Downtown Tokyo. It's pretty crowded, probably not more so than New York or any other huge city.   I love the big cities in Japan, you get free stuff. People hand out gum, tissue with pictures of naked women with phone numbers and even a fan with a beer logo on it. So sweet it is!

Akiko had meticulously made plans for every night. (I prefer more spontaneity and this is sometimes leads to 'disagreements'...) But alas!  Her attempt to save money by reserving a room for only one person and sneaking me in did not work so well. I took this photo of her as she was asking them if I could come up.  They said no, and also refused to let us buy another room (this room was too small for two they said) - they were booked solid as was every other hotel in Tokyo. (Some kind of big convention was going on) She sat in the street and cried. Her special plans ruined!  I convinced her I didn't mind staying anywhere and a few phone calls later her friend Mitang rescued us by allowing us to sleep at her apartment.

A nicer girl you couldn't meet.  This is the main room of her apartment.  I'm sitting on her small bed as I take this photo - her fridge, clothes and dinner table are all in this room.  A tiny kitchen/hallway and bathroom are beyond through the beaded doorway. Her rent is about $835 US..this is the same price as a 3 bedroom 2 bath house where I live. She insists we take the bed, we argue about it for some time but she's too stubborn!

This was on a glass window of a store in a mall. Probably about the oddest thing I've ever read.

The next day we look for a hotel.  There are none to be had so we are forced to look for a love hotel.  In this picture, there are four or so "love hotels". Many have themes such as Victorian gardens or roman baths or... you get the picture. We found one that would let us come and go as we please and wouldn't lock us in, we stayed here two days while leaving the bulk of our belongings at Metang's. Akiko objected to me showing this picture or even mentioning "love hotels".  I told her she can take it off the Japanese version of this page.

Tokyo Disney at last! I was really looking forward to going..Kiko and I had been to Disneyland in CA the year before, so it was fresh in my mind to compare the two. Everything was pretty similar... they had kind of scrunched a few areas into one and were missing a lot of rides. Space Mountain seemed a little slower.   But this is high:  Mickey Mouse is a dancing superstar in Japan!  Thousands of Japanese teens would scream "I love you" to him when he would dance their way. I also saw him (yes, Mickey Mouse) perform on a Japanese "teen idols sing" TV show a few nights later. One more thing - Mickey Mouse does NOT speak any Japanese.  When he speaks, it's English. Also, he looks exactly the same, no changes to make him look more Asian, et.

The lines were long at Tokyo Disney. This line was 45 minutes... to buy ice-cream. You can see the line wrap around the back, it went much farther also. We came on a Monday, but it was some kind of holiday and school was out. Damn! I was surprised they used the "ticket" system just like Disneyland did way back in the day. I suppose this is a way to keep the lines down, some people would pay to get in (to see Mickey dance or whatever) and not do rides.

This is the US Embassy in Tokyo. We got married and filed our I-130 here the same day.

Us somewhere in Tokyo Disney. Every time I see a trash can the correct height I plop my digital camera on it and set the timer... I've gotten some strange shots...

Akiko's college friends decided to throw us a wedding party/college reunion/goodbye Akiko type of deal. Akiko was pretty vague about the whole thing, I thought we were just going to have some KFC together or something but it turned out to be quite the production. Her friends rented a REALLY nice house with an incredible view of Mt. Fuji. Screw the view, I know you would rather see the people!

First things first. We hit the store.  It seemed everybody had to buy something so they could cook their "specialty". At the house everyone buzzed in and out of the kitchen preparing a meal I will never forget.   I had dinner with Naoki and Bear the night before, but everybody else was new to me.. so many names to remember!  Everytime I thought I had it covered, someone new would show up. To help me remember, Akiko would give me their names in English. For instance Kuma's name means "Bear" in Japanese.

Just before the dinner was served, Akiko and I were ushered into a side room to wait. When we were lead out, what a glorious spectacle did we behold; so many wonderful looking dishes, so many smiling faces lit by candle light. She was handed some flowers and everyone began to hum the wedding march in a precious effort to re-create the American style wedding she had missed. Naoki give us rings which we exchanged. There was a toast and a hearty cheer by all.

Akiko was overwhelmed. Large tears began to splash down her face.

With the wedding part done with...it was time to party! Everyone drank.  Like fish.   Naoki had warned me to stay away from Ake.  "She's dangerous." he told me.   She spoke English rather well and we had a nice chat. She's a bit of a flirt. ;) Left to right: Ake, Bear, Fusako

Taga-chan rebuffs Nao's attempt to lock lips with her. I'm afraid I scared Habu-Chan by bursting into the bathroom as she was doing makeup - (it's kind of like a public restroom, with stalls) - only later did I realize that was the women's restroom. Sorry, Habu! Left to right, top to bottom: Akiko, High Bridge, Inatsuki-kun, Habu-chan, Taga-chan, Nao & Machik.

Nao and Naoki celebrate a winning game of ping pong.  The losers are forced to drink a strange brew... thankfully, Akiko and  I won our match. I had believed in Japan it's commonly accepted that if you're drunk, you'll be forgiven anything. However, this didn't hold true when Naoki got a little too grabby with Ake.  She kicked him a good one and was still giving him dirty looks the next morning. (as she should!)

Friends like these are hard to come by. Left to right (top row): Inatsuki-kun, Sakakibaracchi, Makocchan, Bear, Naoki, Kuro, Ake, Hata-Hata, Yakko Left to right (bottom row):  Machiko, Nao, Akiko, Seth, Taga-chan, High Bridge, Habu-chan

The next day everyone said their good-byes. I talked Akiko into going to another amusement park..("Kourakuen") the rides were only ok, but check out this wacky playground?? No, your eyes are not broken.. that's Akiko squatting inside a giant plastic boy's shorts. There was also a little house with a plastic topless woman in it - I have a picture of me groping it but I thought it a mite' too lascivious for the page.

I had some fun at the Asakusa shops (in Tokyo), it's kind of a giant outdoor touristy shopping place. Why is this shop selling rice crackers with a swastika on the box?

Homeless people set up camp right outside a large downtown Tokyo apartment as soon as it closes.

A high percentage of restaurants in Japan have window displays of the food - somehow they have a method of preserving the food by covering it with glaze... it always looks delicious!

Meet the Okazaki family. They live in Kanagawa, not too far from the Tokyo prefecture.   "You are the first American to come into our house, so we are very excited." Mr Okazaki told me. I felt like royalty!  They asked so many questions, we laughed a lot.  I really had fun. They are nicest family!!! They served us the most WONDERFUL fruit tea and cakes - later I peeked into the kitchen and Mrs. Okazaki showed me how to make it..using a lot of real fruit.  I felt guilty for drinking so much of the godly nectar! Mr Okazaki whipped out his tripod for this picture.

Keiko and Akiko have been friends since childhood. They gave each other American nicknames a long time ago - Keiko is "Kenny" and Akiko is "Anny". Kenny offered to show us the sights. The entire family walked us to the car and waved as we left.  Too nice!!! It was very hot that day (especially if you're from Oregon) and I saw a sign that said "Ice World".  I coaxed the girls into the strange "ride" by buying them tickets. Basically, you pay $5 to walk through a fridge. It was the biggest rip-off in the world... but it was great! Here is a picture of them freezing.

Yokohama is the backdrop in this picture. It was beautiful. (Akiko thought she didn't look cute enough, so I've had to modify this picture.. :) )

We took a night bus to Fukayama, Akiko's parents town. This is a picture of Akiko's mother, Yoshimi, in her garden. Akiko's parents are very nice and drove us all around. We even got her to take us to the arcade.. but we couldn't quite get her to play DDR, maybe next time! :) Yoshimi manages a large hospital near Fukuyama.

Now THIS is service. Grocery store employees wait for customers.

Here is a crepe type of thing (very good) and the drink of drinks, melon soda. I have not found any in the US yet, but I got addicted to the stuff, it was everywhere!

Yoshimi, me and Akiko's grandmother. Akiko's grandmother has a very nice house where she farms. She's an amazing woman and has seen many things.

Here I help harvest the onion crop. When we were finished I was pretty tired and I guess it showed. Grandmother asked me "Tired"? "Yes, a little." I admitted. "How old are you?" she asked. "Twenty-five.  Are you tired?" "Nope.. and I'm eighty six!" she laughed.

Like many Japanese girls, Akiko believes 'lighter skin = more beautiful' for some reason and is deathly afraid of getting a tan.  The labels of the Japanese version of many skin cremes (even American based companies such as Ponds) promise to also whiten the skin. While in America, tanning is big business. Oh the irony! The only way she would venture into the sun to farm is with a towel over her head and SPF 100 sunblock.

Kun-Kun, Akiko's dog. He's over a 100 in dog years. I noticed something. When I was walking around Akiko's neighborhood alone, people would stare and I felt very out of place.  BUT:  If I was walking Kun-Kun I became almost invisible.  I could stop and stare at anything without seeming too strange..because there was a furry pet on a leash with me. I never realized this about dogs..now I want one!

All too soon it was time to leave. I had to travel the 600 miles to the Tokyo/Narita airport alone, I was a little nervous. For my first leg of the journey I took the Shinkesen, a very fast train. (It can go around 150 MPH) But man, bring some snacks because the food is a rip. All in all it was a great trip, I hope to go back soon.

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