The zoo is located around Shinobazu Pond (不忍池). I’m sure there’s a better way to get to it, but we went out the Shinobazu exit at Ueno station and headed right. Just follow the people. There are ample maps around as well to help you out.

The price of entry is 600 yen, but bring a little more (I had only 800 yen total). We were both hungry, and the fact that every place seems to sell crepes, ice cream and pizza did not make things easier.

There’s a path around the zoo so you can be sure to hit everything, and also a monorail that links the East and West parts of the park. The West side has what appeared to be a petting zoo. I saw kids touching animals, so I assume that’s what it was, anyway. It was inside the kids zoo, and we didn’t hang out there too long because of all the young’uns bumping into us and running (literally) underfoot.

If you don’t want to take the monorail, like me because I had no money to do so, you can walk to the West side. It takes a few extra minutes, but you get a nice shot of the pond because the East side is maybe 10 meters higher than the West side. The West side is also host to an insect and creepy-crawly exhibit, which we didn’t go to. I’m deathly afraid of spiders and other such animals, but if that’s your thing I’m sure there’s plenty of them over there.

I took pictures of a bunch of the animals there, but I only put maybe 6 or so on my flickr page. You’ll find the usual fare at the zoo – lions, tigers, monkeys, birds – lots of the damn things, among others. I was fortunate enough to see the back of a panda’s ass for 3 minutes until the big guy stood up (Oohs and Ahhs from the crowd) to summarily empty his bowels and fall asleep (”Dammit” from me). Maybe future zoo-goers will have better luck.

The interesting thing about the photos on display was that they were made without the use of a camera. Welling places flowers on negatives and exposes them to light, giving a gray-scale imprint of the flowers on film. Then he prints it and applies a single color or two to the image. The results are pretty amazing and quite stunning, at least to this art-viewing newbie.

You can catch his work until February 25th at the Wako Works of Art building in Nishi-Shinjuku. The easiest way to get there I found was to exit Hatsudai station from the East Exit, which gets you directly into the Opera City Building. From the building’s main entrance, it’s about a 500m walk. The receptionist should be able to help you find your way, and if not you can call the number at the TAB page.

A bonus of making that trip was that right next door at the Kenji Taki Gallery was an exhibit of some very fine paintings. Now, I have to be honest – I’m not sure if they were paintings or photos converted to look like paintings and printed as such. They were photorealistic drawings from Yutaka Koyanagi, all done at night of various places in and around Tokyo it seems. The day I went was the last day, and I didn’t see it advertised on TAB, so it was a welcome surprise. If you stood next to the paintings you could clearly see the extensive use of gradients to imitate shades and details, but when you stepped away it looked just like a photo. Lighting and water effects were great too. I’m amazed at how he was able to paint so close to the canvas, but somehow know what it would look like 5 feet away.

I didn’t take any photos out of respect for the artist, who I believe was 10 feet away from me (someone was getting their photo taken when I walked in). The exhibit that’s there now seems really fun – I didn’t see the artwork, but there was a postcard for it when I arrived that shows a painting of a desert with Ultraman characters floating or playing on a playground.

I live near Nerima, so the best places to run are Shakuji-koen, Hikarigaoka-koen and some of the parks in Wako-shi. They’re all easily identified on any map of Tokyo simply by virtue of the green blobs representing them. Green is quite rare on Tokyo maps.

Shakuji-koen has a nice ~1.75km loop around the main section of the lake, as well as a wooded area on one side of the lake (inside the main loop) that is about 700m each way. 6 laps around the lake would be a bit over 10k for anybody wanting to put in some distance in their free time, and the scenery is gorgeous all year around.

If you aren’t afraid to take a walk across the street, halfway around the lake you can head towards Tanashi and Hoya, where a couple more parks await about 5km or so away. For those who don’t mind running on main roads, there’s a long stretch from Ogikubo on the Ome-kaido road, and parallel to that, Inokashira-dori, which lead to Shinjuku and thereabouts.

The park at Hikarigaoka used to be a US base, so it’s a very clean, expansive and well-designed park. It’s mostly flat on the running surface, but there are hilly fields where families and friends hang out every day of the year, as well as near-weekly festivals and open market events. The track is 400 meters, and there is a larger jogging course that extends to about 2.9km, marked both on the ground and with signs so you don’t get lost. A baseball diamond is situated by the track.

If anybody is interested in running events in Japan, two great websites are Sports Entry and Runnet. Unfortunately they both are written in Japanese, so it might be difficult to navigate for some people. I don’t know of any English web sites that have as extensive a list of upcoming events as either of those two, but if you do just let me know in the comments. If you need help with the sites, you can email me.

There were maybe 40 vibrantly colored photos in all covering various seasons and themes. I was especially fond of the night-time photographs, but that’s because I’m easily amused by shiny objects and moons that take up half the sky. I’d maybe talk about a few of the photos in particular, but the artists saw fit to use kanji that hasn’t seen the light of day in 600 years to describe their work, and I don’t have a Japanese Rosetta Stone handy.

This particular exhibit caught my eye for another reason – it’s one of the few photography exhibits dealing with nature that are open on Sundays, when I chose to go. And with a price tag of 0 yen, it’s the perfect start to a date. My girlfriend, whose enthusiasm for bright colors and sunsets somehow dwarfs my own, thought it was a great idea. I scored “cultured guy” and “mysterious artsy guy” points simultaneously.

The exhibit ends on 2/26, so I recommend you head down there now if you’re looking for a change of pace, or if you just happen to like photography. You can also check out Tokyo Art Beat for more information on current and upcoming art events in Tokyo.

Getting to Hakone is cheap enough, but don’t let that fool you. It’s a tourist area just like any other, and once there you’ll find yourself paying for all variety of buses, cable cars and boat rides just to find something to do. The best thing to do is purchase the Hakone Free Pass and a spot on the Romance Car heading out of Shinjuku Station. It’ll cost you around 6500 yen, but it’s worth it unless you stay inside your hotel the entire time.

Which brings me to that uncomfortable topic. Hotels and ryokan in Hakone don’t come cheap. The closer you are to Lake Ashi, the more expensive they get. That plus the fact that each additional person has to pay the same room rate even if you’re all sharing one room (don’t get me started on that practice) means your wallet might take a hit or two. The hotel I stayed at, Musashiya, was 36,000 yen for two people and one night. Of course, I could jump out my window and land in the lake it was that close, and there was an onsen on the 5th floor, but strangely these things don’t seem as important when you’re checking out.

So what’s there to do in Hakone? For starters, there’s the various ships touring the lake that you can ride on. One of them just goes out for half an hour and returns you at your destination. Another takes you to the other end of the lake, where as far as I could tell there was only 1 thing to do – ride the ropeway.

The ropeway is nice for sight-seeing on a clear day. Unfortunately it was overcast much of Sunday, and the ropeway is out of view of Fuji much of the time. This is my way of saying I ain’t got no pictures for you. There are two or three stops on it, and the whole thing, like the boat rides before it, takes less than 45 minutes. While that may not take up too much time, if you get out at Owakudani you can visit art museums, parks and a little museum dedicated to The Little Prince. There’s a lot to do, and you can’t do it all in a day (especially if it’s like -50 degrees outside with a heavy wind from the lake). If you bought your Hakone Free Pass, these trips between places are all included, so you might as well use it.

All in all, Hakone is a great place to visit if you need a break from Tokyo’s hectic schedule. It costs a bit to get out there and find a place to stay, but you can find cheaper places 40 minutes out from the lake that won’t break the bank. Bring something to do, though. A lot of the time will be spent on a bus or train, so make sure to carry your favorite book or PSP games with you.