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August 01, 2005
Japan Trip Part 1
It has now been a week since we returned from a week in Japan. We spent most of our time in Tokyo, with a few trips to the surrounding area. If we had more time, we'd love to go back and explore Kyoto for a couple days at least.
Ok, enough with the intro, here is our trip as captured in photographs...
First, we stayed in the Roppongi district, so the first order of business was a walk about to get a feel for the city and more importantly, see what was around.
Here is a picture of a cemetery (along with a number of prayer sticks) in the middle of the city. We liked the contrast here.
This is me, walking the streets...
A bike that Anna liked...
Fireworks were invented in China and since Japan has the benefit of proximity, we decided that the display being advertised was worth a trip to the adjacent city of Yokohama. It turns out that most people in Tokyo decided to join us there....well, at least it seemed that way. The train system was completely flooded with people. However, the Japanese government it their usual efficiency were able to get everyone into a very small space with relatively little problem. In fact, it was amazing to watch 50,000+ people move into a few small block, occupy less than 6 square feet each and not complain at all! We Americans could learn a few lessons from them! Anyway, the firework display was worth the effort. The following pictures don't do them justice, but there were over 8,000 individual fireworks that lasted over an hour. If only we had brought our Crazy Creek chairs (backpacking chairs for the ground), we would have been all set. Unfortunately, the asphalt of the street intersection where we were sitting got a little uncomfortable after the first 45 min or so.... :-)
Here's an unfortunately blurry shot of our fellow firework watchers.
Anna ready to be amazed by the fireworks.
The highlight of the firework display were the "shaped" fireworks. There was even a "Hello Kitty" firework!
Here they are:
Suffice it to say, that we were quite impressed. This was all just to celebrate a Japanese national holiday known as Marine Day. It was free to watch and worth every penny.
Posted by jim at August 1, 2005 12:37 AM
Comments
Hi you!
It sounds like Japan was an interesting cultural experience. I just remembered to check your website tonight and found your Japan pix. It really is amazing how efficiently they are able to pack people together with no complaints. Guess one can get used to just about anything, if necessary.
Love you,
Mom
Posted by: Mom M at August 25, 2005 02:37 PM