Tokyo Sky Tree Under Construction

The Tokyo Sky Tree just across the river from Asakusa, near Oshiage station will tower to a huge 634 meters when complete in the December of 2012.

These pictures are from my office in Akihabara, not far from where it is currently being built.  Right now they have just reached the point to begin building the first observation deck at 349 meters. 

I suspect that the construction workers and the crane operators already have a magnificent view from their workplace.

You can see the rest of the pictures from the Picassa Web Album Here.

Slide Show of Anna Mae's Pictures from Ueno Park and Zoo

Taiko Drummers in Narita

Lead Drummer for a Taiko Group from Sendai

The whole group

A man Possesed by the power of Taiko

Kunji

My brother in law Kunji. Pure intensity.

- Posted by Mark from his iPhone

Earthquake

We just had a shaker from up north of us. Quite a few people felt it in Tokyo, including us. The house shook for what felt like about 30 seconds.



- Posted by Mark from his iPhone

2010 Plum Blossoms in Inzai

On March 17th my daughter is going to graduate from Kobayashi Tenjin. These past 3 years have been a blur. Time goes by so fast. Anna will start grade school in just a few more weeks.


The plum blossom tree out front is now in full bloom. The temperature today seems to be taking a turn to some more warm days ahead. The flowers out front seem to confirm that spring is just around the corner here in Inzai.

For Legal Reasons I must post these two Pictures

Please erase the previous photo of my sister in law in favor of the above picture.

- Posted by Mark from his iPhone

Date night 2009: Daikata Horumon

Since Anna Mae left for Matsusaka ahead of us on Christmas eve, the wife and I had a chance for a date. This year, instead of having Hiroko head all the way into Tokyo, we decided to stay closer to home.

On the few times that I have walked home from Kobayashi Station to our home, I've noticed that a Korean BBQ place had just been renovated and reopened. Since it was within drinking/walking/stumbling distance I suggested the place to the wife and she liked the idea. It was about a 10 minute walk from the house. Since it is not near a major traffic area there were no crowds and very quiet.

We ordered liver, rib, and other cuts of meat from various parts of the cow. With the Kim Chee and beer the food went down very nice and we both had a nice buzz for the stumble home.

The place is called Daikata Horumon (台方ホルモン) and can be found on a short walk south from Kobayashi Station on the Narita Line in Chiba Prefecture.

- Posted by Mark from his iPhone

The Many Gatchapins seen at our New Year Party

First, the freind of all children and amazing stunt.... thing, the real Gatchapin.



Watchapin the timid



The Happy Yatatchapin



and... The wild Godatchapin

Godatchapin could be seen running around the UDX Akiba building the night of 12/16, harassing the security guards there.

- Posted by Mark from his iPhone

Last Night's Not So Fun Trip Home

Due to a suicide by train last I had a real tough trip home last night. When there is a problem on one train line, the mass of humanity that was supposed to take that line spills into others, causing overcrowding on the platforms and the trains.

As the investigators cleaned up the mess, the crowds on the surrounding stations caused more injuries and delays as people tried to stuff themselves onto the trains. My trip began at Akihabara Station. There on the platform, I found shoulder to shoulder people waiting for a train that was not coming.

From there I walked to the next station, Asakusabashi where I would have changed trains for the trip out to Inzai. I come down to the gates where another crowd has gathered. The Asakusa Line was down also. There I was told that the only way home was to go back to Akihabara and then ride onto Ueno to bypass the Keisei line.

The trip from Ueno was not so bad until I had to change trains at Aoto. Another packed platform told me that I was in for a rough ride. Once on the train, we stopped at Takasago where another full platform was waiting to press onto the train. I had worked my way towards the center of the train away from the doors to avoid being crushed or spit back out. Even so, at every stop, another group would push onto the train making it feel like my shoulders were being folded into my chest. Plus, the old fart next to me had decided that the best way to combat the pressure was to wedge himself under the luggage rack and stiff arm his body rigid whenever the train braked at the station. I would think that the best way to avoid an injury in these situations would be to have everyone relax and just move with the train, but that's just me.

Finally, the entire crowd stayed on the train until Chiba New Town. This is where the train conductor decided to slam hard on the brakes, sending us all falling towards the front of the train.

All in all, it took me two and a half hours to get home. This is a new record that I prefer not to attempt to break again.


- Posted by Mark from his iPhone

Fresh Pretty Cure & The Many Secrets of Toyland

Today I took Anna to see the newest os the Pretty cure animation series, Fresh Pretty Cure & The Many Secrets of Toyland.


Now, the premise of the story is that someone is causing every toy in the world to suddenly vanish into thin air. The girls of Fresh Pretty Cure find that a villan by the name of Toymajin is responsible. From there they must travel to Toyland to get the toys back to the children of the world.

Soon after arriving it is discovered that Toymajin's body is comepletely made of the forgotten toys of children & many of the toys of Toyland sympathize with Toymajin's plans.

I find story to be incredibly ironic coming from the team of Toei Film Studios and the major toy manufacturer, Bandai. Each year the toy makers in Japan change the characters and stories of these shows each year. (The Pretty Cure TV show is in it's 5th year)

These companies count on the old toys being set aside and the new ones being bought every year. We avoid buying these toys at our home here because we know that, eventually, my daughter, Anna, won't be asking for the same toy next year.



- Posted by Mark from his iPhone

Koshigaya Lake Town Mall

Today we decided to brave the trains and head to Saitama to the brand new mall in Koshigaya. The place was HUGE! We were very thankful for public transportation due to the 3 day weekend and the massive crowds looking to avoid the cold.



This was my lunch. Massive fried cod and oysters. YUM!!!


Here we are waiting for our connecting train at Higashi Matsudo,

- Posted by Mark from his iPhone

Anna Mae & Maika

Here are a couple of pics of Anna and her friend Maika just before thier marching routines at the undokai.





Posted by Mark from his iPhone

First pic from Anna's Undokai

Anna Mae and her school are having their sports day today. I'll have some moe pics to post later.


- Posted by Mark from his iPhone

Godai, my co-worker

Here is a picture of Godai, my co worker. Tonight while drinking he shared his special skill with us.

Tilt Shift for iPhone

It's been quite some time since my last entry. I now have the ability to update Blogger from my phone!

I also added a simple program for editing my photos right on the phone and wanted to share some of those here. Today is my daughter's 6th birthday so here are some pics of the festivities.



Here we took another trip to Kashiwa no Ha park.









-- Posted from Mark's iPhone

Sakatagaike Park

On Saturday we went to a new park found with the secret society of Kobayashi Tenjin Mothers.  Their network of informants throughout the area and communications are second to none.  All linked via their cell phone network each exchanges information regarding parks, teachers at the kindergarten, and family activities.

Following Ballet practice Hiroko had sent an e-mail to a couple of the mothers from the class and told them we were headed to a new park they had discovered.  Sakatagaike Park is located in between our place in Inzai and Narita (Where the airport is).  Once we were there Anna's classmates also showed up one by one with their little brothers in tow.  

The Park has a great looking suspension bridge that spans a small valley below where you can spread your picnic blanket and have lunch.  There is also a real long slide that begins at one end of the bridge and slides the kids down 100 meters of track.  Most of the kids bring a box they can use to sit on for more speed since the slide is made of rollers that vibrate your brain at a steady 17.8 MHz (Just below the threshold for brain damage... I think) without something to sit on.

Also, towards the back there is a large area for big BBQ parties with multiple grills that you can reserve in advance.  Then behind that they have space for your tent to camp over night.  The park was just beautiful.  The surrounding neighborhood has some great looking and very large traditional Japanese homes that look to have been passed down many generations.  All of them nestled in rolling hills of pines and bamboo forests.   We will be going back for sure.

Kobayashi Sakura 2009

This weekend the sakura at the Kobayashi Race Horse pastures in Inzai went to full bloom. It just seems like this winter has been a very long one here in Japan. The cherry blossoms were actually a little later than they were last year due to the lower temperatures here in the Tokyo area. Yesterday, when we drove through the Sakura Tunnel, there were hundreds of people already having picnics underneath the trees.

The increase of people is mainly due to the NEW BRIDGE that was just completed in between our house and Inzai Makinohara Station. It seems like this bridge has been under construction FOREVER. Now, instead of having to walk along winding, narrow, dark, and busy streets, one can actually ride your bike or walk easily from our house to the station. I do believe that I can finally get my TREK out of our shed to make the trip to the station. Yesterday, when we rode along the new bridge, there were quite a few people from the new apartments near Inzai Makinohara Station walking across the bridge to get to see the cherry blossoms. It is a great time to live here.