Christmas and Biking in Tokyo

The Christmas decorations have started going up around Tokyo this week and I'm beginning to catch the spirit. The Ginza was decked out in lighted trees this afternoon and the Tokyo Midtown complex was surrounded in beautiful, high tech light displays. Near Ginza Crossing a music store had a Susan Boyle CD belting out Christmas songs and a large crowd had stopped shopping long enough to listen silently.

I tried bicycling around Roppongi and Hiroo today but even on a Sunday the sidewalks and lanes are often too narrow and crowded to make biking a pleasure. Bikes are not exactly welcomed in Tokyo - there are few bike racks and what few bike "lanes" there are, are on sidewalks. Very few bicyclists dare to use the car lanes. It's easier to just use the very good subway system.

I popped into a US military hotel in Hiroo today to visit the bookstore but the only books I could find were either romance novels or books by Fox News stars like Glenn Beck, O'Reilly, Sarah Palin, etc. Not exactly what I was looking for.