Part I: An Example of Things I Don’t Understand From Class
“The Ninth Circuit seems to say: send the parties to arbitration if their dispute is ‘arguably susceptible of an interpretation that the parties agreed to arbitrate.”
Do you agree? Despite the fact that we haven’t talked about French law for 100 pages, what would the result be under French law? How about on the moon? Is there any difference if the contract was written in Antarctica?
Part II: Asakusa (January 29th, 2006)
Asakusa is a pretty old and quaint section of Tokyo (but it used to be the pleasure centre of Tokyo – this was where the bars and prostitutes were, it was called “Yoshiwara”).
I went here with Insuk, and we learned that Sunday is not the day to go there. Sunday is not the day to go nearly any temple or shrine in the entire country, really – but especially not here. The place was packed with people, but we managed to make it around and look at things anyway. The big attraction here is Sensoji Shrine and the Five-Story Pagoda, but there is also the open air market there and the “giant golden poo” (I am not making this up).
The big gate entrance has the God of Wind on the left and the God of Thunder on the right to protect the shrine. Through the gate is the Nakamise Shopping Arcade, in which every single person in Tokyo decided to be that day.
Other than that, there really isn’t much to do there. It’s mainly souvenir shopping, although there are some good deals to find and touristy things. But it is a pretty impressive shrine. And there are http://www.flickr.com/photos/patchmonkey/94743212/in/set-1799377/ in the ponds.
Part III: The Secret To Being Left Alone In Roppongi
Roppongi, for those of you who don’t know, is the “ex-pat” area of Tokyo. It’s not really – a lot of Minato-ku has non-Japanese in it, and Roppongi is just the main “drinking/carousing” area. It’s got a fairly bad reputation for a part of Tokyo – but it’s still safer there in the middle of the night than it is anywhere in the USA.
But one of the main “street” occupations in Roppongi is recruiting foreigners to the following: bars, clubs, “massajii,” strip clubs, etc. The best way to avoid this is to start becoming friends with the “recruiters.” Once you get that down, it’s pretty easy to get in anywhere and then get cheaper drinks as well. And they’ll tell you better (and more fun) places to hang out.
What else is in Roppongi? It’s mainly for drinking and carousing with Japanese and more foreigners than usual. There’s Roppongi Hills, an upscale business/living/shopping centre that’s pretty cool, and has an excellent viewing area and museum at the top. I recommend checking it out.
That’s all for now. I’ll post about the Supreme Court of Japan, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, MoriCityView, and some more soon!