Photo: Christopher Jue/Japan-i
Today is the start of the Obon holiday here in Japan and is a time when many people travel back to their hometown to be with family and visit the graveyards of their ancestors. It’s always a good thing for all of us to reflect on our past ancestors and be thankful for what we have today.
Safe travels everyone and be sure to buckle up if traveling by car!
Chris
Check out this cool video of the Gundam 30th Anniversary Event which took place on July 11, 2009 in Odaiba. It’s aliiiiiive!
Photo: Christopher Jue/Japan-i
Awa-Odori Festival in Tokyo.
Hanabi season has begun and one of the biggest and longest running fireworks display is going on this Saturday on the Sumida river. With 21,500 fireworks it’s sure to be an incredible display.
The nearest station is Asakusa or Kuramae and things get underway around 7pm. Fireworks are set off from two spots along the river but make sure you go early to get a good viewing spot. Don’t miss it!
For more details check out the official website
Photo: Christopher Jue/Japan-i
A sea of paper lanterns are scattered along the beach in Odaiba on ‘Marine Day,” which is known as a Japanese national holiday.
Photo: Christopher Jue/Japan-i
Known as the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan), this is a fun filled educational museum perfect for all ages. Discover the latest in cutting edge technology, robots, virtual reality rides and more!
Address:
Miraikan
2-41, Aomi
Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0064
TEL: 03-3570-9151
Website: www.miraikan.jst.go.jp
Opening Hours: 10:00~17:00 (Entrance allowed up to 16:30. Opening days and hours are subject to change.)
Closed: Tuesday (Open on Tuesdays that fall on holidays or in the spring, summer, or winter vacation periods), December 28 - January 1
Admission Fee: ¥600 (Adults), ¥200 (18 years old and under), Free (children age 6 and under)
Access:
- 5 minute walk from Funeno-Kagakukan Station (Yurikamome Line)
- 4 minute walk from Telecom Center Stations (Rinkai Line)
Gundam has arrived in Odaiba but only for a short time.
Although construction on this 18 meter high anime icon has been completed for some time, the official unveiling wasn’t until this past Friday and the crowds haven’t stopped since.
After spending some time at the International Book Fair at Tokyo Big Sight I made my way over to Shiokaze park to see this magnificant creation. As we approached Daiba station on the Yurikamome monorail there it was towering over the trees that surrounded it, Gundam in all it’s glory. But to really get a feel for how incredible and enormous it is you must place yourself at its feet, it feels as though 18 meters goes on forever and pictures definetly don’t do it justice. This is something you have to see with your own eyes.
THIS is the Japan I have been waiting for for 2 years, giant robots. 
Wednesday night some members of the Japan-i team were lucky enough to get to the Ice Bar, located in Ginza. Handed thick, furred capes and gloves upon entry, we sat and chilled in a bar regulated at -5 degrees and encased and stocked with pure ice shipped all the way from the Torne River in northern Sweden.
Entry is a little steep at ¥3500 for hire of the winter gear for 45 minutes and an ice glass and one drink, but the cocktails (try ‘Frost’) went down well and it was a welcome, if temporary, break from the lingering muggy summer heat outside.
3 minutes walk from Shimbashi Station on the Yamanote, Asakusa and Ginza lines, check out their website here.
Cooling off in the Ice Bar
Photo: Christopher Jue/Japan-i
A modern “Hiroden” streetcar passes by on a rainy evening in Hiroshima. Hiroshima Electric Railway Co., Ltd. is a transporation company originally established in 1910 which manages the overall operations of buses and streetcars within the Hiroshima vicinity.
Working-class Bakurocho has become a destination for art-loving hipsters. Located among clusters of Showa-era buildings in the heart of shitamachi, the recently opened αM (pronounced Alpha-em) Gallery is Musashino Art University’s cool new exhibition space. On the agenda for this year’s program is a series of shows curated by Kazuo Amano. The exhibitions explore the theme metamorphosis and focus on the transformation of materials into sculptural objects.
This week is your last chance to catch Vol. 2 of the program, entitled “Transmutable Objects.” The exhibition features multi-media work from some of Japan’s most up-and-coming young artists. The next installment will begin July 25th.
While you’re there, take a stroll around town to check out some of the galleries that have been popping up in the area.
αM is housed on the B1 floor of the Agata Takezawa Building, 2 miunutes from Exit A1 of Bakuro-Yokoyama station on the Toei Shinjuku Line.
1-2-11 Higashi-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku
03-5829-9109