Tokyo (Tsukiji Fish Market, Shibuya, Shinjuku)

We spent the Memorial Day weekend in Tokyo exploring various sites.  We DIDN'T go to Disneyland or DisneySea.  Instead, we went to Shinjuku, Shibuya, and to the Tsukiji Fish Market.  Here's some of the highlights....

This is at the Children's Hall -- on each of the five floors there are run things for children to do.  On the roof, they can use stilts, unicycles, rollerblades, and other toys all provided free of charge (even safety equipment is provided).

We celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary a little early (it's in August).

The fish market.

I don't think he's happy to be there.

Sea cucumbers?

The "muscle" sticking out of this is the means by which it propels itself.  

Not at all sure what these are....

Sho-Myo-Ji Temple

In May, my friend Minako-san took me and another friend (Jodi) to see the Sho-Myo-Ji Temple.  It reminded me a lot of Kyoto.  We also went to a really cool, boho-style vegetarian restaurant called Baobob (like the tree -- indeed, the baobob tree is part of the restaurant's logo).

These are cherry trees.  This walkway is supposed to be lovely in the Spring when the trees are in bloom.

Minako-san!

Inside the temple.

Chiba (Nokogiri-yama)

In early May, we took the ferry to Chiba to see Nokogiri-yama (Sawtooth Mountain).  It was an easy hike on a beautiful day.  The park at Nokogiri-yama has the world's largest statue of Buddha.  The statue is three times as large as the one at Kamakura.  The wisteria was in bloom and smelled wonderful.

Ric's Ni-Dan Award

In March, Ric was awarded his Ni-dan (2nd level black belt) in Aikido.  This is him with his teacher, Hattori Takao (who is a 7th level black belt!).