6-13 feb
Now that I have been here for a while, the feeling of having to rush to be able see as much as possible in the shortest amount of time (a feeling that I often get when visiting a country as a tourist) is subceding. Also, Having seen many of the more obvious spots of Tokyo, lately I have spent some more time in more 'local' areas of the city. And still, in these local areas, there is so much to see! Tokyo seems to be getting bigger each day and more and more interesting neighbourhoods keep popping up.
Also, many of the neighbourhoods have some kind of theme, such as: Kanda, the 'book'-neighbourhoud, with the newest books on design, but also obscure anitique bookstores full of English literature of current topics such as the 12-band Great Sovjet Republic Encyclopaedia, collecting dust in a corner near old scrolls and maps of old Edo-Tokyo. Walking past literary cafe's and dusty books, the scenery suddenly changes sports: a whole neighbourhood solely filled with big stores selling snowboards, tennis rackets and sweaters.Then, turning the corner, I end up and Ochanomizu, a university area. Here the theme was: Rock. They dedicated the whole neighbourhood to the selling of used guitars and rare vinyl rock albums. Tokyo is big enough to dedicate a whole neighbourhood to a 'niche'.Feeling completely lost, I followed the river and after passing an Orthodox Russian Church (why shouldn't there be one?) I stood on the bridge and had no idea where I was. The streets were empty an as the sun set I took some pictures of the river. Then I a saw some lights around the corner. I suddenly realised it was the shop where I bought my mobile a few weeks ago. I turned the corner and was teleported to crazy, nerdy, crowded Akihabara 'electric city', full of streets where they sell anything that has a power plug.
Kagurazaka was also great. It's the old geisha quarter of tokyo and its tree-lined streets have a characteristic feel to it. Several minutes after arriving at Kagurazaka I discovered a small gallery, so I decided to go inside. I was welcomed by a lady in her sixties who was having tea with her friends in her own gallery. After having seen the paintings, she invited me to come sit down an have some tea, and of course, piles of questions came from the woman and her friends. She immeadeatly grabbed the chance to photograph this foreigner that had entered. After she discovered I was from Holland she showed me her Holland photo album and said she went there last year to paint. I asked her if she visits europe, on which she responded 'no, not very often. Just once a year or so.' Seemed like a good life she was leading, travelling around and painting.
A few days later she e-mailed me if I would like to join some of her friends for a home cooked meal. Unfortunately it was on wednesday during noon break, so I was at Ginza for my Japanese lessons. Nevertheless, until now, the Japanese people that I have talked to are very friendly and If we exchange mails, big chance that you are invited for some event or other.
In the same week we had an excursion to Taisei, where we were educated on what measures can be taken to prevent a building from being damaged during one of Japan's earthquakes. We were also given a virtual reality tour of several buildings with their new VR technology. Several days later we went underground, to visit an immense pipe where drainage water is collected during periods of high raiunfall to prevent Tokyo flooding. It was an amazing experience which the average person living in Tokyo would not have the chance to see.
Thus, again a week full of adventures. Now, the time of full studying at JNI is coming to an end and we're off to Kansai soon. But first, this week my friend from Holland is coming so it's gonna be even less sleep and more sightseeing this week. Looking forward to it.
Kagurazaka was also great. It's the old geisha quarter of tokyo and its tree-lined streets have a characteristic feel to it. Several minutes after arriving at Kagurazaka I discovered a small gallery, so I decided to go inside. I was welcomed by a lady in her sixties who was having tea with her friends in her own gallery. After having seen the paintings, she invited me to come sit down an have some tea, and of course, piles of questions came from the woman and her friends. She immeadeatly grabbed the chance to photograph this foreigner that had entered. After she discovered I was from Holland she showed me her Holland photo album and said she went there last year to paint. I asked her if she visits europe, on which she responded 'no, not very often. Just once a year or so.' Seemed like a good life she was leading, travelling around and painting.
A few days later she e-mailed me if I would like to join some of her friends for a home cooked meal. Unfortunately it was on wednesday during noon break, so I was at Ginza for my Japanese lessons. Nevertheless, until now, the Japanese people that I have talked to are very friendly and If we exchange mails, big chance that you are invited for some event or other.
In the same week we had an excursion to Taisei, where we were educated on what measures can be taken to prevent a building from being damaged during one of Japan's earthquakes. We were also given a virtual reality tour of several buildings with their new VR technology. Several days later we went underground, to visit an immense pipe where drainage water is collected during periods of high raiunfall to prevent Tokyo flooding. It was an amazing experience which the average person living in Tokyo would not have the chance to see.
Thus, again a week full of adventures. Now, the time of full studying at JNI is coming to an end and we're off to Kansai soon. But first, this week my friend from Holland is coming so it's gonna be even less sleep and more sightseeing this week. Looking forward to it.
On the Japanese version of 'Albert Cuyp'
Temple near Kagurazaka, Tokyo's old geisha quarters
Me and Uotani-san at her gallery
One of the many rock shops at Ochanomizu
Meanwhile, 60 meters below Tokyo...
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