Golden Week start - Shin Kiba

These pictures are from my return visit to Shin Kiba and the excellent Tokyo Aquarium. The Karp flags are one of the traditional ways to celebrate Childrens Day which is the 5th of May here.

Rainbow Fountain in Shin Kiba

Nagatoro trip - Golden Week

At the far reaches of my train line lies Nagatoro, a beautiful little spot with a great river and a prehistoric rocky landscape.

Nagatoro river rafting

The biggest draw in Nagatoro is probably the river raft ride, the boats can only travel one way up the route so at the top of the river the boats are collected by a large truck and taken back downstream.

Nagatoro (mini) Natural History Museum

After seeing and riding on the river we took a trip down to the nearby museum which had a variety of stuffed animals and fossils recovered from the nearby area, most impressive was the giant shark model in the entranceway.

Nagatoro Shrine(or is that temple?)

This Shrine is a good couple of thousand years old I think, the top picture is of the archway at the entrance, the gorgeous detail in gold was virtually unnoticable until you looked closely.

Sugar Monkey!

I thought this plastic monkey atop a sugar dispenser was cool!

Two BW Tokyo pics (doughnut connection)

The top pic is from my local Mr Donuts on the rainy Sunday that followed Golden Week, the second picture is from the giant Times Square building in Shinjuku, at the top of the bridge is the queue for Japan's first Krispy Kremes. The waiting time at Krispy Kremes stood at two hours as this pic was taken, Japanese people sure love their doughnuts!

Toei Animation Museum

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Somehow this small museum had eluded me in the past despite being a mere two stops away from my home. Toei animation is the home of such Anime classics as Fist Of The North Star and Dragonball Z.

The museum itself was pretty small but there was no cost to get in. As well as lots of art there were some nice models too, see above .