Tokyo

Hi!

I am writing to you from Tokyo on our last day in Japan! It seems crazy that this is our last day. Do you know that feeling when a period of time seems really long but at the same time it feels like you've only been on the road for about two days?...................never mind, you can't answer that.

Anyway, Tokyo was the short, little, tiny and stressful of this part of the jubilee, like Rome was. It was very fun, full of crowds of people, cherry blossoms and food. I'm just going to run through some interesting things that happened on this last leg of our Japan trip.

There are very many interesting things in the city of Tokyo for those of you who didn't know that already. These things include insane arcades that are just on the side of the roads and are blasting noise from about one hundred different games all at once. We went in one just to check it out and almost got our ears blown off. There were games that I was familiar with that turn up in the arcades that we have back in the States, but then there were games that I had never seen (or heard) before, like a medieval war game where you control your troops by moving cards across a board in front of the screen.

It was kind of like walking into the future, and I'm not sure I liked it.

Every street in Tokyo felt like the deepest heart of downtown Chicago, tall buildings, sidewalks packed with people and shops at every other door.

The only difference was the screens. There are huge commercial screens on the fronts of the overly tall buildings. They come in all shapes and sizes. Do you like blue? we've got one for you! and while you're at it why don't we add some blinking red letters on it. Oh, and you know what? How about we put 30 more along this street? Of course, we can't have only blinking signs can we? No, let's add some 20ft wide screens on the bigger buildings in the intersections that catch everyone's attention so they can watch Japanese boy bands sing at them while they try to move through the crowd of people that don't seem to have a sense of direction. Do you walk on the left? the right? the middle? who knows? not us.

I'm not giving Tokyo enough credit though. If you want to buy something, even if it's the most random object you can think of, or a Gucci purse, you can find it in Tokyo.

Huge malls full of weird candy, clothes, books, TV show themed merchandise or some Godzilla underwear for the man who has everything that you need to get a gift for. Who knows?

We had a lot of fun shopping for our friends and family. We went to the Studio Ghibli store which was really, really fun. On the first day we went to local botanical garden which has a field of cherrie blossoms that people have picnics under.

We sat on our coats and read poems under the blooming fuschia trees. The weather has been amazing, with cloudless skies and warm breezes that envelope you (and yes, I'm wearing sunscreen for those people who are inquiring).

We have eaten at some great vegan places and had some great coffee at these sweet little cafes that are good for slipping into when you want to take a break from the futuristic streets outside.

So there you go! We have experienced the full Japan month and are heading home at last to see our little demon dog and all of you!

Love all of you so much,

Willa Marie