Monday 31 March 2008

On the Streets of Tokyo

We had a fun-filled day yesterday. We walked all around Shibuya, which is the area we're staying in and is also one of the most popular shopping districts. It's sort of like a Union Square in San Francisco for the 25 and under crowd, and it's where some of Lost in Translation was filmed. Above is a picture of the famous crosswalks of Shibuya. We also went to one of the coolest hardware stores we've ever been to, Tokyo Hands. It may seem strange to hit a hardware store on day one, or at all, but our guide book said that if you only go to one store, go to this one and we like that kind of thing anyway. They have everything--kitchen stuff, outdoor supplies, kids toys, gadgets, party supplies, craft supplies, really cool bags of all sorts, and a whole lot more. We could have spent all day looking around in there, but we left to go to a park in search of cherry blossoms and witnessed two weddings.

Oooh, Japanese fabric--this is a store in Shibuya called Marunan.

Cuteness everywhere, even at the hardware store, Tokyo Hands.

Pretty potted plants and flowers line the streets.

Even the work trucks are cute and little. They look like toys. The construction workers outfits are cute too. I'll have to get a picture soon. From our hotel window we saw some construction workers doing their morning exercises in unison. It was fun to see.

Fake food displays are everywhere. Not too uncommon in the states, but here you don't walk a block without seeing a few. Sometimes it's actually helpful for us since we can't read menus if they're not written in English. But then again often we're not sure what the fake food display is supposed to be, and they usually look really gross even though this one looked fairly good. One other one looked so gross today that I felt sick afterwards. I had to remind myself it wasn't real.

Tokyo fashion is really something. I'll post more on that soon. I could people watch all day here and not get bored a bit.

A shrine in the park.

A wedding party we saw.

Another bride and groom.

She had a special car to accommodate her hoodie!

Sake barrels.

Cherry blossoms.

Can you see the plane? We see this from our hotel window. We're not sure how it got there or how it would get out of there, but we think it's neat that it's there at all.

More to come soon . . . .

3 comments:

Tess Kincaid said...

I absolutely love Japan and am enjoying your fabulous photos! So glad you are sharing them with us!!! :)

mom said...

Miss you Leigh

MomXXXOOOXXX

Lisa & Alfie said...

OMG, this internet thing is the best! Not having to wait for pictures and videos is instant gratification at it's finest. It looks like you are so soaking up the best already. The photos are beautiful, especially the cherry blossoms. It truly looks amazing!
Love,
Lisa & Alfie