Yesterday we drove to 鎌倉 (Kamakura, Japan). We have been there many times but it had been awhile since we went there by car.
I drove there because we wanted to see the autumn illumination (light-up) at the famous, beautiful 長谷寺 (Hase-dera Temple).
At certain times of the year, the temple is lit up and it looks even more spectacular than usual.
During our drive there and back, we could see Tokyo Tower, a beautiful sunset over Tokyo Bay and a clear view of Mt. Fuji.
So many beautiful scenes! Here are some of our photos:
Tokyo Tower in my wife’s passenger side-view mirror.
We could see Mt. Fuji clearly. This photo doesn’t do it justice!
Yesterday we went to Kanagawa. The prefecture to the south of Tokyo.
First we went to Kamakura. Kamakura has many temples and shrines…but is probably most famous for the 大仏 (Great Buddha) statue that is there. We didn’t visit the Great Buddha yesterday, but we’ve been to it many times before (Click here to see photo I took of the Great Buddha about six years ago.)
First we visited the 小町通り (Komachi Street).
Ghibli store
The “Iwata Coffee Shop”. It’s claim-to-fame is that John Lennon ate there when he visited Kamakura.
A toy store.
We ate breakfast at the well-known “Komeda Coffee” restaurant.
We went to the famous 報国寺 (Hōkoku-ji Temple), also called 竹寺 (“Bamboo Temple”) because of it’s bamboo forest!
After we left the “Bamboo Temple”, I saw this old Coke machine that sold the cola in glass bottles:
Some turtles in a pond came out of the water looking for food hand-outs from the people. Including this スッポン (Chinese Soft-shelled Turtle):
Kamakura has many local-brewed beers, including this 「大仏ビール」 (“Great Buddha Beer”) that I bought:
After Kamakura, we went to Yokohama:
「横浜中華街」 (Yokohama Chinatown)
The Yokohama Chinatown 交番 (Police Box).
In Yokohama Chinatwon, we ate 担々麺 (spicy “Tan-tan-men” Ramen) for lunch.
A shopping mall had a dinosaur exhibit.
Yokohama skyline.
For dinner, we ate at an 居酒屋 (Japanese “izakaya” pub).
An eleven-year-old Japanese girl went out alone at about 4PM last Saturday to walk her dog. Her dog returned home alone about forty-minutes later.
Of course her parents were worried sick and called the police when they couldn’t find her after two hours of searching.
The search for the child has been on the TV news since then.
But finally good news…the girl had been lost but she showed up safe at a 交番 (police “box”) about 20km from her house early this morning!
It’s a three-day-weekend in Japan.
Today is 敬老の日 (Respect For Elders Day).
Even though today is a holiday, we’re staying indoors … and if you’re in the Tokyo area, you should too!
Because a big typhoon is currently hitting eastern Japan!
Trains have stopped, bridges are closed, houses and cars have been torn up, some parts of Kanagawa had a black-out, Kyoto and the city of 小浜 (Obama) have been flooded.
In Japan, April 29th, May 3rd, May 4th and May 5th are public holidays. Collectively they are known as 「(ゴールデンウィーク」 (“Golden Week“). Technically only those days are public holidays and therefore only the May 3-5 period is “Golden Week”, but many companies allow their employees to have a Golden Week holiday from 「昭和の日」 (“Showa Day”) on April 29th until 「子供の日」 (“Children’s Day”) on May 5th.
(Click here to read my FAQ that explains a bit about the Golden Week holidays.)
Today is May 4th…「みどりの日」 (“Greenery Day“) in Japan.
This is the day to appreciate nature. Every year May 4th is one of three days that all of the public 動物園 (zoos) and 水族館 (aquariums) are open with no admission charge.
So you can go to the zoo or aquarium in Tokyo for free today…if you don’t mind the crowd.
Of the three days that Japan’s zoos are open for free, May 4th is the most crowded because it’s the day that is a national holiday.
Tokyo’s 「上野動物園」 (Ueno Zoo) will be particularly crowded because in addition to the zoo being open for free on a national holiday today…Ueno Zoo recently got new pandas.
The three days of the year that Japan’s public zoos and aquariums are open for free are May 4th (“Greenery Day”), 都/道/府/県民の日 (Prefecture Residents’ Day) (each prefecture’s “Residents Day” is a separate day), and the anniversary of the day that the zoo / aquarium first opened.
So, for Tokyo’s public zoos, the days that they’re open for free are as follows:
–May 4th 「みどりの日」 (Greenery Day)…which is today.
–October 1st 「都民の日」 (Tokyo Residents’ Day)…as for the Tokyo’s neighboring prefectures, 千葉県民の日 (Chiba Prefecture Residents’ Day) is on June 15th, 埼玉県民の日 (Saitama Prefecture Residents’ Day) is on November 14th, and 神奈川県民の日 (Kanagawa Prefecture Residents’ Day) is on March 19th—so Chiba Zoo, Tobu Zoo, Yokohama Zoo, etc. will be open for free on their respective prefecture’s Residents Day.
-And the other free day is the anniversary of the zoo’s grand opening…so, for each of Tokyo’s public zoos and aquariums, that day is:
Ueno Zoo...open for free every March 20th (first opened on 1882 March 20).
Tama Zoo is open for free on both (May 4) today and (May 5) tomorrow (both are national holidays). Tama Zoo first opened on 1958 May 5th.
Kasai Seaside Aquarium...open for free every October 10th (first opened on 1989 October 10).
Inokashira Zoo...open for free every May 17th (first opened on 1918 May 17).
Ooshima Zoo is always opened to the public for free.
Do you like zoos and aquariums? Which is your favorite zoo? Have you seen any of Japan’s zoo?
If you want any information about these zoos and aquariums in Tokyo (or the ones in the neighboring prefectures), feel free to ask in this post’s comments or e-mail me…I’ve been to them all.
In Japan, especially during the summer, 「ビアガーデン」 (“beer gardens”) are popular.
Are they popular in your country?
Many places, such as the Tokyo Dome, Roppongi Hills, etc., have beer gardens only during the summer months.
And many beer gardens in Japan are on the rooftops on restaurants.
Beer gardens in Japan are simply an outdoor venue to drink beer and eat food with friends in the evening summer breeze.
A great way to cool off and enjoy summer.
The “Let’s Enjoy Tokyo” website has launched a “Beer Garden” website that shows information about most of the beer gardens in the Tokyo area this summer.
It’s in Japanese only…but click here to see the Beer Garden website.
Last December. I wrote a post about Japan’s “Eco” movement that mentioned a X-mas tree powered by an electric eel at the 江ノ島水族館 (Enoshima Aquarium) near Tokyo.
The 江ノ島水族館 (Enoshima Aquarium) has a YouTube page.
Well, scientists have said that the 「マダコ」 (“Common Octopus”) is intelligent.
If it’s put into a jar and the lid is then screwed shut, the octopus will watch and learn how the top was closed…and then it will reverse the process from inside the jar to open it and free itself.
The 江ノ島水族館 (Enoshima Aquarium) demonstrated this and put a video of it on their YouTube page.
Here’s the video:
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I’ve never been much of a Michael Jackson fan, but if you are…and you’re in Tokyo, the Tokyo Tower is having a special exclusive event since last month until July 11th titled “Michael Jackson – the official Lifetime collection“.
If you want to see Michael Jackson’s personal possessions, including his Rolls-Royce car and many other items, you should go to the Tokyo Tower by July 11th between the hours of 9:00AM – 10:00PM.
Admission is ¥2,000 for adults, ¥1,800 for high school and college students, and ¥1,500 for children between age 3 and junior high age. (Under 3 is free).
Last Friday was the one-year anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death.
To commemorate, Tokyo Tower allowed fifty die-hard fans who were willing to pay ¥100,000 (about US$1,000) to spend the night in the exhibit room surrounded by the collection of Michael Jackson’s possessions!
Supposedly, these fans were touched emotionally by the experience and felt the money was well spent.
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Also, this year is the 60th anniversary of the popular Japanese toy store chain “Kiddyland“.
So Kiddyland has decided it’s time to renovate their large multi-storied shop in 表参道 (Omotensando, Tokyo).
So on 2010 August 31, the current store will close for the renovations and a temporary shop will be opened on 2010 September 1st not far from the current location.
A map showing how to get from the current Kiddyland location to the temporary one (which will be above "Snoopy Town")
The new renovated Kiddyland will reopen in the summer of 2012 at it’s current location.
Yesterday, my second daughter’s class took a field trip to 鎌倉 (Kamakura).
鎌倉 (Kamakura) is a city about 90-minutes south of Tokyo. It was the capital of Japan at one time, and it’s an old 下町 (traditional-style town).
鎌倉 (Kamakura) is most famous for the 大仏 (“Great Buddah” statue) that is there.
大仏 (Great Buddah)
Unfortunately, it rained all day yesterday, so my daughter’s field-trip wasn’t as good as it could have been.
We have been to 鎌倉 (Kamakura) as a family many times…Click here to see a post I wrote about a trip we took there last April (with photos of 流鏑馬 (Horseback Archery).
My daughter took the photo above of 大仏 (“Great Buddah“), and these photos:
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Today was my youngest daughter’s 学校公開 (Open School / “Parents Day”). Which is the day that parents can come watch their kids classes.
I watched my daughter’s Cooking Class. The class was right before lunch…they prepared a traditional Japanese meal and ate it for lunch.
They did a good job! 美味しそう! (It looked delicious!)
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In about 1992, a store that I liked opened in Tokyo.
It was called the “Rock ‘N’ Roll Museum“.
The store had sections devoted to The Beatles, The Stray Cats, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, Guns ‘N Roses…and KISS (which is why I liked it!).
The store had a large statue of Elvis Presley out front. (Supposedly many Elvis fans contributed to the cost of erecting the statue…including American rock star Jon Bon-Jovi and former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi!)
I am using the past-tense when I refer to the store in this post because I just found out that after being open all these years…the “Rock ‘N’ Roll Museum” closed down about two-weeks ago.
This is right after another landmark store in Tokyo closed recently (Click here).
The last time I went to the “Rock ‘N’ Roll Museum” was on November 2, 2008. I mentioned it in a post (with a photo)…click here to see it.
I was looking at the pictures on my 携帯電話 (Cell-phone) camera.
I have over 600 photos on the phone’s memory disc that I’ve taken at various places (the disc still has alot of memory space left, too!)
Tokyo Five 
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