Tokyo

I've been in Tokyo for 3 days, staying with my friends Manami and Tim. Manami was at SIT with me some years ago and after living in the US in Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Iowa and Chicago, she and her American husband decided to live in Tokyo, so I'm lucky to be able to stay with them for a while. You can see some pictures of Manami and me posing on our visit to Akiba, the 'heaven of computer and animation nurds' as Manami puts it. This is a place where Japanese fans of computer technology hang out. Also in this area you can visit a 'maid cafe' where you are served by maids, some of whom stand on the street and try to entice customers. They don't like being photographed as you can see from the picture but everyone does it anyway.

I also visited Manami's junior high school and met 3 of her classes with approximately 42 13-14 year old boys in each class. With Manamis guidance, I spoke with each class for about 20 minutes .Some of them were very shy but others volunteered answers to my questions and asked their own questions, " Who is your favorite animator?", "Do you play computer games?", and "What is your favorite sport?"One of them asked me what time I was born, in the morning or the night and another, how much money I made!

Today's weather is uncertain- it's the rainy season- so we will be prepared with umbrellas as we venture to Kichijoji, an artsy area where there is an arts and craft market and live music around a lake. I will be able to use my JR ( Japan Rail) pass to travel there.