When in Tokyo....

Day 2 in Tokyo was fortunately with more good weather (no rain!). I headed out to the well known and trendy neighborhood of Shibuya by train. The area is alive with young people and sort of like the Times Square of Tokyo. Right out of the station is a very very popular meeting sport where THE STATUE OF HACHIKO the dog sits. The statue is there in honor of Hachiko's faithfulness and loyalty to his master. The dog continued going to the station over a decade after his master passed. Its also apparently in some Richard Gere movie??!!!

Anyway, some big stars like Madonna and Mariah Carey are also known to have made music videos in this hub of an area that's filled with flashing billboards, shops and well...you get the idea!

I made my way to the next suburb over to meet a dear friend that I met last Christmas at HPA who was leading a student group from Japan which I was teaching English too. This area was made famous by the now popular label "HARIJUKU". Again, this is a funky neighborhood with one particular Takeshita Street that is closed off to cars and is chock full of people checking out the boutique stores and fun dressed people (see photos including a shop for dog kimonos!!!). The area is also home to a massive green park that is filled with cherry blossoms early in April. My friend tells me that an apartment in this area costs around $US 6000/month!!!! The park was nice and busy with families and all age groups due to the golden week holiday. In this green area is also the home of one of the most visited shrines in Japan called the Meiji Jingu-we were really lucky to see a traditional wedding take place too (which Rina says is most wanted by many people in Japan but very very expensive!).

We got the train a couple of stops down to SHINJUKU station...this folks--is the busiest train station in the world and I read that it passes about 3 million people through the place per day!!!! We walked to the Tokyo Metro Government Building to check out the free public 45th floor sky view but unfortunately missed the cut off time by 3 minutes (the building has shorter hours since the earthquakes). Not to worry as I went on google and found a picture of what the view would have been liked:)

http://www.google.co.jp/imglanding?q=tokyo+metro+governmnt+buildilng+sky+view&um=1&hl=ja&client=safari&sa=N&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbnid=4TAdDpOlVJE6CM:&imgrefurl=http://www.trtube.com/y/%2525E6%25259D%2525B1%2525E4%2525BA%2525AC%2525E9%252583%2525BD%2525E5%2525BA%252581/&imgurl=http://img.youtube.com/vi/wFy6_hamXI0/0.jpg&w=480&h=360&ei=FvS7TfiEB4yougOj9eWDBg&zoom=1&iact=hc&page=1&tbnh=139&tbnw=199&start=0&ndsp=13&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0&biw=1040&bih=606

Shinjuku station was hugeeeee and made even more confusing to navigate since there is underground shopping too! We walked around the area which was great in itself to see all the different shapes, sizes and designs of the work buildings. Rina then took me to Japan's Red Light District area called KABUKICHO. There is some illegal things that get run here if you could imagine and even as we walked through the streets at around 5pm, there were a number of guys standing on corners waiting to recruit women to work. We sadly said our goodbyes and hope to reunite again on another trip!

I'm slowly getting the hang of the Tokyo train and subway system...the biggest in Japan of course but there are a couple of main lines that I take. I am very lucky to be staying in such a great location....40% chance of rain tomorrow.....!