Hideyo Noguchi

This is the amazing Japanese doctor Hideyo Noguchi, who hails from Fukushima.
He went to New York in 1904 to study Spirochaetes and Yellow Fever, and did humanitarian work in Africa, where he himself succumbed to Yellow Fever and died in 1928.
A Japanese man standing at the statue asked me if I was interested in this man and he told me how he still inspires generations with hope in the face of suffering, including during the recent tsunami that affected his home prefecture.
He told me that Hideyo Noguchi probably would have won the Nobel Prize if he hadn't died at the age of 53 years.
And he'a probably right.

Tokyo National Museum

I saw really scary samuarai swords, 40,000 year old pottery, ancient calligraphy, military armour that looked like Darth Vader, ancient clothes, 500 year old sake bottles and a wealth of everyday materials that span Japanese history. Unfortunately I can't put any photos here so ypu'll have to visit tjis amazing museum yourself.

Handy way to get rid of small change.

In the two weeks here, I've collected so much small change, that I had a plastic bag with a fistful of small value coins in my bag with me. So this donation box outside the Tokyo National Museum was a welcome way to unburden myself of small yen denomination coins.

Cetachean statue, Ueno Park, Tokyo.

This blue whale statue is outside the National Science Museum at Ueno Park, Tokyo.
Here you can see it next to the last of the sakura.
Those children in front of the sakura are junior high school students. Everywhere I have gone, I have seen school students on excursions - without exception.

Natto - Japan's answer to Vegemite/Marmite?

Here's me preparing Natto at breakfast. It's a sticky fermented soy bean that you mix in with some mustard and spiced oil. You then attempt to eat it, with the slime attached, or with some rice. It's quite...um...fragrant!
Yummo!

Test your Japanese!

Can you identify these films?
Good luck!

Main street Shinjuku, Tokyo.

This is the main street of Shinjuku at night - very busy.

Shinjuku at night

I popped over to Shinjuku for dinner and thos is what greets you. All bright and shiny!

Goodbye friend!

This Japan Rail Railpass has been my best friend for the last two weeks. It got me everywhere without any problems and is a 'must' if you're covering a lot of Japan.
Sad to say goodbye...

Look what I found!

I was wandering back to my hotel and found this older style house amidst all these high buildings in the Shiodome district. You find this contrast often in Tokyo

How to become smarter...

At this shrine, you waft the incense smoke towards and over you if you want to become smarter as you can see these people doing.
Needless to say, I felt the need to stand here all afternoon.

Togoshu views, Tokyo

Here are some random views from this famous Tokyo Shrine.
I like the picture that juxtaposes the old and the new.

How busy is this shrine?

How busy is this shrine in Tokyo?

I would say 'very'!

Altar at Togosho shrine, Tokyo

You can see the lovely gold plating here on the altar sanctuary of the Togosho Shrine. Very beautiful....

Buddhist fortune telling at Togosho Shrine, Tokyo

Look closely at the bench in front of the draws and you can see a slot where you put your 200 yen.
You then shake a numbered stick from a tube - you can see the bottom of it below the man's hands holding the stick.
You then look in the numbered draw and pull out a piece of paper to see if your wish comes true.
This lovely Canadian couple on the right scored the 'good luck' answer.
Lucky!

Toshogu Shrine, Tokyo

This is the roof of the resplendent(?) (yes, that's the word) Toshogu Shrine.
It's one of the few buildings in Tokyo that survived the Second World War.

Watchtower

This is a watchtower of the Imperial palace. Pretty impressive for the front door!

A guided tour of Tokyo

I went on a guided tour of the Tokyo Tower, Imperial Palace and a shrine or two.
Here you can see our tour guide holding her little signpost of stuffed animals so we don't get confused with the other guided tours that are about.
And there are heaps!

Tokyo Tower Views.

Here are some views from atop the Tokyo Tower.

One is looking down through a glass floor, straight down.

Scary!

Tokyo Tower

This is the famous Tokyo Tower. I remember seeing this in the logo for a Japanese film company years ago. As children, my brothers and sister would sit watching the classics: Godzilla, Mothra, Gamera, Starman - you name it. So seeing this tower was surprisingly very familiar.

Hi, ho! Hi, ho! etc...

You see these lines of workers walking off to work everywhere in the morning. What's had to convey, is that these lines are continuous, nonstop for about two hours in the morning.
People also work very late, and you see people going home from work at 9, 10 or even later in the evening. There are a lot fewer people in nonbusiness clothes on the trains that those casually dressed.

Public transport in Japan

The public transport is great in Tokyo although can get amazingly busy between 8 and 9 am and peak in the evening.
Few people have cars here - the streets just couldn't cope and the parking is very expensive.
If you miss a subway train, there's often a ling wait of about two minutes for the next one. Shocking! Ha, ha!

Last pictures of Shinjuku Gyoen National Park

I just had to share these pics - it was a beautiful scene and it was wonderful to see so many people out enjoying the lovely weather and scenery.

Wicked man...

I know this is wicked, but as you can see, everyone is out photographing the cherry blossoms, like in this photo taken in Shinjuku Gyoen National Park.
What is wicked, is that I have been trying to get as many photographers in one pic as possible in front of sakura and I just had to share this - five photographers in this one if you include me behind the lens.
I know, I know...it's wicked. Small things amuse small minds. I admit it...

Scenes form Shinjuku Gyoen National Park, Tokyo

Here are some random scenes from this most beautiful garden in Shinjuku. Once owned by an Emperor, now it is enjoyed by all.

Cherry blossom carpet

See here what is called the 'cherry blossom carpet' or sakura no juutan. Very beautiful. Actually, it can be breathtakingly beautiful. I now know why the Japanese people celebrate the sakura - you're going to hate me because I'll never stop raving about how beautiful the sakura is.

Afters...

This is a Japanese sweet made from red bean paste and containing a strawberry.
I bought one, and you can see how expertly the dessert is packed. Have a looked at the process of unpacking it andd you'll get an idea of what I am talking about. This is pretty much the norm for Japanese food. Very highly packaged. The strawberry was very juicy and it was quite yummy. Sorry you couldn't be here...