I’m visiting Japan. I will share updates here. 
Well, turns out you just need to download Tokyo. 
I was very buy for the last week, but will now begin processing those days and sharing.
So far I’ve had a wonderful time, and I still have the bulk of my stay ahead of me. 
I take a decent amount of photos on any given day, however when I go on trips that are meetups for my company, I tend to not take a lot of photos because I happen to work with an amazing amount of people who either:
- Are basically professional photographers, and
- Folks with advanced tech in their phones that capture enough of the ambient happenings
So I reserve my photos for things that normally only I would observe. FYI.
When I landed I was tired, so did not take many photos that night.
View from my room:
View beside seaside deck:
Harbor stuff. Nice! I know harbors. I live near one!
My first full day in Tokyo was very full, indeed!
I woke up early and breakfasted, and then joined a small crew to check out how smoothies work at 7-11 (self-serve machine after buying a cup of ingredients!) and then we wandered towards Tokyo Tower (um, via cemetery, at one point 
).
I found those blue building quite striking, especially against the towers behind them. All of those will come up later.
I joined up with a larger crew and then took a subway train to Roppongi Hills to visit the Design 21_21 Museum; unfortunately it closed due to exhibits being changed, so we went to the Suntory Museum of Art.
Afterward the group I was with attended a kintsugi workshop, where I mended a plate!
At first the train system seems very different, but as a student of transit systems, it quickly became apparent how efficient this system is.
I had such a great view, I often took photos! Pretty boats, pretty buildings, and even what I would learn is Tokyo Skytree, all in one view!
Finally, we ended the day by going on a large barge with tables and tatami, where my very large group ate new foods (to most of us) and eventually busted into karaoke.
The next day I attended some workshops and then went with my team to Tokyo Skytree!
In Minato City there are several walkways that connect to various buildings several floors above the street level! The Softbank building had these amazing green levels on the outside, and the walkway went above and next to Kyu-Shiba-rikyū Gardens.
Tokyo Skytree is currently the tallest tower on Earth!
Here are just a bunch of photos of the city so far below. In some of them you can kinda make out the side of Fuji-san.
Inside there were a lot characters, and the sorakara point is the highest accessible point in the tower. Which means at 2 meters tall, I’ve been higher in the air than the majority of people!
I also used the rest room not far from the sorakare point! I make no particular claims on this fact, tho this baby chair sign cracked me up. The rest room was smaller than those on airplanes, so it is prudent to mention:
Be careful to avoid hitting child when opening and closing door, etc.
There was a section of glass floor! There was a crowd of people kinda tiptoeing at the margins, who were a little freaked out when I started hopping slightly. 
Notable is the Tokyo Skytree mall, at the base, which had many character stores! Also, in the attached station mall (there are a lot of malls attached to stations and mega-structures) was a display food shop, which looks useful when pranking people but could get expensive.
That evening I spotted this bright ship and the bridges lighting up! Of course I also had a new awareness…
…of the tower that lights up the skyline.
My internal clock was/is all over the place, and despite not really being a very early morning person, I was up with the sun (which raises very early on the east coast of places!).
I walked along the waterfront, noticing cranes and orbs afar, and a whale’s tale nearby. I even tried a panoramic image, but as I keep confirming, I don’t really like taking them or the product, so…
In the afternoon I went with friends to Itoya, a stationery store that has been operating for over a hundred years!
Inside was what one would expect: giant pens, tiny hippos, and a sloth that “just can’t even”.
I was able to obtain cards for posting, and knowledge on how to do so.
As I was returning to my room I got rained on, tho it was not that bad. And when I got to the train platform all these trains kept going by!
As I turned from that photo, I noticed these three monitors mounted, showing the passengers all the way down the platform!
It was then I felt a presence directly behind me, which was of course the train conductor, who uses these monitors to ensure the passengers have entered the train safely before continuing.
As I was at the end of the platform, I was also next to the conductor’s, um, office. Where an advertisment for a train simulator was posted! I wonder how many conductors start their career this way? 
The Kyu-Shiba-rikyū Gardens looked very pleasant in the mist of the rainy weather.
For dinner that night I went to a vegan restaurant called Ain Soph with my vegan peeps, and we have a lovely dinner. Even if I don’t personally need vegan fish eggs to feel complete.
One of the reasons I went to Itoya was to get crayons for a thing I brought to share with my team. In the evening, I got it started…
The next day stated with what I thought an excessive amount of steam/smoke coming from a tiny ship, but as the day went on I saw several of these, so if it is a concern, no one else was showing it.
I went to pick up some postage stamps, and received my first tissue packet in Japan! This would be the beginning of my journey learning about the postal system in Japan.
My friend André colored in a second sheet, and then folks starting getting into it!
It was a beautiful, clear-ish day, which meant it was also going to be hot!
That’s correct, friends: a ticket to the Ghibli Museum!
Photography is not allowed inside the museum, and we were encouraged to take photos while queued in line; while this was annoying at first, it quickly becomes apparent why this would be an issue: the place was super packed! If folks were taking photos, no one could move inside.
However, I did notice someone awaiting me on the roof…
To access the roof, one must scale multiple staircases where there are hidden passages for tiny people to pop in and out, and then go pass the large, soft and furry cat bus with children all over it, and up a very narrow spiral staircase… I decided to explore as far back as I could, where I noticed a small pond with lily pads! Tho of course, there was ever a looming presence…
After taking a few shots for scale…
…I tried to take a cool selfie, but you might read on my face the realization of how fucking powerful this thing would be, given it’s dimensions and attributed abilities from the movie. 
I feel incredibly fortunate to have visited the Ghibli Museum; I personally learned of the efforts to secure my groups tickets. I also think the museum is geared towards small children, who would obviously have the best time in the structure provided (in much the same way I think anyone should borrow a kid to visit Children’s Fairyland in Oakland, tho it will obviously not be the same for said borrowed child [I don’t have a lot of friends with children ]).
As for the gift shop: I’ve been to two different stores outside the museum that offer the same fare, so you are fine visiting those if you need your Ghibli stuff!
Also, the movie shown in the theater (you are given a movie ticket which also shows several frames from a Ghibli production) was beautiful and is probably the closest to how my hyperphantasia and synesthesia interact in animated form! Words and spirits abound! I loved it.
I was enchanted by my view, as shown with these photos that look very similar, yet have very different shadows in them!
That evening I joined a party in dining at a very fine restaurant at a hotel over by the Death Star Fuji TV Observation Deck, which was glowing a calming Death Star Red while I was leaving via train.
I was so surprised to see an ad for this exhibit: Spitz is one of the only bands I’m into since way back when, and while I won’t be here for the exhibit, it was an interesting feeling knowing that band is still active (and apparently has been a very successful act!).
Later that evening I was considering obligating myself to sit in a room with a bunch of singing teammates. I had no issue finding the karaoke space, but a couple of Shinkansen trains redirected my energy towards a different goal…
…Tokyo Tower!
It is difficult to not be pulled towards, so here are the images that defined my journey that evening!
I would read a book on Japanese landmarks at my next hotel that stated while the Tokyo Skytree surpassed the Tokyo Tower in several aspects, the Tower remains emblematic of the city, and I understand なぜ. It is distinctive, iconic, and somehow reassuring (when it isn’t bending reality or summoning demons [thanks anime]).
I walked several kilometers that evening, but did eventually make it back to my hotel.
Each morning I would notice these groovy colored ferries docking!
Then I noticed a big ship docking!
Toufu-ya Ukai… I had lunch there!
I don’t know what else to say than, “the finest meal I’ve had in Tokyo”.
We were in a tatami room and served several courses, each exquisite on it’s own. I left fulfilled and inspired!
There was this amazing space shared between the dining areas, and while I did not take many photos, I caught the moments that were meaningful to me.
We decided to walk back, which included a route not thru a graveyard, and included these kawaii utility hole covers! The firefighters have rosy cheeks! 
Later, I would visit Eight Coffee, a coffee + hot dog stand!
I had a cold lemonade, which is significant as it was also offered hot. 
Each meetup I have this same singularity: drop a stack of postcards in the local mail system, and then have no control over how the ITU handles it.
Hey, that ship is still here! As well as several buildings lit up across the misty evening sky.
The day started out a bit overcast and meh, no doubt in part as that would be the last day I saw most of my team that trip (and hence for a very long while).
But I decided to push thru, starting by eating a massive amount of eggs, I now realize upon review.
I decided to go for a walk around the harbor, to capture some of the interesting perspectives.
By the time I got back to my room, my mood, like the weather, had brightened! 
Later I met with one of my friends doing laundry, which is a whole thing I’ll get into after this! Anyhow, allow the way and back, lots of interesting things appeared! Those fire fighters have rosy cheeks!
It’s a good day for doing the laundry!
Hey, okay, kinda on the nose, but definitely a positive vibe, I’m down!
But every day is a laundry day at this place.
Oh, nice! You know I love me some meta reference humor! Let’s see how they wrap this up:
And, you enjoy for a while the cat’s away, the mice will play!
…huh.
Well, I did not expect that, so that was an unexpected ending… I’ll give it that!
Turns out laundromats in Japan are very coo! You use a machine to program the cycle and extras for the washing machine you’ve chosen… but it also dries them, and will add detergent as well! It’s brilliant! And if you have a local number, it will notify you when it is done. 
It’s very cool this place stays open 24 hours a day. However, I’d personally have to learn how many kilograms my laundry is… I’ve got no clue at this point!
For you sneakerheads out there: dedicated machine, yo! 
Later I went for one last walk until check-in at my next hotel.
I noticed a sign that was rather straighforward!
I found interesting utility hole coverings all over Tokyo!
Many parts of Minato City had multiple walking levels! Which is great once you learn them, but really confused Google Maps to the point of being mostly useless. I relied on it give me a general direction, after multiple times it lost me half an hour or more trying to follow along.
This person had on a groovy outfit; the pants seemed like liquid!
There were many fashionable folks walking around Tokyo, at all times actually. I generally don’t take photos of strangers, but the one above was really trippy to me.
Okay, after I left that hotel, I started taking a lot of photos. That means I will start breaking days up, and the next post will be the rest of that day.
Those are mascots for one of the rail systems serving the Tokyo area.
The new hotel was different from the first in nearly all respects.
Of course the view was a lot less inspiring (despite my location actually being near a lot of wonderful things), but the main issue I had there was the bathroom module installed in the room.
One steps up into it, losing precious inches, resulting in room somehow smaller than an airplane toilet; I could not sit on the seat without opening the door, and I could not stand straight in the shower as my head hit the vent just above.
I don’t sleep particularly well in hotels, and it was not notably in that sense. And that meant it didn’t really matter for me as I spent little time in the room except for sleeping. 
Also, the term, “Shower Toilet” sounds kinda gross to me.
The rooms had metal doors, so they used magnets for signalling “please change linens” and “please do not disturb”; I never put both out at the same time, so I don’t know what they would have done…
I thought I was tired when I saw that, but upon review: that evacuation plan is banana-pants!
I considered perhaps I was missing out on a cultural understanding, but that wouldn’t matter: they use red and green circles and boxes to mean different things on the same graphic!
My first thought is, okay, I need to get to the red box, then put the nearest green circle in its square to ensure the one by the exit doesn’t block my escape… and I died from fire. 
in-taay-nee-to
I’ve never stayed in a place that provided a physical net connection! I was so smug plugging it into the port I always insist on having and don’t use ever.
The hotel had a nice cafe area with interesting books. I spent a couple hours there, when I was tired but not sleepy, and because the room was so very tiny.
There were even interactive-ish displays! One showed the weather, and the other was a survey to know when you would go to that cute cafe area, which you’ll notice has substantially less seating that the survey has pegs! I would learn to go at 6:30, where even then it was already crowded.
I ended up doing my laundry here while in Japan. That machine would run for 200 yen, but for another 100 yen it would include detergent! That was handy, and it was scent-free.
In the same room were drink machines, so you didn’t have to leave the hotel to visit one of the 20 machines within a block of it.
It also made me wonder: did they get cocaine in Japan? Does “Coke” have any drug-related meaning here?
Fortunately the hotel had an Eye of Sauron that was easy to spot from afar.
This would prove useful when I took an evening walk to begin mapping the territory…
I’m not sure how I felt when I left the hotel and down the block are signs for both Denny’s and 7/11!
I began my walk with a simple quest: find some food. However, it quickly unlocked several sub-quests, such as “look at all the buildings!” and “can I get to Tokyo Skytree from here?!”
Rivers were a defining feature of the liminal spacetime.
I was surprised by how peaceful the rivers still were, even when a highway had been built above it.
I was fortunate to stay in that part of Tokyo (Koto City), as all the rivers within walking distance were accessible by footpath and was inviting, night or day, rain or shine.
During my walk I noted a few places to check out; one of those I would return to nearly every day, and the other two I would never visit!
I thought that was a cool looking building; I wonder how many units it is, and their dimensions.
I enjoy the aesthetics of so many building types and sizes in Tokyo!
Did you notice that Skytree photo-bombing those building shots?!
Turns out, from my location it is really easy to always take a photo of Skytree! This one includes a river turned into a public park, which goes all the way to a few blocks from Skytree (I walked it from that origin back to this spot, later!).
I found this cool spot where I could see the light shot booting up, and it lined up with so many other interesting features of the spacetime… I took a video:
I was not expecting the train to pass just then, as I had not yet been trained how timely they are.
Let’s see, what else happened?
Ah, I took a wrong turn in a mall! (It was just meaty pink in all directions! 
Took a wrong turn down an alley with very colorful and different shade of meaty pink signage on all the hotels, listing hourly rates.
And finally made it back to my room to enjoy the evenings meal.