Ueno Astil Hotel Tokyo Taito

... it’s made from the top of a human skull with human skin as the drum head. It’s played with sticks made from human bones. According to the sign, it’s used in rituals by some sort of medicine doctor. No, I did not play it (behind glass, definitely red sticker material.) Also no pictures allowed, but the docent did offer to take one picture of me in front of my favorite drum. I picked the colorful drums from Thailand, but perhaps I ...

... and we' have to duck out the way. After asking an American family and looking very puzzled for a while, we finally decided to take the plunge and cross the loading bays to try and find the fish. We'd seen lots of bizarre fruits and kitchen implements but still yet to see any of the goods we'd come to ogle. There were fish everywhere! Small ones, big ones, long ones, living ones....never seen anything like it and couldn't help but take ...

... japanese translation of english makes me laugh.... ! i loved reading their english! so many weird things in japan that u wouldnt have thought happens... bt its actually cool in a way!!!! loved soya beans in japan!!! yummy!.. and also vegetarian fried pancakes... hmmmm!!!! yum! Tokyo Disney Land - didnt go in the end... not enough dosh for us all!!! Tokyo Tower - saw this .. amazing height...really wicked!!! look out for photos of tokyo at night ...

... of its size and scope. Coincidentally the current exhibition featured at the Design Museum. An excellent show on the design of F1 cars over the decades. Great timing. Upstairs is an exhibition of modern Japanese landscape painting focusing on mountain scenes from round Japan. The other main gallery in the Tokyo Opera City complex is the NTT InterCommunication Centre (ICC). It is a funny collection of ultra hi tech pieces demonstrating new ways of interacting with technology, from ...

... for the survivors. In 2000 the Violence Against Women in War Network (vaww-net-japan@jca.apc.org) organised a Women's International War Crimes Tribunal in Tokyo. The Tribunal found Emperor Hirohito, among others, guilty of war crimes for the "comfort" women system. Yayori Matsui died at age 68 in 2002. Her books, such as Women's Asia are still in print. They are well worth a look by anyone who wants to learn more about Japan than Miss Kitty or sushi.

... was closed to traffic and flower sellers had set up shop along one side of the street, their potted wares beneath blue tarps to protect them from the sun. Along the other side were the food vendors and in between, the festival goers. Later on the same day, we came across what seemed to be a preschool or daycare song and dance recital. The children were all dressed up in yukata (both boys and girls) or jinbei (boys) and ...

... and headed out to the local area - despite a headache from the flight and being very tired as I wanted to sleep at a later time so I could better adjust to the 17 hour time difference. Lots of people out and about all over Asakusa area. I felt safe wherever I went as even the smallest alleys are filled with people and shops. Great older area of town where you could see brand new high rise buildings beside historic older ...

... mere end det dobbelte i DK. En sodavand i automat giver man 6 kr. for, som ville have kostet 12-15 kr. i Danmark. Det er selvfoelgelig ikke Thailandpriser, men overhovedet ikke galt! Havde hoert at en 1/2 l. cola ville koste 60 kr! Saa der er ikke noget at klage over der... Efter morgenmaden tog vi ned i metroen og ned til Asakusa hvorfra vi fandt baad, som skulle sejle os ned ad Sumida floden til Hinode Pier. Undervejs sejler man under 12 broer og nyder udsigt. Turen var ret ...

... cacoon, complete plastic setup with tv, radio, alarm, steam bath, showers, all hygene needs and my own robe to sit around in. Although everything is in Kanji characters the excessively helpful and possibly english speaking locals are a terrific crowd. Movie: Shogun, 1564-1620 Englishman Will Adams, first and only foreigner to become a Samarai Remember to take your shoes off at the door and never put away a business card.

... hehe "Japanese okay?" I said "dochidemo" (either) so half signed in Jap and half in Eng.. got about 6 business cards with email.. so I was happy.. a few presents.. I got given 2 Japanese books.. man I was so touched.. I had one of my favourite students.. Yusuyuki and I started crying a little as I was talking to him... but only a little.. then I was running around everyone who looked familiar LOL.. It's my last day.. so happy I got to see some ppl.. I walked ...