Abbott Vascular Japan Sponsors MAWJ Charity Marathon

Make a Wish Japan Charity Marathon event.

Abbott Vascular Japan takes a photo - post race.

Crossing the finish line....

Great experience, and my first organized race in Japan!

Traditions to visiting the Buddist Temple's & Shrines

Almost every temple & shrine in Japan has what they call "goshuin" ごしゅいん。Each Temple has it's own goshuin (red-seal stamp and caligraphy kanji) and they are unique drawings of the Kanji character that represents what the temple is famous for or what they are know for. Each of these pieces are unique and hand-written with several red-seals that represent the symbol of the shrine. It is quite fasinating and beautiful....and great collections of Art, History and Buddhist traditions in Japan.



Making the goshuin. Photo of making the caligraphy kanji and seal. They sell special books for them, you can purchase at the temple and start collecting.



Variations on goshuin seen below.


My friend Midori told me about this and now I'm a collector.。。。

Kyoto Trips

Sleeping on the Nite bus was not fun at all, 11:30 departure and arriving at 6:45AM....little sleep, narrow seats and well little sleep. We started early and saw 7 temples and shrines, will update with the names later.

Yuko and I pose in front of Golden Temple.





Goin, Kyoto. Where the Maiko's work.


Sakura garden: Iris, Midori, Yuko

Weekend in Kyoto

Tonite I leave from Tokyo Station to Kyoto by Nite Bus or in Japanese "Yakubasu".
After Karaoke in Hiroo I'll be heading to Ningyocho to catch a taxi to Tokyo eki then meet up with Midori, Yuko and others for a fun weekend in Kyoto. Former Capital of Japan. I'll be posting a million photos on Sunday nite......stay tunned.


Maiko's in Goin, Kyoto.

Tokyo's Famous 5k Running Loop

Tokyo's most popular running is around the Imperial Palace - exactly 5k one time around.
Did this on Saturday to get back into running shape.



Getting ready for April 21st, the Charity Marathon for Make A Wish Japan that Abbott Vascular Japan will be sponsoring us runners to run! Signed up for the 10k so gotta in running shape!



Palace walls...guards on every corner, not unlike many normal non-Imperial corners of streets in Japan.

Dinner Party and Roppongi

These pictures speak for themselves. A couple of my cycling friends and Abbott Vascular CRA's join in the fun!


Above, the chef to the right @ Rond Point - French dinning in Hiroo.



Tsuji-san (CRA) and Kumi Osada-san.


Tsuji-san and Kumi



@ Someplace in Roppongi



Kumi and Yu Machida

Sendaihorigawa Park

It's the season. This is along Sendaihorigawa Park..from last weekend.

"Women Only" train cars, the scoop..

What's the scoop? Well, I surveyed the women, the men, friends, colleages etc.

It started 2 years ago when they decided to "try" and solve the problem of women being harrassed on trains in the rush hour. Could be a number of reasons but I really don't think the female school uniforms help the situation, I would vote for changing those. Please get those teenage girls out of the mini-skirt uniforms and put something on that is more say "modest". They really have no business prancing around in mini-skirts on public transit in ANY country surrounded by strange men. Please..

So, here is the sign as you can see the Women Only sign it reads "On weekdays, this car is "Only for women" until 9:30AM".

Tokyo weather turned cold...

I forget that outside of California they really do have four seasons. Today was cold, wet and raining. I was bringing a laptop, yoga mat and of course the umbrella and trying to take pics of my office route to from my station with all these things and a camera in the rain.

Photo taken taken outside my station (I live 3minutes walk from it) Ningyocho station, on a cold and raining day.

I leave early enough in the morning to miss the rush hour - you will NEVER see it this empty but today it is raining and just minutes before 7AM this corner was quiet for about 2 seconds.
The station map....I still get lost.

Walking towards the Abbott Vascular building in Mita - our building is the tallest one in the picture it's hard to tell but it is a redish color , an 8 minute walk from the station.

Cherry Blossom Rides and Hanami Party

Spring is here and April in Japan is Sakura season (cherry blossoms) and of course Hanami parties (drinking in parks).

Japanese take to the parks for picnics and lots of drinking underneath the beautiful cherry blossoms. This year due to the new bike and the new team of Tokyo cyclists we did a cherry blossom ride and it was amazing!!

Today you couldn't ask for better weather and better views of Sakura.

* * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Hanami Party getting started....Akiko laughing up a storm.

Not sure what these guys are doing...

Sakura lined pathways...20 cyclist line up for a photo op.

Half fast cycle girls wait while the boys use the little boys room...must have been all the beer.

Me and Naoko - bike sisters with 'Specialized' road bikes.

Half-fast cyclists posing in front of cherry trees, we come from across the globe:
USA, Britian, France, Canada, Israel, Japan and Korea - we usually have more representation from other United nations.

Naoko and Kelly shop for treats before the Hanami party.

Family picnic spots under the trees.

Half-fast cyclists - David, Suzanne, Kelly, Akiko, Denise, Don, Mike (right to left)

Cooking yakitori (grilled chicken on skewers) - oh so good!

Ready to Ride Again!

After riding 140km to Mt. Takao I was very excited to do it again.

Last week I was so excited to ride to Mt. Takao and then Mt. Jinba it was cold and windy, in fact if your were walking the wind with move you an entire foot (if you're little). Little people like me on a super light road bikes don't get along well with the wind.

The first crash was due to a fellow cyclist stopping suddenly while a car was coming our way on a narrow, one way street and he was also trying to avoid a water bottle that had been blow out of its cage. Did I say windy? Well, I tried to avoid crashing into him so I went left...since there was a car to the right and went tumbling down the slope fell onto my backside (thank god for the padding) and my right knee.

Not so bad but big bruises all over - no bleeding, moving on...

Second crash was 5k after that...still windy and coming down hill along a narrow path with gravel on either side, as I came down the hill my tire caught the wind and slipped on the gravel blown on paved path and then I fly off the bike again...this time I land on my upper body skidding the arm and landing mostly on the shoulder another a nasty bruise...ouch!

Were only 5k from the JR Takao train station and decided to bail, a little shaky after the two crashes and I think I'm lucky I didn't break anything. Riding downhill at 50km + and feeling shaky is another recipe for an accident so I took the train, bagged up my bike and came into Tokyo station and rode the 3km ride to my apartment.

Today, with bruises healed....I'm ready to do it again.

Tokyo crowds, 37 million people...packed into the size of Hawaii

Shibuya shopping at nite..



Big screen TV's in Hachiko center, those advertisements are everywhere the crowds of people hang out.