John Squire is bloody sexy, totally forgot about him. Should I put him on my 50K list?

I had to check two of Soseki's books out from the Hatcher Graduate Library. I've had a thirst for more.  Ideally I would have liked them in Korean, but reading them in English would be fine, I suppose. I got Sanshiro and I Am a Cat.  One day, hopefully, I will be able to read them in Japanese.

I got lost in the Hatcher Library and I could totally see how one person I know could have sex there!

Will I miss this view when I move away?

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I finished reading Kokoro by Natsume Soseki.  It is not as depressing as it seems in my opinion.  The protagonist's dignity, loneliness, betrayal and despair, I could sympathise with. I think I am going to the library tomorrow to check some of Soseki's books out. I've got thirst for more! I'm very curious about the way how the sensei from Kokoro killed himself, which Soseki decided not to write specifically.

We had get ourselves photographed in font of Akamon of Tokyo University, since our ryokan was in the Hongō (本郷) area.  I've heard about the gate from Japanese manga books quite a bit, however it was not as impressive as I thought it would be. It just looked too familiar to me.  If I ever lived in Tokyo, I'd like to live in Hongo area. Cheap and quiet. And I already know one nice bar to go to. The bartender is a huge fan of rock music, he was quite impressed to hear that we were from Detroit. He told us that he had seen KISS numerous times.

The old wooden building in front of our ryokan, the ryokan itself was over 100 years old.

Kasumigaseki (霞ケ関), Political Science-major Will wanted to see the Diet Building.

 I never cared for going to Kasumigaseki, but it was quite interesting to see Kasumigaseki area and to pass by Nakatacho. The streets were empty, as we went during the Golden Week. 

Then again, I was not able to go to the observatory again this time. The line was way too long.  JAL had the on-flight service, which you could choose to any film. I watched Tokyo Tower, as I love Odagiri Joe quite a bit. Tokyo Tower itself won't be the same as before I saw the film.

I'm ever so tired. I may be really suffering from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Currently reading Natsume Soseki's Kokoro. Some say that he's the Shakespeare of Japan or some say the Charles Dickens of Japan. The word 心 Kokoro seems, to me at least, really tricky to be translated into English. Mind, heart, feeling, liking...

This novel is not necessarily cheery, but, hopefully it will somehow cheer me up. The deaths of the Sensei's friend, Sensei himself, the main character's father, Emperor Meiji, General Nogi Maresuke and his wife. 4 suicides out of 6. Don't get me wrong, I am really enjoying this novel at the moment.    

Will and I wanted to do something very touristy outside of Tokyo, so we went to see the Kamakura Daibutsu (鎌倉大仏) aka The Great Buddha of Kamakura at the Kōtoku-in (高徳院) Temple. As you can see, it is a very popular tourist destination even for Japanese people. 

If you are willing to wait a long line, you could actually go into the Great Buddha!

Enoshima, Although it was early May, some people were surfing.

I was more excited about riding the Enoden, which connects Kamakura with Enoshima and Fujisawa, than seeing the Great Buddha! I suppose I'm a tetsudō otaku? Will had to listen to me whining about not getting onto the Enoden train early enough. 

It was quite surreal to see the rail tracks are built right next to the houses.

Tsukiji Fish Market was another place in Tokyo that I had never been to previous to this recent trip.  Too bad that we were too full to try the fresh and cheaper sushi out at the market. We should not have eaten so much at the izakaya. However if we had not stayed up at the izakaya, we probably would not have been able to go early in the morning in the first place.  It felt a bit surreal to be there after staying up all night drinking, then you get to see the people who probably get up at the latest at 3 in the morning to start day at the busiest market in the world.

This is a typical view of the market. It is quite similar looking to the Noryangjin Fish Market in Seoul. But they seem to have mostly men working there in Tokyo unlike the one in Seoul.

It's all about the TUNAS there.  I guess they do not allow outsiders during the auctions.

I might buy a box of sea urchins next time I go there and make a fancy Unidon!

Will saying hello to the ladies at the fish market.

 Busy morning at the Tsukiji Market, video taken by Will

 I had heard of Golden Gai in Shinjuku and always wanted to go there. This time, with the help of Will, I managed to find the area and get wasted there! 

There are similar-looking areas in Seoul, too. One area in Jongno sadly was demolished by city planners in Seoul, though. I like those little backstreets of the cities. I've encountered interesting people in the backstreets.

 Will and Kizoo, it was me and Will's second visit to the Golden Gai bar, forgot the name of the place. I heard that Kizoo's been going back to the area since his first time being there with us. I envy him. He can go anytime, as he lives in Tokyo. Will can probably find the place again if we go back. I will probably go back there again. Nice drinks and the ICE!

Will's first time playing Shamisen. The bartender was learning how to play the instrument.(What was her name, Will?) She played the Shamisen and sang a song for us. It was a unique experience. 

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The bartender's name was Yuki! 25/07/10

Washington D.C. was like a mix of Savannah, GA + Detroit in a much bigger scale. And I quite liked it. Bunch of hipsters, yuppies and the rest, just like Detroit, especially like heavily gentrified Wayne State University area, as Alex mentioned. I had a beer beer called Brooklyn Lager with an old friend of mine at a bar/ coffee shop/ bookshop place in the area called Dupont Circle.

Out of all the attractions, I just wanted to see how big the Pentagon was. And it was grand, indeed. 

And the White House.

And the Scientology Church!

Paik Nam Jun must have had taken tons of acid!

 It has been a month since I came back from Japan now.  I regret a bit that I did not plan thoroughly to see more, but I will go back there again. No worries. Ochanomizu - I thought it got its name from the colour of the river since it means 'the water of tea,' but it happened to be named that its water was used to prepare for king's tea. Bunkyo area's not a popular tourist destination but Will and I liked that area quite a bit. I also happened to find out that all the musical instruments stores are there. Another reason to go back.

 Will at the Ochanomizu Station

I like this picture quite a bit.  I don't care if you make fun of me for being an Otaku.

 Here's the photo of me in front of Nagisa Kaworu of Evangelion in Akihabara. I've always liked this character and of course he happens to be "gay."

Some areas I often skip whenever I go to Tokyo, but I never skip Shibuya. This was the first and only place when I went to Tokyo for a day for the first time in 1997. Shibuya is probably my favourite area in Tokyo. I don't care that it's a very youthful area, I just like the atmosphere there. You feel like you're nobody in a big city like Tokyo, you feel the emptiness more there and I don't mind it, actually I quite fancy the area for the reason. It's too bad that the HMV store in the picture will close down in August. I guess I will never shop at that HMV again.