Yesterday my post was about crossing at signals. I learned about “Zebra Crossings” (note that is not pronounced Zeebra but Zehbra) when I moved to London. I find them in most cities, even Salt Lake but since drivers there don’t seem to understand the principle of the Zebra they have bright orange flags to carry while you cross. Anyway, a Zebra crossing looks like this:
In London, in theory, the minute you step off the curb cars are required to stop for you. In Tokyo you look both ways and cars may or may not decide to stop. When I walk home I often don’t want to wait for the “Green Man” or to cross at the Zebra and so I cut through the hospital parking lot ( the shortest distance to my front door) and cross here:
First notice the barricade, I climb over it. Notice the small piece of concrete, you step off of it right into traffic. My front door is where the glowing yellow light is. I am cautious, but I really shouldn’t be doing this. The shortest distance between two points isn’t always the safest!
When I moved to Tokyo I had the hardest time standing on a corner where there was no traffic waiting for him:
When we lived in London people only waited for the “green man” when there was traffic. In Tokyo nearly everyone waits for the green man. So in Tokyo, I usually wait for the green man. I have noticed that when I don’t wait, one or two Japanese will do the same. Wow! The power of a bad example. I don’t want to be responsible for someone getting hit by a car because of my bad example…as I’ll wait for the “Green Man!”
Marisa suggested that the graffiti of the boy might be the work of a popular graffiti artist Banksy I looked at some of his work and had to agree. I looked at the photo again and noticed that it had been signed. This morning I walked down there again to find out who the artist is. It was signed Jef Aerosol I discovered that Jef Aerosol and Speedy Graphito (the artist who did the robot) are both French graffiti artists. Their art appearing on the side of the old French Embassy must not be random. This morning I walked a little further down the road and found a much larger image on the other side of the building.
Awhile back mothers were banned from riding a bicycle with two children. This was about the same time they said you cannot hold and umbrella while riding a bicycle. More recently the law about mothers riding with two children has changed. They are now allowed to ride with two children if they purchase a specific type of bike. The new bike is quite expensive, costing $600 and up. It is supposed to be sturdier. I cannot imagine riding with two children, especially with one virtually on the handle bars. It was a challenge riding with one child on the back and I even ended up dumping Kristina on her head when she was quite small. That was in the pre-helmet days. I was so grateful to get one of the first bike trailers. And just so you know, the Japanese rarely wear helmets. Here is a photo of a “Mama-san” bike, be sure to take note of the long black box between the seat post and the rear tire, it’s the motor:
Today I had to run errands on the shopping street in my neighborhood. As I passed the sushi-ya (“ya” added to another word means shop, pan-ya is bakery) I decided that it had been too long since I’ve had sushi and stopped for a little take away lunch. I decided on some California rolls. I don’t usually choose California rolls, but they looked especially good. My favorites are the salmon and tuna. Sushi! Yum!
This is a view of Tokyo by night. The Rainbow Bridge connects Tokyo with Odaiba, a manmade island in Tokyo Bay. Rick crosses the Rainbow Bridge everyday to get to his office in Odaiba. The needle type tower to the left side of the main span of the bridge is Tokyo Tower, Tokyo’s Eiffel Tower. Tokyo Tower dominates the skyline around my house and serves as a great point of reference when I am out walking or riding my bike and am not quite sure where I am. If I can see the tower I can get home. The boats in the foreground are party boats that go out on the bay nightly.
Our house is just a five minute walk from the Tokyo Temple and I can see the Angel Moroni from our living room window. With all the power lines that surround the temple it is difficult to get a good photo. This morning I stopped on a bench in my park and was surprised that I had never noticed this view of the temple spire before.
It’s nice know that I have readers. I am doing my daily post to help me be more alert to my surroundings and it is helping. Everyday I have my camera with me and am constantly thinking, “What am I going to post today?” So thank you to my my faithful “commenters.”
The photos below were taken in Harajuku. On the weekends it is invaded by young people participating in cosplay, which is simply dressing up in costumes. Some dress like their favorite manga or anime characters. They were not excited about having their photo taken which is crazy. That’s the reason these are not great photos
Truly, Tokyo is the kind of place where you would never expect to see graffiti, especially in my neighborhood. Graffiti just doesn’t fit with the Japanese culture. So I was really astonished to see this. This building used to be part of the French Embassy. They have just completed a new building and this one has a sign (in English, surprisingly) that says it is going to be converted into condos. This is really quite cool.
