Tokyo II

After breakfast on friday morning (scrambled eggs, bacon etc.) I met Shigemi, a Japanese friend of mine, whom I met in Kobe last July. He showed me a beautiful chrysantemum exhibition in a park close to the imperial palace (big news here: a couple of days ago a princess called Nori-nomiya-sama married a commoner so now she is no longer part of the imperial household and has to get used to a regular life, i.e. being instructed how a supermarket works etc.). Continued to see the infamous Yasakuni shrine 靖國神社where the Japanese war heroes (and criminals) are being honoured. Every year when the Japanese prime minister i.e. Koizumi visits this shrine in August there is a lot of outrage from the Chinese and Koreans. The shrine is beautiful but they do have a museum where history isn't quite told as it should be told...with 'glamorous' kamikaze planes and loads of pictures from the war heroes.
Bought some fab prints from the beginning of the Meiji 明治 period (around 1886)　by an artist called Tankei in an area called Jinbochou 神保町, full of second hand bookstores. I don't think that they are originals (seeing what I paid for them) but they will look great.
On to the Fukagawa Edo Museum 深川江戸資科館, where they show Edo, as Tokyo used to be called, with a lay-out of an old quarter with streets and houses that you can see from the inside. Really spectacular.
Had to meet Damion (american friend) in Omotesando, another very upscale area of Tokyo, full of Gucci, Louis Vuiton and other stores where we had ... caipirinhas (the real stuff with agua ardente) in a loungy place called Montook with groovy people and music. Mexican food...yeah..for dinner. Loved it. Last drink at GB's again....