Yesterday we concurred that we’d both love a bowl of udon as our big meal of the day. We sat in comfy chairs in the National Art Center and googled for udon restaurants in the area. TsuruTonTan popped up and was only an 11 minute walk away. Google maps led us to the location and…
Month: April 2025
Nice idea if you could afford it
Part of the Rippongi Art Triangle, a twelve minute walk from the Mori Art Museum, is The National Art Center in Tokyo. The big exhibit was “Living Modernity” which featured models of houses built by 20th century architects that were the fantasies which, when built, changed the ideal structure of the home environment. Functional, linear, and…
Robotic security
At the National Art Center, this robot rolled along, stopping as it passed people to wink its lights. Maybe take a sniff looking for illegal substances or weapons. Its head swiveled continuously and I suppose it was producing a continuous live stream feed to whomever was monitoring the cameras. Or, maybe it had no need for…
Machine Love
Our first foray into the gigaplex that is Tokyo was for the Mori Art Museum located on the 53rd floor of the Mori building in the Roppongi neighborhood. We realized today that in Tokyo, we had to be a little more clever with Google maps. Or maybe Google maps needs to get more clever. Tokyo…
Digital dreams
I don’t know if anyone has had the chance to catch the third episode of the 7th season of Black Mirror (“Hotel Reverie”) where the digital world merges with the real world in a remake of a movie, but that is sort of what the theme was to “Machine Love: Video Game, AI and Contemporary…
Bits and pieces
We are in Tokyo now but I thought I’d share some last photos from Toyama and Takaoka Most of the manhole covers in Toyama were painted. Is there a more generic name these days? Where did “manhole” come from anyway? School zone. Beware of speedy kids. A typical street in Toyama. What to drink? Why…
Shazam, we’re in Tokyo
A massive city. The largest city on earth. Could be its own country. Bustling, busy, lots of people looking trendy. Big City, Earth. That was our last ride on. Shinkansen (from Toyama to Tokyo). Last stop on our 6 six week blitz through Japan. First day of Golden Week. Kind of a spring break for…
Tokyo head-on
The train we got on in Toyama this morning was full by the time we hit Tokyo Station. And then it emptied. I expected the worst at the station: a rush of people coming from every direction aggravated at me for getting in the way. Instead, although plentiful with people, the exit signs were clear and it didn’t seem…
Big Buddha
Having become fascinated with the notion of infinite Buddhas, I couldn’t resist suggesting an outing to one of the great bronze Buddha statues in Japan. Located in Takaoka, a mere 20 minute train ride from Toyama station, this giant 16 meter high bronze statue of Amithaba Buddha was quite a sight. The statue originated in…
Hotel room cleaning and safety
Every regular hotel room we’ve stayed in comes with some version of these signs (photo below) on the back of the door. There is also often a small control panel in the wall next to the door with a button to push if you want the room fully cleaned. It turns on a tiny green…
From Kanaya-machi to the Sea of Japan
This morning we took a train from Toyama to Takaoka to see the Takaoka Daibutsu, one of the three largest Buddha statues in Japan. Ella’s photos give you an idea of his enormity. Below the Buddha there was a shrine which had a semi-circular hallway behind it with paintings of bliss alternating with paintings of demons reminding…
Glass
A 20 minute walk from our hotel got us to the Toyama Glass Art Museum where there was a special small exhibition of Chihuly. I love the stuff. The rest of the exhibit space was devoted to other glass artists, many local. The building itself, designed by Kengo Kuma, was quite spectacular with open spaces…
At the foot of the Japanese Alps
A short train ride from Kanazawa this morning got us to Toyama where we’ll stay a couple of nights before going to Tokyo. Toyama which translates as “distant mountains” in Japanese, is a coastal city on the Sea of Japan that starts the Tateyama Karobe Alpine Route leading through the Tateyama mountains to the north. While…
Last stop before the last stop
From Kanazawa to Toyama. We are in Toyama for 2 nights only. By Shinkhansen, it was under a 30 minute ride. Toyama is our last stop before Tokyo. Below. Sign in the Kanazawa train station. Japan has a reputation for being very safe. BUT, with the influx of millions of tourists, well, not all tourists…
Kanazawa hodgepodge
Claw games are a big deal. We stepped into a claw game arcade to check it out. Each try costs 100 yen (US 70 cents). You can grab anything from a big stuffed animal to a package of cookies to a transformer car. Yeah, I was tempted to try but..oh well I have no excuse….