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Civic view
The view from the top of the Bunkyo Civic Center is really beautiful. It’s the highest building around and has a semicircular viewing lounge and restaurant on the 25th floor. We dined there last night and got a bird’s eye view of our neighborhood and the metropolis. To the west, the Shinjuku skyscrapers huddled together…
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Random names
Another entry in the Buildings with Strange Names series, Random Koishikawa houses a hardware store in the basement, a doctor on the first floor and offices on the upper floors. En Es Tee has offices on 2 and 4 but different company with a very long name in kanji (another sign for them reads “Human…
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Robodex 2002
Yesterday, I headed out to Yokohama for the press preview of Robodex 2002, a robot convention that I’m reporting on. I wandered around snapping photos and taking in what was there. On Saturday I’ll go back for some interviews and more photos. The highlight of the preview was the Robot Parade on the MegaStage. All…
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PM house needs name
There’s a naming contest going on. The Prime Minister’s new residence needs a name. “It would be good if it will have a name like the White House in the United States. Let’s look for one,” Yasuo Fukudama, chief cabinet secretary, said on Wednesday. What great timing. I might suggest something from my list the…
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Bunkyo weather
If you’re ever curious about the weather in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, you can check out Yahoo Japan’s Bunkyo pinpoint weather page. I love this page because it’s so granular. Forecast, temperature, anticipated precipitation, and wind are shown in three hour increments. It’s updated four times a day and it’s almost always correct. I’m looking forward to…
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Happy Spring!
Happy Spring! It’s official. Today’s the vernal equinox and we have a national holiday to celebrate. Tonight, we’ll feast on our traditional Spring dish–grilled mushroom sandwiches with handmade herbed mayonnaise. I hope Tod remembers to buy a new grill today…
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Dwelling names
Intersecting interesting English with strange building names, we get Himalayan Hights. Check out that cool 1950s script typeface. This is a pretty typical Tokyo apartment building–six blocky stories of yellow brick, dark brown trim, and not a mountain in sight. I would like to own apartment buildings to that I can give them names. I’d…
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Poop dick?
This is, hands down, the strangest store name I have ever encountered. It’s a “recycle shop” which is called a second hand store or a thrift store in the US. I had a hard time remembering the English for recycle shop. “Does that say ‘poop dick’?” Tod asked incredulously as he read the Japanese sign…
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Blossoming
My prediction was wrong. The sakura appeared on Saturday! Our long walk took us along the Kanda river near Edogawabashi. The park there is lined with cherry trees that hang over the water. So beautiful! The trees should be in full bloom later this week. I wonder if the season will last until next weekend;…
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Library cards
We have library cards. We took a long walk yesterday and discovered a small library not too far from our house. We stopped in and marvelled at all the books: a huge children’s collection, cookbooks and magazines on the first floor; music, novels and non-fiction on the second floor. Mainly in Japanese, of course. We…
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