Japan Retrospective 3

TOKYO

May 25th, Mondo & I took a train into Tokyo. Something like the one pictured here. It took about 45 minutes to get from Misaki to Oeno station.

We found a 6-story Toy store with nearly a whole floor of Pokemon and another of Gundam (robot-anime-type creatures). It's really interesting how there are so many specialty shops that are HUGE. The toy stores seemed to have a very extensive variety of particular toys both new and retro. Here I am with Pikachu...

Later, we walked through a marketplace... I thought the eels were particularly interesting. I also found out that shad roe (fish eggs) are a delicacy in Japan. Apparently, they are good inside of onigiri (rice balls w/salt).

Mondo mentioned that this place was like a "Times Square" of Tokyo. There were 3 of them in the city. This one was a "newer" one. Lots of umbrellas today since it was raining. It was interesting, though. Even if it was lightly sprinkling, people would bust out their umbrellas. Clear umbrellas were also clearly en vogue.

Then, before heading to the sumo arena, Mondo & I played a couple rounds of Taiko drumming. We did SO well (or, perhaps got lucky on the match) that we won a free game. It was a fun game.

Finally, it was time for the big sumo matches (as opposed to the little sumos...). It was really an intense brawl each time between some pretty big guys. Basically, they grab, slap, push, & swing their opponent either out of the ring or onto the ground. I captured a video on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgqsrNc8-28

After the sumo matches, we decided to grab a bite to eat at a quick sukiyaki place called Yoshinoya. Not really like home-made, but it was pretty yummy for fast food.

Then, to round the night off, we travelled to New York City...

OK... so it's actually Tokyo still, but they have a Statue of Liberty replica in front of the Rainbow Bridge. The red tower behind the bridge is the Tokyo Tower.

All in all, it was an excellent first trip to Japan. Off to China for me the next day, so we actually got quite a lot in for my short stay. Mondo was quite a good chauffeur, tour guide, hotel manager, & interpretter. It was very gracious of his parents to let me stay at their house too. They were wonderful hosts. I can't wait to come back to Japan with the family sometime.

Above (left to right): Mondo's neighbor & dog, Masami, Kazuko, Bryan, Mondo