The Caryls and their children, Timothy and Sasha, live near Komaba Todaimae station in southwest Tokyo. I loved seeing a neighborhood with a more human scale - two-story modern houses, quiet streets, and more sky - than our expat haven with its big luxury apartment buildings. After coffee and pastries, we took a short walk to Komaba Park.
Here is Natasha outside the gate.
Inside the park, which was once owned by the aristocratic Maeda family, we first toured the family's traditional wooden Japanese teahouse (top photo, on the left). Naturally, you leave your shoes at the door to keep the tatami mats clean. The back door frames a lovely garden with enormous carp in a pond.
The guide showed us the tea room, which is ordinarily closed to the public. She pointed out the woven ceiling and inlaid, painted, wooden doors, which were wonderfully illuminated by my camera-flash.
Around the corner, about 20 Japanese people were sketching the family mansion. Do Americans ever sketch anything?
This building and some of the trees are more than 100 years old, which is very rare in Tokyo. This estate escaped significant WW II damage and American generals lived in the stone house during the postwar US occupation.
In surrounding trees, we saw enormous spiders hanging out in 3-D webs. Google tells me they are Nephila clavata spiders - about 4 inches long, including their legs.
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Afterwards, Natalia walked me back to the train and we stopped at "Playmoland", the Playmobil store, the antidote to nature.
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