Some odds and ends...

Saw a lot of pregnant women and young mothers this time. Didn't seem
to be much of a % age difference between Kochi and Tokyo; maybe one
of the gummint Minitries is spiking the birth control pills.

I'd heard Shibuya attracted a much younger crowd than when I worked
there (it was pretty much a salary-man's section), but that was
ridiculous. Don't think there was a single store that wasn't blasting
some sort of quasi-techno crap with a hideously distored bass (don't they
have sub-woofers in Japan?) Also seemed like Shibuya was about 5% gaijin.
Ginza was also younger than it was when I was there. Still definitely 
upscale.

Good to hit the Ginza's Sapporo Lion again; if you've never been there,
it was built in the late 1890s, survived the bombings, and has to be
one of the older remaining business buildings in Tokyo. Worth a 
look, for sure. Cheap, too; the 4 of us ate (and I had a couple
beers) for less than Y6500. Good food, too. We stayed at the Monterey
Hotel, about 3 blocks of the main Ginza road, 5 blocks from Yurakucho
Station. Small clean rooms, internet connection, Y12000/night on weekends
for 2. Not a bad deal.

Got a new motorcycle helmet in Ueno; the Schuberth J-1. They won't sell
it in the US, so I had to get it in Japan. I was surprised at all the
motorcylce shops just outside the station; has Ueno turned into the 
2-wheeled equivalent of Akihabara?

There used to be an encampment of homeless men under the bridge 
at Tenjinbashi in Kochi. All gone now. Washed away in a storm? 
Kochi-ken supposedly has lost population, but not (yet) Kochi-shi.
They've also cleaned up a couple places that were famous during
Sakamoto's time. There's been sort of a tourist boom there.

We didn't make it out to Otsuki this time, but hit some other places; 
Okitsu, Kure, and (in the other direction) Akaoka. There's a great
place to eat katsuo in Kure (if you're ever out that way) called the
"Kuroshio" (in honor of the current, of course). Very pretty country
in Kochi-ken's coast. Not the first time it reminded me of Hawaii.

Oh, and got a new camera; the Olympus mu-tough 3000. Water proof to 
3 meters, shock proof, 14 MP, etc. Less than Y15000, so not too bad.

Not a bad trip. As usual, I really miss good, simple Japanese food. Dunno
why they don't even try to make here in the States. It's not like the
ingredients are hard to come by. Oh well.

Mike