Samurai winter

I saw this awesome weather forecast graphic on cable TV in Japan a few days ago.  It features a samurai over the Sea of Japan blowing cold air into the country.  If you look closely at the samurai's helmet, you'll notice it displays the Kanji character for winter, which is read as 'fuyu' in Japanese.  This winter samurai figure could be Japan's equivalent of Old Man Winter or Jack Frost, don't you think?

Gonpachi / Kill Bill

On my birthday, Neko treated me to dinner at a restaurant called Gonpachi, located in the Roppongi area of Tokyo.  This is the restaurant that inspired Quentin Tarantino in creating his setting for the restaurant fight scene in Kill Bill Volume One.  Remember Beatrix Kiddo taking on O-ren Ishii and the Crazy 88s?

It definitely feels like you're walking into the film the moment you enter the building, despite the filming not being done on location.  It's large and cavernous, in Edo-style with dark wood and bamboo. We had bar seats facing the grill area.  The food, mostly izakaya fare, was quite good for the most part.  The highlights were the many grilled skewers of meat and vegetables and gingko nuts, the taro salad, and the sake.

Upon leaving the restaurant, you pass by a wall of photos of musicians and politicians who've dined at Gonpachi in the past. Stephen Harper was one of them!

   

  

Shinjuku

I've posted about parks, shrines, and temples so far... so in this post I thought I'd share some architecture and city scenes of Shinjuku.  These photos were taken two days ago on a day trip with Neko and Emi.  There are many different aspects to this area of Tokyo and I barely touch the surface here.  For Emi the highlight was crawling on the soft, dry grass in Shinjuku Gyouen.

And, now, it's the tenth of December... a special day!  We are going to a different part of Tokyo for dinner tonight.  Does anybody remember the Edo-style restaurant in Kill Bill Volume 1 where the massive fight scene takes place?  Well, it's called Gonpachi and is an actual restaurant in the Roppongi area of Tokyo.  That's where we're going!  
 

 

Todoroki Ravine

Today I went to the Todoroki nature park, which is in a lush ravine that carries a small river that eventually feeds into the much bigger and wider Tama River that separates Setagaya from Kawasaki.  It is a bit of a secret spot and seems to only attract locals.  It took two train transfers to get there from our place in central Setagaya.

As for trains, I will definitely write about the Tokyu-Setagaya line in a future blog entry.  This is the train line that services our neighbourhood.  It has a bit of feel of old Showa era Japan.  On its small quiet trains you can stand up front beside the operator and watch them man the levers and controls.

It's much colder in Tokyo now.  A cold front arrived yesterday and ushered in much drier, chillier air and gusty winds.  It's no longer T-shirt weather.  Bundled up today!  

 

Goutoku-ji

I went for a long morning walk with Emi yesterday and we stumbled upon Goutoku-ji, a Buddhist temple and grounds with numerous structures including a pagoda. To me, it was a neat find on the edge of my new neighbourhood. But, I soon learned that the temple attracts its fair share of visitors to see the 'maneki neko' or 'beckoning cat' porcelain figures that welcome visitors with one paw raised. There are thousands of them in different sizes. Bizarre!

The weather here has been beautiful so far. Clear, dry, and warm with daytime highs hitting up to 18 degrees Celsius. The only rain we've had was during the night on one night only. Many trees are still displaying their autumn colours as fall lasts much longer here than in Canada.

Return to Japan

It's been three years, and, here I am, back in Japan. A lot has happened in my life since the last trip I blogged about in April 2013 and a subsequent trip in October that same year. This time I've come for six weeks and here with me, of course, are my wife and 10-month-old daughter. We're staying in a studio apartment in Setagaya-ku, a mostly residential area of western Tokyo. Our neighbourhood of Wakabayashi is pleasant and quiet, served by a small train line that connects with two much larger train lines that we can take to get to Tokyo's lively Shinjuku and Shibuya districts. Our neighbourhood is great for walking. Here's a picture of me and the little one taken two days ago.

Sundown in the Paris of the Prairies

It's been a little over a month since I returned to Canada from Japan and I'm already on my next journey.  This time I'm in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for a conference. And what a cultural shift this has been!  I've come from a metropolis of 35 million people on a mountainous island nation beside the ocean.  And now I'm in a city of 260,000 on the flat landscape of the Canadian Prairies, one of the most removed Canadian cities from any ocean.  The Tokyo Metro and JR-Yamanoto line have been replaced by Saskatoon's wide dusty streets and pickup trucks. So far, Saskatoon is a very pleasant, likable city.  Lots of old buildings and open streets.  The trees are in full bloom, taking in the northern sun as it wakes up from a long winter.  The river is beautiful and there are lots of nice bridges.

The old Victoria Avenue bridge, which is currently closed

to traffic and pedestrians.

"Sundown in the Paris of the Prairies. Wheat Kings have all

their treasures buried." --Gord Downie