I just got back from 16 awesome days in Japan. My wife and I spent a week in Kyoto, and a week in Tokyo, checking out the sights, eating amazing food, experiencing the culture and hanging out with friends.
There’s way too much to talk about here, so I’ll stick to super brief disjointed thoughts: Kyoto is really beautiful, and an excellent place to experience the more traditional side of Japan. Tokyo is a huge, crowded, and rather ugly city (aren’t all big cities?), but the people and culture make it amazing. The amount of respect, decency, and politeness Japanese people show others gives me hope for the rest of the world. Cherry blossom season is a great time to go to Japan – it’s so beautiful under the Sakura, and there’s so much happening. Hanging out with Marcos and Glyn (who flew up from Korea) was awesome – great company, and we got to experience parts of Tokyo that we never would have otherwise (thanks guys!). Japanese gardens are absolutely unsurpassed in beauty and detail – every step reveals a new, perfect photo opportunity. There’s a lot of super cool stuff to buy in Japan (we certainly got our fair share), including some really neat toys. Heated toilet seats are kind of nice (I suppose moreso for female types), but I’m not a fan of “posterior washes” (it’s kind of violating). You must have sushi at the tsukiji fish market at least once in your life (it’s soooo good).
We were there mostly for vacation, but I also squeezed in a little time to meet up with Mariko and Teiichi from Adobe Japan, as well as to show some of my recent work and hang out with some Tokyo Flashers. It was really great meeting everyone, and getting to see and hear about some of the cool work that’s going on over there.
Overall, one of the best trips I’ve been on. I’d strongly recommend it to anyone. I took a ton of photos, and might post some here when I have time. I’m going to have to do some re-working of my Sakura experiments to match all the photos I took.
Now I have to get busy and finish preparing for FitC Toronto (which I also highly recommend)!
I’m completely jealous. Sounds like a fantastic experience.
I’m doing my first FITC presentation this year Grant, hopefully we’ll have a chance to chat.
-tim.
My dad keeps telling that Japan is a great country which I should visit someday. He did his bachelor period there. I can recommend WebDU 2007, though. :))
Looks like we almost crossed paths there. Tokyo is a great city. Haven’t made it to Kyoto yet, but that’s on the agenda for next year. I’d love to see your pictures.
Hi Grant
Thanks for you speach in Japan.
I had a great time!
Tokyo an ugly city …. hmmmm, I cannot let that stand uncommented, living since over three years there. I think Tokyo looks quite beautiful compared to other mega cities. There is a lot of detail and complexity, narrow streets, tall and narrow houses, plants in front of houses directly near the street, overland cables. Not everyones taste but I like it. Sure, the city is noisy as hell and thats the annoying thing.