tokyo
 

This is a little overdue, but I still wanted to post a few photos from my trip to Tokyo for New Year's weekend.

I absolutely loved the place. One of the best cities I've ever traveled to. Tokyo is energetic and incredibly chaotic, but its frenzy moves with a gracefulness absent in places like New York and Beijing. All the food was amazing, the sprawling urban landscape startingly beautiful and the women absolutely gorgeous. Anyway, here you go. (Sorry, i just realized how many photos I posted ... enjoy.)

One of the first things we did when we got to town was eat at a conveyor belt sushi place.

http://www.chezwang.com/gallery/imag...o/img_2749.jpg

My uncle took us to eat fugu the first night we were there. Very tasty - although we were a bit alarmed when some woman passed out and had to be taken to the hospital via ambulance. I shrugged my shoulders and kept eating anyway.

http://www.chezwang.com/gallery/imag...o/img_2763.jpg

A view of an antenna ... and Mt. Fuji against a nice sunset.

http://www.chezwang.com/gallery/imag...o/img_2758.jpg

Big ferris wheel by Toyota's Megaweb.

http://www.chezwang.com/gallery/imag...o/img_2817.jpg

It was crowded EVERYWHERE we went. This is the electronics district, the name of which now escapes me (Akihabura?).

http://www.chezwang.com/gallery/imag...o/img_2829.jpg

Time Out's Tokyo guide says, "Gaspanic is the place where young people go to grope other young people." I didn't grope anyone, but I got really drunk here.

http://www.chezwang.com/gallery/imag...o/img_2877.jpg

Still trying to figure this one out myself. Apparently dressing up on New Year's Eve is the big thing there.

http://www.chezwang.com/gallery/imag...o/img_2933.jpg

The Harujuku girls are apparently famous for their tradition of getting decked out in goth and hanging out on a bridge near the Meiji Shrine.

http://www.chezwang.com/gallery/imag...o/img_2956.jpg

The Shibuya crossing where Bill Murray and Scarlett Johannson (sp) run across the street in Lost in Translation.

http://www.chezwang.com/gallery/imag...o/img_3014.jpg

Lastly, I loved the architecture of the city's buildings.

http://www.chezwang.com/gallery/imag...o/img_2999.jpg

I love it! I was in Tokyo in October; these shots brought back some memories. Thanks, BN!

I'd love to go to Japan, but I think it's one ambition which will never be fulfilled. It's just too expensive - once I saved enough to go there I could have fulfilled my ambitions to go to two other places...

Also I travel alone, and I'm not sure I could really enjoy myself in somewhere quite so foreign.

Thanks for the pictures though, it's a fascinating place.

Excellent bn, as usual. :thumb:

Outstanding images BN. Nice job with the resizing and the descriptions too.

My trip to Osaka in Dec. was cancelled due to some unexpected travel document hassles but I'm rescheduling for this fall.

The normal everyday scenes of life there are very interesting to me. The picture quality is also very good.

Thanks for posting these.

Thanks for the comments, folks. Here's a few more.

This is somewhere in Shinjuku. At night the city just lights up with excitement. Somehow it's brilliant and extraordinary, not gawdy and worn out like Vegas and NYC.

http://www.chezwang.com/gallery/imag...o/img_2845.jpg

My favorite photo of the trip (aside from the Minnie Mouse girl)

http://www.chezwang.com/gallery/imag...o/img_2936.jpg

In Harajuku, the entire street was lined with food stands for the big New Year's event at Meiji Shrine.

http://www.chezwang.com/gallery/imag...o/img_2987.jpg

One of the alley markets. Gorgeous.

http://www.chezwang.com/gallery/imag...o/img_2994.jpg

Annnnd ... an HDR shot from the woods near the Meiji Shrine.

http://www.chezwang.com/gallery/imag...g_2965_3_4.jpg

It just strikes me as amazing that the Japanese seem to be able to carry the desire for serenity of nature and the packed city in their hearts. Very powerful people.

I stumbled across this pic of Tokyo which I kind of like...
http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=322152193&size=l

lovely shots, too many people!

Be happy you're not paying the light bill. :lol:
Tokyo is very busy at night because of the way the Japs eat. Mostly freah food, especially seafood, they shop for every day or two. It's a constant logistics challange to replenish that fresh food for so many mouths.

Man, this guy does some great HDR work. I wish I could do 5-bracket exposures with my 30D ... the 3-shot really limits the kind of lighting in which I can set up a cool HDR image.

Gosh how completely beautiful! Utterly fascinating. Thanks so much for sharing those with us!

another example of their efficiency?
i dont lknow a lot about Tokyo, but i do know that the Japanese are from outer space! :D

HDR? How de do dat?
5-bracket exposure? Down near the end of the comments he shows the original 3 photos? :confused:

I ran onto this group of 19 HDR images of Japan. Very surreal. :3eye: