Small Car and Small Parking Space

You often find very small cars and small parking spaces in Japan, especially Tokyo. The new house had a notch in the entry space that could be used to park a kei-car, in this case a Honda N-One. It doesn't seem that there was much space left to get into the house, but I have seen tighter parking spaces in Tokyo.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 16-35mm f/4G ED VR II AF-S IF SWM @ 19 mm, f5.6, ISO 400, 1/15 sec.

Futuristic Bicycle Parking

Sunday afternoon, I took a long round-about way to the grocery and encountered this interesting structure a short walk away from Roppongi crossing. Upon further investigation, I discovered that this is the entrance and bicycle loading area for the "Eco-Cycle", an underground bicycle parking structure. According to the web site and press release, the Mikawadai Park Eco-Cycle was opened in March 2013 with a 204-bicycle capacity. The company has a cool YouTube video that explains how it works, and Danny Choo (aka Tokyo Stormtrooper) has also posted a video.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 16-35mm f/4G ED VR II AF-S IF SWM @ 35 mm, f5.6, ISO 400, 1/50 sec.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 16-35mm f/4G ED VR II AF-S IF SWM @ 16 mm, f5.6, ISO 400, 1/125 sec.

Christmas / New Years Lights

I didn't spend much time in December taking photos in Tokyo. However, I did bring my camera with me to pick up my watch that was repaired at a jewelers shop in to Harajuku.

Anyway, I took a few photos of the lights or illuminations along Omotesando (表参道). None were that great, but this one is one of the better ones.

I also spotted these "meter maids" (or "meter men") enforcing parking. Parking tickets in Tokyo are not cheap so be sure to park legally. I couldn't hang around too long, I was only parked several spaces down and I only had about 15-minutes left on the meter. Oh well...

High Tech Parking

Parking in Tokyo can be a financial challenge, but there are ways to make it bearable.  Most lots in shopping areas have a validation system based on how much you spend in those shops.

Normally parking in the swank Roppongi Hills is ¥600/hour, but having brunch at Roy's on a Sunday (from ¥3,500/person) gets you enough credit to park in the space age parking facility for free.  So in summary, spend money and park for free. 

My kids always enjoy watching the car get sucked into the machine, disappear, and then watch it reappear after we return and insert our ticket.