Very hot in Tokyo, seemed like a good day to stroll in the park. Went to the Meiji shrine, very huge carp and turtles in the pond where the Empress used to fish. At the bridge from the subway stop, young girls dress as dolls, or vampires, or combinations of dolls and vampires, and sit there all day hanging with each other and letting you take their pictures. After the shrine, on to the gardens at the Imperial Palace. The Palace is not visible from anywhere in the gardens open to the public. Beautiful, but did not get cooler. And every smiling helpful cop and construction site guard we came across was actually Secret Service, and so were half the other tourists, probably. Either that, or everyone had tiny little earphones so they could listen to the Hanshin Tigers game. The Hanshin Tigers, an underdog team, are having a season like the Chicago Cubs would be having if they really were on track to win the pennant. This has something to do with throwing a statue of Col. Sanders in the river in Osaka. All this according to Dale Furatani, who lives in Tokyo now and took us out for a great dinner in Ginza, which is just like Times Square except bigger, much more high class, and very organized.

After the shrine and the palace, we checked out the kitchenware neighborhood, where a huge chef statue faces a building with coffee cups for balconies. Then to Ueno to see the street of motorcycle shops, clothing, and supplies, so JL, this one's for you.