Yamashita Koen – Winter Ocean

Summer is here and the temperatures are enough to damage my camera even. It is also difficult to take photos of objects far away as the haze of the heat and water in the air makes everything fuzzy around the ages after a few dozen meters. I noticed this especially when I was looking at these old photos from last winter, taken in Yokohama’s Yamashita Park permanent home to the gorgeous Hikawa Maru ocean liner. In these clear winter afternoons you can see for miles out! Although I love summer, every season has it peculiar ups and downs here in Japan.

If you visit Yokohama don’t miss out on a visit to this park, not only is the Hikawa Maru an interesting museum ship to visit, there is also a nearby tower, and the gorgeous piers around the harbor.

Ginza Spring Sunset

More photos from Ginza, a month or so ago, after the rain but minutes before sunset when the sky is the most beautiful. Ginza is easily one of the most walkable areas in Japan. There are subway stops just about everywhere, you are never more than a block away from a cafe or restaurant and the sidewalks are huge by Japanese standards. Most of the building are clad in glass and reflect the light from the sky beautifully.

According to the latest statistics, 3484 people lived in Ginza as of April 2014, which is a substantial increase since 1998 when only 2963 persons called Ginza home. The secret is the decade and half long residential building boom that has changed the face of much of central Tokyo, reversing a long population decline that saw people move out of of the city center and into neighboring prefectures and cities. You can feel this change most vividly if you are out in central Tokyo after dark or if you try to ride a bicycle on crowded city sidewalks, there are just much more people out and about!

While far from the heights reached in the Bubble Economy days of the 1980s, land prices in Ginza is still astronomical, just in these photos you can see a fair share of the highest priced plots of land in the world.

Ueno Sunset

I took these photos from the hill above Ueno station as I was walking towards the nearby JR Okachimachi station just as the sun was setting. It is often easy to forget the seemingly chaotic cityscape that is Tokyo but sometimes sights like these remind me!

Enoshima Sunset

The last of the sunlight as it washes over Enoshima’s Nishihama beach. Despite the late hour the beach was crowded, no doubt to see the exceptionally visible Mount Fuji. I seem to have knack for finding lost toy dinosaurs. This mecha dinosaur must surely be the offspring of this magnificent beast? There was a young lady doing ballet near the water, and as I walked out onto the breakwater pier a couple of kids came scrambling up from the rocks. A good ending to a perfect day.

This western beach near Enoshima island is even more popular than the eastern beach I blogged about earlier. Not least because it is connected to the grand Enoshima Aquarium, a must see for most people and especially for families.