Category: Tokyo

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Tokyo Traditional

Neighbourhood temples

I have been with the home office for seven months now, since “the first wave” ended I have been taking walks through the back streets of Tokyo to stretch my legs and refresh my mind. Every day go a little bit further away trying to discover some special place that I did not know.

I have been finding Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, that although they do not appear in the travel guides, for me each of them has a certain unique charm. This first photo is not from an unknown sanctuary. It is the temizuya 手 水 舎 (Place to purify-wash hands) that is standing as a measure to prevent the spread of covid-19. Normally there are buckets to fill the water that comes out of the bamboo cane. Now the fountain is stopped and they have put up an information sign.

But they have created an alternative in which they avoid having to all be in the same mouth of a source and have eliminated the saucepans. This is a video of the new temizuya for times of covid-19:

In this other sanctuary they have put up a sign at the entrance warning that there is a dangerous raven. Watch out for the raven!

This is a tiny shrine in Aoyama, it is hidden among several houses , although I had walked by it many times I had never noticed its presence.

This is an abandoned shimenawa rope

This is koma-inu (koma dog) status with many details, notice the muscles and the hair.

Buddhist temple at sunset time.

Mini statue (less than 10 centimeters tall)

I found a tiger!

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Tokyo

Tokyo Random Walk

What I like most about Tokyo is that it is an endless city. I have been walking the streets of this city for 16 years and I still find myself lost all the time. The feeling of knowing that I can still get lost is what is thrilling to me.

Tokyo is an amalgamation of houses and skyscrapers, at the same time a huge city and many villages crowded together. When I visit a new place that I still don’t know, I like to explore the area, get lost in the alleys and discover the culture and atmosphere of the neighborhood.

Although the title of the post is “Random Walk”, these are actually photos of many of my random walks. All the photos are from 2018 and 2019. Some of them were uploaded to my instagram account @geekinjapan but most stayed inside my smartphone.

The Bunkyo-ku neighborhood has many old houses and plants that almost almost invade the sidewalks. Notice that the car hardly fits the garage of the house..

At the entrance to the Nezu subway station (Chiyoda Line) they have an old train “wagon” restored as a bookstore where you can leave books you no longer want for other people to read.

Doraemon!

Cables y casitas con paredes bastante feas, pero si os fijais está lleno de macetas alineadas al borde del asfalto. Un repartidor de Kuroneko en bicicleta.

Cables and houses with ugly walls, but if you carefully there are many flower pots beautifully aligned on the edge of the asphalt. And Kuroneko delivery man on a bicycle!

A basketball net behind the Tocho (Tokyo Metropolitan Government building)

A restaurant that serves yakiniku at lunch time

A gigant Maneki Neko.

Painted walls near Nakano station.

I love these old-fashioned maps, although with smartphones there are less and less of these “analog” maps, you can still find them in areas of shōtengai (Commercial streets).

Coffee shop where you can choose the beans that you prefer and they roast it to your liking.

Ginza skyscrapers.

Nakameguro and sakura.

This is also Shibuya, but far from the stations.

Rainy night somewhere neat Sendagi station.

Categories
JapanGuide Tokyo

Shibuya Scramble Square – Shibuya Sky

This weekend I visited the new panoramic observatory at Shibuya. It is 230 meters tall and it is called Shibuya Scramble Square. The skyscraper has a shopping are from floor 1F until 14F, it also has an office area where the new Google Japan offices are located, visited the rooftop. The 45F and 46F are open to visitors, it is a beautiful observatory called Shibuya SKY and it is open every day from 9AM until 11PM for ¥2.000, google maps pinpoint).

I took these pictures this Sunday, the sky was cast with clouds but in a clear day Mount Fuji is visible and also the views to the sprawl are spectacular since there aren’t taller buildings in Shibuya area.

The elevator to Shibuya Sky has a very psychodelic screen

Shibuya Scramble Square 3D model

Para más información esta es la Web oficial del observatorio Shibuya Sky.