Still more movies

Yea, got some of the same old videos for you. Just some little stuff I should have put up awhile ago, but forgot about. So enjoy if you care for a small glimpse into Tokyo. I hope you enjoyed my Japanese project movie. After I posted it, I realized how pointless it must have been for people who don't speak Japanese to watch. Those that do understand some Japanese and watched it, found it, well, amusing, haha. The grammar is pretty spot on (except where I say "no" in english, haha).

Went to my first Japanese baseball game this past Sunday. It was like American baseball games, kind of slow, horrible nose bleed section seats, etc. Japanese fans are...very cordial though. Opposing fans kind of encourage each other and are pretty friendly. Cheering is calm and profanity free, except for those cursed thunder sticks. Good clean fun I suppose, just like the good old days, far before I existed...there was one inning though when the home team, the Tokyo Giants, scored 7 runs, but other than that, it was pretty ho hum. It was in the Tokyo Dome, which seems to be a pretty old stadium. But hey, it lasted longer then the Vet!

By the way, I'm going to China next week. My boat leaves Monday. I'll be there for about 10 days (3 days for riding the boat not included with that tally). Should be back in Japanland May 5. I'll return finally to the US of A on May 7, woohoo. I suppose I should stop by the old place and let people know I'm still alive. And an American still.

First is another old video of the crazy nationalist people. The police look like there doing something to stop them, but in reality don't really do anything...I don't know what's up, but I get the impression that this junk is allowed to go on and the police merely put on a show to look like they're doing something (that's just me, ok):


Here's video on a little trolley/train thing near Kamakura, a former capital of Japan not too far from Tokyo. It's a very beautiful place on the ocean, full of history and rich people. I went with my Japanese teacher and some students from some of her more advanced Japanese classes:


This is a video of Mayor Ishihara of Tokyo, one of the most influential men in Japan. He just won re-election as governor of Tokyo (if you don't know, there is no such thing as Tokyo city, it's actually a loose association of smaller ward cities, 23 in all, that we call Tokyo proper. Tokyo is actually, well, no one knows what it is, but it's a -to. Tokyo's name is actually Tokyo-to and it's the only provincial body in Japan with the ending -to. Um, ok, right?). Anyway, Ishiharai's interesting because he's ultra-conservative, known for his alleged ties to the Yakuza (Japanese mob), the crazy nationalist people who scream threw mega phones in black vans, and his unintelligent but funny one line quotes, full of racism, sexism and plain old I hate everyone who's not a male Japanese. Yea, I hope he doesn't become Prime Minister someday...:


This is the newest big thing in Tokyo: Tokyo Midtown Project, a huge complex of mixed use buildings, with a capstone, enormous tower. It's quite impressive, with everything you could imagine, like a park, shopping mall, museums, hotel (Ritz-Carlton), luxury apartments, offices (Fuji and Konami have moved in), etc. It also just awesome looking too. Not too far from my school:


Tokyo Midtown from the park behind the building (also part of the complex). NOtice the Cherry blossoms are in bloom:


Ah, Hanami, the art of watching sakura (cherry blossoms). It was excellent weather for the cherry blossoms this year and people were out in full force to see the show. This is what it was like in one of the most popular parks in Tokyo. This is only a small portion of a large park, and this is one of many parks in the city and remember, this is done all over Japan:


The new National Art Center has just opened as well (actually last December). I was here for a Monet exhibition, because I am a big fan. Anyway, very cool architecture I suppose (I'm not a big fan of concrete). The other exhibits were too abstract for me, not my thing:


Here is a re-created old style Japanese street outside of Tokyo, near where I live now. It's in the style from the Edo period of Japan, when Japan was closed off to the world, about 1600s to 1868 roughly I think:


Here is a re-creation of an Edo period farm. Notice the traditional activities. The stilts are so,so hard!!!