Hotel Seiyo Ginza, A Rosewood Hotel Tokyo

... on the pirate ship, we walked up and down the foreshore and finally Fuji-san revealed itself. Its beautiful in pictures, but no picture can capture the sheer, well, greatness of this thing. We were speechless.<br><br>Today, being our last day, we decided to keep the best until last. It was time for the Tsukiji Fish Market and Kabuki-za. The fish market is only open on certain days of the week and I know why. The market officially starts at five every morning for the main auctions ...

... in Japan and Kabuki-za actors are highly trained professionals who are literally born into their profession. The actors lives themselves are followed as much as any western celebrity's would be. The elaborate costumes, makeup and stylized performances make for the most interesting piece of theater ever. Although four hours of it could become tiring.<br><br>The night is young, but we must head to bed for tomorrow we make our early journey home.<br><br>For the last time,<br>Rachael out.<br>

... assassins and even ninja spies. Naturally, I immediately set to work testing out my ninja skills and am happy to say that my brethren shan't be disappointed. Rachael on the other hand - well lets just say she'd be due for an hour or two in the torture chamber were this Feudal Japan.<br><br>As the day drew to a close, we found ourselves taking in the plum blossoms we were lucky enough to have timed a visit with, as we headed to the uphill temple complex of Kiyomizudera ...

... on the Tokyo subway. Its truly amazing how many people can fit in those trains, and it takes a lot of confidence to wedge yourself amongst the plethora of people. When we got to Ryogoku, which is where the Sumo Stadium is, I decided to purchase some water from one of the many Vending Machines.<br><br>'Get the one named Aquarius! Its my starsign!' urged the Tom. I complied. Here's some advice when you go traveling with Tom; never trust his vending ...

... your feet, causing virtual koi ponds to ripple and fish to hide away as you walk through them before topping things off with a huge water<br>feature timed to lighting and music.<br><br>Finally, we finished off the night with a trip to Ryogoku, sports central of Tokyo, to view the sumo wrestling bouts. The stadium, filled to the brim with a roaring, thunderous Japanese crowd needs to be seen to be believed. It's lavishly decorated, tapered levels of seating ...

Happy New Year! It seems I... slacked off a bit in 2007. Part of my resolution for this year is to update Travelpod with more regularity, so you can look forward to entries about Kyoto, Okinawa, Nikko and Kamakura, not to mention more musings on the state of Engrish today and my continued explorations of Tokyo. As you would expect, Christmas is not a holiday in Japan ...

Well, now that I am more than two weeks removed from my adventures in Japan, I figure that it is finally time to fill you in on my final week there...(at least, what I can remember). The day I returned from Shin-Osaka--where I spent an evening at that wonderful internet cafe--I decided not to go directly to bed but to take full advantage of my JR (train) pass by making a trip to Kamakura...to see a 750 yr old 13m tall Daibutsu (buddha). It was definitely well ...

... bottles of shampoo and conditioner and body wash in our showers. I was surprised at how comfortable it was to be back in Tokyo, it was almost as if I had never left. As we drove through Tokyo on our way to catch the bullet train I saw familiar places that reminded me of things I did in Tokyo but it was all very vague and distant like trying to recall a dream from the night before.

... Our first taste of Tokyo was a 2 hour commute from the airport to Kiyo's apartment. The commute was on the local trains during rush hours. We had to do 3 transfers lugging our luggage up and down stairs. We got the full rush hour experience unabridged. Kiyo's apartment is very compact with a kitchen along a small corridor and separate bath and shower rooms. The entire place is only about 400 sqft but is officially called a 'Mansion' in Japan ...

... That was neat. We briefly thought about using our blankets as a stink shield, but we were afraid we wouldn:t get any of the free drinks you're entitled to on international flights if we cut ourselves off from the rest of the plane. At least we had lots of new friends to talk to as they waited to slam the toilet door behind our heads. We finallly arrived in Tokyo not too much the worse for wear. My friend Shoji, who I worked with in ...