Tokyo: The View from Here

First full day in Tokyo. Once I managed to pull myself together in the heat and humidity, I made my way a few Metro stops east from where I'm staying to Shinjuku to run some errands.

I stopped by the Tokyo Municipal Government Building to visit the Observation decks of both the north and south towers.

LA has nothing on Tokyo when it comes to sprawl (looking east from the south tower):

Fuji-san, lost in the haze (looking west from the south tower):

The Tochō from the ground:

Cool skyscrapers (looking northeast from the north tower):

I also made a lot of random observations today:

• Japanese women don't wear dangling earrings.
• Almost no one wears sunglasses.
• Since the Japanese drive on the left, there are a lot of other side-orientations that are switched, for example on escalators one stands on the left and walks on the right. I keep having to remind myself.
• Almost no one locks up their bicycles.
• Biggest fashion trend: black stirrup tights worn with flats or sandals so that the stirrup shows.

After the sun went down, I ventured back out to explore my neighborhood (Nakano-Sakaue) a bit. There was quite a gusty wind blowing, which helped with the heat. I was excited to find a Mos Burger (purveyors of a yummy rice and seaweed burger that I discovered in Taiwan) nearby, as well as a huge 100 yen store that has everything I could possibly need, not to mention four "konbini," including a 7-11 and a Family Mart.