Tokyo: day 1

Greetings from Tokyo. All is well here: cleaner, quieter and much more incomprehensible to me than NYC. But I am a provincial person from the island of Manhattan. Yet, I do keep getting on planes and going places.

These are typical tourist photos of Tokyo, but they are personal instead of stock images.

It's day1after all, and as a tourist I am outside of things. But learned a word today, Uchisoto which means (many things as in all Japanese words or anything it seems) inside/outside. It was used as being in a group that may include someone who is not present. For example, the person who told me this word, David was introduced by my friend Kate, who is presently not here. So we are a group of two together but a greater group of 3....another interpretation of inside/outside. This may be a bit of a mind melt, which is totally happening to me. Or just confusing.....but wanted to put it out there.

The doors of the department store, Isetan. They do a small welcome ceremony, speaking in Japanese and English welcoming the customers waiting outside and thanking them for their patronage, and of course bowing. I actually really like the bowing. It's kind of like Namaste, I like the honoring of another person. We have really gotten away from that...just look at Syria or our congress or the crazy hate crimes. Oh, I am going on.....Back to the photos....

These mushroom are wrapped and put on a pedestal because they are, on the left $780.00 and on the right over $1000. Makes Dean & Delucca look like Shop Rite, huh? Now to confuse matters, they are from Fukushima, you know where the nuclear reactor is....yup, confusing. 

At Sekaido, an amazing art supply/stationary store! Across the street from Isetan. I am in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo today, all near my hotel.

Watched the sushi chef construct this beautiful platter. It looks like a park doesn't it?

The two gentlemen sitting a few seats away joked and laughed, (at my expense, but eh) and then bought me a cup of smokey delicious miso soup to go with my sushi platter (which was much more modest) and equally delicious. They laughed when I said delicious. The sushi chef then smiled and said "dericious", and we both laughed.

Walking home, the crowds are intense, but it's quiet, calm...orderly chaos. I hear laughter a lot. Also a lot of western pop music.