Japan - Arrival and Tokyo

Before I left China Björk and I went to Japan for vacation. And this time I wanted to see more then just Tokyo so we flew to Kansai Airport close to Osaka - went directly to Tokyo, stayed there for a few days together with a quick visit to Yokohama before we left to Kyoto and Osaka where we stayed a few more days before we left. It was great to see the big differences Japan has. It would be eve more interesting to visit some real rural areas for an even bigger difference...


On our way to Japan we made a pit-stop (cheaper tickets) in TsingTao - the famous beer brand city. And of course we had to drink a TsingTao in the original city!From Osaka we took the wonderful fast train Shinkansen to Tokyo. Coming from China it's like a totally different world! (As it is...) One impressive thing was that the seats turned 180 degrees when we arrived so they always face the train direction - nice.

We stayed at a hotel in Shinjuku. This is very much an image of what Tokyo is for me before I went there. Lots of neon signs and advertisement in an ant-farm-like atmosphere.

I love that they have towels around their neck och as this waiter, as a head band.
We had a great dinner in the old blocks of Shinjuku - they way Tokyo looked like in mid-20 century before the modern reconstruction with skyscrapers was built. Here we met these three funny guys having a few drinks after their work. The English was not great but we understood each other and had a great time.
After diner we took a walk and wanted to have a drink and found this place - Black Sun Bar, a small place where you have to walk up a narrow stairway before entering. Because of the size we got really familiar with the guests that night. There were the local semi-alcoholic guy, the older couple (sales man and mistress) and the nice bartender. I had Japanese whiskey - even though the bartender didn't recommend it and had a hard time finding the bottle. But I had said to my self that I wanted to try it at least one time.
We had to make the traditional visit to an arcade hall...

The rest of the days we walk around in different areas. We had great information from Björk’s friend Mari who made an architecture inspiration-trip with her work. But I will show those photos later in the blog.


The weather in Tokyo was wet... When we where in Shibuya, one of the most crowded places in Tokyo it was really hard to walk with the umbrella. This was the only time I felt that Japan was hostile. People hold their umbrella hard and with the smallest contact with another umbrella they push so they didn't have to loose their protection.
A nice entrance to a city tempel.
For me this police car looks like a manga cartoon police car. Maybe not so strange because the cartoons get inspiration from the real world - and this is the real world for them...

It was great to meet Santi and Yoko again. Santi recommended this religious festival that is held once a year. There are different shrines that are getting together and celebrating (I can't remember what... sorry). It was interesting!
And they had great clothes and two-toe shoes.Of course Björk had to visit Tsukiji - the famous fish market. This time we got there early in the morning so it was more activity then the last times I've been there. Now there were lots of big tunas.




We celebrated my birthday with a wonderful waffle breakfast in Ginza.
This sushi was the best I've even had! And the place was a small sushi restaurant with take-away on the ground floor and the tables one floor down. Delicious!
We met our great friend Leo in Tokyo - here having a drink in the Ebisu area. Later he followed Björk back to Denmark where he lives now.
I just love Domo! I have one at home now...

They have really strange beers in Japan...
This is a nice concept - food machine. You pay in the vending machine and hand over the ticket to the waiter who then gives you the food. It's a great way to avoid cash handling for the waiters. (The reasons might be many e.g. not trustful personnel, risk of robbery etc)