Welcome to Senzoku

So the YWAM Tokyo DTS house is located in a neighborhood called Senzoku. It is actually seventeen kilometers southwest of the center of Tokyo, but with the intracate train system here in Tokyo, you can be in downtown Tokyo in thirty to forty minutes. It is a really quiet neighborhood and is nice. Here are a few pictures from the area:

The is the DTS House. It's actually a big house by Japanese standards, including two western toilets and one shower. For seventeen guys. It does not get as crazy as you think though.

This is the backyard. We have a washer but no dryer, so everything is line dried. Also, anything that can be recycled is recycled, and the rest is burned, so we have four trash cans in the kitchen, one for combustibles, plastic, metal, and PET bottles (plastic bottles - different than plastic). All our trash is covered under than tarp.

This is the view to the left of the house (north I think)

This is the corner that we turn at to head towards the station.

This little guy is a statue/alter/idol of some type within the neighborhood. It is very sad that these people do not know the God who not only created them but also loves them so deeply.

This is the street we walk up and down on the way to the train station. It's nice.

Same street.

Same street.

This is one of thousands of hair salons you see in Tokyo. They are like Starbucks in Seattle...

Just a small video store. I have not entered it yet, but I thought with the Japanese movies it was worth taking a picture of.

This a board with ads from political candidates. It's kind of neat.

This is "My Basket." It is a little combini that we make runs to on a regular basis for ice cream, snacks, and other food items.

This is the road to an area called Nishi-Koyama where we go to the 100 Yen stores and other snacks and stuff. The grocery store we shop at is also there as well. It is about a fifteen minute walk from the house.

There are a lot of these vending machines all around the neighborhood.

This is a street on the way to/from My Basket.

There are mirrors like this all around Tokyo so people can see around corners when driving and walking.

A nice Japanese garden

This is the park across from the local station. It's called the Friendship Park. One of the students went one day and returned to say no one spoke to him. Very friendly.

This is the entrance to the local station, Senzoku Station. It is about a 5 minute walk from the house, if that. Also, notice the length of that girl's skirt. This is normal fashion for Japanese girls to wear short shorts and skirts. Because of the lack of Judeo-Christian beliefs in Japan, sex can be easily found. As one of our leaders put it, you could be having a conversation with someone, and it pretty much goes, "I find you interesting. Let's have sex." It might not be that straight forward, but there are individuals who travel to foreign countries just for this reason. It is incredibly disgusting. It also plays into our outreach to the Philippines. Young girls are told promising stories of coming to Japan and finding work as a maid, house cleaner, or some type of work. However, the people who tell them this steal their passports, get them addicted to narcotics, and make them prostitute themselves. We will be making a short trip to the Philippines in relation to this, but I am not sure what we will do.

This is a plaque on the side of probably one of my favorite places in Tokyo, Mister Donut. The donuts are delicious, and the refill your coffee for free! Also, from seven to eleven in the morning, you can get a donut and coffee for 300 yen. Normally, a donut is somewhere between 115 to 136 yen, which is roughly $1.50.

This is just a simple tour of the neighborhood. I had some issues with putting all the pictures in here, so if it's messed up, please let me know. I hope to be posting some deeper stuff soon!