Tokyo - Kabuki and The Japanese Baseball Hall Of Fame

-We checked out of our ryokan and walked over to the Plastic Food shops. They have life-like plastic food replicas, that look exactly like real food. You see these replicas in the windows of most restaurants in Tokyo. The dish of plastic pasta and the frosted plastic beer were most impressive.
-After a brief stop at Starbucks for a snack and To The Herbs for an Italian lunch, we went to Kabuki-Za. This is the theater where the traditional Japanese Kabuki plays are held. We saw a dance-based play called "The Autumn Leaves and the Demon of Mt. Togakushi." For the 1st half an hour, the dancing was basically 6 women slowly walking around a hunter while singing very strangely. The second half was much better, when the mountain god dancer made things much more exciting. There was a big sword fight at the end, and the costumes for the demons were amazing.
-The next stop was the Tokyo Dome area. I went to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. There were 2 Daisuke Matsuzaka jerseys inside. There were also bats from Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. They had a list of important events in the history of baseball in America. The only even listed during the past 5 years was "Washington, DC franchised after 44 year vacancy." I guess not much has happened in baseball the last few years! After walking through the Hall of Plaques, I tied the batting simulation. Afterwards, while Sarah had her caricature done in the nearby mall, I had a look at the Yomiuri Giants pro shop. They had baseball hats from all of the Japanese Mojor League teams, and I almost bought the hat of the SEibu Lions, Daisuke's former team.

-We walked by the giant amusement park, and headed to our hotel for the night. We stayed at the Akihabara Capsule Inn, where you sleep in a little 3-foot wide by 3-foot tall cube. This cube has just enough room to lie down comfortably, and has a TV, radio, and alarm clock. There are separate floors for men and women, and also floors for the showers and baths. Before entering the baths, one must shower off while sitting on a little plastic stool, then enter the bath (onsen) with a white towel on your head. Sleeping in a capsule was not the most comfortable place to sleep, but it was well worth it for the experience.

-After checking-in, we went to Shinjuku to see the skyscraper section of Tokyo. We saw a bizarre thing in Shinjuku Station. There were a group of people sitting on these mechanical saddle things, being led through a series of strange hand exercises by an instructor. It looked like some strange version of an aerobics class. We then walked along the skyscrapers, and returned to the stations through a series of shops, called Shinjuku Alley.

-For dinner, we went to the Harajuku section, which is famous for teenagers dressed up in "costume play." For dinner, we ate at an organic restaurant called Mominoki House. It was good to have an authentic Japanese dinner, vegetarian style. We sat at a table that was isolated in a corner, sunken below the level of the main restaurant area. After dinner, we had crepesfilled with cheesecake, and returned to the Capsule Inn.