Not A Dollarshort

Tokyo Disneys

Of course, being the total dork I am, I couldn't go to Japan without visiting Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. Here are photos from that outing.

Japan Photos

I've posted some of my photos from our trip.

Inutama, Nekotama, Tamaitachi

Something I heard about while here: Inutama, Nekotama, Tamaitachi.

"The petting area is a delight. You sit on one of the benches like a nervous teen at a school dance, waiting to be picked out by a suitable date. As in life, it is a cumulative process: Getting the first one to come to you may be a bit difficult (especially if there is lots of human competition), but once one comes, others follow."

An article about the park.

Tokyo

I've reached the point where I have so many things to write about, but do not enough patience to sit down and write. On this trip, I have two states of being: I'm either near-unconscious at night due to jet lag, or I'm perpetually wired from just being exposed to so many new sights. I walk around with my mouth open, trying to absorb my surroundings and not get too much in the way of the Japanese. Food is incredibly good, especially the meat. We've had Tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlets that taste like nothing you can get in most American Japanese restaurants), Japanese BBQ, Ramen (eating at the Ramen house was one of the best ways to see how the Japanese eat and socialize). On Friday, we visited the NTT DoCoMo showroom (also known as "Magic Club D") at NTT DoCoMo headquarters. See this site to read more about the showroom and watch a video tour similar to the one we went on. There, we saw the latest mobile phone and wireless technolgies -- including video conferencing-enabled mobile phones, networked vending machines using Cmode and paperless magazines. On a I-should-probably-keep-this-thought-to-myself note: We watched a video about what communication technologies DoCoMo will be innovating in the year 2010. The plot of the film was that a group of friends in the year 2010 are gathering together to open a time capsule they sealed 30 years prior -- in the 1980s. We follow each of the friends as they get their notification that it's time to meet (via shirt sleeve phone, windshield phone, etc...). It just so happens that the main character in this video happened to be in a wheelchair. When I saw his wheelchair, I thought about the almost-always accurate rule that you won't see a dog in a movie unless it's going to get hurt or killed. The same often goes for people in wheelchairs. And since most of the time wheelchairs don't appear in films unless it's pivotal to the plot, I figured that DoCoMo was going to get him walking again. Instead, he turned out to be a soccer coach (a fulfillment of his capsule prediction) -- something that I don't think DoCoMo had any part in aiding. Later that day, Minami-san and Hirata-san patiently guided us on a tour of Akihabara, Tokyo's consumer electronics hub. I have never seen so many mobile phones, computers and cameras in one place at one time. In Akihabara, we also bought some Japanese comics and capsules from vending machines. And, most importantly, in a store in Akihabara I was reintroduced to Domo-kun (which I originally saw here long ago). Later that night, we attended the Movable Type users meeting, which I'll write about in more detail on the Six Log. To sum it up here, it was amazing. Yesterday, we went on a bus tour of Tokyo. Only seven other people were on the tour so it was incredibly personal and very un-tourlike. We saw the basic tour points: Tokyo Tower, Imperial Palace Plaza, Japanese Garden and Tea Ceremony, Sumida River cruise, Asakusa Kannon Temple and Nakamise Shopping Street. Along the way, we had a great Japanese BBQ lunch within the gardens where the Tea Ceremony was held. During lunch, we were all social and making conversation with our fellow tourists -- we actually forced ourselves to be social since our isolation from the rest of the group was starting to seem very anti-social. More to come.

Arrival in Tokyo

We have arrived in Tokyo. The plane ride was uneventful, though for a moment I thought we were doomed: One of the channels of in-flight audio was, I kid you not, dedicated to the songwriting of Paul Williams -- complete with an interview. Knowing my luck, I figured that Paul Williams probably controls the universe and I was going to get cosmic pay-back for writing this post. Luckily, Paul's wrath was not raged and I enjoyed some pretty great tunes -- including the Willie Nelson rendition of the Rainbow Connection. Initial impression of Japan (considering that I've yet to see daylight and anything much more than transit systems): So very clean and efficient. I can't imagine how the Japanese can travel to America and not feel completely disgusted by the general filth. And this isn't just a San Francisco or America bash -- it's an observation that is reflected in reality. Our travel companion, Barak, told us that it's one person's job to clean the handrails twice daily on the seemingly mile-long moving sidewalk that brought us to our hotel from the subway station. I touch things and do not have to worry about washing my hands immediately. Of course, this is coming from someone who carriers anti-bacterial hand wipes. Also, I spotted a number of people wearing surgical-like face masks to protect others from catching their colds. I read about this in a travel book but didn't expect it to be in practice. The mobile phone culture is amazing. In Tokyo, everyone seems to have a Internet-enabled mobile phone. On the subways and trains, however, you can not use them for phone calls. So, everyone uses them to message via email (and IM? -- I'm not sure). You'll look down the subway car and see everyone looking down at their tiny phones. I was really impressed by this. I can't help but feel completely overwhelmed by external stimuli. However, instead of stressing out, I'm forcing myself to embrace the pace. At the subway station, I literally felt like I was going in slow motion. People weren't running, they were just walking fast and being, well, efficient.