Not literally, at any rate (for some reason, mosquitoes don’t take to me like they do to Naoko). No, feeling itchy that more than a week has gone by since my last post. Unfortunately I don’t have too much to report at the moment, I’m busy trying to find a Japanese language school, and trying to disclipline myself to self-study until I find one.
I did recently create some desktop wallpapers of some of my Japan 2002 photos, should you be interested, found here. I was inspired to create these by downloading some interesting wallpapers from Tokyo designer/photographer Tomatocow (after entering the main site, click on the “wallpapers” link). There are some other great Tokyo wallpapers available at panoramic photographer Tsutomu Kuriyama’s site.
Speaking of photography, after being lazy for the last couple of weeks, I have managed to upload a few days’ worth of photos, including a bunch from a bus tour the family took to Yamanashi prefecture a couple of hours away (though with traffic, it was a 4-hour trip each way). Ironically, one of the highlights of the tour was the impressive whirlwind mini-tour of Tokyo I got in the morning as the bus made its way west out of the city via the Shuto Expressway, and the companion view at night as the bus returned to the city, reversing the morning route. Passing through many of the main Tokyo hotspots, Ikebukuro, Korakuen and the Tokyo Dome, Kitanomaru Park and the Budokan, Akasaka, Meiji Shrine, Shinjuku, and being high-up on a bus already high up on the Expressway, I got a view of the magnificent and gigantic city that I hadn’t ever seen before.
On the way back from Yamanashi, before entering Tokyo, we could see way off in the distance fireworks, yet another fireworks festival (hanabi) during a summer teeming with them. I had no idea where it was, but the next day (Sunday) I was checking Antipixel, and Jeremy had uploaded some photos from a previous night’s Tamagawa hanabi festival. Considering that we had to cross the Tama river to get back into Tokyo, I’m fairly certain these were the fireworks we could see from the bus.
I’ve taken some photos at the two hanabi festivals I’ve been to recently, but sans a tripod, my shots have been disappointing. But Jeremy has really captured the essence of what the sky looks like on such an occassion. Definitely worth a look.