Tokyo, Fish and Geisha

Hello from Japan.
I got here on Saturday, it's a long way from home and i keep waking up at 4.30 and wandering out into the Tokyo night to try to see some sights, before realising that it's still dark and nobody wants me to be out yet. My average start time on this trip so far has been unbelievable, but well worthwhile, for example i had to get up at 4.40am to go and see the tokyo tzukiji fish market, where all the morning tuna comes in and restaurant types bid for it. This was a bit of a mixed interest for me as i do care about the tuna, time magazine only last week described the bluefin tuna as one of the ocean's most majestic beasts, and they will soon be extinct, but then on the other hand it does taste very nice. I don't think my presence there has any effect for or against the japanese fishing it so never mind. It was fascinating and pretty dangerous, especially in a morning daze, hundreds of little carts zooming around with great big tuna on the back, (they are about 5 feet long mostly).I saw how they prepare the tuna by cutting it off the bone with a massive sword, then one of the spines was getting discarded possibly and some other man manged to muscle in and convince the owner to let him try some scraps of the raw fish, and then i got in there too. it was lovely, a bit bloody in places, but the man added some soy sauce, which just balances the flavour in a lovely way. Even the way to get it off the bone was cool -we used half a shell of a scallop or some such, which is just the right shape to scoop it out.
In other news i am staying in the same hotel as robert pattinson, he who is in Twilight, who was supposed to be leaving back to usa until he met me, and he said i just make him really happy and therefore we have both stayed here. We are basically sharing the top floor of the tokyo Park Hyatt. It's a bit like the 2003 fillm 'lost in translation' but with men instead of Scarlett Johannson. He's asked me to take him back to see 'High Wycombe', but i'm not sure I will do it. Not sure I can fit him in.
I have been to Yasukuni shrine, this is controversial because it honours the japanese war dead, and the tokyo museum, asakusa Senso-Ji temple, Akiba electronics place, Shinjuku area and some other stuff. Shibuya crossing is very cool, this is the place with diagonal pedestrian crossings and big TV screens on the buildings. Here there was a 'Standing Sushi bar' where you stand up while having sushi. I ordered things in Japanese. Then like a muppet of true harland proportions I decided that the green powdered substance must be powdered wasabi (it was actually green tea).
In this vicinity is also many love hotels, i was disappointed by this though. They are supposed to have exotic themes like arabian palace or undersea paradise but they are just hotel-room like. The entrance is through a sneaky door and the receptionist cannot see you, and on the wall are illuminated pictures of the rooms. Perhaps all the good ones were already 'taken'. The pricing is as follows: 8 hours "Sleep" ~ 7000Yen; 3 hours "Rest" ~ 3000Yen.
My trusted packet of chocolate caramel digestives are serving me well. However in the flight they suffered a bit, and all fused stickily together, so that what i now have is the cylindrical god of all twixes. It is 6 inches long and 2 inches in diameter. I calculate that its volume is 19 cubic inches.
Today was pretty cool. I got on the Shinkansen and travelled to Kyoto, which was the capital of Japan from 794 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868 (which was when the imperial family was reinstated at the expense of the shogun). This means it is the most interesting city in Japan. This took 2.5 hours. On the way I managed to see Mount Fuji, an unexpected bonus. I have taken a photo of it- it is very striking, while all other mountains in that bit are quite flat looking.
Then I found out that in the Gion Kaiken, the geishas were performing the last dance of the autumnal season today at 4pm. This remarkable coincidence caused me to buy a ticket immediately, and make my way there. Gion is the most famous Geisha district in Japan, and is found in the east of Kyoto. This strange afternoon involved a tea ceremony in which the geisha methodically spoons hot water into a cup, stirs it with some kind of hair clip, then another apprentice geisha 'Maiko' brings it to the crowd. Then I went into a theatre and they performed 6 dances, which was excellent I thought. There were maybe 7 geisha and 6 apprentices or so. Also 3 women playing the 'Shamisen' a traditional 3-stringed insturment, and 3 other women singing. The dancing is not exactly drum and bass where tempo is considered, and is elegant and appears to have the purpose of storytelling. I believe one was a story about some cats and some birds they wanted to kill.
Otherwise today I rambled around the streets of Gion quite a bit in the rain, but only saw 2 very young geisha sat on a bench. However there are many ladies in kimono and i tried to get photogrpahed with some of them. I have been to a couple of other temples - it ius a good time to be here as the autumn 'Koyo' season is in the kyoto area. This means the trees are in various different colours...
That will do for now. Thank you for reading. I will now contemplate how the intermittent rain shall affect my actions tomorrow.