These pictures are all from July 11th. In the 9 days since that time, I saw Tsukiji Fish Market, then left Tokyo and went to Nakatsugawa, Magome, Takayama, Shirakawa-go, and finally came here to Kyoto.

Lonely train to Odaiba

I took over 400 pictures of this

but I'm only posting these two, for now.

Wait for it....

Boom.

And that's Shibuya.

Later that day, in Akihabara

I like cars :3

Kamakura is famous for a big statue of Buddha. Though there are a ton of things to see in Kamakura (all of which can be accomplished in an epic, whole day walking tour), I didn’t have a huge amount of time, so I just saw the Buddha, Hase Kannon Temple, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, and Kenshoji Temple. Due to time constraints, the words will be kept to a minimum.

Entrance to the uber-buddha

Watermellon

Almost done with these, I promise

Last one.

After the big Buddha, I walked around aimlessly for a bit (even though I had a map), and stumbled upon Hasedera (the Hase Kannon Temple). Let’s start in the parking lot:

Vroom

I swear this post is about temples...

Inside Hasedera

Crappy picture, but you get the idea.

Into the very dark, quite damp cave

Most of it was like this, with some statues carved out of the walls.

Skip a bit, now we're at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu

I really should be writing about this :(

Up at the top of those stairs. Lots of goodhopewishytablets.

You can do it, Shouji.

Back down the stairs, view to the right.

Tied up wishypapers (desaturated).

These pidgeons were amazingly slow/gentle when they ate.

After finishing up there, I went back to Kamakura station and got on the train to Tokyo. After a few minutes, the train stopped at Kita-Kamakura (where the epic whole-day walking tour is supposed to start). At that point it was about 4:45 PM, and the super-close Kenchoji Temple was open until 5, so I got off the train (assuming there would be more trains going to Tokyo later) and headed over to the temple. Aside from a couple Japanese locals, the place was empty. The entrance closed after I went in (the exit stayed open), so it was extremely quiet and peaceful–like Nikko, but with a different taste.

Kenchoji Temple

Took an absurd number of pictures in Kamakura, but this is just an abridged version of the day. Sorry.

Kita-Kamakura Station

Once I got back into Shinjuku, I saw that the sun was actually partially visible. Though my feet were dying (again) I hauled ass to the Tokyo government building in hopes of some nice pictures. Didn’t get much of the sunset, and the pictures weren’t very good, but I nabbed a few.

Taken from the middle of a crosswalk on the way back to my hotel (Shinjuku)

The vending machines outside the hotel.

Apologies again for the lack of updates–I’ve been in Nakatsugawa and Magome for the past few days (basically the middle of nowhere, so no internets). Hopefully the Nikko post held the attention my enormous fan-base during that time. I’m in a nice hotel in Takayama now, so I’ll try to wafflecrush a catch-up post on Asakusa and the Imperial Palace, which I visited on 7/8 and 7/9, respectively. In order to get this done fast, I’ll keep the words to a minimum–the palace was palacey and Asakusa was a long strip of shops leading to a “sorry, under construction”.

Asakusa main entrance

This was LARGE

Past the gate

This place was pumping out piping hot deliciousness

via this machine.

These slid down a little ramp

and right into my hands

Hotter than the sun; and delicious.

Mr. Pidgeon wanted some.

The gate for the main building

Behind the gate is.... awww

At least this was visible

Side-street.

The Asahi building(s)

On to the Imperial Palace:

Can you spot the noise maker here?

Love these birds.

Here's your 'stark contrast' picture

Milk was a bad idea... these poor guys were baking.

Ginormous fish

IMAFISHGLUBGLUBGLUB

GLUB GLUB GLUB GLUB GLUB

What's up with the pidgeons lovin my shoes?

Japanese people be in damn good shape

What a trooper

Tokyo Station was under construction =[

Back in my room

Five days ago (Tuesday, 7/7) I decided to hit Nikko, a nice little day-trip about 110 minutes from Tokyo. Though Nikko has a ton of attractions, most tourists come to see the Toshogu Shrine (and sometimes Lake Chuzenji). The shrine was built 1617 by 15,000 craftsmen who used a modest 2.5 million sheets of gold leaf. As one would imagine, the main building is spectacularly extravagant. For me, however, the smaller, more modest shrines to the left and right absolutely dwarfed the main temple in terms of beauty. The small paths and stairways leading to these shrines were simply breathtaking. These places, covered in moss and surrounded by a dense forest, were stunningly peaceful–so much so that it just can’t be captured on film. Then again, maybe it can, but I’m just not a good enough with my picturemakermachinebox. Anyways, on with the day.

So in standard lazyfashion, I woke up at 9ish and wasn’t being processed through public transportation until almost 11. The route I had to take was the following: Shinjuku to Tokyo via Chuo Express Line; Tokyo to Utsunomiya via Tohoku Shinkansen; Utsunomiya to Nikko via Nikko Line. Basically I took a medium speed train to Tokyo Station, got a bullet train to Utsunomiya, and then took a medium/slow speed train to Nikko. On to the pictures:

The train from Shinjuku-eki to Tokyo-eki

On the way to Tokyo-eki

After arriving at Tokyo-eki; these stairs go up to (one of) the bullet-train platforms

Ace trainpilot Kenichi Mastukawa on his first day back since the accident...

Oh snap, now we're talkin.

Train porn

I seriously had a blast taking pictures on that platform.

My train. Sexy.

I didn’t take any pictures from that train–I had a middle seat in-between two newspaper-engrossed businessmen; so use your imagination and fast-forward to the train from Utsunomiya to Nikko. Oh boy, we’re there already!

Inaka for Tim

After a short bus ride, I arrived at the base of the Toshogu Shrine. It’s important to know that the shrine isn’t one or two buildings–it’s like 7; and they’re all spread out, so getting around involves a lot of walking up a lot of stairs.

NOTE: I walked around this shrine for HOURS, and I went back and forth quite a lot (sometimes to take pictures, sometimes because I was lost). If my name was Coolpants McDoogle, I would painstakingly upload my shots in the order in which one would see them during a normal tour of the shrine (with the according shrine/temple/gate/path names included). Unfortunately for you, my name is Steve.

I guess this would be the entry to Toshogu Shrine.

One of many long walks to be had.

This building sits at the base of that long walk.

This smelled very, very good.

A nearby row of drinking fountains

Ok, so this is looking back down from end of that long walk, now turn RIGHT...

and you'll go down another long path, lined with these on the right...

and this on the left.

At the end of the path.

This is sorta behind the buildings in the previous pictures.

Another angle

Inside one of the shrines. 1/10th of a second @ 55mm. derp.

I swear I'll stop using this angle so much... eventually.

The path from earlier, looking the other way.

Getting to the main shrine, finally.

The famous monkeys, which I walked by twice without noticing.

Up close

Up to the main building

aaaaand it's under restoration....

300 yen got me a ticket to see the sleepy cat, so off to the right I went.

up these lovely stairs

around the corner

I skipped a few pictures showing several more flights of stairs.

Final flight of stairs before the top.

Finally, the top! Now where's the cat.... no, seriously, where's sleepycat?

Back down the stairs....

and down to the beginning, which had yet another wonderful view

Dur, sleepycat was at the very beginning

Yes, it is extremely small.

Heading back out

Can't not include this

back down the hill I go

So that’s that. I got down to the bottom of the hill, missed the bus, waited for another, rode it back to the station, bought my ticket, and waited a while longer on an empty platform. The train showed up, so I went in, sat down, and tried to not fall asleep. A few minutes before my mostly empty train left, a schoolgirl with a white ferret showed up, much to the delight of few other tourists on board. Just your average train ride to Tokyo.

This is Japan, after all.

Switched to the Tohoku Shinkansen once I got to Utsunomiya, but this time I had a window seat (yay). Rode that back to Tokyo, where I then switched to the Chuo line for my return to Shinjuku. It was there, on the Chuo line, that I truly experienced Japanese train station rush-hour. After boarding in Tokyo, it really wasn’t that bad. Next stop: 5 people get off, 6 people get on–we’re still good. Next stop: 3 people get off, 10 get on–ok now this is a bit of a problem. My arms are touching other people now, and I have to take my camera backpack off and put it at my feet. My personal space has officially been invaded. Next stop… no, that can’t be right… there can’t be 20 people waiting at each entrance. The doors slide open and no one gets off.

Activate sardine-packing mode. Instead of individual people, the passengers on the train are slowly crushed into an indistinguishable blob. I’m slowly but surely pressed back into the guy behind me; and now I’m spooning with the white-shirted businessman in front. This wasn’t a question of touching other people or losing personal space any more–I literally felt the heartbeats and breathing patterns of 3 people. Then it hit me–I was in a nonconsensual man-sandwich.

Man-sandwich.

I audibly snorked.

Oh no, I can’t go into a giggle loop. Not here.

The word ran through my head again–man-sandwich.

Count the buildings as they pass, bite the inside of your cheek, read the advertisements on the wall. Oh god, that one’s a sports drink ad with a ripped, shirtless Japanese athlete. That’s the guy behind me. We’re in a man sandwich.

Uncontrollably, I break into a body-shaking laughter that pulls several eyes from the floor. In a train bursting at the seams with Japanese businessmen, there’s one white guy in the middle, laughing with a pained look on his face. The guy behind me somehow manages to push slightly away from me. Does he think I’m crazy, or perverted? I can’t tell.

Shinjuku station, finally. I can barely get off the train before exploding into hysterical laughter. All the way down the platform, up the escalator, and out the station into the street; laughing all the way.

It was a long day.

The day before yesterday seemed like it would be a waste. It was the day after I had gone to Harajuku, and I was recovering from my idiocy of not having any lunch or dinner. I slept in until 10 or 11, then got up, ate, showered, and posted here. Not wanting the whole day to be pointless, I decided to shoot a little of Shinjuku at night. Long story short: I hauled my bigass camera with my moderately sized tripod to a few spots around Shinjuku. I could have spent the whole night out, but in the interest of keeping a semi-normal sleep schedule, I came back after about an hour. Results:

From my room, as it finally gets dark

The corner down the street from my hotel.

Same corner, different angle

The bridge to Takashiyama Times Square

Which runs over part of Shinjuku station

From Takashimaya Times Square

Volvo, only the finest in Japanese automotive technology

Last one of these

A little ramen place

Moving on: there really wasn’t a whole bunch to see in Ginza–the Sony building wasn’t as amazing as I expected it to be, and the rest of Ginza was mostly high-end clothing stores. I did, to my delight, find the Yamaha music building, which was awesome.

Floor B1 - Guitars

And more guitars

I'm in my happy place now

Silent classical/acoustic. Do want.

Silent cello/violin

Self-playing piano (I'll have to upload a video of this)

More of the piano floor

One floor up - wind and brass

I could go on, but you get the idea. Now on to Ito-Ya, a legendary stationary store and my last stop in Ginza. Photography isn’t allowed inside, but I had already taken a few shots before finding that out.

There was an entire floor devoted to pens, ranging in price from $500 to $26,000

Another floor was for paper. One book of these uberthick blank pages was $60

Not pictured: the 5 other huge displays of these. Brush on the right = $700

Not pictured: the entire floor of these.

Unfortunately, that’s all I have. Even if photography was allowed inside, it’d be hard to really capture the overwhelming amount of high quality products on each floor.

Well, that’s it for now. I have two 8GB CF cards full of Nikko, but I’m hungry and worn out from making this post, so I’ll get to all that later. じゃ、また。

After I got back to the hotel, I noticed the sky was actually clearing up a little (the standard since I got here had been uber-overcast). I ran through a short list of nearby places, and ended up choosing Harajuku–partly because it’s very close to Shinjuku, and partly because it was Saturday, so there would be lots of people there. I went to Shinjuku Station and got a ticket to Harajuku, jumped into an only partially full train, and in a couple minutes I was there.

So, when I thought there would be a lot of people in Harajuku, I didn’t really think that this many people would be there:

Harajuku

Keep this in mind: this is the main street in front of the train station; and it curves back up, out of view. This picture only shows about half of the total length/density of people on one side of the street. This wasn’t the crazy-fashion street though, just a nice shopping area lined with a huge number of clothing stores, restaurants, and places selling these:

Oh dear...

As the sign implies, these will make you happy

Halfway up the right side was a cool side street leading to nowhere really, but it was a nice walk nonetheless.

A relaxing departure from Harajuku's main strip

I also took a picture of myself. durrrr.

I basically walked up one side of this huge street and down the other. Here’s some guy parking his sexy Porsche. It made beastly sounds. I only licked it for like 6 seconds… I swear…

Vroom

Shiny

Once I found the ‘alternate’ fashion street, I took a lot more interest in the stores. Some of the places had normal looking shirts with hilarious attempts at English:

Who IS she back of shutter?

Some places had wild shoes:

Those can't be comfortable...

But who needs comfort when you're wearing these

I especially liked the clothing:

This shot was blindly fired from the hip as I walked by.

Now, I was really puzzled by the total lack of people dressed like this. This is Harajuku. Why have I only seen 4 people dressed up? Where have all my Harajuku girls gone?

Oh wait…

There they are.

But what the hell are they all doing over there?

Wait, wait, here it comes…

Damnit, GACKT...

To be brief: GACKT is freaking ginormous is Japan.

Anyways, having no Harajuku girls to cameraharass, I went into the pleasantly cool Meiji Shrine and walked around for about an hour.

This should be at least 9 inches taller, it's not nearly big enough as is.

The shrine itself. Photography isn't allowed inside, though, sorry.

After seeing about 40 men walking around in extremely nice suits, I kinda guessed that there was a wedding nearby. These three (who were actually pretty hard to spot) were waiting for something or posing for a wedding photographer about a hundred yards away from the main shrine.

What shrine would be complete without one?

Walking back out of the shrine

The train to go back to Shinjuku

The train that took me back to Shinjuku stopped at a different platform than from where I had left. No worries, right? Notsomuch…

See, Shinjuku Station is larger than I had previously believed. When I say larger, I don’t mean “I thought it was an orange, it’s actually a grapefruit.” What I mean is, “I thought it was an orange, it’s actually North Dakota.”

This would be funnier if I wasn’t lost in it. Shinjuku Station is the size of a small airport. It goes on and on and on, to the point where I even saw Japanese people holding maps, looking puzzled. I had seriously misjudged the station’s size due to my only using Shinjuku Station South-West Exit up until this point. I eventually got out of the station several blocks from my hotel, underneath the epic Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (東京都庁舎). Against my better judgment (and against the lobster-screaming sounds my feet were making) I decided to go check it out. The view wasn’t great because of the weather, so I might go back to it on a nicer day. The elevator to the top must have hit supersonic speeds–it was literally passing 2 floors a second, and the guy standing next to me blacked out (unlike me, he wasn’t doing proper G-force breathing techniques… get a visual of that, seriously).

This thing is seriously massive

View from the 45th floor

After finishing up at the government building, I walked what seemed like about 76 miles to my hotel. The sun was just dropping below the city skyline by the time I got back; and my lobsterfeet had stopped screaming–I think they died. Got in the elevator and took 1 picture, then went to my room. I dropped my pack, hung my shirt up, and then fell into bed, rapidly drifting off to sleep with the TV on. Last two pictures below:

Off to sleep I went...

For the original video in HD, click here.