Tokyo Sea Life Park (Kasai Rinkai Suizokuen) – Part 1
on Nov 16, 2009 in Japan grutt pass museums Tokyo video Our most recent Grutt Pass adventure had us at the Tokyo Sea Life Park on a Saturday morning. The place was empty in the morning but looked to be getting very crowded on our way out the door in the early afternoon. Live and learn. If you want to visi...

Hakuba – Part 4
on Nov 15, 2009 in Japan hakuba nature shinto Another photo that came out rather well from our canoeing tour on Lake Aoki… While on the mountain biking portion of the tour, we took a brief rest at Suwa Jinja (諏訪神社) in Hakuba. We have a Suwa Shrine near our apartment in Tokyo too.

“Kids’ Trips in Tokyo” and “Japan for Kids”
on Nov 14, 2009 in Japan book review guidebooks kids video Kids’ Trips in Tokyo: A Family Guide to One-Day Outings and Japan for Kids: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Their Children are two books we reference frequently while living in Tokyo. Both can be useful, but both are far from perfect. Neith...

Institute for Nature Study, National Museum of Nature and Science – Part 1
on Nov 13, 2009 in Japan grutt pass nature people susuki Tokyo Next stop on our Grutt Pass tour of Tokyo was 国立科学博物館附属自然教育園. That’s a mouthful. It doesn’t get much better in English with “Institute for Nature Study, National Museum of Nature and Science.” This...

Hakuba – Part 3
on Nov 12, 2009 in Japan hakuba nature The view from Matsukawa Bridge (松川橋) of the Japanese Northern Alps (白馬三山) and the Matsu River Another shot from Lake Aoki (aokiko or 青木湖) Note that if you have a big screen you can see larger versions by clicking on the photos.

An evening in Tokyo
on Nov 11, 2009 in Japan buildings japan pictures mt. fuji night photography people shinjuku sunset Tokyo On a recent, extremely clear sky day, after rain and wind, I went to the top of Shinjuku to watch the sun set. It was marvelous. And yes, that is Mt. Fuji (in the upper right part of the photo) from Tokyo. The sun set on one side of the building and...

Mitsui Memorial Museum (三井記念美術館) – Part 2
on Nov 10, 2009 in Japan buildings enoshima museums Tokyo Continuing from yesterday’s blog entry, the “Special Exhibition: Vision and Reminiscence of Edo – Masterpieces from the Takahashi Seiichiro Collection of Ukiyo-e Prints” was a lot of fun to stumble upon. This next ukiyoe remin...

Mitsui Memorial Museum – Part 1
on Nov 9, 2009 in Japan enoshima grutt pass hakone museums Tokyo Our 8th usage of the Grutt Pass was going to be at the Bridgestone Museum of Art near Nihonbashi. For the second time we encountered a museum that was closed due to a rotation in exhibits. Ugh. We flipped through our pass booklet to find the closest...

Ueno Zoo – Part 2
on Nov 8, 2009 in Japan Tokyo ueno The above photo was a lucky shot of mine from a distance. I like the way the little Japanese girl happened to turn her head just as I was taking the picture to have nearly the same pose as the emu on whose egg she is sitting. The Ueno Zoo doesn̵...

Ueno Zoo and the Grutt Pass – Part 1
on Nov 7, 2009 in Japan grutt pass museums Tokyo ueno We recently purchased a couple of Grutt Passes (ぐるっとパス or gurutto pasu in Japanese). Included with the pass is free admission to the Ueno Zoo. The Ueno Zoo is wonderfully peaceful on a Sunday morning. On a Sunday afternoon it turns into w...