Building character

We had to move to the next hotel in Ikebukuro. Its on the other side of Tokyo. I was afraid they might lose my bags, so I decided to take my camera bag with me today. I think about it now and realized that I didn't have to worry about my bags. I have been conditioned to not trust anyone. How do I undo this? Should I undo this conditioning?

Kyoo, we travel to the shopping districts. It's still raining pretty hard, but we're here on vacation, a little typhoon (actually, it was a powerful one) is not going to stop us. We went to Harajuku in the morning. This is where all those gothic/lolita girls come out and stand on the bridge. The rain was coming down and none of them were on the bridge. I could see the disappointed look in the faces of the other students. This would have been the highlight of the trip for them.
Instead of heading over to the Meiji shrine with Jayson, we decided to walk down the street to get something to eat. After eating our lunch, we walked down Omotesando street. There are a lot of little boutiques and some high end retailers that line the street. Although most people would go inside the stores, I opted to stay outside to admire the architecture. As I walked down the hill to Omotesando Hills, I realized that the buildings in this area reflected on the personalities of the people who shop here. Every building had its own personality. Everyone who shops here had their own style. I remember Eriko making a comment the other night about the people who live in Tokyo are like robots. I have not been here for very long, but I find it hard to believe that these people are robot like. There are so many different people in Tokyo. During our dinner with the Meijigakuin students, I found out everyone of them was different. How are they like robots? I don't see it.
Back to how the buildings have their own character. Each building has a style of their own. One building was made of traditional red brick and the buildings to the left and right was either concrete or glass. Some were made with steel and I even saw one made with wood. I guess this is one of the reasons why they don't have street names here. It is easier to go by landmarks because each building is different.

Shibuya
I've never seen so many people in one area. As soon as we got to the famous Hachiko crossing, I remembered a scene from Lost in Translation where Charlotte was standing on a corner street looking at the dinosaurs walk across a building. I was standing on that corner today and I saw the building advertising a product. It was just amazing to stand there and marvel at this building. Architecturally, it was a modern building with a giant screen. Again, it had its own character. It was the leader of the Shibuya portion of Tokyo. This is also where I started thinking about how I could be different. How do I make myself stand out? As I walk across the street with a thousand other people, I start to have a feeling of liberation. Suddenly, a loud megaphone with a high pitch voice was yelling into our ears. I looked toward the noise and I saw a girl talking into the cone. I wanted her to stop while we were passing by, so I did something I would have never done in Hawaii to a stranger. I made eye contact with her, waved, and mouthed "hi." She stopped speaking and returned the gesture with a smile. It was long enough for the group to pass by the store.
I can't believe I just did that. I thought to myself. What is it about this place that makes people want to get noticed? Back home, we try very hard to conform, here, everyone is the opposite. Another thing I noticed were the way people in Japan walk. They walk with their heads up. There is a simple explanation to this. All of the information a person needs to know about a building is on a sign on the side of the building. In Hawaii, all of the signs are either on the ground floor or roughly ten feet above. So, in order for someone to find a restaurant, they have to keep their head up.

Charlie House
I think Japan was trying to tell me something.
Stay...You belong here...

Before I could take in all the splendor of the fashion capital of Tokyo, a small group of us had to leave Shibuya for a martial arts tournament. The ride was a little long, but it was worth it. The tournament was at Tokyo Stadium, home of the Tokyo Giants baseball team. It was the one time us guys could let our testosterone flow freely. Also, it gave me the chance to put my new lens through a tough test. It passed and here are some of the photos taken with it.