A rainy day in the capital city

Honkan building at Tokyo National Museum
see all photos »

My 'ah ha' experience of the day was when I realized why Japanese signage always seems so busy.  They have at least 3 and sometimes 4 written scripts on each sign.

Big kudos to the subway system.  Looking on the map I thought no way am I going to figure out this maze.  But these folks know how to create intelligent design and communicative signs.  color coded numbered stops and frequently located signs definitely assuaged my anxious nature.

I spent the first of the day at the Tokyo National Museum which gave me a very quick lesson in Japanese history.  There is a series of buildings each completely different architecturally.  The main one called Honkan is a great example of Japanese Deco.  All of the displays are top notch with plenty of information in English.  Especially eye catching is the laquerware which uses gold dust.

Temple of the fox
see all photos »

After a lunch of tonkatsu which came with a mortar and pestle containing black sesame seeds which I dumped in my rice.  I headed over to Asukasa.  This a temple complex which combines elements of Bhuddism with Shinto.  Many of the Deities were dressed with red bibs and hats  - It was cold out.

I ended the night having dinner with Andy and a teaching buddy of his Derrick.  We went to one of those restaurants out of Lost In Translation.   The menu shows pictures of raw beef in various cuts and weights.  You have a burner in the middle of the table and cook your own dinner.  There are about a dozen sauces for dipping.  Kind of fun but you have to stay on top of what your doing or you may end up with blackend steak.