Busker alley at Shinjuku station

Okay, those who know me, are aware that I have a weak spot for buskers and live music. Musicphotography was the reason I bought my first real camera.

Buskers were my favourite thing ever in Dublin. The first time I felt at home at Malta was when a young sweetie started standing with his guitar next to my office. I walked down everyday to have a chance to give him a few cents. I remember one day when I skipped lunch because I gave him my last coins.

So, imagine the joy when I walked by Shinjuku Station one night and started to hear someone singing. And someone else. And someone rapping. And realized that oh wow, the whole boulevard was filled with buskers. Propably spent an hour just enthrilled by the different acts. Everything from the nervous 'girlpunk'band to the hypnotized schoolgirls around the cute guy crooning to the scary lady screaming.

Look in the sky

This needs some background music.

I've pointed this out earlier, I'm a citygirl through and through. Which might be suprising regarding that I'm born on a farm in the middle of nowhere. But the countrylife and tranquility has never been my thing. I find full serenity in hearing the citynight outside my window or watching over a cityview. So the skyscrapers and the neons were my thing. Amazing beauty. 

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office offers a no-entrance observatory in both of their towers. I went to the north one, unfortunately it's was a bit cloudy so no view of Mount Fuji. But the city. Omg. There are no words. 

There is a little restaurant up there, and I paid for both the cover charge and the "live-music" fee to get a glass of excellent red wine while the darkness was setting over the city. A moment I wanted to stay in forever. 

Hanazono Jinja Shrine

It's not only skyscrapers and cars and neonlights. In the middle of everything is a little magical silent corner in the form of Hanazono Jinja Shrine.

I don't have much information about it, I think there was a infosign...in Japanese. I did however find out it's a Shinto shrine from the 17th century with lovely little details everywhere.

Nice little break in the midst of everything. But even better is a little park alley close by that completely surprises you. It's so easy to just walk by the entrance, but just a few meters in it feels like a fairytaleworld where the cityhussle is only a distant memory.

Kabukichu - grittywittyhomefromhome

One of my favourites was walking around in Kabukichu. It is the "red-light district" but specially during daytime it's perfectly safe and nice even for a lonely girltraveller. To me, this became my new home and I always found my feet walking back to Kabukichu.

This is the area where geishas and Yakuza still roam, but daytime I never spot them. It is a bit of a maze, and somehow I found a new alley everyday to look at or a new wonderful detail I had somehow missed.

(oh,maybe I shouldn't admit to exploring backalleys at a redlightdistrict on a blog my mother reads...)

Robot restaurant. Yes, that's real girls operating massive girlrobots. That's Japan!