Tokyo, Japan
The largest city in Japan, Tokyo is at 9 million inhabitants an amazing and sometimes a surreal experience.
View of Tokyo from the observation deck of the radio tower.
Very new and very old stay in harmony somehow, as this viewpoint from near the Imperial palace shows.
The most peculiar site are the Tokyo Ravens that can be found throughout the city; sitting in the trees, on buildings or simply chilling on the sidewalks.
Tiny restaurants that dot the streets seem almost incongruous with the huge glass towers that sprout above them. But here they are: warm, intimate and inviting. Almost homey. And so clean and tidy.
And then this old Citroen that was converted to a sidewalk food truck with a smile and a “…konechi wa”
If one looks up from the sleek and orderly Tokyo, one is confronted with the paradoxically lo-tech skeins of wires and child-like figures of animals indicating a shop or a café or a toy store.
Then there are details that are pure Japan.
Ultra modern sculpture near the entrance to an ultra modern midtown shopping mall…actually called Midtown.
Residents of Tokyo…always in a hurry and always polite.
The old fashioned street sweeper in a Shinto shrine.
Young couple in traditional dress out for a stroll with their offspring.
Statue of a mounted Samurai guarding the entrance to the Imperial palace.
Kegs of Saké ready to ship.
Bamboo growing in little green pockets decorating the downtown sidewalk.
Detail of a cast iron gate to the Imperial palace in Tokyo.
Hundreds of pine trees sprouting from the manicured lawns near the Imperial palace.
Architectural details at the Shinto shrine in downtown Tokyo.
Visitors’ good wishes and hopeful messages at a Shinto shrine in downtown Tokyo.