After a good night's sleep at the hotel in Hakone, we all had a good, filling breakfast at 7:30 a.m. It was a good mix of Western and Japanese foods, so we were all satisfied. We met in the hotel lobby to check out of the hotel. We caught a few cabs then headed to the train station to take the Shinkansen. Around 9, we finally arrived in Tokyo. We dropped our baggage off at the hotel and then headed to the photography museum. There were three exhibits in the museum: the first one displayed examples of works by Japanese photographers, the second one was about photos of events that happened in the 60's, and the last exhibit was amateur photography. Each exhibit really helped us to better understand photography and learn how to be better photographers ourselves. It was very apparent that the Japanese love photography and having it as a hobby or entering photos into competitions, even at a young age.
We ate lunch at an "Italian" restaurant, relaxed for a little while back at the hotel, and then took the subway to Ginza to see all of the luxury stores and to take photos at blue hour. This was our first glimpse into the exuberance of Tokyo, wonderful modern buildings each with its own character and display. We passed buildings from upscale retailers such as Mikkikmoto, Christian Dior, Gucci, and Armani. We even rode in a round glass elevator with real watches covering the inside walls on the way to the Swatch store. We circled the same block in Ginza, watching as the sky and buildings transformed right before our eyes. As the sky became dimmer the buildings began to illuminate, each displaying its unique personality and design to full potential. Although we didn't have a whole lot of things scheduled for the day, we were all really exhausted from moving cities and walking so much. So once our photography session was over, we took the train back to Meguro to relax and go to bed at our new hotel!
Photo by Geoff Hillstead
Photo by Geoff Hillstead
Photo by Geoff Hillstead
Kirsten Hill, Geoff Hillstead, Tori Stahl