tokyo

the next morning johnny left for fukuoka and marshanda and i headed for tokyo. we arrived in the afternoon and spent some time wandering around the imperial gardens. we ate yakiniku for dinner which was especially enjoyed by marshall (who is starved of good meats in england, i hear). yakiniku is a grill-as-you-eat style of dining that is very popular here. you are provided with a small charcoal grill at your table and you order small dishes of marinated raw meats or vegetables as it suits you. it's a slow meal, but the food is absolutely delicious. the major downfall is that you smell like a barbecue when you leave. when travelling with limited clothes and one bag, this is especially unfortunate. i should have anticipated this.

the next day, we met amanda and marshall's friend rai. he is from the tokyo area, but spent the last three years living in chicago (where he befriended joe and erica and the gang). he just moved back to japan in december. we met him at noon and he took us to lunch at a very popular restaurant where we met his sister and her boyfriend.

afterwords we went to the hara museum of contemporary art and saw an exhibit by olafur eliasson, called 'your light shadow' or 'kagi no hikari.' it was an incredibly impressive exhibit. each piece is installed in a seperate room. it is an interactive experience as one can walk around and through each installation to experience the different affects of the light on the given environment. located in a residential district of shinagawa, the museum itself was an excellent space. originally a house, it was perhaps built in the 1950's (?) with obvious western influence. you can see more for yourself at www.haramuseum.or.jp.

we ended the evening with a nice slow meal at a small restaurant in shibuya, perhaps the most famous entertainment and shopping district in the city. we said goodnight to rai, wandered around the area, and ate cheesecake at a late night dessert cafe.