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Marunouchi beauty
The Marunouchi line is a subway, but it peeks above ground several times along its route. Here is a view of the track between Ochanomizu and Awajicho where the train crosses a bridge over the Kanda River. I love this tiny section of track. It takes about five seconds to traverse it, but the view…
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World Cup quarterfinals
Well, the World Cup is quickly drawing to a conclusion. After a flurry of qualification games, the “round of sixteen is over and we’re down to eight games remaining. I’m surprised at how much I’ve been paying attention. It’s sort of fun, even if I don’t understand the esoteric rules of big-league soccer. The quarterfinals…
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50 man parade
50 men parading a mikoshi through Ginza.
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Bunkyo-ku merchants
Bunkyo-ku merchants have banded together to create a point card system. Pink banners with cartoon figures of bees declare “I (heart) Bunkyoker” let you know which shops give points. Last night, I filled up my first card. As a reward for spending 35,000 yen at the ward’s independent stores, I get 500 yen off an…
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Construction flagmen
What on earth are these construction workers doing? They are taping a battery powered, blinking light stick to the hand of their colleague–the mechanical flagman whose head and helmet are visible in the upper right corner of the frame. I guess his must have burned out; he’s not really able to just grab himself a…
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Otama-jakushi
otama-jakushi is the Japanese word for tadpole. We’ve been watching these grow in the Tokyo War Memorial Park near Korakuen station. Their heads are bulging out now and if you look carefully, you can see the budding legs (not in this photo, though, sorry!). The park was also the site of my first dragonfly (tanbo)sighting…
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23:56 on Kasuga Dori
23:56 on the way home from a meeting and dinner. Kasuga Dori, the main street through our section of town, is lined with glowing red cones. They have been doing improvements to the undergrown conduits for over two years. The end is in sight. Last night, they were snaking pedestrian traffic through corridors of cones…
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Traditional gate
This traditional gate belongs to a private house on my street. It’s usually closed but I caught it open yesterday afternoon. What a lovely landscape inside.
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Someone flipped a switch
Someone flipped a switch and turned summer on. The weather is sunny and hot during the day with just enough humidity to feel sticky. The evenings are wonderfully warm. There’s no excuse not to spend lots of time outdoors. The veranda has become our extra, outdoor room–we eat breakfast and dinner out there, carry our…
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Tree trimming
Tree trimming in our back yard. From forest to manicured garden in a day.
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