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Of all Tokyo's wonders, the thing that struck me most when I first visited there were the throngs of neatly uniformed children--some as young as six or seven--that walked and took public transportation to and from school without adult supervision. As an American, this was shocking and worrisome at first, but amazingly these kids were as street savvy as any adult in urban Tokyo.

The girl in this photo was loaded down with a huge backpack (not visible), a shoulder bag, and a monstrous handbag that looked like it weighed as much as she did. There was a striking juxtaposition between her exhausted commuter expression, and her perky, starched uniform. I caught this shot while walking in front of her. To be surreptitious, I palmed my p&s camera, pointed it backwards and guess-framed the shot as I walked. It came out well, but you can see a suspicious glance toward me from the old man visible at right. Apparently members of the community do watch out for these kids, even though they're travelling alone. Good.