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Category Archives: Travel in Japan
Evening in Tokyo
An intensely orange sunset plays out across the sky. Tokyo’s traffic-fugue floats upward into the high-rise canyons. The city’s 24-hour, open-throated roar—akin to a fog-horn blast—plays pedal tone to random pizzicato horns. Three-beer laughter from the salary men at the … Continue reading
Posted in This & That, Travel in Japan
Tagged Evening in Tokyo, Tokyo neighborhoods in the evening
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Taito’s Traditional Craft Museum
Drawn in by bright red posts festooned with crimson maple leaves arching over a covered street, I decide to follow wherever it leads. Japan has many shotengai like it, covered avenues filled with tiny shops of every sort. From inside … Continue reading
Bicycle Menace
While chatting at breakfast with a career diplomat on leave from Kabul, he says: It’s nice to be back. It’s so safe. No worries about suicide bombers. You’re right, I answer. You’re more likely to get killed by a bicycle.
Learning to get around
In seconds it’s possible to become disoriented in Tokyo’s snakes-and-ladders streets. Sometimes it’s much easier to haphazardly wander than find a specific location. Doorways often aren’t numbered in Arabic numerals. Outside the major tourist hot-spots, signs are primarily in Japanese.
Posted in This & That, Travel in Japan
Tagged Finding your way in Tokyo without Japanese, Japan travel
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Body Language: A Surprise
Every time I enter a crowded elevator or the hotel breakfast room it happens. Immediately everyone shrinks slightly and turns away from me, a subtle but noticeable shift. As a non-Japanese travelling most mostly among nationals I’m not sure how, … Continue reading
Dinner at Kita no Mori
On my way to Sensoji I had noticed the simple display: a pot of bushy, russet-coloured chrysanthemums and several bottles of sake on the stoop. This spot, a few steps south of my hotel, is fixed on my highly reliable … Continue reading
Sensoji (Asakusa Kannon) Temple
My room is not ready. No matter. I leave my bag with the desk clerk and head out. The enticing light and warmth of the afternoon prompt me to visit Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temple, Sensoji, the central attraction of Asakusa. … Continue reading
On the Street in Tokyo
After breakfast I procured my JR Rail Pass and found the connection from Tokyo Station to Ueno Station with surprising ease. I disembark and walk north alongside the overhead tracks on the station’s east side toward my hotel in Asakusa. … Continue reading
Posted in This & That, Travel in Japan
Tagged Homeless in Tokyo, Japan travel, On the street in Tokyo
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Off to Tokyo
After breakfast I board the hotel shuttle back to Narita Airport, validate my JR Rail Pass and follow the signs to the Narita Express (NEX) track for Tokyo. You’d think I did this every day—it’s that easy.
Posted in This & That, Travel in Japan
Tagged Japan travel, JR Train from Narita to Tokyo to, Narita Express, NEX
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Apprehension Evaporates
Pre-departure I confess that my solo venture through Japan worried me. When Yamakawa-san realized I planned to travel around Western Japan for 33 days without a tourist agency, he asked, “How will you catch the right train? The last time … Continue reading