WENT BACK TO MY ROOTS

I just came back from Japan. I haven’t gone back for 4 years. It was very nice going back because I missed it so much. A lot of things were still the same but a lot of other things has changed too. click the link below to see more photos about the trip. I wish I could show you more.

scroll down for more pictures.

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I visited my 93 years old grandpa. It has been almost 10 years since the last time I saw him. He told me a lot of interesting stories. He remembers a lot of things. Here, he was telling me about this real Japanese samurai sword (I mean it’s not imitation for your living room. It actually used) that was owened by his great grandpa.

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Looks like all the info graphics in Tokyo subway system is now in 3 languages. At least 5 years ago, not all the information was even with English translation.

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The biggest train station in Japan. Hella crowded. So complicated to get around here. I don’t remember people were moving that fast.

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This was the big change for me. You don’t have to buy a ticket to ride a subway anymore. You have some kind of pre-paid ticket/card. You can scan your card at the gate machine (you can just take your card closer to the blue area you don’t even have to take your card out of your wallet) and it will charge the appropriate amount. You can recharge your card too.

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I like the modern – retro place like this tea shop. It is a nice mix of traditional and modern. I have seen more places like this than before.

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These are some of the posters I found in different places.

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24 hour convenience store even has plenty of variety of stuff that’s in good quality. I can never get bored over there.

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Public ashtray even has cool graphics.

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I went to one of the high tech conveyor belt sushi restaurant. Everything was automated there. You can order from the touch panel screen. The machine can also add up the plates for you when you are ready to pay.

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So many variation of pop vending machines were there. Seems like they have more and more variation every year.

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I saw tons of gumball style toy machines. I checked and every one of them were different.

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You see this bar cord like system everywhere now. This is a newspaper ad for pet store. In Japan, all the cell phones can scan this code and automatically connect you to their website and get information according to the code. Here, when you scan it, it automatically links you to the videos of these puppies. Pretty nifty.

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This was my favorite beer in Japan.

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One of the inexpensive bar that I went. The store front sign looks pretty nice. Nice typography.