While we were on vacation, I started a Livejournal blog so I could post photos for my kids to see. I didn't do much with it other than posting huge blocks of photos, so I thought I'd start moving them here and actually writing a little bit about them. Good time for an introduction, since I've already posted about the trip several times! I told you I have no sense of continuity!
Shibuya. I would guess that most people who have ever seen photos of modern Japan would recognize this intersection:
It was around 0700, so traffic was light and the buildings weren't lit up yet. A perfect time for a breakfast run to Starbucks! It's on the first and second floor of that building across the intersection. Here's a view from the second floor:
Do you see the large cardboard box crossing the street? It is manned by one a group of young men who were filming what I presume was a student film. We actually ran into them again a couple of hours later in Harajuku.
Are you familiar with the legend of Hachiko?
He has a statue here at this intersection (photo coming in just a minute). The statue is a famous meeting point; reportedly, any Tokyoite knows where it is. It took us a minute to find it, so here is a high-speed, professionally designed map for your edification in case you miss the Hachiko station exit like we did and end up across the street:
Shibuya station is sort of where point #2 is. Here's some nice wall art from inside:
Point #1, during our visit in April 2009, was a train car with some advertising on it. I specify the time frame in case it's not a permanent fixture. Anyway, when we exited the station, we did so via a hallway that we discovered was a bridge over the street. So we came out near point #3, which is a Metro station entrance and was manned by the ubiquitous tissue-advertising-hander-outer-person:
Uh, this map is not according to any kind of scale, by the way. In fact, it isn't really very accurate at all. But point #4 is the building that houses the Starbucks. Point #5 is the tall, cylindrical 109 building. At least, that's where I remember it being...And that leads us back around the map to the big X. Hachiko, who sits and waits for his master's return.
Shibuya. I would guess that most people who have ever seen photos of modern Japan would recognize this intersection:
It was around 0700, so traffic was light and the buildings weren't lit up yet. A perfect time for a breakfast run to Starbucks! It's on the first and second floor of that building across the intersection. Here's a view from the second floor:
Do you see the large cardboard box crossing the street? It is manned by one a group of young men who were filming what I presume was a student film. We actually ran into them again a couple of hours later in Harajuku.Are you familiar with the legend of Hachiko?
He has a statue here at this intersection (photo coming in just a minute). The statue is a famous meeting point; reportedly, any Tokyoite knows where it is. It took us a minute to find it, so here is a high-speed, professionally designed map for your edification in case you miss the Hachiko station exit like we did and end up across the street:
Shibuya station is sort of where point #2 is. Here's some nice wall art from inside:
Point #1, during our visit in April 2009, was a train car with some advertising on it. I specify the time frame in case it's not a permanent fixture. Anyway, when we exited the station, we did so via a hallway that we discovered was a bridge over the street. So we came out near point #3, which is a Metro station entrance and was manned by the ubiquitous tissue-advertising-hander-outer-person:
Uh, this map is not according to any kind of scale, by the way. In fact, it isn't really very accurate at all. But point #4 is the building that houses the Starbucks. Point #5 is the tall, cylindrical 109 building. At least, that's where I remember it being...And that leads us back around the map to the big X. Hachiko, who sits and waits for his master's return.
2 comments:
That is some nice wall art...
Vaden Chandler
The Arete' Blog
www.ordinary80.blogspot.com
I love the little bursts of art that show up all over the place in Tokyo. This one was definitely a nice use of what would have otherwise been advertising space.
Thanks for reading!
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