Ueno Koen

My final morning in Japan. I snuck off to make one more quick tourist visit run. The best part was I finally got to experience the really busy subway. The lines were long and we got pushed onto the car.

I wish I had been able to get a photo on the train, but I couldn't raise my arms! I literally could not move at all. It was so tight that I could raise my legs off the ground and not fall even though I wasn't holding onto anything! It was amazing! At each stop Lynne and I were worried we would be pushed off and separated, since we were near the door. We had to grab onto poles and hold with all of our might not to be pushed off.


Ueno Park is one of Tokyo's most famous parks.





Modern art sculpture.


Tokyo has a bid for the Olympics just like Chicago does. I saw signs around the city.


This is a lotus pond. I didn't know they were so big!



The Shitamachi Museum lets you walk through a replica city of the old days.


These are toys from days gone by. Children always like to play!

Bamboo Stilts!


I wasn't doing well until the curator came over and showed me how it was done. (She could see I needed help!) Then I really got it spinning!

Japanese Dress

Japanese people dress differently than we do. In general I think it is fancier. At work they are more buttoned up, but in the evening some people really let go and dress wildly! There are also a lot of uniforms.

These were tour guides outside The Diet.

Airport counter.


Of the fun and funky clothes, I usually took the pictures from the back to protect their identity. Isn't it fun?

Baby doll.


For weddings some outfits are similar to ours and some are traditional. Aren't they lovely?



Some women will wear a western dress for part of the service and change into a kimono for a different section.




They don't always wear white for a wedding. They're not afraid of a little color!



Sometimes you see women wearing kimonoes in everyday life! Sitting on the subway or walking down the street. This women took my picture too! :)

Toilets

That's right my friends, I said toilets. Everyone laughed at me because every bathroom I went into I took my camera. I felt a bit silly, but anything for you kiddos! When I got back to Chicago airport I grabbed my camera when I went to the bathroom and then laughed at myself. I'm glad to be over that habit! ;)

Toilets in Japan are either simple and traditional or very elaborate with buttons and electronic doodads.

This is one of the squat toilet which is traditional and found in many public places.


These are some of the "fancy toilets." They are called and labeled Western toilets in Japan.


A place for the babies to sit.



Here are all of the buttons . Toilets have things like heated seats, bidets, and flushing sounds.






Sometimes the controls are on the wall.



This was in the grandma's house of my host family.



I've already talked about only wearing slippers in the house. There is another pair of slippers just for the bathroom. You slip out of your house slippers and into this pair, even when it is only a tiny bathroom.




This toilet surprised me, when I opened the stall door the lid raised. Oh yes, I definitely got teased for pulling out the video camera in the bathroom!

Sayonara Buffet

We had a farewell banquet. It was hard to say goodbye to each other and Japan. We had grown so close learning so many new things together.





We got to see a demonstration by some Akido masters. The older gentleman is their teacher and the girl next to him also in black pants is the second highest belt. We were all very impressed!





The dragon crew. Lynne and Gary both coach science teachers they live in Iowa and Minnesota respectively.

This is our city tour guide and one of the ministry of education members who guided us through the schools.