Rain...

Thursday 23rd September - Stuck in doors due to torrential rain!  I took the picture below from my dormitory window.  An interesting skill Japanese cyclists seem to have is the ability to hold an umbrella whilst riding their bike (You can just about see the guy below)!

Harajuku Meiji Temple, Emperors Palace, and the Old Ministry of Justice Building

Monday 20th September, and it's a public holiday in Japan, so more exploring to do!

This is a Meiji Temple of the Shinto in Harajuku, Tokyo.  The temple is built in the middle of a beautiful park, which is a breath of fresh air from the hustle and bustle of Shibuya which lies just one stop away on the JR Yamanote line.

Shinto is Japan's ancient original religeon, deeply rooted in the Japanese way of life.  Shinto has no founder, no holy book, and not even the concept of religeous conversion.  Rather it values harmony with nature, divinity, and "Magokoro" (Sincere heart).

This is the emperors house (house) which is surrounded by an impressive mote, and has some very nice bridges, and a very impressive back garden (Probably the quietest and most wide open space in Tokyo!).

And just beside the emperors palace, there is the old ministry of justice building - one of very few old buildings in Tokyo.

Ginza

Sunday 19th, and it's time to have a look at Tokyo's upmarket Ginza shopping region.

As you can see, a pretty busy place.

Nissan Hybrid concept car in Nissans Ginza show room.

Ginza Apple store - the Japanese really love their electornics.

Nice grand piano in Yamaha Ginza

Saturday in Shibuya

Saturday, September 18th, and a jaunt into Shibuya, Tokyo's bustling centre with the rest of the exchange team was in order.  Of most interest to me was the famous Shibuya Crossing (Background to this blog!) so of course I had to get some pictures!

From the overpass in the railway station you can get a fantastic view of this crossing in action, and it really is impressive how many people cross this road and how quickly they disperse before the traffic starts again!

Then hop on the metro to have a look at Tokyo tower...

...and find someone dressed up as a...... thing..........

And to the coastline at Shimbashi, only to find a Hello Kitty bus...

 And a nice view of the coastline.

A nice introduction to the city, and it's surprisingly easy to use metro system!

Food - No surprises

On September 17th I went to Curry House Coco Ichibanya and had a nice, very reasonably priced vegetable curry.  What I found interesting was that I got exactly what was shown on the menu...  Here's what I mean:

I later found out that this is common practice across Japan, and many restaurants in Japan have plastic replicas of their food which are very difficult to distinguish from the actual product.  This is quite handy for the ignorant traveller when ordering who's Japanese is limited to a polite Ohaio Gozaimas (Good Morning), konnichiwa, and arrigato!

Arrival in Aobadai

Internet took a little bit of time to get sorted out, so now I'll bring you up to speed with the next few posts.

So on September 16th when I arrived, I went a little walk around Aobadai to see what there is and to get some passports photos for alien registration.  This photo is taken from the side entrance to Aobadai train station.

In case you haven't spotted it yet, there's a rather amusing sign which says:

Beauty Brain's

FANNY

This is something I'd expect to see spray painted on a wall in Glasgow, not on a billboard in the quiet residential area of Aobadai!!!

konnichiwa!

Hi I'm Chris and I've just finished a summer spent working as an engineer in a factory in Malta.

On the 15th of September I leave for Tokyo for 99 days to do a semester of study towards a Masters degree at Tokyo Institute of Technology.

My plan is to take at least one photo every day whilst I'm in Japan to share with the world and write a bit about it.