Below are some photos I took while recently in Harajuku, Tokyo.
All photos are copyrighted by Bahia Simons-Morton (me), all rights reserved.
Happy Love © Bahia Simons-Morton
Leader of the Pack © Bahia Simons-Morton
Posts Tagged ‘tokyo’
Great Japan Beer Festival
May 13, 2008My first reaction when I heard about the Great Japan Beer Festival during Golden Week was, “Awesome, I like beer! Let’s go!” My second impression, after viewing the poorly designed and amateurish website was, “On second thought, this website is really lame. Maybe we shouldn’t go…” In the end, however, we spontaneously went to Tokyo during Golden Week and just as spontaneously decided to go to the beer festival.
When we arrived, we were at first awestruck by the enormous bouncers standing outside, towering above the crowd; something usually not seen in Japan. We got in a short line and purchased our tickets and entered. I immediately regretted not bringing in food, though there was a selection of “American Dogs”, hot dogs, yakisoba, and various snacks. We immediately bumped into some Gunma JETs who had just arrived as well.
The doors had opened at 2:30, but we arrived just in time for the kanpai at 3:00. A camera panned through the crowd, projecting our raised glasses onto a back screen. After the kanpai we started to make our rounds, with our friend marking down our opinions of each beer as we went along. We started at the A booths and throughout the festival, which lasted until 7:00, eventually made our way through all the booths (up to F).
The right side of the room was filled with a mix of German beers and Japanese beers (and Japanese breweries making German-style beers). Not a big fan of the darker beers, I tried a variety of pilsners, ambers, and light hefewizens and anything that was pale in color. One of my favorite was a yuzu-flavored beer that was quite refreshing. When we finally reached the back of the room, we found that there were buckets for dumping your extra beer and water for drinking or rinsing your glasses.
Of my several ventures the restroom, the first wait in line was about 30 minutes, but after that, most of the women disappeared, and the ratio of Japanese to non-Japanese people grew steadily more even. By the time we reached the left side of the room we were feeling suitably “relaxed”. I even bought an “American Dog” (hotdog on a stick), though it wasn’t my first choice; all the other food was sold out.
As we worked our way down the left side of the room our beer drinking became more selective, each of us choosing the type of beer we like the most. On this side I found my favorite beer, which was a light and slightly fruity Blanche made by a Japanese brewery. Actually, the left side of the room was entirely made of Japanese beers, half of which were sold out by 5 pm. Though the beers were not particularly international, there were some very good beers and I certainly felt we got our 5,000 yen worth of beer, plus souvenir glasses to take home.
All in all, if you can taste at least half of the 120 beers offered it is a worthwhile event, and going to Tokyo during Golden Week was much more relaxing than jostling with Japanese people in some picturesque location.
Event details:
The Great Japan Beer Festival
Over 120 microbrews featured.
Advanced tickets 4300/day, 4700 at the door.
http://www.beertaster.org/index-e.html
Event Location:
The Garden Hall at Ebisu Garden Place
1-13-2, Mita, Meguro-ku,Tokyo
Photo Post #1
March 12, 2008
America is Not a Country
February 25, 2008Sitting on the express train returning to Gunma from Tokyo, we were a bit tired from our busy weekend, yet optimistic because the next day, Monday, happened to be a holiday. We fidgeted in our seats, adjusting them for a comfortable trip; though not quite as comfortable as the shinkansen, riding the express train is nonetheless usually a pleasurable experience. With more room than an airplane seat and a vending machine in the vestible between the cars, the trip between our rural Gunma and big city Tokyo is usually fairly painless.
Still, on this occasion, we found ourselves in the middle of a rather active car, despite it being 8:00 pm on a Sunday. Two rows up and across the aisle, a chattering group for four took their seats. The men were slightly inebriated and a bit loud, the women rather passive and patient, and all fairly old. As the louder of the two men cracked open his can of pre-mixed whiskey and water, his voice rose and he started into a loud rant.
The first subject was America. Specifically, it was that “America is not a country”. I am not exactly sure what he meant, as my Japanese is not great, but my husband picked up much of what he was saying and commented to me every time he changed subjects. America is not a country. Why exactly? I’m not sure. It could be because it is made up of too many large states, or because it is too big. He next started in on the “whaling problem,” which may have contributed to his anti-America feelings. His next topic was the UK, followed by Wales and several other countries. We buried our faces in magazines and tried to read, but he was speaking so loud that it was difficult to concentrate.
Every few minutes one of the other three would interject something, however, he seemed not to notice. By the time he was on his second can of whiskey and water, his wife seemed the be biting back exasperation. Eventually, his ranting grew quieter and he fell asleep. His companions, too, dozed off. The car was finally quiet. Solitude, at last. The only thing that inturrupted the peace from then on, was the exasperated wife, he feelings lingering even in rest, as she began talking in her sleep. “Shut up, you noisy idiot!” and more along the same lines, but he was out cold and never stirred.
When the train arrived at their stop she roused him from his slumber. As he fell all over the place, forward onto her and finally backwards into his seat, she attempted to get him to put on his coat. She would place it over his shoulders, and he would then throw it off, moaning like a petulent child, “It’s hot.” She finally bundled him up and assisted him to the vestibule between the cars and off the train.
Tokyo Motor Show 2007
February 7, 2008Imagine being swept along in a flow of people, all heading toward some central point. The people are all types; old, young, male, female, adult, and child. There are many of them; all pushing and excited. But what is it they are dying to see? Cars. Hundreds of new cars, all gloriously painted and waxed. Some are family cars; nothing special. But some are wonderfully exotic and high tech; from a car coated in silicon which can rotate 360 degrees, to a portable home office. Some are delightfully modern, yet classic; from a sleek yellow Corvette, to a classy Jaguar.
But cars are not the only thing to see. Each car is not only equipped with st
ate of the art technology, but also with state of the art women. Some elegantly rest their delicately gloved hand on the side mirror as the car slowly revolves on a raised platform. Some drape themselves seductively over the hood. Some, such as the Dodge girls, give a spectacular show, flinging about bubbles with reckless abandon, even as they bend over in crop-tops and daisy dukes, water guns at the ready. And later, with a change of outfit, they boldly face the crowd, pouting seductively in black and red vinyl. Perhaps this is where the real attraction is; at least it seems to be, judging from the hordes of camera wielding geeks hell-bent on getting just the right shot.
