Macau (off off Tokyo)： Nov.23, 2014

I visited Macau for the first time in about 20 years.　The city has dramatically changed.

It was returned from Portugal to China in 1999.　Islands are being expanded by land reclamation. New commercial and tourism facilities are being built. About 28 million Chinese visit here from the mainland.

Historical Portuguese atmosphere remained in the center of the city. Visitors were talking pictures at the stairs in front of St. Paul ruins. They enjoyed walking in the narrow streets of cobbled stones.

Huge hotels with casino were found in many places in the city. The buildings of state-run Chinese banks stood aside.

I felt the atmosphere of Portuguese, Chinese and modern capitalism flavor in the town.

City of Zhuhai locates beyond a narrow channel. I found tall buildings of the city.

World's Largest Electronic Town @ Shenzhen (off off Tokyo): Nov. 22, 2014

I walked around central Shenzhen, China. There were many surprises.

There are many electronic shops gathering in Huaqiangbei Commercial area. Tens of huge commercial buildings as well as hundreds of smaller shops are open.

Huaqiang Electronic World was one of the largest commercial buildings I had ever visited. Hundreds of electronic parts shops were open in the 1^st, 5^th and 6^th floor respectively. (2nd photo ftom the top)

There were many shops of smart phones, PCs and other electronic goods in the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th floor.

Tokyo’s Akihabara may be more sophisticated, but Shenzhen’s town is overwhelming in its size. It is said to be the largest in the world. The area not only sells the products, but also buys the goods (The free markets develop here). This may support many built-ups in electronics in Shenzhen.

New shopping centers opened in recent years. I visited the centers in Laojie district、Jin Guang Hua Market and other places. I also visited a big bookshop. All of they were full of energy.

A big picture of Deng Xiaoping was displayed at the corner of Lizai Park in the central city. Skyscrapers stood around and boys enjoyed roller skating in front of the picture. The city has become rich. I wonder what would Deng have said if he were here.

Occupy movement @ Mongkok and Causeway Bay, Hong Kong (off off Tokyo): Nov. 19-21, 2014

It was not only Central Hong Kong (around the Hong Kong government office) where occupy movement developed. Similar movements took place in Mongkok, one of the busiest areas in Kawloon, and in Causeway Bay, a big shopping centere in Hong Kong Island.

A part of Nathan Road, the main street of Kawloon, was occupied by hundreds of tents around Mongkok area.

The traffic was blocked. The stores at the sides of the street were open. I saw people enjoyed shopping in the stores, came inside the occupied area, listen the speeches of the activists, and read the messages.

(The occupation in Mongkok area was cleaned up by the police on November 25^th.)

The occupation area was smaller and the number of the tents was limited at Causeway Bay district. Instead, there were impressive displays.

The picture of Chinese President Xi Jinping with an umbrella was placed in the corner. Visitors were taking pictures. 

Hundreds of small umbrellas were hung around a gathering place. (the top picture)

It was Friday evening when I visited Causeway Bay. Sales staff members of stores were trying to attract guests. Tens of thousands of local people walked through the area. Someone took a glance at the occupation, another watched it carefully and others stopped at the site.

Occupy Central @ Hong Kong (off off Tokyo): Nov.19, 2014

The world pays attention to Hong Kong as Occupy Central movement by pro-democracy activists continues.

I had a trip to Hong Kong and visited the site.

The road in front of the Hong Kong Government Office (Harcourt Road) was occupied by thousands of tents. The scene was very impressive. I had not seen such number of tents. 

They have been here for nearly two months (amazing !).

Other hundreds of tents were placed in different places around the office.

The stickers to demand normal election were placed everywhere – on the tents, roads, walls and so on. So did the umbrellas. Small papers with comments from all over the world were posted on the wall.

The atmosphere was calm as it was daytime when I visited there. Some protesters were talking with their colleagues and some were sleeping in their tents. It becomes noisier in the night as people gather here after their jobs, according to a freelance journalist I talked with.

There were many tourists. Camera persons were waiting in the pedestrian walkways.

I do not know what will be in the future of the movement. Reports say that several moves are taking place at unofficial levels and that anything could happen.

What seemed clear for me was -- (1) It is nearly two months after the start of the movement and (2) There still stay thousands of tents (or tens of thousands of protesters) gathering here. Then, I felt large energy from them.

John Lennon’s lyric was displayed. “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one”. It was also impressive.

No one knows what the situation will be. We just know that the movement will be surely recorded in the history.

Blind Soccer Championship @ Yoyogi: N0v. 18,2014

I had not had the opportunity to see the sports games played by disabled people. Today, I watched the World Blind Soccer Championship.

The event was held in Yoyogi near Shibuya. The match was between Japan and Morocco. 

Each team has four players without view and anon-blind goal keeper. Is also has a guide, who makes noises to show the directions. The ball makes noises when it moves.

The movements of the players were unbelievable. They dribble the ball very well. They shot the ball exactly to the direction of the goals.

I found the communications were essentially important. The goal keeper, the guides and the coaches sent directions to the field players.  

I sometimes forgot that they are blind. 

I was moved and learned a lot from them. Thank you !

Interesting attractions -– fake Michael Jackson and his team’s songs and dances – were played during the interval. 

The makeshift stadium was crowded with both Japanese and foreigners, mainly from the countries which participated in the event.

The championship and the Paralympics are the two major events in the world level.

More attentions are being paid to the sports played by the disabled partly because of the Paralympics in 2020 in Tokyo. I hope this trend will grow. 

Mt. Fuji (Off Tokyo): Nov. 3-8, 2014

I had opportunities to take the photos of Mt. Fuji from Shinkansen bullet train.

The top was covered with snow on Nov. 3^rd. The sky was blue. The mountain was beautiful.

People spent their lives at the foot of the volcano. The factories were running.

It was cloudy on Nov. 8. People enjoyed sports in the river field of Fuji River.

Street Performances (Daidogei) World Cup@ Shizuoka (off Tokyo): Nov. 3, 2014

Today is a national holiday (Cultural Day). I visited Shizuoka City, the capital of Shizuoka Prefecture, about 160 km west from Tokyo to see the World Cup of street performances (Daidogei).

I was welcomed by clowns when I got off JR Shizuoka station and moved into one of main streets of the city. The clowns are played by the volunteers to support the event. Steward, traffic control persons and many other event staff members are also volunteer members.

The performances were played in the park, main streets and other public spaces. An artist attracted hundreds of audiences with his "hat" plays in the place in front of the city hall (2nd picture from the top).

Artists played various performances including the juggling acts in the Sumpu Castle Park. 

Kid were practicing juggling in places not far from the artists’ stages.

The event started in 1992. It attracts nearly 2 million visitors every year.

This year's Cup was held from October 31^st to November 3^rd.  More than 90 artists (individuals and groups) participated in. The championship was given to a pair of an American and a Spanish, who played performances using bicycles.

The event is useful not only for tourism in the region bat also for the internationalization of the area. Children have more opportunities to know foreign people through the event. They also meet many volunteers and understand the importance of such activities.

It was interesting.

Yoyogi Park : Nov. 2, 2014

The Yoyogi Park, one of the most popular parks in Tokyo, was temporary closed in August because of dengue fever. Mosquitoes infected by dengue virus were found in the park. The Tokyo Metropolitan government banned people enter the place.

The gates opened again in Late October (about three months after the closure). As a lover of the the park, I immediately visited there.

The leaves turned yellow (top picture). Many people were there. They enjoyed jogging, walking, and spending their times on the lawn or benches (2nd from the top).

New dog-run fields were open. Large and small dogs were running happily. The owners enjoyed talks.

I moved to neighboring Meiji Shrine. An autumn festival was held. The traditional music was played with Shakuhachi (Japanese flute), Koro (Japanese harp) and other traditional instruments.

They also held an exhibition of chrysanthemum.

Autumn deepened.