With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound he pulls the spitting high-tension wires down! Helpless people on subway trains scream, bug-eyed, as he looks in on them. He picks up a bus and he throws it back down as he wades through the buildings toward the center of town. OH, NO! They say he’s got to go…Go, go, GODZILLA! OH, NO! There goes Tokyo….Go, go, GODZILLA! ~ Blue Oyster Cult, 1977 ~
It is inevitable…Tokyo HAD to have some sort of tribute to its most famous monster, born in 1954….Godzilla. And we found the site on Google Maps, of all places. Not far from our hotel, there is a place marker on the map that says, “Godzilla Head.” We had to track it down. It is on the 8th floor of the Gracery Hotel, and the first photo is up close and personal, out on the lobby’s terrace, while the second was taken down on the street. If you look at the front left of the third photo, you will see a very serious guard. We said to him, “Is it really your job to guard Godzilla all day long??” He broke into a big grin and nodded vigorously. There was also a mini-museum, with all the Godzilla posters ever and some smaller statues, and, of course, items for sale. What a treasure!
After our photo tribute to Godzilla, you will see some Tokyo street photos, including one of the longest street names we have seen! The three teenagers pictured were quite a treat for us. They wanted to know if they could ask a few questions and interview us. Once we established that they weren’t trying to sell us a timeshare…or anything else….we agreed to talk to them. They inquired whether they could film us, and we agreed. As far as we could ascertain it was a project for school. They smiled the whole time as we told them where we were from (at least, most recently, which drew big gasps and wide eyes), what we thought of Japan, how we liked the people and culture, and did we have any questions. We think they were supposed to be asking us, to practice their English, but they showed us their survey and let us read the questions. The second flurry of excitement on their end came when we offered them our card with our website and then told them we would put them on it! We took a few photos of them with us, as well, and we looked back as they walked away with their “treasure” of our interview. They were hugging each other and patting themselves on the back! It was enormously satisfying because they were so happy to have completed their assignment, and they found the one homeless couple in all of Tokyo for their report!
Following them are a few photos of Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, a truly peaceful Japanese Garden near a very busy rail and shopping center. It was so green and calm, with lakes and bridges and pretty flowers. There was a Tea House, but we didn’t go in because you had to buy a ticket for green tea in a vending machine before you entered! And when we peeked in, it was just a large empty room with benches. Not what we had in mind, so much.
The last photo is just for fun…Godzilla for sale, but looks who’s whacking him in the nose! But….he could be yours for just $23 US!
