e-me

and back again, waiting for the train in newark. sat next...

Oct 1st

in the cab to the train to the airport, feeling sad to...

Oct 1st

people do pretty much follow the rules

Oct 1st

sweeping the dirt. japan is incredibly clean, did i mention...

Oct 1st

heading out the side exit

Oct 1st

the amateur papparazzi are all over it

Oct 1st

a wedding! the meiji shrine is a popular place to get...

Oct 1st

Sep 30th

all the way in

Sep 30th

closer…

Sep 30th

it feels like time travel in here, what with the grand scale...

Sep 30th

entrance to the meiji shrine

Sep 30th

the last car on some of the trains are for women only during...

Sep 30th

back on the train, heading to the meiji shrine

Sep 30th

less so from this angle.

Sep 30th

it has sort of an imposing fortress thing going on.

Sep 30th

the national diet building is across the street from the...

Sep 30th

continuing up around the side of the palace, looking back...

Sep 30th

this is a good example of the difference between...

Sep 30th

Sep 30th

approaching one of the gates

Sep 30th

the sidewalk path surrounding the palace is a great place to...

Sep 30th

the imperial palace, in the middle of everything

Sep 30th

Sep 30th

back toward the center of town

Sep 30th

…breakfast! with beer. this was just the beginning.

Sep 30th

it might seem like too much for early in the morning...

Sep 30th

Sep 30th

Sep 30th

Sep 30th

Sep 30th

somebody lost his head

Sep 30th

wheeling & dealing

Sep 30th

further inside…it’s a loud and fast and frenetic...

Sep 30th

they’re used to gaijin (aka white people) walking...

Sep 30th

david and katherine said “walk toward the market and...

Sep 30th

approaching the fish market

Sep 30th

walking to the fish market, some dramatic foreshadowing

Sep 30th

don’t let your children jump off the pedestrian...

Sep 30th

first stop is the tsukiji fish market. exiting the tsukiji...

Sep 30th

they’re really on top of recycling here

Sep 30th

saturday is my last day, sadly. my plane is at 4:30 so i...

Sep 30th

waiting on the platform

Sep 30th

but we don’t get lost. transferring at omote-sando,...

Sep 30th

the banquet is at a hotel somewhere far away. shauna and...

Sep 30th

later at the banquet. food and drink and ceremony and a...

Sep 30th

at the closing ceremony (also in japanese with simultaneous...

Sep 30th

a japanese powerpoint presentation

Sep 30th

the side of koshiba hall, conference headquarters

Sep 30th

seems to be some graduating going on

Sep 30th

back for the afternoon sessions, through the main gate. ...

Sep 30th

…more conveyor-belt sushi. this place was really,...

Sep 30th

went off campus for lunch today, walking down the road...

Sep 30th

the keynote got rave reviews, some people were more...

Sep 30th

this man is responsible for donkey kong

Sep 30th

friday’s keynote is in japanese and we have...

Sep 30th

friday is the last day of the conference and the metro is...

Sep 30th

nice to be done at the end of the day

Sep 30th

here we almost are. the panel went well - people stayed...

Sep 30th

thursday is the day of my panel…walking to tokyo...

Sep 30th

they also have snack/newspaper vendors on the platforms, and...

Sep 30th

mcdonalds in the metro station is usually full.

Sep 30th

back home to yoyogi-uehara

Sep 30th

inside roppongi hills is highly polished and clean. tokyo...

Sep 30th

tv asahi, inside and out

Sep 30th

coming around the other side, a big interior courtyard looks...

Sep 30th

just like a japanese monster movie

Sep 30th

…invasion of louise bourgeois’ spiders!

Sep 30th

…wait a minute…

Sep 30th

up on the plaza…

Sep 30th

on to roppongi hills, a huge...

Sep 30th

Sep 30th

Sep 30th

again with the vuitton store.

Sep 30th

wandering around weds night we see the biggest, shaggiest...

Sep 30th

Sep 30th

he is 100% focused on perceiving

Sep 30th

we try. hard to get around the mutual exclusivity of...

Sep 30th

several interesting talks/panels/papers on weds. can we...

Sep 30th

wednesday’s keynote speech is interactive - playing...

Sep 30th

wednesday morning. ghouls in the neighborhood. chris tells...

Sep 30th

and down to the main road to catch a cab home

Sep 25th

here we all are, happy and full of delicious food and sake

Sep 25th

i was the first to arrive, had to entertain myself somehow

Sep 25th

the harvest moon again - they prepared all the food in a...

Sep 25th

more garden

Sep 25th

see? there’s a huge garden and lots of interconnected...

Sep 25th

the restaurant is called Toufuyu Ukai, amazing in every way.

Sep 25th

…found it!

Sep 25th

walking around the side, looking for the restaurant…

Sep 25th

it was a harvest moon, which makes for a special night. ...

Sep 25th

the restaurant is next to tokyo tower, i got out right...

Sep 25th

the taxi i didn’t take

Sep 25th

all the taxis have gps and maps on board

Sep 25th

time to go to dinner, jumped in a taxi to be on time

Sep 25th

boo

Sep 25th

and catch some ghosts

Sep 25th

sat down to people-watch properly

Sep 25th

after-work wanderings

Sep 25th

and helen kennedy on passivity, immersion, embodiment, and...

Sep 25th

suzanne and jennifer dispelling myths about girls and games

Sep 25th

very interesting day at the conference, focusing on games in...

Sep 25th

my new routine — up early, run in yoyogi park, commute to...

Sep 25th

this is a first for me.

Sep 24th

in the hallway of our welcome reception building,...

Sep 24th

the main event

Sep 24th

tokyo u

Sep 24th

time to get to the point of this whole trip - off to tokyo...

Sep 24th

all clear

Sep 24th

waiting

Sep 24th

heading back home over the train crossing

Sep 24th

from the other side

Sep 24th

and a photo shoot

Sep 24th

art project in progress

Sep 24th

and solo, sort of

Sep 24th

musicians practicing together

Sep 24th

part of the park is designated for homeless people, the...

Sep 24th

monday morning, we ride bikes through the neighborhood to...

Sep 24th

Sep 24th

this means stop

Sep 24th

their neighbor owns an entire block and has his own private...

Sep 24th

then back to get my stuff and head to the rays in yoyogi...

Sep 24th

then a long stroll by the meguro river, also peaceful and...

Sep 24th

a little spooky, in a magical way

Sep 24th

and

Sep 24th

it was peaceful

Sep 24th

on to meguro and the teien art gallery and garden. the...

Sep 24th

almost reoriented

Sep 24th

to shinagawa station

Sep 24th

they’re not lost, follow them

Sep 24th

and another orange thing. you know how i feel about orange.

Sep 24th

and a christian church (pretty rare in these parts)

Sep 24th

and a house

Sep 24th

and a fire hydrant

Sep 24th

i found these orange things

Sep 24th

i did find some things i wasn’t looking for, however,...

Sep 24th

then south to osaki. exiting the station by these arrows...

Sep 24th

and of them

Sep 24th

and taking pictures with them

Sep 24th

other demonstrative types

Sep 24th

lots of tourists watching costumed people and

Sep 24th

waiting to cross - the crowds get bigger toward the top of...

Sep 24th

taking a break

Sep 24th

he works there, too.

Sep 24th

love the neon tubes. this display was created by an artist....

Sep 24th

something for everyone

Sep 24th

and back to the flow of shoppers

Sep 24th

a brief moment of self-reflection

Sep 24th

looking

Sep 24th

ah, prada.

Sep 24th

temple of something

Sep 24th

Sep 24th

dachsunds in sunglasses, always a crowd-pleaser

Sep 24th

a commotion

Sep 24th

otemo-sando is the champs-elysee of tokyo, so they say.

Sep 24th

Sep 24th

otemo-sando

Sep 24th

it is!

Sep 24th

headed to otemo-sando to see the sunday shopping...

Sep 24th

british rules here, walk and drive on the left. when...

Sep 24th

globalization

Sep 24th

there are also a lot of men in blue suits around,...

Sep 24th

left my hotel sunday. it was across from the TBS (Tokyo...

Sep 24th

Kyoko in Electric Town

Sep 22nd

more signage in Electric Town

Sep 22nd

also kind of disturbing are the clubs where you can pay...

Sep 22nd

Akihabara “Electric Town” is full of neon and...

Sep 22nd

arriving in Akihabara and things are starting to feel like...

Sep 22nd

our conductor

Sep 22nd

riding to Akihabara

Sep 22nd

back to the subway, heading to Akihabara, aka electronics...

Sep 22nd

picture of a picture from the bridge.

Sep 22nd

picture from the bridge

Sep 22nd

Kyoko says the Asahi building on the left represents a big...

Sep 22nd

heading back to the station, this big gold thing catches my...

Sep 22nd

lunch is delicious conveyor-belt sushi.

Sep 22nd

hard to resist.

Sep 22nd

…turns out to be some kabuki drag queens. hmm.

Sep 22nd

…and the women crowding around something else…

Sep 22nd

another side of Asukasa - crowds of men betting on horse...

Sep 22nd

back streets of Asukasa, trying to take a picture of this...

Sep 22nd

people also pay extra to write prayers to leave at the...

Sep 22nd

this is the Asukasa Shrine, right next to the temple. when...

Sep 22nd

and the washing - hands and mouth. after that, we went up...

Sep 22nd

between the second gate and the temple, there are places for...

Sep 22nd

there are dragons carved on the underside of the gigantic...

Sep 22nd

…and look back. I took a lot of pictures of other...

Sep 22nd

then you go through the second gate…

Sep 22nd

after the first gate, you walk through a long arcade full of...

Sep 22nd

Kyoko and me in front of the first gate of the Sensoji...

Sep 22nd

…and good morning. it’s bigger than it looks,...

Sep 22nd

good night, tokyo - the view from my hotel window, staying...

Sep 22nd

american celebrities do, in fact, make lots of dough...

Sep 22nd

walked back to the hotel through Roppongi where the streets...

Sep 22nd

in addition to things you knew you needed, like adapters and...

Sep 22nd

my first mission is to get an adapter. the hotel man sends...

Sep 22nd

first photo with my newly rented japanese cell phone. the...

Sep 22nd

flew by an old friend…on the other side of the plane...

Sep 22nd

going up over the top on the way to tokyo!

Sep 22nd

I thought these were handbags. nope.

Sep 20th

almost went to the wrong airport

Sep 20th

something not quite right at the central park zoo.

Sep 19th