Tokyo Street Scenery

 

Ginza street

We made it back to Kodiak! Now it is time to post all the pictures from the trip.  These photos show what it looks like on the streets of Tokyo. We spent most of our time in the Ginza area which is sort of the fashionable part of town - lots of stores but not a lot of housing.  But we did get to other parts of town.

The dog statue has a story.  I gather the dog is really famous.  The dog's name is Hachiko (link here to Wikipedia story) and he met his master every day at the train station.  Then is master suddenly died at work, and did not go home.  But the dog still met the train every day for nine years waiting for his master to come home.  They made the statue while the dog was still alive and he attended the unveiling of his own statue.  For the Japanese the dog is the epitome of loyalty.

Another thing about the streets of Tokyo - everybody uses the cross walks and pedestrians only cross when they get the green light.  There is no jaywalking.  It was kind of amazing to see people still waiting for the light to cross a street when there were absolutely no cars in sight. But that's probably also why despite all the crowds the traffic in the city still flows well. Quite the contrast with the congested mess in American cities.

Finally a word on the escalators.  In Japan on the escalators people stand on the left and let people walk and pass on the right.  I seem to remember that this was true of the escalators in London too.  I like this protocol because it lets me get up escalators quick if I am in a hurry.  And I get a little exercise too.  It was very frustrating to get to the Seattle airport and just stand on the clogged escalator while it slowly chugged along.  All the Americans just stand on the thing, and I found myself taking the stairs.

Patrick

Shibuya crossing

This dog has a name (Hashiko) - his master died but he still met the train every day for nine years waiting for master to come home