In Tokyo I visited Ninja Akasaka a ninja themed restaurant.

The ninjas prepare the food for you (food always tastes better after it has been set on fire by a ninja) and there is a magic show as well.

Some of the food is ninja themed – crackers in the shape of shuriken and things like that.  It’s a little pricey, but a fun place to visit once.

I did a day trip from Toyko to Nokogiriyama (Sawtooth mountain) in Chiba prefecture.

It is a mountain with an interesting viewing platform with a great view.  The mountain also has a temple that is home to the largest Buddha image in Japan (almost twice the size of Nara’s Todaiji Daibutsu).

In a desperate bid to contain the escalating monkey problem in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, authorities are offering the public 200,000 yen to capture any of the Japanese macaques causing problems. To successfully earn the bounty, citizens have to successfully lock a primate in their house.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/marauding-monkeys-have-y200000-bounty-on-their-heads

Delhi deploys ‘super monkey’ security guards

Delhi authorities are to deploy a contingent of langurs — a large type of monkey — at Commonwealth Games venues to help chase away smaller simians from the sporting extravaganza.

On the way to Tokyo I stopped at Shizuoka.  Near Higashi-Shizuoka railway station they’ve assembled a giant Gundam robot.  All hail our new robotic overlords.

In Tokyo I visited the Tokyo Game Show, the biggest computer games expo in the world.

I visited the expo in 2008 when I lived in Japan.  I used to write for a Japanese tourist magazine so I was able to get a press pass and go on the industry-only days.  That was a lot less crowded than the days the expo is open to the public.

There are lots of games (console, PC, mobile phone, iPad, etc) on display, but most of the games involve a couple of hours of lining up to get to play them.  I didn’t line up.  Instead I wandered around and took lots of photos.

On the public days lots of people come to cosplay – dressing up in elaborate costumes representing characters from computer games and anime.  This year there were even quite a few foreigners who had dressed up.

Apparently the Special Forces recommends Calorie Mate for dieting…

There was a person inside this dog suit.

Japanese motorcycle gangs aren’t quite as scary as the Hell’s Angels…

I arrived in Japan a couple of weeks ago.  I visited friends in Osaka and then went out to Kanazawa.

It has one of Japan’s most famous gardens – Kenrokuen.

Then I stayed overnight in Shirakawa-Go in Gifu Prefecture.  The village is a world heritage site and has lots of old traditional thatched roof houses.  Some of the old houses are now minshuku (a kind of Japanese hotel).  The one I stayed in was very picturesque.

The minshuku provided me with dinner and breakfast.  Part of the appeal of the traditional meals is how beautifully they are presented.  This was breakfast.

Then I visited Takayama, which has a preserved old town, with lots of old houses.  Takayama is also known for sarubobo good luck charms.  Sarubobo literally means baby monkey and the dolls are traditionally faceless.