I flew down to Tokyo on Friday the 25th and met up with Travis in the airport. We spent some time looking around a mask museum near the American embassy. The museum was full of masks used in some of Japan's traditional theaters over the centuries.
Travis, who posed a lot on this trip	There must have been an important Japan-US-EU meeting in the area
Hello sir!	What big feet you have!
On Saturday, Travis and I met up with Jason on the bridge over the Harajuku station next to the Meiji Shrine. After the shrine and lunch, Jason and I continued on to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. Studio Ghibli is an animation studio in Japan. Japan's top three films ever have all been cartoons made by this company. I think their films are wonderful and if you get the chance to see them, please do. The museum was outstanding, not only as a museum of Ghibli's works, but also as an animation museum in general. Unfortunately, you can't take pictures inside, so I only have a few outside shots to show you.
The entrance	The museum as we were leaving
Me and a robotic giant	Jason and a cube
On Sunday, we all met up in Shibuya to head out to Kamakura. While waiting Shibuya, I was accosted by a drunk Spanish woman who asked me for a cigarette, and then went on about how she worked at a club last night, went to karaoke, and then was still looking for her friend to go and party more.
The Hachiko Exit of Shibuya station	More of the station area
Outside the exit of Shibuya station is a statue of a dog. There's a story that goes with this statue. Years ago, a professor who lived in Shibuya would take the train home from work to Shibuya station. His faithful dog would show up every evening to greet him at the station. Even after the doctor died in 1925, the dog continued to come to the station every evening to greet his owner that never came home. He did this until his own death eleven years later. This statue was erected outside the station in his honor.
From Shibuya, we headed straight to Kamakura. Kamakura was the capital of Japan from 1185 to 1333. Kamakura is known for an abundance of temples as well as a Giant Buddha statue. The weather was really nice that day for walking and Kamikura itself is a nice area.
These were some kind of souvenirs found near the station	karafuru (colorful)
Ok, it's just a dirty pond, but I thought the color was nice	The one place Travis's hat fit in
A shrine in Kamakura	An old temple guardian
Probably a jizo statue	Another gate
I saw this swastika on a temple in Kamakura, and I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about it. In the West, we associate the swastika only with Nazi Germany. However, for thousands of years the swastika has been a symbol of good luck found in numerous cultures and religions. In Japan, the swastika (called manji) usually denotes a temple on a town map. If you'd like to read more, please check out this article on the swastika.
Japanese graveyards have a much different feel to them than Christian ones	Dragons on a gate
Another gate animal	A statue hidden by trees
There are often lots of cats hanging about shrines and temples	What's in here?
The statue as viewed from the graveyard	Underneath one of the ropes that hang from shrine gates

This page has too many pictures, so I decided to break it up into two pages. Click here to continue to page 2.>