Off to see the Emperor

Today we met up with Yosuke to go and see the Emperor give his New Year's address and hit some museums. All the museums in Ueno were free to enter today, so it was a great chance to go and check out some of the ones we had never been to before.

We started off early and hit Bic Camera on the way to the Imperial Palace so I could buy a tripod. I found a really good deal - I got 71% off! Of course it started to pour rain, so so much for my idea of using it to take pics of the Emperor that weren't fuzzy.

As in previous years, we just walked right in. There is a bit of a line-up to go through when they pat you down and check your bags, but airport security in the US is tighter so it didn't take too long. We actually timed it really well because we only had to wait about 7 minutes once we were in the viewing area.

When the Emperor and Empress and Princes arrived everyone waved their Japanese flags. A lot of people didn't put their umbrellas down, which Hiroshi said was really bad manners. I managed to get some good pictures, but you can see the raindrops falling down!



As usual the audience was about 30% foreigners, which the Japanese always find a bit shocking. Probably because we all hang out in Tokyo during the holidays instead of heading back to our hometowns as the Japanese do. It seemed like there were a heck of a lot more people this year when everyone was rushing towards the gates to get out - but that may have been the umbrellas. It seemed like last time I was there the walk out was much more leisurely though.

After that we spent over an hour trying to find a coffee shop where we could get something hot and dry out a bit. Eventually I just suggested we head up to Ueno near the museums because I was not happy and walking around in the rain was less than fun.

We found a place to grab some lunch in Ueno and sat in there and warmed up... our bodies and our moods. Of course, by the time we got to the museum area it was mid-afternoon so we didn't get to see much. We did wander around for a bit though and I was happy to see the decorated Japanese panels, which are my favourite.

After that we headed back to Shinagawa for Outback Steakhouse, but before dinner we decided to go to the new aquarium. It is actually pretty good. We saw the dolphin show, which was so-so, and the seal show, which was funny, and the penguin feeding, which was very educational. The feeder explained a lot about the penguins and how they were different from each other while throwing fish to them.

There was a big tunnel where the sharks and rays were swimming. Since it was late at night, barely anyone was there, so we had the tunnel practically to ourselves. It was cool to see a big ray swim over top of you. In this tank there were also some sawfish wich were also cool.

After the aquarium we just wandered over to Outback and had a huge dinner. We were stuffed! We got Hiroshi some ice cream for his birthday - I was nice and declined the singing. I figured he wouldn't be too into that. And then we all waddled home for bed beacuse we tired from walking around all day!