Tagjapan

Mt. Takao

IMG_7813On the outskirts of Tokyo, with a transfer in Shinjuku, rises Mt. Takao. We had a nice trip there yesterday, although it was quite crowded. In the ever enviro-conscious Japanese way, you can bring stuff there or buy stuff there … but you must take it with you to throw away at home as there are no trash cans. There is a chair lift to the mid-point which we used on the way up, but decided to hike down. It was quite long and tiring, and very slippery going in many areas. Beautiful autumn leaves lit up everywhere you looked. We topped it off with some sushi at a place with a special set dinner… all you can eat sushi + hot pot of seafood + a large platter of “taraba” crab…

Thanksgiving

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The thanksgiving special set was most excellent over at the Four Seasons. The turkey and fixin’s – quite brilliant. The bread – quite a disaster. They would have been better off going to a convenience store for that. I was extremely shocked. Another surprising thing is the entrance to the hotel. I expected some grand hall, but the one in Tokyo feels more like a service entrance way around the back of the building – apparently this location has no ‘front.’ Of course, a deluge began without warning over the course of the meal, but the concierge was kind enough to provide umbrellas from the lost & found to aid us in our egress.

Asakusa Matsuri

asakusa_1102Came back from Kyoto to wade through the annual November happenings down my street. Such a great variety of stalls from grilled scallops to sausage to gyros to flavored ice to candies. It’s really great fun but the crowds are immense. After the long train ride, trying to just pass through it all was tiring. At least this is still Japan, everyone moved in an orderly fashion and the huge police presence made it even more orderly. Problematically the exits and entrances for the Metro are highly controlled and the one nearest my house was reserved for ingress rather than egress.