Last Friday, I found myself in Shinjuku much earlier in the day than I am usually there, so I went by Shinjuku-Gyoen gardens, paid the Y200 entrance fee (well worth it, considering how clean and well-tended to the park is) and went in to wander around among the huge old trees on one end of the park. Shinjuku-Gyoen can be quite crowded - especially during the spring and fall, but on days like Friday, June 29th, 2012, it is mostly empty and is a wonderful place within this mega-city to go in and forget about big-city life for two or three hours (being a big-city person, if you stay longer than that, you begin to worry about your schedule).
I know that pretty well, since I used to work at a high-pressure office in the area and went to the park from time-to-time to reclaim my humanity, but still I hadn't been there for some time, so I - once again - found myself feeling surprised at how nice it is inside - right in the heart of the mega-city.... It also helped that the full July-August heat of Tokyo hasn't kicked into gear yet, and so while it was hot out in the direct sun, it was fairly cool in the shade inside the park.
Another place I walked through that I haven't visited for a while is Kabukicho - and it was strange to see huge open space where the Shinjuku Koma Theater (新宿コマ劇場) building (1956-2008) has been razed and is now a huge open pit where they are still removing the basement foundation of the demolished building. What's going to be put there in its place? I don't know, but hopefully something more interesting than yet another sealed-box tower. (If only those towers that look so interesting from the outside actually had good air circulation inside instead of recirculating the same air over and over - making the people inside like goldfish in a tank that needs to have its water changed.)
What else in this batch of clips.... A sidewalk stroll on a main street in the afternoon near Yotsuya; evening strolls in Ginza and Yurakucho; and train views, including a couple of longer than usual clips (around ten minutes each and marked with a "g" after the date code) that I think show the constant motion and flow of navigating Tokyo by it's comprehensive train system.
June Sky and Pond in Shinjuku Gyoen 120629
http://youtu.be/Gy1hkXgX0WM
Carp Being Fed Bread in Shinjuku Gyoen 120629
http://youtu.be/L-RrzJsTbYY
Looking Up at Great Trees in Shinjuku Gyoen 120629
http://youtu.be/mhP9bn281Gk
Shinjuku Gyoen Pond 120629
http://youtu.be/unDRvAml4Gw
Clouds Through Trees in Shinjuku Gyoen 120629
http://youtu.be/-INQqvvrAkI
Carp in Pond in Shinjuku Gyoen 120629
http://youtu.be/VPE473HzVII
June Green of Shinjuku Gyoen 120629
http://youtu.be/UOqdPzxbS2k
Shinjuku Gyoen Afternoon Stroll 新宿御苑散策 A 120629
http://youtu.be/21uNwqMW86o
Shinjuku Gyoen Afternoon Stroll 新宿御苑散策 B 120629
http://youtu.be/V-AvGNM-1cE
Shinjuku Gyoen Afternoon Stroll 新宿御苑散策 C 120629
http://youtu.be/32aqohdoZjY
Shinjuku Gyoen Closing Time 120629
http://youtu.be/XzS2U60-EPk
Balcony Party Glimpse 120629
http://youtu.be/Kfppin-DL-o
Tashiro Hisashi (田代尚展) Exhibition Gallery-58 (A) - (120629)
http://youtu.be/R_OZbc4yrTQ
Tashiro Hisashi (田代尚展) Exhibition Gallery-58 (B) - (120629)
http://youtu.be/pThVOMSEEkA
Path to GoldenGai ゴールデン街までの道 120629
http://youtu.be/_3QmjkqBgsc
Kabukicho Afternoon Stroll 歌舞伎町のお昼散策 A 120629
http://youtu.be/zKEiSLzBHIE
Kabukicho Afternoon Stroll 歌舞伎町のお昼散策 B 120629
http://youtu.be/7h7uJJxPc20
Kabukicho Afternoon Stroll 歌舞伎町のお昼散策 C 120629
http://youtu.be/oVnYYvCb6sE
Ogawa to Hagiyama 120629
http://youtu.be/ef_0LyAMrA4
Shinjuku Afternoon Stroll 新宿のお昼散策 120629
http://youtu.be/c3NIF7QG4b8
Kabukicho Alley 120629
http://youtu.be/hUV_ssz0cFE
Shinjuku Side Street Afternoon Stroll 新宿横道散策 120629
http://youtu.be/I9BbtLyvVP0
Shinjuku Dori Afternoon Stroll 新宿通り散策 A 120629
http://youtu.be/cVfM7Ftf03o
Shinjuku Dori Afternoon Stroll 新宿通り散策 B 120629
http://youtu.be/IIiEF9R7kaA
Takadanobaba to Shinjuku via Seibu-Shinjuku Line 120629
http://youtu.be/zYYRIosZqbA
Entering Yotsuya Station via Marunouchi Line Entrance 120629
http://youtu.be/qnuSR5o5zH4
Yotsuya Platform Walk and Ride to Kanda 120629g
http://youtu.be/qVmvkjvkPmk
Yurakucho Station - Shinkansen Train Passing - Exit - (120629)
http://youtu.be/eskPw2gTsMk
Yurakucho SB 120629
http://youtu.be/gtLIPfbtpKk
Yurakucho SB at Street Level 120629
http://youtu.be/WSa-NwwfGZA
Tokyo Station Crowds on Friday Night 120629
http://youtu.be/lYCLdJUQIog
Yurakucho Afternoon Stroll 有楽町散策 120629
http://youtu.be/M9FSwF07-qE
Ginza Chuo-Dori Nighttime Stroll 120629
http://youtu.be/OxcZfo3sGJ4
Ginza Evening Stroll 銀座散策 A 120629
http://youtu.be/dGuP7kebHtw
Ginza Evening Stroll 銀座散策 B 120629
http://youtu.be/8mo0gJQPyXM
Ginza Nighttime Sidestreet Stroll 120629
http://youtu.be/DnGUDpIFlv4
Yurakucho Plaza at 9:00 P.M. - (120629)
http://youtu.be/WggNZ3MXSiU
Yurakucho Plaza at 10:00 P.M. - (120629)
http://youtu.be/cMHQDrK--mA
Nighttime Yurakucho 夜の有楽町 120629
http://youtu.be/YtbACvIc8yg
Kanda to Tokyo and Train Typhoon Etc 120629g
http://youtu.be/tNDtD77jrBY
Incidentally, I prefer to have the date code within parenthesis, but YouTube had begun automatically eradicating "(", ")", "-", etc. when a video is uploaded, so although titles can be de-auto-mutated after uploading, I've decided it isn't worth the extra time and frustration to fight the title auto-mutate function and that it's better to just leave the date code sitting out in the open. It's uglier, but someone has apparently decided that parenthesis shouldn't be used in titles and instigated computer code to eradicate them, so it's probably best not to fight it.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
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