags: sunset, Tokyo. Comments Off on Gate City Ohsaki

倉

Kura means storehouse. These buildings were common during the Edo Era for merchants, or others with a bit of money, to store their valued possessions. They weren’t made out of wood, like most buildings in Japan at the time, so they could survive fires that frequently wiped out communities. You still see them occasionally when you get out into the Japanese countryside. However, in big cities, like Tokyo, they are now exceedingly rare.

This house, in Central Tokyo, was a bit north of my Nishi-Waseda apartment, maybe in Takada or Zoshigaya–I don’t remember exactly anymore. I’m not sure if they built the house around the kura, or if they built the kura with the house and merely designed it to look old. The entire property screams, “I have valuables that need protecting!”

Posted on August 29th, 2016 under Japan. Tags: buildings, Tokyo. Comments Off on Tokyo Kura Residence

Yakult Swallows fans and their umbrellas (YS傘)

Posted on August 26th, 2016 under Japan. Tags: baseball, meiji jingu stadium, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 VR G lens, Nikon D600, Tokyo, yakult swallows. Comments Off on Rally umbrellas

@TuttleBooks

Tokyo on Foot is not what I expected. And that’s not a bad thing. I was expecting something like Foot Loose in Tokyo or A Flower Lover’s Guide to Tokyo in which the reader is given guidance on various walks in Tokyo. While Tokyo on Foot could potentially be used in this way, I look at it more as art/manga appreciation than a guide book. Florent Chavouet’s art is fantastic. The attention to detail and capturing of Tokyo scenes is captivating and the type of work that you can frequently revisit without becoming bored.

If you’ve visited or lived in Tokyo I think you’ll like it more than someone who hasn’t (not that a future visitor won’t want to take a look at this book to get an idea of where to go and what to see in Tokyo). Remembering views that are slumbering just beneath the surface of your memory can be lots of fun.

Posted on April 5th, 2016 under Japan. Tags: book review, reviews, Tokyo. Comments Off on Tokyo on Foot: Travels in the City’s Most Colorful Neighborhoods