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| City View - Japan 2023 |
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| River View - Japan 2023 |
The line for tickets was so long that we were wondering if we should leave and try to get a taxi. But we persevered and eventually got to the ticket window, got the tickets and within a few minutes we were on the Skyliner. Quite modern, with nice comfortable seats. Fast, too.
I used the Canon G5XII for some last "out of the window" Japan photos.
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| JR Ticket Office Map |
To get to the airport on our final day we had made seat reservations for Japan Railway's Narita Express. Alas, when we arrived at the station platform we found an empty train with loudspeaker announcements that the Narita Express line had been temporarily suspended. Yikes!
We backtracked to the JR Ticket Office. Their advice: take the Yamanote Line to Nippori Station, then take the Keisei Skyliner to Narita Airport. (See helpful map above.) Needless to say, we hadn't planned to do any of this, but we ended up making our way over to track number 15 - with suitcases - and got aboard the Yamanote Line bound for Nippori Station. Luckily, we had taken the train to Nippori several times before, so the route there wasn't unfamiliar.
As I guess we could have expected, when we got to the station the line for Skyliner tickets was really quite long.
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| Skyliner Ticket Line - Japan 2023 |
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| Umbrella (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
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| Umbrella, Cocoon Tower (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
Photos taken just outside of Shinjuku Station. We were there to take an early Narita Express train to the airport.
I posted some color photos of the Cocoon Tower back in 2014.
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| Rain, Street (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
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| Umbrella, Mom & Kid, Political Sign (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
Top two photos taken with an iPhone, the bottom one with a Canon G5XII.
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| Umbrella, Mirror, Self-Portrait (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
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| Family Mart, Kyodo (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
Our last day in Japan started out overcast and rainy. I followed my usual routine and left our rental unit and walked a few steps to the nearby Family Mart. By then the employee on duty knew that I was there for my morning coffee. Fun!
The rain wasn't quite as heavy as my 2016 Family Mart coffee run.
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| Family Mart Coffee (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
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| Crow (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
This one was particularly scary, chasing a little girl away because he wanted to get the bag of food dangling from her stroller. Her mom had to come and rescue her, but it was a while before the bird gave up on the free food idea.
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| Woman on Beach #1 - Japan 2023 |
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| Woman on Beach #2 - Japan 2023 |
Lots of beach scenes in K-Dramas and J-Dramas where the views are always picturesque, the beaches uncrowded and the people attractive.
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| Woman on Beach #3 - Japan 2023 |
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| Kamakura Beach #1 - Japan 2023 |
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| Kamakura Beach #2 - Japan 2023 |
We were waiting for a table to open at Matsubara, a soba restaurant in a Kamakura suburb. While standing around I glanced at the map on the iPhone and realized that I was fairly close to Sagami Bay. I took the chance and headed towards the beach.
Wow . . . there I was, down at the beach! My first Japan beach experience since my 1965 adventure!
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| Anime Figure - Japan 2023 |
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| Doorway "Autumn Day" - Japan 2023 |
We visited Kamakura in 2008, taking an enjoyable hike around the area. Has it become much more commercial now? Hard to say: maybe it's difficult to really compare one's past faded memories with present reality.
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| Enoshima Walkway - Japan 2023 |
Crowded. This is one of those places (like Fushimi Inari) that is on a lot of Japan must-see lists. But it was never on one of my lists. I was able to get some soft-serve ice cream here though.
Was probably nicer when Hokusai visited.
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| Enoshima (Hokusai) - from Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji |
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| Fisherman, Mt. Fuji - Japan 2023 |
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| Apartment Complex - Japan 2023 |
"Enoshima (江の島) is a small offshore island, about 4 km (2.5 mi) in circumference, at the mouth of the Katase River which flows into the Sagami Bay of Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan." -Wikipedia
Photos were taken from a short walkway connecting the beach area with the island. To be honest, just the top of Mt. Fuji was visible through the haze, but luckily there's a haze adjustment filter in Photoshop.
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| Enoshima Train - Japan 2023 |
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| Enoshima Sign - Japan 2023 |
Our next to last day, featuring another unique train, with a visit to Enoshima and Kamakura. It took about an hour on the Odakyu Line to get to Fujisawa Station where we got on the small Enoshima train. Very interesting as part of the line runs on city streets.
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| Black Kite (Kamakura) - Japan 2023 |
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| Black Kite (Kamakura) - Japan 2023 |
The Black Kite or “Tobi” トビ as it is known in Japanese is a common sight in the skies throughout Japan. This raptor is thought to be the world’s most abundant bird of prey. Its numbers are healthy and is under no threat.
This bird can be mainly found in Eurasia, Australasia, Oceania and is a year-round resident here in Japan. You can see this powerful looking bird often soaring in the thermals high above coastal areas, rivers and lakes. I’ve also seen them in farming areas throughout the Kansai region of Japan. They are very graceful flyers that soar with ease and turn with precision.
Photos taken in Kamakura near the beach using an Olympus E-M1II and a 14-150mm zoom lens.
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| Hydrangeas (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
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| Here Is The Thing (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
It was hydrangea season while we were there. The amount of blooms was a little overwhelming.
The Here Is The Thing sign reminds me - a little - of the 2008 German Cafe sign.
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| Tokyo Shoes - Japan 2023 |
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| Italian Restaurant - Japan 2023 |
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| Phone, Train Station - Japan 2023 |
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| Phone, Train Station - Japan 2023 |
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| Banchan, Yakiniku Restaurant (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
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| Totoro Cream Puffs (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
Banchan are small side dishes served along with cooked rice in Korean cuisine. ) -Wikipedia
Today, "yakiniku" commonly refers to a style of cooking bite-size meat (usually beef and offal) and vegetables on gridirons or griddles over a flame of wood charcoals carbonized by dry distillation or a gas/electric grill. -Wikipedia
The food at the restaurant was good, but for some reason I didn't take that many photos.
Totoro appears in the Studio Ghibli movie My Neighbor Totoro.
A grey and white, friendly forest spirit, whose appearance is a combination of an owl, a cat, and a tanuki and is at least three meters tall. Totoro is Mei's mispronunciation of torōru, the Japanese pronunciation of troll as a loanword. -Wikipedia
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| Rain, Vending Machines (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
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| Street in Rain (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
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| Rain, Grocery Store (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
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| Flowers, Rain (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
So, it had rained in Kyoto, and then a few times upon our return to Tokyo. Photos taken at night using a small Canon G5XII.
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| Eastern Spot-Billed Duck (Kyoto) - Japan 2023 |
Quite nice! Last seen by me in Hakone in 2016. This one was standing on the banks of the Kamo River in Kyoto.
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| Meiji Jingu Walkway (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
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| Irises (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
"Meiji Shrine is located in a forest that covers an area of 70 hectares (170 acres). This area is covered by an evergreen forest that consists of 120,000 trees of 365 different species, which were donated by people from all parts of Japan when the shrine was established. The forest is visited by many as a recreation and relaxation area in the center of Tokyo." - Wikipedia
The main reason we went was to visit the seasonal irises. Even through there were large parts of the shrine that we didn't visit, the irises and the landscaping were worth the trip.
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| Pond (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
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| Gyoza Restaurant (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
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| Nolan, Hanna, Mike, Hali in Mirror (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
While their parents took a well-deserved break at a ryokan in Hakone, we and the kids explored the Kyodo vicinity, looking for gyoza. We finally found a restaurant thanks to the iPhone's GPS directions. And then were able to order thanks to the iPhone's translation capability. Yum!
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| Flowers, Window, Umbrella, Self-Portrait (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
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| Store Window, Self-Portrait (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
Taken in the Kyodo area. Compare and contrast with the 2014 Nara self-portraits.
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| Vending Machines (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
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| Laundromat (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
The sign above the vending machines is advertising tutoring classes (I think).
The laundromat was nice, but not as nice as Laundry Happiness.
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| Kyodo Honcho Street (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
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| Girls Eating on Stairs (Tokyo) - Japan 2023 |
"It was said Tosamori-Yaemon Matsubara, a doctor of the Edo shogunate, was a rare doctor at the time and owned many specialized books. The villagers who could hardly read and write thought that the books were sutras (means 'Kyo' in Japanese), and because Matsubara built a temple (means 'Do' in Japanese) on the property, so it came to be called 'Kyodo'."
"Kyodo is a neighbourhood in the centre of the western Setagaya ward of Tokyo. It’s also an express stop on the Odakyu Line, which means you can get here from Shinjuku within 15 minutes and from uber cool Shimokitazawa in less than 5 minutes."
