tokyo

20-22 november 1999
after 4 months without leaving the innaka of nagano-ken, we decided it was time for a change of scenery and a little bit of big city life, so we headed down to the bigest city i've every seen- tokyo.  we stayed at a  nice ryokan, refused to eat japanese food, and gawked at stared at all the other gaijin walking around.  all it all, a great adventure....

vic, sarah, me and betsy before our big night out on saturday.  we found this great cuban restaurant, and salsa danced until 4am.  betsy was a pro (dancing wise) but even though vic sarah and i had no idea what we were doing, we had a great time.  betsy and i even got to speak a bit of spanish....

us in front of the mejii shrine in central tokyo.  it happened to be the day of a children's festival, so there were hundreds of kids all dressed up in kimono.  kawaii!  i've heard the tori gates here are the largest in japan.  you can see one in the background.

right next to the mejii shrine is yoyogi park, and every sunday, this is where some young people gather to show off elaborate costumes they've created.  this guy was one of the stars that day, mostly because of the umbrella.  there were loads of kids there, all with fantastic outfits.  we asked one of them if they have a new costume every week, and she said some do, but she just has two dresses.  it seemed like a great outlet for kids that might not 'fit in' at their schools:  here they are stars.

on monday, sarah, vic and i went to the gardens of the imperial palace.  just gorgeous, and so peaceful, even smack in the midle of downtown tokyo.  a nice way to end our adventure.