Glorious Tokyo

Here's a few more photos from Tokyo with some brief info about each. I tried to put each caption with its respective photo, but blogger is not very user-friendly in keeping everything lined up nicely.

*First photo is just a peak of some staff from the Imperial Palace in Tokyo bringing in one of the royal carriages. This is the best pic I could snap from our taxi. They were so stealthy, it all happened really quickly.

*Next two photos are the entrance to the famous Takeshita Street in Harajuku. When you hear Gwen Stefani raving about her fashion tastes and her "Harajuku girls", this is where all of those fashions originate. On weekends you can see hundreds of kids dressed up in "cosu-pure" (or Japan-English for "costume play") - everything from club kids to anime characters to Gothic-Lolita French maids. Hey - I'm hip, I'm with it. I can jive like that, mo-fo's...

*The next two photos are taken at the main drag in Omotesando, the popular shopping area just a short walk from Harajuku. Notice all of the cho-chin (paper lanterns) and Hino-Maru (Japanese flags) hanging all down the median - these were in celebration of Culture Day, yet another national holiday in Japan. It was originally derived from the Showa era emperor's birthday.

*Next is a view of Tokyo Tower from the infamous party district, Roppongi. On any given night here you'll see gai-jin from every corner of the world. Bars and nightclubs aplenty, but watch yourself a little more closely here - this is probably one of the seedier areas of Tokyo.

*Last but not least is a pic taken at dusk of the most recognizable intersection in the world, just outside of Shibuya Station. It's a swirling, chaotic maelstrom of lights, people, traffic, sounds, and color. Kind of like the nightclub scene in the movie "Babel".