Photography & Beer Museums at Ebisu - Thursday 28th July

The Ebisu Garden Palace is an office, shopping and cultural precinct that includes the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography and the Yebisu Beer Museum.

Heading for the Beer Museum, the Museum of Photography was a nice surprise. There were 4 major exhibitions going on, and given it was already beer-o-clock, I just went for two. The Story of Children in Photography was interesting in that it ran through the evolution of photography, the pioneers and technology.

The Enari Tsuneo exhibition Japan and its Forgotten War - Showa was something else. Tsuneo is a photojournalist who has devoted nearly 40 years to documenting the negative consequences of Japan's Showa era wars, on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Fales Manchukuo, The Children's Manchukuo, and Island of Wailing Ghosts. Check out the link.


Black and white photography can be stunning at the best of times, and Tsuneo is an expert. In the Hiroshima and Nagasaki elements, a black and white portrait of an atomic bomb survivor is next to a colour image of a bomb relic - melted glass, a burnt cap. and then another portrait and the cycle continues. The juxtaposition is stunning and is reflected in the those aged survivors who, at least, are 70 years old. What horrors do these eyes portray? How had their lives been directed by the atomic bombs? Haunting.

Back into the real world......the Beer Museum. A bit disappointing really, not much history and back story, rather just an up market beer tasting lounge. Did top it off though with a very nice Yebisu beer from the Beer Hall next door.

Hama-ryku Gardens - Thursday 28th July

 When Veronica and I were here in September 2009, we took this tourist ferry to Hinode Pier. This time, Hama-ryku Gardens were my target. In 2009, the ferry was packed with lots of overseas visitors and locals. This time around, it was barely a quarter full, reflecting the uncomfortable rainy season but more the drastic drop off in tourism since the March earthquake and tsunami.

Nakajima-no-ochaya Tea house

 The gardens present another stark contrast to the dense built up environment that surround. It is absolutely quiet, the pond waters still and glassy. People wander around in quiet contemplation. Yet turn around and there is the un-escapable reality of Tokyo high rise offices.

Hama-ryku Garden is the family garden of the Tokugawa Shogun. Nice work if you can get it. The Nakajima-no-ochaya Tea house originated in 1707. It is these sorts of cultural relics that draw me to Japan.


The entrance fee is a reasonable 500Y and includes Green Tea served with a confection. For us tourists, you were also provided with a cheat sheet to explain what you did and when - like holding the cup in your left hand, and rotating it clockwise 180 degrees. Might sound corny, but in this setting it did let my imagination run wild - hey is that Shintaro over in trees?

Hama-ryku Gardens

Unfortunately my genetic hip condition did not allow me to squat on the floor, so I could not completely transport myself back to Shogun times.

Just got to mention Shimbashi Station, the nearest to Hama-ryku. The station is set in the bowels of a complex of 3 new office towers. it is 7 star quality. Granite and marble pasages leading to the centre of the earth. As if David jones basement had trains running through it. I little bit different than Penriff.

It's pay back time - Thursday 28th July

I have only ever experienced fantastic service and hospitality from Japanese people to me as a tourist. already in these 2 days I have been afforded service and support only dreamed of at home. But this little anecdote is not about them, its about me.

It may come as a surprise to some of you, but I really am a nice guy. Today on the Taito Community Bus service from Ueno to Asakusa, a person who well and truly met the aged criteria for AIDER services, this bloke stood up to get out at the same stop as me. But he caught his shopping bag on the seat and became flummaxed as older people can get. I unhooked him and we got out together. The smile and repeated words of thanks (I hope, anyway) was uplifting.

Being nice - as Japanese folk do all the time to me - is not bound by language.

Commuters - Thursday 28th July

Having got up real early to ring Veronica, I wandered around looking for a cafe place. Found one, at the end of an orderly queue of office commuters who were patiently waiting for the doors to open at 7:30am. I have seen some good queues in my days in Japan, but this one would have to be in my top 2. Precise spacing. Still, not hopping from foot to foot. Against the wall and out of the way of other pedestrians.

Chowing down with my Japanese fare of my latte from one of those instant machines, and my ham and cheese toasty, I sat next to an office worker at the bench looking out onto Asakusa-dori. No glances, no conversation, both of us fixed. And we weren't the only ones doing this, we had probably thousands of comrades doing the same thing this morning.

Tokyo revisited - Wednesday 27th July

Left the printed itinerary at home again, but atleast this time I had it on a thumb drive to print out sometime. My room at the Ueno Terminal Hotel is just about big enough to swing a cat in, but comfortable and reflects the price I paid for it. (6,100 yen is about $80).

Another bit of detaiｌ　Ｉ　ｌｅｆｔ　ｂｅｈｉｎｄ　ｗａｓ　the local dialing codes to make international phone calls. Now that took some work to find, but the first contact back with Veronica was the absolute priority.

Don't call me a train spotter, but.....I took the Toden Arakawa Line street car from Minowabashi to Waseda. One of 2 remaining street car lines in Tokyo, it was a great 15km trip through the suburbs of northern Tokyo. For real train spotter action, I saw a guy at Ebisu station (JR Yamanote Line if you must) with a long recording mike stretching up to the ceiling mounted speaker, to record the details of the next train action. And I just thought is was the British.

Off to the J-League Football to see Kawasaki Frontale play Hiroshima Sanfrecce in a Japan Cup game at Shinmaruko. Absolutely fantastic. And the marketing...you don't see this at a Sydney FC game. Outside the Stadium, there is a great park, and in it must have been 20 tents and stalls selling merchandise, food and drinks, and running activities. Thousands of Kawasaki fans (especially families) hung around here. And you could take your food and drink into the ground!

When I got in to find a seat (I got a ticket to the general area) there were bags, books and clothes all over the good seats. What's this? People mark out their territory and then go elsewhere to chat, eat and drink. Can you picture this at an Aussie footy game?

We even had a 'seat nazi' who would greet new fans as they came up the stairs and find them the required number of seats. This includes moving people over one or two seats, so that single spare seats are used up. Had to see it to believe it, and all the locals are absolutely comfortable with it.
And... what about the person who comes around during the game to collect rubbish? Or the people at every exit stair again with bags to collect rubbish?

The Japanese soccer fans are world renowned for their fanaticism - but it is an inclusive form. Songs are sung the whole game (90 minutes for those non-believers) not just by the core fan group who lead the singing and drum beats, but men, women, young and old in the whole ground. Quite spectacular and exciting. By the way, Kawasaki Frontale won 3 - 1. By coincidence, my Sydney FC jersey was the same colour as Kawasaki, so I looked like a home fan. Well, apart from the causcasian look, grey hair, hairy legs, round eyes and .............

Travelling back to Ueno at 9:30pm the trains coming from Tokyo were absolutely packed - and trains on most lines run every 5 minutes or so.. Surely these thousands of people actually live on those trains.

Fying Sydney to Narita - Tuesday 26th August

This time things were smoother - no changes to flight plans. But funny how other things pop up. \you know when you are checking in a two groups of about 100 high school kids goes to the Group Check-in Counter and you wonder where they will be seated?

Well when I chose one of the 2-seaters at the back of the plane, it did not say 'you and your seat buddy are the only adults in the 30 rows at the back of the plane'. Having said that - Japanese adults sleep anywhere, especially in trains. And these kids have learnt well as they all went off to sleep before the plane was taxi-ing out from the Gate.