Tokyo Tower: Perhaps the most prominent example of modern “Japanese Touch”… that incredible instinct to improve on old concepts and go just one step too far…

E.g.: take the Eiffel Tower, a concept with a somewhat proven viability… add 13 meters and drop it in the middle of Tokyo, so far so good… Then paint it a pattern of red and white stripes… You got the Japanese Touch…

I mean, I can so totally picture the Japanese construction engineer uncovering, at the time, the plan for the new and improved Eiffel Tokyo Tower: “And now, you see, ladies and gentleman, we have increased its visibility by 3200%… by turning it into a giant lollipop!”

I posted a pic of this sign, a while back…

Trying hard not to laugh at the evocation of how this inscrutable piece of wisdom may have descended upon the guys who first wrote the sign (picturing the scene where a dirty gaijin tells the cashier he’ll be right back and gets the hell out).

1. “Wow, cool! the dumb guy, whose herb garden I keep trying to destroy, has put some leftover barbecued spicy chicken in a plate on the ground… Better snatch it now, just in case he wants to eat it later…”
2. “Man, that dragging stuff on the ground sure is tedious. Dunno how I’m gonna go over the fence like that… I sure miss that opposable thumb.”
3. “Wait… you mean I can actually put it in my mouth!?! Wow, that’s a nifty trick! Look at me! I’m such a pimp! I can haul food in my mouth…”

How this cat manages to survive in the wild is beyond me.

[Disclaimer: Sakura-chan (fourth to the right) does not look anywhere that scary with her natural smile on. Actually nobody does…]

One of the only perks of slaving away at the altar of Infinite Series: I get to spend my Spring afternoons in the park…

Near Shiba Koen

Do I have to post a “this is not cat litter” sign in Kanji too?

Kasumigaseki is the “Government district” where half of all Japanese ministries are located within blocks of each other (had to help Nordine get some papers sorted out at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
The whole place would make Oscar Niemeyer proud… and anybody else seriously depressed, even on a sunny day like today.
Haven’t seen a single casual atire in miles and half my ass is showing through my torn out jeans.