The first couple of days

So, I've been here a few days, and it's still fantastic.

I'm currently in Kyoto, where I just got back from another busy day - so I thought I would write a stream of words on the experiences so far, while they are still relatively fresh in the memory, not being clouded by the many new things I see, try and do here.

The last few days have been incredibly interesting. While I was in Denmark, I got the email-address of, Mihoko Yuki, a young lady who had been studying danish at the university: we emailed a bit, and we agreed to meet for dinner with her, her boyfriend Masatoshi, and a friend, Hiromi, in Tokyo, at the 3rd of September - we also agreed to go for a bit of sight-seeing in Tokyo on the 4th. So, after arrival on the 2nd of September, my plan was to spend the first day on getting in, seeing a bit of Tokyo, and then go buy a mobile phone on the second day + more sight-seeing, and go for dinner in the evening.
But, luck would have it, that I met a German guy, Wolfgang, at the hotel where I was staying: Wolfgang had arrived the same day as I, had eight days in Japan, a Lonely Planet guide, and no definite plans for what to see and what to do. We agreed to go see Tokyo together, and maybe more of Japan as well: so on the evening of the 2nd, we saw the neighborhood around the hotel (around Iidabashi), and on the third, we went around Tokyo, seeing, among other things, Tokyo Tower, the Sony Building, a few temples, some parks - a really interesting day, with a lot of walking around. In the evening on the third, I went to have dinner with the aforementioned people. We met at the Hachiko statue in Shibuya.

Hachiko statue in Shibuya

Shibuya is VERY crowded on a Friday evening, even by Tokyo standards! It's filled with young people, being there to "see and be seen", as the Lonely Planet guide puts it. It was really a display of the diversity of the youth of Tokyo, a very interesting sight.

I would put a picture here, was it not for the fact that I had forgotten my camera. Instead, you get a less interesting view of the Shibuya crossing on a sunday, when I went there again with Wolfgang. The previous image is from that later visit as well. Flickr has more from Shibuya, though.

The dinner on the 3rd was incredibly nice, it was very interesting to be taken out for a meal with people who knew what to choose (and who could read the menu!).
The following day, on the 4th, I went out for sightseeing with Mihoko and Masatoshi, starting at a nice French café near the Kyodo station. Mihoko and Masatoshi were really great guides, trying their best to answer my questions about the Japanese society. After visiting the café, we went to Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, a tall building with a great view from the top. It was fantastic to see the endless Tokyo - the concrete jungle! It was truly one thing to cross out on the "to do" list of my life :)
I still need to go up the Tokyo Tower, though, and take some pictures from there as well!

Imagine Godzilla walking through this...

:)

The sightseeing also included a walk through Shinjuku, a visit to Takashimaya Times Square, and an attempt at buying a phone.

The day after, I went for sight-seeing with Wolfgang again, first to Shibuya, then to Akihabara, the electronics district, to a random station on a metro-line, to see something that the Lonely Planet-guide didn't mention, and then to the Tokyo National Museum, for a bit of original culture.

Street corner in Akihabara - notice the finely dressed saleswomen

Random crosswalk

An inspired picture from the Tokyo National Museum

It's dangerous.

The following day, Monday, it was time to check out. Wolfgang and I had agreed to go to Kyoto together. We ended up taking the Shinkansen, though it was expensive (> 13.000 ¥ ~ 900 DKK)

The extent to which Wolfgang is  a good guy should be pointed out here: after a discussion of the different travelling patterns he and I might follow (I have enough time, and want to save money on travelling around, he more the opposite), Wolfgang put 50 € in my hand and said "let's take Shinkansen". This more than made up for the difference between the price of taking a bus and taking the Shinkansen. Incredibly nice.

So, we went to Kyoto by Shinkansen (the N700 - 300 km/h!)

Shinkansen at Tokyo Station

Wolfgang

So, we arrived in Kyoto today, we've just been around to see a few temples and have some good food - now we're back at the hotel, I'm writing this, and am about to go to bed. Stay tuned for more updates soon - I'll end this stream of words now!