We finished off our time in Japan in Tokyo. Tokyo is absolutely enormous and has huge contrasts of historical sites with complete sensory overload modern sites. Thanks to Jessica And Eric C for all the great ideas (including the Tokyo hotel) 🙂

Shibuya Crossing
Our first taste of modern Tokyo was to visit the shopping area Takeshita-dori, Omotesando, and Shibuya Crossing. The best way I can describe Shibuya Crossing is to think Times Square on steroids. It’s crazy!

At the advice of Emily’s co-worker Jeff H (thanks Jeff!), we grabbed coffee from the multi story Starbucks overlooking the crossing to see the action (yes, Starbucks all over the place here too).

This street crossing is so crazy because there is a sea of cars moving through with literally hundreds of people waiting to cross. You wonder how on earth this will ever work… And then the crosswalk turns green. Literally traffic stops from all directions and a sea of people cross in every direction – diagonals, swerving… You name it!

Meanwhile, there are billboards blinking and blaring music and sounds everywhere. It seems like complete chaos… Until the crosswalk starts flashing green and everyone instantly moves to the sidewalks. Within seconds traffic is flying through the intersection again. Crazy!!

Posing as the Japanese seem to pose in pictures

Japan Baseball
Our next taste of modern Japan was going to a Yomiuri Giants baseball game in the Tokyo Dome. I’ve always wanted to go to a Japanese baseball game since reading about how animated it is. Wow, the game was a sell out and it was quite an experience in so many ways!

First, several of the logos are copies of the US MLB logos (look familiar San Fran friends?!)

Both teams have a dedicated cheering section that literally cheer constant chants the ENTIRE (every pitch literally) game! One team even had a drum player and a trumpet player whose lips must have felt like they were going to fall off from constant playing!

I haven’t been able to get to a PC in awhile, so I don’t have my videos uploaded yet. Here are some links I found on YouTube that represent the craziness of the cheering!
http://youtu.be/64v9t6_2s-0



http://youtu.be/q6TkT3sjsA8

Although many people we ran into said they didn’t speak English, all of the songs played on the stadium were English, the words balls/strikes/outs were used, and many T-shirts and ads had English. Interesting!!

There were beer vendors everywhere, and every single one was a young female. They have fluorescent colored clothes with flowers behind their ears and seemed to always smile! They carried around a beer backpack with a dispensing tube in the side. Contrast this to your beer vendor at Wrigleyville or the Reds’ stadium!

This was my first time ever having a bento box as “ballpark food”

Luxury Stores and a Love of France
We knew there would be lots of high-end stores, and we certainly saw about every designer. Interestingly, there are these stores not only on the Rodeo Drive street but also throughout many other streets we walked.

We were also surprised to see how many French foods there are here. There are French bakeries, creperies, chocolates, macaroons (our favorite from France – Laudree – is right by our hotel!)… You name it! We know both Japan and France are world-renown for food so Japan must embrace French things!

This was especially evident in the many department stores in Tokyo. One store, Isetan, had a huge amount of French foods that you could buy. The care taken with each item was amazing. Our caramels were packaged to withstand a storm while our pastries were given individual ice packs to keep the items cool!

They even had Amish Food…I thought about talking to the store owner about this, but thought that a lot might get lost in translation!!

Electronic & Camera Stores

Ever since I was a little kid I have wanted to go to Japanese electronic stores. These stores are often bigger than the Macy’s in New York City and only sell electronics!! Well, my dream came true as I got to go to Yodobashi Camera! This place is floor after floor of fun things including any appliance you could dream. I even bought an extra memory card as they had a wall with every memory card size, speed, and company you could imagine. I was able to get the exact company of card I normally buy.

I think that my Dad and Mr. S should make it a point to visit these stores 🙂

Note from Emily: For you Mike D 🙂

See…I am not the only person who wears Casio watches!

Traditional Palaces, Shrines and Gardens

In between these modern experiences, we had fun visiting palaces, gardens, and tea houses.

We particularly enjoyed seeing the Imperial Palace where the Emperor lives and the gardens. Here are a few pictures:

We also really enjoyed Yasukuni Shrine where we happened to be visiting when samurais were practicing. A gentleman told us this group was one of the best and strongest in the country so it was quite interesting to see! We also enjoyed visiting a Japanese military museum. It was helpful to see how several military actions arose and fascinating to learn more background on WWI and WWII.

Next up is Beijing!