Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Lunar New Year to everyone!

Its now the year of the Rat, previous years for the Rat have been 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984 and 1996, the next will be 2020.

The following is an extract from Wikipedia…

Being the first sign of the Chinese zodiacs, rats are leaders, pioneers and conquerors. They are charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking. Rat people are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized, meticulous, and systematic of the twelve signs. Intelligent and cunning at the same time, rats are highly ambitious and strong-willed people who are keen and unapologetic promoters of their own agendas, which often include money and power. They are energetic and versatile and can usually find their way around obstacles, and adapt to various environments easily. A rat’s natural charm and sharp demeanor make it an appealing friend for almost anyone, but rats are usually highly exclusive and selective when choosing friends and so often have only a few very close friends whom they trust.

For all you rats out there, heres a picture of Yuki Sohma in animal form, Yuki is the rat in the Anime Fruits Basket.

Yuki Sohma as the rat

Happy New Year Tokyo!

Dec 31st, its finally the end of 2007, and where better to spend the New Year than at the Tokyo Tower?

I decided this simply had to be the place, having seen this done on TV and in so many Anime, I had to do it for myself. I still had the day to kill before hand tho, and went on a bit of a tour of Asakusa town area, and in the evening I decided that on the way I would make a special detour – to a place from my favourite Anime Movie – You’re Under Arrest – The Motion Picture. Where else would I pick but none other than the Kachidoki Bridge – this is the bridge which is raised after been inactive for 30 years in the final part of the movie.

Here are some pictures taken on the way to the Tokyo Tower.

I continued on to the Tokyo Tower and got ready for the 2008 count down.

There were quite a large number of people gathered under the tower, and it made quite an atmosphere that night.

After the Tokyo Tower I made my back to Asakusa, here are some pictures from the New Year celebrations near the main temple.

Lots of people here, and lots of stalls selling some really great food, drink and a few game stalls as well. Most of the people were queueing at the temple entrance however, this went on really late as when I arrived it must have been almost 2am! Another highly memorable night to never forget.