Yebisu Garden Place

Ebisu is pretty and kinda swishy and richy-rich. There are lots of embassies nearby. At Yebisu Garden Place, there are a few cool things to do. The Photography Museum is here, too. And there's a beer museum. I haven't been there, but my brother says it's boring. But the smoothies at the shop between the museums are good.

I went to the cinema there and saw The Visitor, (扉をたたく人 in Japanese), which came out in 2007 but whose lead actor, Richard Jenkins, was nominated for the best male actor Oscar in 2009. It's fiction, and talks about immigrants and the recent changes to immigration and foreign policy, especially pertaining to treatment of Middle Easterners. The movie uses a personal story to skillfully illustrate the mess of contradictions that is the U.S. in all its utter beauty and atrociousness.

Looking at the cinema's upcoming lineup, it seems like they have a good handful of carefully selected flicks that won't be showing at your local Warner Mycal.