Evening Venus: Dec. 15, 2013

We find Venus in the western sky in the evening at this season.

It was a nice day today and the star was shining clearly in the sky. It remained in our sight about 30 minutes after the sunset.

Mt. Fuji was also seen.

It will be good season to see evening Venus until the end of December.

Baji Park: Dec. 15, 2013

The season is turning from autumn to winter in Japan.

Tokyo had the first frost of this winter season today. They had heavy snow in northern pars of Japan

I visited Baji Park (Equestrian Park). Some trees had already lost their leaves. Some trees kept red and yellow leaves, which composed late-autumn scene.

Most people were in winter costume.

The towns are gradually decollated with Christmas goods.

Late autumn @ Shinjuku Gyoen Park: Nov. 30, 2013

The season is turning from autumn to spring. I visited Shinjuku Gyoen Park to enjoy a late autumn day.

The autumn color was its peak at Shinjuku Gyoen. Maple tree’s red; gingko’s yellow – all were impressive. The sky was sunny.

There were many visitors in the park. Some of them were lying down on the lawn to get sunshine. Others were taking photos and drawing pictures.

Autumn Color @ Yoyogi Park: Nov.17, 2013

I had a walk in the mountains in Tokyo-Kanagawa border area to enjoy autumn color yesterday (Nov. 16, 2013). Today, I visited Yoyogi Park, which locates in the very center of Tokyo.

The trees were colorful in the park. Some trees kept green leaves whiles others had red, orange and yellow leaves. Many people were taking pictures.

The sunset is about 4:30 pm at this season in Tokyo. It is still warm in the daytime. The autumn color season will continue another two weeks and the season will turn into the winter.

Koshu Kaido Walk (6) Takao (Hachioji) -Obara: Nov. 16, 2014

It is turning into the season of autumn color in Tokyo.

I had a walk from Takao in Hachioji city, western Tokyo, through the Kobotoke Pass (Tokyo- Kanagawa border) to Obara (Sagamihara City in Kanagawa Prefecture), as a part of my Koshu Kaido Walk. The rout went through mountain area and I enjoyed autumn color.

There are hundreds of gingko trees at the sides of Koshu Kaido in Takao area. I found that they had just changed into yellow. It was beautiful. Local “Gingko Festival” was held.

I passed old Komagino shukuba station area and moved into mountainous area. I climbed a steep pass through cedar and other trees, then I arrived at the Kobotoke Pass. 

It is 548 meter high and is the border between Tokyo Metropolitan area and Kanagawa Prefecture.

There were many hikers and climbers in the area. They all enjoyed the autumn color. “Walking in the nature” is getting more popular among Japanese.

The railway tunnel of JR Chuo Line runs under the Kobotoke Pass.

The Chuo Highway runs at the side of the mountains in the area. The highways were supported by more than 30 meter-high bridge piers in some places. They went into tunnels through the mountains in other places. Seeing such scenes, I felt “surrealistic” impressions.

Beautiful mountains, autumn color and “surrealistic” highways scenes -- all reflect the reality of Japanese society.

I walked down to Obara shukuba station. It is more than 60 kilometers from Nihonbashi.

Second-hand Book Fair @ Kanda: Nov 3rd, 2013

When we visit Kanda Jinbo-cho, which is only 500 meters north from the Imperial Palace, we find many secondhand bookshops.

There are more than 100 such shops. The local community advertises the area as “the largest town of second-hand bookshops IN THE WORLD”.

Today, I visit the town as annual fair was held.

Special bookshelves were placed in the sidewalks. Hundreds of open-air stalls were open in some roads. Thousands of visitors were there.

The environment surrounding book is changing rapidly because of the development of net and electronic books. The bookstores (both for new books and secondhand books) are also facing drastic changes.

Kanda Jinbo-cho, the Mecca of secondhand book in Japan, is also changing. More shops were closed in recent years than before. More shops are trying to concentrate in special fields (such as maps, cinema books, drama books etc.) rather than attracting various guests.

Still, I felt today that the fair preserved good old book culture. I enjoyed it.

Tokaido Walk (27) Miya-Kuwana (boat tour) (off Tokyo): Oct. 27, 2013

Out of 492 km of Tokaido, which connected Edo (Tokyo) and Kyoto in the Edo era, about 30 km was traveled by boat, not on foot. The part was between Miya, the 41^st shukuba station from Edo’s Nihonbashi, and Kuwana, the 42^nd station.

There is no regular boat service today. But special service is sometimes offered by NPO and other organizations. Today, I had an opportunity to take a boat tour. The tour was organized by Horikawa Machi Net, a NPO based in Atsuta Ward in Nagoya Prefecture, where Miya shukuba station was. The NPO is active in preserving the region's history and culture. It also engages in activities to protect environment and to boost the development of local community. (See Horikawa Machi Net)

Old dock and historical buildings of Miya station remain here. Wide sea spread just in front of the station in the Edo era. Now, the seashore is several kilometers ahead, as many artificial lands have been made after the Meiji period.

The boat left the dock as local community’s members played “bon voyage” dram. The boat went through canals and moved into the Nagoya port.

There are factories, warehouses and other industrial facilities in the area. Highways ran over the port. 

Seagulls flied around the boat. The weather was good. The sky and the sea were blue.

There are automobile yards and container yards in the port. I found large car carriers and huge container ships anchored.

Nagoya port is expected to be the country’s largest port (including airports) in export this year. Automobile and related products account for more than 50% of total export. Electronics, steel and other industrial goods are also exported.

The boat sailed west and came to the area where three large rivers flew into the sea. The rivers are Kiso River, Nagara River and Ibi River. 

The rivers are affluent. They bring a large quantity of soil and sand. Consequently, the sea is not deep here. 

I found many small pipes stuck in the sea. They are used to grow seaweed.

The boat went up Ibi River and arrived in Kuwana shukuba station. Kuwana is in Mie Prefecture.

The boat tour took about three hours.

Tokyo Skytree and Asakusa: Oct. 18, 2013

We had a business meeting inviting our partners from about 15 countries. We had an excursion to Tokyo Skytree and Asakusa district for better communication and deeper mutual understanding.

Tokyo Skytree is only one year + old (it opened in May, 2012), but it has already become one of the most famous Tokyo’s landmarks.　It attracted more than 6.5 million visitors in one year. 

It is 634 meter high and is the highest tower in the world.

The tower was crowded as expected. It took less than one minute by a high-speed elevator to move from the ground floor to observation deck at 350 meter high. Hundreds of Japanese, Asians, Europeans, Americans etc. were there.

Panoramic view of Tokyo was under us. I saw millions of offices, houses and factories spread in the large Kanto plain. 30 million people live there.

Asakusa, which is about 1.5 km from Tokyo Skytree, is a popular visiting place for foreign tourists. Sensoji Temple (Buddhism) is the center of the area. Visitors made a line in front of the main building. The incense floated here and there.

Combination of the temple’s buildings and Tokyo Skytree was impressive.

There also locates Asakusa Shrine (Japanese Shinto) in the same site. There are shopping street from the temple to the nearest subway station. Hundreds of small shops sell traditional crafts, sweets and other gifts.

They held a special dragon-dance event in the temple. Visitors really enjoyed Asakusa.

ANA plane maintenance facility @ Haneda: Oct. 18, 2013

We had a meeting with our partners from about 15 countries and we visited ANA’s plane maintenance facility in Haneda (Tokyo International Airport).

Several airplanes including Boeing 787, the latest model, and B 777 were under maintenance process.

The facility is popular among plane lovers. It also attracts many schools as a good place for an educational trip. (Competition to make a reservation is very tough).

There were several groups in guided tours in the facility. Most of participants had high-class single-lens reflex cameras.

The facility has 18 huge gates. The planes in landing and taking-off process were well observed from the facility.

2020 Olympic sites @ Bay area: Sept.28, 2013

Tokyo will host the Olympic Games in 2020. It will be the 2^nd time to host the Games (after 1964).

The opening and closing ceremonies, together with track and field competitions, will be held at the National Olympic Stadium in Shinjuku ward as in 1964. Other games will be held in the new facilities to be built or renovated mainly in the Tokyo Bay area.

Today, I walked “2020 Olympic sites” in the Bay area.

I first visited Yumenoshima in Koto ward. It is an artificial island built in the 1950s and 60s. Enormous volume of garbage was carried here from many places in Tokyo and piled up to make lands. The place was infamously called Gominoshima (Garbage island), not Yumenoshima (Dream island).

Today, garbage has turned into soil. There is a large park spread in the area and various facilities are built in it.

Large Halloween pumpkins were placed in the garden of a tropical plant dome and children were playing with them.

I also visited an exhibition site of Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon 5), a tune boat which was exposed to and contaminated by nuclear fallout from US nuke test in 1954.

Basketball, badminton, archery, equestrian games will be held here in Yumenoshima area.

I moved westwards to Tatsumi, where swimming will be held. Water polo will be also played in the area.

Highways run around the area. There are tall apartments, office buildings and factories in the area. Construction works were underway.

I continued walking through Shinonome to Ariake. Volleyball, gymnastics, cycling and tennis will be played here in Ariake. Ariake Coliseum, which currently has 10,000 seats, and other facilities around it will be used for tennis games in 2020.

It was crowded today as the final match of Toray Pan Pacific Open was held today.

I moved westwards and arrived at Odaiba, where Triathlon and beach volley will be played.

Nearly half of the games will be played in the area I walked today.

Moon Festival: Sept. 19, 2013

It is fine to enjoy moon in autumn night.

A moon in the “Moon Festival” day is more than that.

Japan and other Asian countries (e.g. China) have moon festivals on August 15^th in traditional calendar, which is a day around the autumnal equinox day (late September). It was September 19^th in 2013.

We fortunately had full moon today. It was first time in 6 years to have full moon in the monn festival day.

I had a walk of about an hour in the night. People were enjoying the moon sitting in the benches in the walking trails and small community parks.

The moonlight was impressive. The sounds of autumn insects were comfortable.

New Kabuki Theater @Ginza: Sept.8, 2013

New Kabuki Theater opened in April this year. I visited there for the first time.

The new theater has 29-story modern building in the backyards, but it keeps traditional tiled-roof building in the front part. It is 4 stories high.

Advanced technologies are used in the stage sets. Spectators’ seats are more spacious.

Classic dramas are often played at Kabuki Theater. Today, I watched a newly-written play titled “Onmyoji”, a mysterious story in the Heian era (794-1192). Many young Kabuki players joined the project.

Shops and other facilities are renovated. The basement floor was developed as a cultural and shopping center of Kabuki.