Excellent introduction to cycling in Tokyo by CNN’s Christopher Johnson:
Two wheels better than four in Tokyo | CNNGo.com.
As many of the photos illustrating the article suggest, cycling downtown on the weekends is marvelous.
If only the sento would start catering to cyclists who just need a quick shower.
Nice article on a fun way to get to know Japanese cities:
Exploring Tokyo Through Its Ramen Shops – NYTimes.com.
Ramen is yummy–pork fat is the king of lipids after all–but I prefer a nice bowl of sansai soba (山菜そば, mountain veggie buckwheat noodles).
On the way back from Yokohama the other night I came across two new polite behavior encouragement campaign posters by illustrator Akira Yamaguchi that stopped me in my tracks. The iPhone photos I hastily took were too blurry but here are a couple of blog postings on the two I saw:
The skies over Tokyo this morning were clear and the air cool–perfect for an early walk with Bjorn through Tama Reien to the Sengenyama view of Mt. Fuji.
BBC reports on yet another Tokyo architectural landmark’s demise:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7718442.stm
Yeesh.
