Long Burn

Tokyo

The blog muse kicked my butt for using that old line about not feeling inspired to blog anymore. If you're a blogger you post, resistance is futile.

I just returned from a trip to Tokyo. It was great. I love Japan, the food, the gardens, the people, even sometimes the music which is either bebop or classical music's greatest hits. Japan is a blend of 1950s Americana, Godzillan sprawl and post-modern metropol. I packed in a rush and arrived without my camera but with cell phone that didn't work on the network but I could still take pictures.

Here's the view of Tokyo bay from the hotel window at 5 AM. I'd been up since 2 with jet lag.


I played hookey from the conference for a half day and went looking for gifts and souveniers. Ran into this sign on the Zojoji temple grounds:


Outside the temple were these Jizo statues which are dedicated to lost babies. Beautiful and spooky.


I happened across a pet store for stag beetles. Enthusiasts arrange tournaments between the beetles.


There was a technology museum on the ground floor of the building where we had our meeting. The museum had a globe hanging from the ceiling that was like 30 feet in diameter and covered in TV screens. They showed films of the earth on these screens, for example how hot it is going to get by the end of the century or satellite pictures of cloud cover. This was a film of the ozone hole.


The subway was always crowded, even at 11.30 on a Tuesday night. In Japan I am extra-tall.


There was a small earthquake mid-week but I didn't feel it because I was riding a bumpy monorail. The final night we stayed at a traditional guest house with tatami mats that smelled like alfalfa pellets, thin futons and a pillow filled with dried beans. I know that may not sound so great but it was actually a lot of fun; also there was a bath and hot tub in the basement.

posted by Matt_J @ 7:59 PM