More art supplies and a museum visit were the two main reasons for taking the train to one of the most populated cities in the world. The Tokyo National Museum looked like the best opportunity for seeing some traditional Japanese paintings. It was. Looking at paintings from this period was something I had been looking forward to long before arriving here. Many of these paintings I had seen in books from college and seeing them firsthand was wonderful.

My preference is to paint in more rural settings – the busyness of the city has no appeal to me. So the paints stayed in Sano-shi while my camera came to record sights. This photo is Tokyo at one in the morning. It was as busy as Manhattan at noon.

The paint supply trip was successful. Sekaido is a major, multiple floor art store with every supply imaginable. The only bigger store that I know of is Pearl Paint in New York.

Next: The Sano-shi party