So much to do, and so little time
Only one more night for me here in this great city. I have to say Tokyo is one of the most amazing places I have ever been in my life. Everything is impeccably clean, the streets are spacious and the architecture is different on every corner. So far over the past days I`ve been to Ginza, Ropongi, and today Denki-gi in Akihabara.
Ginzahas got to be the upscale shopping center of the world. Think of Sachs or Macy’s and put 10 of them on the same stretch of road surrounded by electronic shops like the Sony building and an eclectic mix of high end Japanese fashion. I finally bought my kimono! It`s actually called a happi which is like a short kimono with shorter sleeves worn with loose pants. You sometimes see Sushi chefs wearing them.
The other night I was finally able to realize my dream of visiting one of the small traditional bars in Japan. I was wandering down the street and on a whim decided to turn down a small side alley. Upstairs above a ramen shop was maybe a 6 person bar. Immediately I was greeted by the patrons. By the end of the night and 5 or 6 glasses of Shōchū I was told i`d be allowed to bring my camera and tripod back the next night! I got some great shots of the master, or the bartender who also cooks, and my new Japanese friends.
Ropongiis nightclub heaven here in Japan, I went on a weekday so it wasn`t as busy as it usually is but after dealing with crowds in Korea I was fine with that. I took a cab with one of the businessmen I met at the small bar. We arrived on the main strip around midnight. Neon, lights, girls in go-go boots with pink hair and cat ears… lots to look at. We ended up meeting a group of Japanese girls who were out celebrating one of their birthday`s. I`m assuming they liked foreigners! It was a very very late night, early morning would be more accurate.
I slept in today… It was necessary after my adventure in Ropongi. I did manage to finally get out of bed and get down to Akihabara, Electric Town. The name is fitting, the entire area consists of store after store selling everything from next years cell phones to robot parts. This is also the anime capitol of the world so I was in heaven. For those of you that don`t know anime is Japanese cartoons… but the majority of them are definitely not for kids, especially the small book like manga comics… sorry mom you wouldn’t have been so proud of me passing through the adult only section. lol
Sorry about the lack of photos. I`ve been so busy I havent even turned on my laptop to take the photos out of my camera. I will add a few when I get home or maybe tomorrow if I have time. Click on the links for the areas, wikipedia has some great photos.
