Going Japanese - part one

I'm in Japan this week - part work and part art project. Wandering around Tokyo today, we came across an avenue of very old Ginkgo trees just before they lose their striking yellow leaves. The leaves are unique among seed plants, being fan-shaped with veins radiating out into the leaf blade, sometimes bifurcating (splitting) but never anastomosing to form a network.



The art clubs were out in force

The experienced and .... the not so experienced ...

Christmas is also on its way with most shops playing some strange selection of jazz or easy listening carols. My favourite so far was a flute and sax heavy version of Last Christmas.

There is no graffiti and little litter - so to find a subversive artist at work on a light on one of the walkways was exciting.

Despite the hype the metro is fast, clean and easy to navigate out of rushhour - most passengers sleep between stops and I haven't worked out yet how they wake up at their stop.

Some sleepers also combine it with the face mask look.

Perhaps the thing that surprises you most is the smell of cigarette smoke in the restaurants - a fllashback to the 80's. Good also to see sex still being used to sell the product - this poster seen on one of the many automated street dispensers.

We were whisked back to reality when we witnessed the emptying of the stub bins ...

More Japanese images when we go to Kobe and Kyoto later this week.