When the Korean Air 747 pulled away from the gate, the ground crew all lined up to wave goodbye. I loved the personal touch. Not something you ever see in the US. I did wonder how many people on board were looking out of the windows to appreciate this gesture.
While waiting for my flight at Narita, I saw this guy on the ramp being wanded by a colleague with a metal detector. There didn’t seem to be any problem so I was curious about what they were hoping to find? Had he lost his keys?
On my first visit to Tokyo, a few years ago, I made a brief visit to the park around the Imperial Palace. I decided to take another look during my first visit this year. However, while I knew it was going to be hot (it had been incredibly hot and humid all week) but the exposed area around the palace combined with the beating sun meant it was pretty uncomfortable. There were still plenty of tourists though.
I walked along one side of the palace grounds near the main entrance and then along the moat to some of the more famous viewing locations. I got a few shots as I walked along but it is fair to say I was not totally in to it. After I had got a bit further on, the heat was really getting to me and the desire to be back in the shade overtook any desire to explore further. There was a running club finishing their run which seemed amazing to me as I could hardly handle walking. Time to retreat.
Sitting in the lounge at Narita waiting for my flight home, this truck belonging to Delta was parked below us. It may be painted in Delta markings but it isn’t hard to see who originally bought it. I guess it isn’t the newest truck in the fleet and, unlike a lot of the vehicles on the ramp, this looks like it was built in the US.
The BAe125 (and all of the successor names) was a dominant biz jet for many years. It also found a few roles in military operations from transport, through trainer, to flight calibration and reconnaissance. The JASDF was one such operator with the aircraft designated U-125 in Japanese service. Hyakuri is home to a detachment and one of the jets flew during my visit. It taxied out and headed off on its mission.
Returning later on it was stopped in time to make the taxiway not far passed my location. The aircraft has a fairing underneath the fuselage for the search radar. The operator sits in the fuselage just above this location. They are also provided with a huge observation window for observing what is going on outside. Must be a good spot for taking pictures! I’m not jealous…
The hotel I have used on my recent visits to Tokyo is one of a group of hotels in one location. Between each of the buildings is a garden. It is a peaceful place to hang out (even when it was as hot and humid as it was when I was first there) and it has temples, bells, a lake and lots of places to rest and contemplate. In the evening, it is subtly illuminated providing a very different feel compared to how it is during the day.
On some occasions, music was piped in. One evening there was a guy playing some sort of flute as he wandered around the garden. I assume he was hired to do so rather than just showing up and playing but you never know. He was fighting the noise of the cicadas when it was hot!
Bike trails were popular in Yoyogi Park. The main trails had people getting some speed up but some areas were cordoned off for kids to use. This person was compromising and taking their kids for a ride in the park. The bike seemed perfect for the job.
Part of my exploration of Tokyo involved wandering around some back streets. The city felt so safe, I wanted to see what was going on away from the main activity. The streets were a maze of routes to get around which is hardly surprising given the age of the city. Lots of little shops, bars and homes were tucked away, hardly any great distance from big office buildings. The contrast was quite obvious. People were about but it wasn’t busy. Seeing them on their way at least made me aware that these parts of the city were not devoid of life.
I visited Akihabara twice while in Japan. Once was for a meeting with a client company that was based there and the other was when I was exploring. This area is known for a lot of entertainment associated with animation and it has a lot of visitors that are into comics and animation. It also seemed to have a large number of people playing Pokémon Go judging by the way they were all standing around playing with their phones. I did see one guy with a phone and a tablet in both hands so he could play two games at once I guess. I’ve never played the game so I can’t speak to whether it is good or not but it still seems to be really popular.
The taxiway at Hyakuri jinks around the shrine and consequently the towers we were on. This is probably an inconvenience the crews but this didn’t stop them from being friendly. The kids on the tower next to me waved at the crews and always got a wave back. I joined in too and waved whether the kids were there or not. I don’t think I ever failed to get a response!
