March 27, 2010
16th day of travel in Japan - Tokyo, Japan
Being that this trip was one of exploring and seeing everywhere that should be seen throughout Japan with the time allotted for the trip, Roppongi Hills was an area that I decided to take Ben to. This is one of the more expensive places to visit. There are a lot of high-end stores in this area. The mall that we are about to see first is a particularly interesting and has fascinating designs and architecture.
Being that I have not been to Roppongi before, finding out what to do there was a bit of a chore. Aside from shopping, there was not any daytime activities. The night scene is awesome here, just be cautious though. With more foreigners in this area, there is an increased amount of crime. As I was saying before though, since I did not have that much money to spend, Ben and I went to this little festival that was being held in the mall.
Here is the ever so famous spider of Roppongi. It is freaky looking if you ask me, but because it is well known among my Japanese friends, here is a couple of photos!
Throughout this mall, there was a strong water theme, and because of that many water falls such as the one above, that were in awesome places. I was quite impressed with the building and the structures that were surrounding in this mall. A definite must see if you want to experience something different, that is typically the same around the world!
Randomly, there was a heart defibrillator at this mall. This wasn't the only one that we saw either. I especially like the instructions right below it. Would you be able to send a jolt of electricity (strong enough to kill someone if used incorrectly) to save a life?
Here is really the start of the festival photos! This strange futuristic / space looking balloons, were quite awesome, but I never really understood why.... One of the best things about traveling in Japan, it doesn't really matter where you are going to, you can typically run into a festival.
This festival was different that most of the ones that I've been to before. Sure, you have the traditional squid in dough balls, but this particular festival was based around seafood. There was tons of different shellfish, fish, and other weird creatures of the sea to eat. It was delicious!
Included in this festival was music and dance, not just of these traditional looking dancers, but also some Scottish ones. There is a Japanese gentleman in a kilt and playing the bagpipes in later photos here. It was quite the site, I remember in particular that he played: "Darth Vader's March" theme.
I was able to get onto national TV in Japan! Here we have a little info distributing for the festival (I.O.W. marketing), and I was in the background of some of these shots. Above is the TV that they had playing live as they filmed, and below are photos of the characters as they were being filmed.
If you couldn't tell by now, a big part of this party was sponsored by TV ASAHI. The company even open it's doors to let us inside and take a look inside. It was really interesting. On a side note, while in the building a little boy suddenly ran up and grabbed my hand. He then said to me, "Big brother, I'm lost, and can't find my mother."
I took him to a security officer of the building, assuming that they had some sort of paging system, to have the security officer help us find this little boys mother. Luckily, the boy's mother was outside, although I didn't know it at the time, and the boy took off after her. Both the officer and I chased after him to see him find a mother, who thanked us greatly, and apologized for the inconvenience.
Said it earlier, didn't I? A Japanese dude in a kilt....
With that last photo, ends our trip around Roppongi Hills. The next set of photos is in the Harajuku area. I have to warn, that asking to take photos of people doesn't always end well. These few photos are of the people that were happy with it, but obviously, the ones that were upset that I would even ask aren't shown here. These photos were taken at the bridge and entrance to the Meiji Shrine.
Here we have the entrance and path way to the shrine. It is about a 5 - 10 minute walk from this location to the actual shrine with many beautiful vistas along the way. It is interesting to think that you are still in the middle of Tokyo while walking through here.
Random....
If I remember this correctly, from the Meiji shrine, it is a short walk to Yoyogi Park. This park is famous for the people that hang out there. It includes, but not limited to, vendors of all kinds, bicyclist, musicians, skateboarders, as well as just your average person strolling through the park.
I think all women will understand this, even if they can't read the signs. Universal throughout the world, waiting for the restroom stall....
Although it is freezing, flower gazing is still super popular. If you are unaware of this custom, then you are definitely missing out. It is all about eating good food and drinking with friends out in the park. I can't remember how many times I did this. I do know that you can get a DUI on a bicycle in Japan though.
Now, because there are so many photos for this day, I decided to cut it into two parts. I know that I said that Tokyo Anime Fair would be in this set, but it had to be pushed off. It was on the next day that we went to TAF. The evening to night segment will take place on Odaiba and at Tokyo Dome area. Please stay around for the next post!
