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Today we visited the Meiji Shrine and the large Buddhist temple. The district near the temple is very large and shopping-oriented, so we did much shopping. I also prayed at both the Meiji Shrine and the temple.
At the shrine I got my sister a fan, a thymbol for my grandmother and a good luck talisman for my mother.
At the temple district:
1 yokata
1 headband with "Special Attack" written in Japanese on it
1 shirt that says "I heart Japan"
2 Japanese Flag patches for my mother
1 incense bundle with whose smoke I purified myself
1 McDonalds chicken sandwitch. (Don't even comment, you totally would have gotten one too.)

Have I written about how immense Tokyo is? It's like New York stacked on San Francisco stacked on Chicago stacked on LA.
No, seriously. It's huge.

Ohayo, America! It's coming on 5:00 here in Ryogoku, in the city of Tokyo, Japan! Things in this city are similar to America, but also very different.
Ryogoku is not even near the center of the city, but it looks like downtown Austin, easily. Tokyo even dwarfs New York in scale and population. People drive on the opposite sides of the road. Still, many signs have English translations and about half the people I have met speak at least enough English to be communicable.
On the ride here, I got really lucky. The plane ride was about nine hours long from Seattle to Narima airport, and I had the blessing of four seats all to myself on which to sleep.
When I got here, the sun was just setting. I'm really surprised that I don't have a lot of jetlag. More good luck? Anyhow, the countryside here is beautiful. Hills interspersed with valleys, each with its own set of pastures for farming.
There are a LOT of people here.
I will try and keep this journal updated.
Ta!