Otherworld

I certainly haven't blogged as often as I wanted to here in Tokyo. I probably underestimated the time we would be out and about, or moving from house to house, or traveling out of the city. Beyond that, there is a feeling of being a foreigner in a city that is hard to summarize, but Internet access is certainly an example.

If I'm in the US and I need Internet access, chances are the friends or relatives I am staying with have broadband access and I can easily plug in and get connected. Fairly often, they have a wireless network and with a few clicks and a password, I'm online anywhere in the house. In the rare cases someone doesn't have Internet access, I can simply find a McDonalds or a Starbucks and using my AT&T account, log in from there.

I have found little of the above to be true in Japan. It's true that we are now staying in a house that has multiple Internet connections in the house (though not wireless), and I can access the Internet at will. However we have stayed with one relative who did not have Internet access at all (I believe they use a CDMA LAN card in their laptop for access), and at a relative with one network connection where I had to stretch a power cable across the dining area floor because there are about half as many power points in a Japanese house as there are in an American house and twice as many electrical devices, including talking rice makers.

One place I have felt completely at ease, however, is behind my lens and I am thrilled (and probably spoiled rotten) to be able to shoot every single day. And even 2 weeks into our trip, I feel like I will run out of time to shoot every location and time of day that I want to be able to shoot.

This shot was made in Akihabara, once famous for electronics and computer gadgets, now famous for geek culture (anime, collectables, and maid cafes). Akihabara, or Akiba, as it is nicknamed, was one of the locations I was fortunate enough to return to twice, once in the day time (mainly for shopping) and once at night (mainly for shooting). Under the JR tracks is this tiny little yakitori shack. I love this picture because I can look at it and almost smell the skewers cooking on the grill and hear the clack of the train passing overhead as they arrive and leave the station.