After quite a relaxing experience at Minakamikan, it was time to head back to Tokyo.Here are the previous posts, if you need to catch-up:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 One last look at the lobby, and the helpful staff at Minakamikan.
Despite my limited Japanese, and their somewhat limited English, we all got along great and understood each other very well. Minakami Town has a pretty quaint area around the station, as I assume other small towns do. I was trying to find a cool souvenir to bring back, but failed.
The train schedule hasn't changed in a while, and I suppose that's why it can exist in semi-permanent fashion.
Here's some practice for you: using my tickets, find the appropriate track and time for the ride back.
How did you do?And now, the usual picture in front of local landmark.
If you're wondering what the equivalent of "Smile" or "Say Cheese" is when taking pictures, I'd say it would be "Hai, Chee-su". (Yes, Cheese!) It was amusing to see someone from the neighborhood out in Minakami Town as well. The Sophia University Cheerleaders! Sophia University is about a 3 minute walk from where I'm staying in Tokyo.
I assume that with school on a break, they were using the opportunity for a mini-training camp or just some regular R&R. As such, I really didn't see a lot of people in their school uniforms, so it was always a treat seeing them when I did, such as this girl in her winter uniform and leggings. 
Here's the final Minakami Town set: Once I made it back to Tokyo and checked in, I went back out to do a little bit more exploring around Ginza.
This wasn't the first time I ran into someone dressed like this. (In fact, since his outfit made it difficult to see any distinguishing features, he could literally be the same guy!) He basically is dressed as a old-style monk, and walks and moves particularly slow. It also looks like he takes donations. In the US, it's somewhat easier to determine when someone is looking for donations as part of performance art (e.g. any of the silver painted robot fellows you see) versus donations for religious or spiritual reasons. I didn't have a great sense for which he was, so I declined donating anything. Hey look! It's the Apple Store in Ginza!
(And sure enough, just like in the US I didn't stay very long. They were all pretty friendly and enthusiastic in my 3 minutes of browsing though.) Person on the street insta-interview!
In Chicago, the local broadcasts only tend to use this technique sparingly. In Tokyo, I saw it happening a lot. Ginza has a fair share of interestingly designed buildings.
And yet another television crew filming. This time they seemed to be following a set of three people who may or may not be famous.
With the amount of crepe stands and shops I saw, I somewhat regret not trying at least one crepe.
Well, that's it for Day 11. The next day is my trip to the Ghibli Museum, which I'm really looking forward to.
-- Day 11 end --
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 One last look at the lobby, and the helpful staff at Minakamikan.
Here's the final Minakami Town set: Once I made it back to Tokyo and checked in, I went back out to do a little bit more exploring around Ginza. This wasn't the first time I ran into someone dressed like this. (In fact, since his outfit made it difficult to see any distinguishing features, he could literally be the same guy!) He basically is dressed as a old-style monk, and walks and moves particularly slow. It also looks like he takes donations. In the US, it's somewhat easier to determine when someone is looking for donations as part of performance art (e.g. any of the silver painted robot fellows you see) versus donations for religious or spiritual reasons. I didn't have a great sense for which he was, so I declined donating anything. Hey look! It's the Apple Store in Ginza!(And sure enough, just like in the US I didn't stay very long. They were all pretty friendly and enthusiastic in my 3 minutes of browsing though.) Person on the street insta-interview!In Chicago, the local broadcasts only tend to use this technique sparingly. In Tokyo, I saw it happening a lot. Ginza has a fair share of interestingly designed buildings. And yet another television crew filming. This time they seemed to be following a set of three people who may or may not be famous.
-- Day 11 end --