Bar Food

Bar snacks are so yummy here. This was our first time hearing about fried spaghetti. They deep fry uncooked spaghetti pasta and dust it with garlic salt. Very unhealthy, but it is SO good! Also, pork rinds are rare here in Japan. I've only ever seen them in bars, where they are a novelty snack served with spicy vinegar. Delicious!

Karaoke Bar

There is a bar by our house called the Exotic Plum. It's a tiny place with a very nice owner and staff, and they keep the karaoke going until dawn for $1 per song. Jonathan likes to take his tuba and the locals love it!

Going Clear

Peach Coke!

Meiji Shrine

Torii Gate

One of the most popular shrines in Tokyo is Meiji Shrine, which is located within a 170 acre forest in the middle of the city. The shrine was built in 1921 in memory of Emperor Meiji who passed away in 1912. The walk to the shrine is beautiful, as the gravel path winds through the forest. Along the way, you pass through several gigantic torii gates and can view sake and wine barrels that have been donated to the shrine from around the world. Emperor Meiji is an extremely respected Japanese leader because he paved the way for Japan's modernization and combining eastern and western cultures. During his reign, he wore western style clothing and adopted western aspects of every day life, including often eating western foods. He had a love for French wine (hence the donated wine barrels) and established a strong friendship between Japan and France.

Sake Barrels

Wine Barrels

Candy

Konpeito

There is a candy shop here in town that has a lot of unique goodies. They have a lot of dagashi, which is Japanese penny candy that was super popular in the '50s. While no longer a penny, they are still very cheap, ranging from .10-.50 cents. I picked up some konpeito, which is possibly Japan's oldest candy. It's just balls of colorful sugar, and they were brought to Japan by the Portuguese in the early 1700s. Some other fun candies I picked up are tomato and cherry gummies (these are so good!), little candies that link together like puzzle pieces, and hard candies that you can whistle through (very fun or very annoying, depending on your view).

Whistle Candy

This candy box looks just like the trains we ride every day!

Busa Kawa

I got these two stationery sets today because they are just TOO AWESOME! These literally made me laugh out loud when I saw them in the store.