Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo (~10 secs., 13MB). Panoramic wallpaper of Shibuya Crossing is also available, but I wanted to include a video, with ambient sound, because this may be the most alive place that I have ever been. Shibuya Crossing is reportedly the world's busiest pedestrian intersection, with on average around 2,000 people crossing the street, in all directions, every time the light changes. I wandered around the plaza between the crossing and Shibuya Station for well over an hour, just soaking up the scene, absorbing some of its energy, feeling the human pulse. It is not for the faint of heart.

From Tokaido Shinkansen east of Shizuoka (~30 secs., 40MB). See the Railfanning section for photos of the bullet train; these videos were taken from the train, to illustrate two things: one, its speed (here, about 125 mph, although express trains go much faster), and two, the Japanese "countryside" -- which is to say suburbia, for the most part. Japan is smaller than California, yet it has roughly three-and-a-half times the population. Meaning two things: one, most buildable areas have been developed, but two, that they've been built out at a much higher density, a more efficient pattern than in the U.S, for a much smaller per-capita footprint. (Part of this is necessity, and part is the Japanese tradition of living simply and responsibly.) Still, the entire corridor between Tokyo and Hiroshima, a distance almost as great as that between San Francisco and Los Angeles, appears to be largely urbanized; cities and towns are broken up only by hills and a smattering of farms, many of those bordering housing tracts (the sight of homes fronting on flooded rice paddies, seen in passing in the next clip, is one of Japan's most iconic). There are, however, almost always mountains in the distance, and glimpses of the sea. By the way, this video includes a special treat for trainspotters: another Shinkansen passing in the other direction, all quarter-mile of it flying past in just 3.7 seconds.

From Tokaido Shinkansen east of Hamamatsu (~30 secs., 44MB). A rare bit of actual countryside along the Pacific coast of Honshu, followed almost immediately -- of course -- by residential and commercial development. In this clip, incidentally, the train appears to be moving somewhat faster, perhaps 135 mph. As Shinkansen follows the straightest and flattest possible path, tunneling through innumerable hills, it rarely has to slow down; only occasional stops and urban noise restrictions (trains sometimes pass within a few meters of homes) seem to dampen its speed.