Mad About Maneki-Neko

One more set from our recent trip to Tokyo. Welcome to the Gotoku-ji temple, dedicated to the Maneki-neko (what you may recognize as those beckoning cat statues, ubiquitous in most Asian restaurants). Part catlover's wet dream, and part creepy crazy cat lady, this Buddhist temple in the Setagaya district was an interesting and offbeat place to visit and get away from the rush of central Tokyo.

Meow please enjoy the photos... or cringe in horror if you're not a cat person.






























This is the Goddess of Mercy.















Colour photos taken with the Fuji XT1. Black and whites taken with a Rolleiflex TLR on Ilford HP5+ film.

Tokyo from the Top

We're back from our short adventure in Taiwan and Tokyo. My sole intention for this trip was to eat my weight in seafood, sushi, and delicious street food, but we also managed to squeeze in some fun bonus experiences in between bouts of gorging.

I have endless photos left to sort through, but here's a quick set of the Tokyo skyline taken from our penthouse hotel suite. <-- Not really. Our hotel room was a poorly air conditioned little box that had a view directly into the cubicle of some salaryman working himself to death. How inspiring.

These cityscapes were taken over a few days from the observation decks of Roppongi Hills Tower, the Metropolitan Government Building, and the Tokyo Skytree, all as the light faded from afternoon sun to dusk. Pro tip: if you're going to head up to any observation deck to snap photos, always go about an hour before sunset, so you get to see the transition from daylight to evening while up there. Enjoy.

Also, 'Dear Salaryman: working yourself to death is bad for your health. Sincerely, Dr. Mach'
































Having a glass of wine at our hotel lounge restaurant (our room was not in the same building as this one, hence the actual skyline lights in the backdrop).

Unique Cultural Experiences: Sumo and クジラ (kujira)

It's only been six months since we were in Japan, but it feels like a much more distant memory. While in Tokyo, we partook in two unique cultural experiences there: a Sumo tournament, and a meal of クジラ (kujira). Without googling kujira, check out the photos of the meat below, and try to guess what animal it is from. Answers at the bottom.

We bought the cheapest Sumo tickets available (literally, the farthest row back in the nosebleeds), but it was still a blast. Your ticket entitles you to freely roam as you like for the duration of the day, and the drunken Aussies sitting next to us had clearly been there all day crushing bottles of Kirin and Asahi like water. Entertaining! And with the aid of Anita's binoculars, we were quite surprised to see some top tier sumo wrestlers competing that day were in fact caucasian.


Typical match would last maybe a few seconds. The longest one we saw lasted just shy of a minute, but most averaged much shorter.


The ceremony and tradition in between matches and tiers of Sumo wrestlers was much longer than each match, but also very interesting.











Still unsure as to what animal? That was a meal of whale, served both cooked (bbq steak), and sashimi style (body, and tail). Yes, Anita and I fully understand the controversial nature of Japan's whaling exploits... if it offends you, then you'll be even more upset to know that it tasted absolutely delicious! While I don't agree with Japan's whaling practices, my interest in strange food trumped my environmental concerns. We're all hypocrites and walking contradictions to some degree.

And below are a few film shots from this same day. All taken with the Kiev 88CM on Kodak Tri-X 400, developed in Rodinal 1+24 for 7:00min @ 68 deg. F.




The Tokyo Skytree, as seen from a street in the Kappabashi area (kitchen town!) of Tokyo.

Urban Jungle

It would be fair to say that I was a little bit obsessed with the awesome beauty of power lines during my time in Tokyo. Much to the chagrin of the wife and the rest of our crew, I would stop to stare at every single post that we would pass by, marvelling at their chaotic yet organized entanglement of wires and lines.