Tokyo: Miscellaneous Things to See

I had a very rushed view of Tokyo. With no guide other than my book, and only two days, I went on a few chaotic train ride quests for locations and places. Thus, my photo collage of Tokyo is random and spartan compared to that of Shanghai.

Here's the obligatory swan in front of the Imperial Palace:


Here's an office of Bandai, makers of famous Japanese toy robots, which can be seen along the Tokyo River Cruise:


Here's an izakaya, located under a street bridge downtown. (I like how Tokyo utilizes places we would otherwise block off with barbed wire) If it weren't for the phone number, I would have had no idea it was the place I was looking for. An Izakaya is a Japanese pub with food. There used to be one in West Hollywood that a co-worker told me about the week it was closing. After trying it, we vowed to go there every night till it closed because it was so amazing! Unfortunately, no izakaya I tried in Japan matched that place, but this one wasn't bad. The owner is a British bloke from Lester. He gave me a free glass of sweet potato soszhu:


This building along the river was designed by somebody famous. Supposedly, the shape is a flame, but somehow I don't think that's the first thing that will poop, er pop into your head:


This is a shinkansen bullet train that I took from Tokyo to Kyoto. Unfortunately, during the journey I completely missed the view of Mt. Fuji because my assigned seat was on the wrong side of the train! However, my iPod did conjure up some funny and sublime music choices. Fozzie Bear's rendition of "America," for instance: