Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

Harajuku and Yoyogi Park

On Sunday I spent the day in Harajuku and walking with hundreds of Tokyo residents in the beautiful Yoyogi Park. The park is slap bang in one of the busiest areas of Tokyo within spitting distance of Shibuya and Harajuku and around 10 minutes walk from Shinjuku a major shopping area and with the largest railway station you ever want to get lost in. Yet this park is a peaceful oasis where kids run and play, people walk, sit and throw frisbies and laughter fills the air. The Japanese laugh a lot – and the sound of laughter is something that I really noticed here.

Harajuku didn’t offer up quite the wealth of photo opportunities I had hoped for but I still got some great images. Click here to view the final Tokyo 2010 gallery.

Helen Bradley

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 3:42 pmNo Comments links to this post

Saturday, May 8th, 2010

Neon and street art in Tokyo

Yesterday I spent a few hours in Sekaido, a 7 storey art supply store in Shinjuku then headed out to Ginza as I hadn’t been there before. There are some seriously funky things here – it was Saturday so they close some of the main streets and put tables and chairs out for people to sit at. The neon is pretty amazing the shops – well let’s just say expensive and big name. In the Sony building the stairs play music as you climb them! All in all – fun and well worth a visit but it’s far from being my favourite place in Tokyo.

For my money, Shinjuku is far more interesting and colourful and there are way fewer tourists there. I’ve found some cool graffiti and sticker art around Shinjuku too which is an unusual find in Toyko.

But today is Sunday so I’m headed to Harajuku with high hopes of some amazing shots – it’s the centre of youth culture and dress up is the name of the game.

For now, click here to view a gallery of Ginza and Shinjuku street art images.

Helen Bradley

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 4:44 pmNo Comments links to this post

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

Ameyoko and the Tsukiji Fish Market

I visited Ameyoko last night to get some Japanese crackers that are hard to find and cost a fortune at the duty free store at Narita. This is an old market – used to be a black market in WWII and it runs along the Yamamoto railway line between two stations. In the evenings it’s busy with commuters stopping by to purchase food for dinner or to shop for clothes – new and second hand. It’s a fun and vibrant place to visit.

This morning – early – it was fish market time. I’ve missed  this the last two times in Tokyo once because it was closed to tourists and the other because it was closed for New Years. Today I got to see what all the excitement is about. It’s packed, noisy, smelly and so much fun. You really have to be on your guard as the market workers are there to work which means moving fish around at a blindingly fast pace and tourists aren’t given any priority at all!

Click here to view the first of my Tokyo galleries.

Helen Bradley

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 4:34 pm1 Comment links to this post

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

Ohayou gozaimasu

Good morning! I’m in Tokyo for a few days and lucked into the best hotel I’ve stayed at here – ever. While I loved the Park Hyatt last time I was here, its location sucks big time. It’s a hike to Shinjuku station and then a total nightmare trying to find your metro  line – I’ve asked station attendants and all I’ve got is shrugs saying “I don’t know” when asking the whereabouts of lines I know stop in that station! So, I bypassed the horrors of Shinjuku and headed out to Shidome – what a blast. Lots of great hotels here so lots of people and great places to eat and right on two lines – just enough metro access without having to deal with the confusion of trying to find your  line.

This morning was breakfast at the neighbouring Conrad Hotel at Chef Gordon Ramsay’s Brasserie – on the 28th floor with great views and a breakfast to match this great location – and they had french press coffee – what is there not to like about this place!

Helen Bradley

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 4:05 pm1 Comment links to this post