"Showa Kinen Park" It's a very nice park, if a little pricey to get into - it costs four-hundred yen just to go through the gates, but a cleaner, better maintained park I can't imagine, so the money is put to good use it seems.  These photos were taken during Golden Week, which is probably the most crowded time of the entire year for the park, although any weekend when the weather is nice brings out large numbers of visitors. Viewpoint.  It's somewhat of a paradox that a comprehensive view can only be seen from afar.  Have a close look at the ground you are standing on and the only evidence of the sky is the pattern of shadows from the sun or moon - look up at the cause of the shadows and while you study the trees, you cannot see the ground below.  And then the ever-present irony that each of us is unable to see how we appear to others without mirrors or cameras.  The source is least able to understand itself overall.... Having a barbecue in Tokyo is not something to be taken for granted!  Thus this barbecue area where they rent gas-fired stoves, requiring the renters to watch a man describe how to use the devices.  It's a good idea, although a slight time burner for those who already know how to use them.  The blue tent in the third picture was for shade - early arrivals (including the group I was with) set up in the shade of trees. When I look at these pictures, I find myself contemplating how much nicer mega-cities would be if they could somehow have more scenes like this within them.  Areas with only lifeless concrete, asphalt, glass, aluminum, plastic and steel are very lonely places - overwhelmingly so when devoid of people, but cold even when crowded with people on a summer day.... Copyright 2005 - Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon, Images Through Glass, Tokyo