We arrived in Tokyo from Kyoto by bullet train. Here we said goodbye to our travelmates, and continued on for another 3 nights in Tokyo. Our neighbourhood was just one stop past the Shinjuku station (which we later found out was the busiest of the Tokyo stations, with 3.6 million people a day passing through). We checked into our hotel, went out and about in our neighbourhood. Our area was more of an area for locals than tourists, so dinner was at a little ramen place that had excellent ramen.
The next day was sunny and hot as we set out to explore Tokyo. It would be a day of crowds with it being a national holiday, people were out on the streets. First stop was the government building observation deck to get the lay of the land. Then we walked through the huge park to the Meiji Shrine. From there, it was over to the Harajuku area, with it’s many shops and crowded streets (with it being the holiday). People just strolling, hanging out or shopping. Then over to Shibuya Crossing outside the train station. This is a huge intersection, and when the lights turn red in all directions – everyone crosses every which way. We took in the Shibuya shopping area (as crowded as Harajuku). We headed back to Shinjuku Station, and did a bit of shopping before we headed home for the night. Dinner that night was a “sushi-go-round” place with sushi going by on a conveyer belt and you just took what you wanted. We managed well with virtually no English spoken.
Our neighbourhood for the next 3 nights.
People hanging out, or grabbing something to eat at one of the many kiosks (about the size of a closet).
Around the hood at night. In this little grocery store – the guy sitting down is at the back of the store. I figure the store was about 8’ deep.
Check out the guy in the vest and fez. Our neighbourhood was very ethnic - it was strange to see people of different ethnicities, all speaking fluent Japanese. The shop next door was a spice shop (so the sign said.)
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Buildings, with their observation decks on the 45th floor. No charge for this, and in the second one, we were approached by a nice girl working for the tourist information and she spent about 20 minutes taking us around and explaining what we were looking at.
One view of Tokyo. It was pretty much like this on all sides of the view. The city went on forever.
The interesting building near the centre (Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower) is home to 3 educational institutes. It was beautiful from all angles. And in the distance you can see the Tokyo Skytree Tower. The top observation deck there is twice as tall as we were.
What looks like a huge park is the Meiji Shrine, and because of that, we were told it would always remain as a green space.
Came across this huge inflated sculpture on our way to the Meiji Shrine.
The cool, shaded walkways of the Meiji Shrine.
Offerings of sake at the Meiji Shrine. We saw these colourful stacks of sake at many of the shrines we visited. And, apparently, yes – they are filled with sake. But you can buy sake in a 2 litre milk carton for a few dollars, so not much incentive to steal them.
The entrance to Takeshita Street, one of the main shopping streets of Harajuku.
The crowds enjoying the day off.
It was a good price on these shoes, but they didn’t have our colour.
Huge, and very colourful, candy floss. Lots of different things to snack on. It was like the PNE.
The other end of Takeshita Street.
This is Shibuya Crossing intersection. The picture doesn’t really do it justice. Despite thousands of people crossing at a time, within the 3-4 minutes it took for the light to change again, there were thousands more waiting to cross the street. But, it is something to do while in Tokyo.
Another busy shopping area in Shibuya. I’m not sure if it’s always that busy, or if it was just because of the holiday. Either way we got to experience it at it’s apex.
NEXT: (Day 6) Tokyo, Japan - Part 2
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