Our last full day in Tokyo was more sightseeing, and getting out and around the city. Our first stop was the Sensoji Temple in the Asakusa area. First a train ride, then a half-hour walk. A nice temple (OK – admittedly, we were getting templed out by this time), and it was very crowded that day. We came across a formal procession of some kind, but we don’t know what it was all about.
From there we took a Himiko Water Bus ride down the river from the historic area to the Odaiba Seaside Park on one of the newer manmade islands in the bay. Then we took a monorail to visit the Akihabara area. Akihabara is known for it’s electronics stores and anime characters. It’s another over-the-top area which would have been even more impressive at night with all the signage lit up. We spent most of our time there in a 7-storey Bic Camera store – a Japanese chain that sells a lot more than just cameras. Didn’t really buy anything though.
Then back to our hotel where we avoided the sad process of packing up to go home by going out for dinner. Thought we’d try a Yakitori place this time, and found a small (maybe 12-seat) restaurant. A very memorable dinner owing to the menu, a broken beer bottle (not ours), and 2 very drunk Japanese businessmen. It was a blast, and a fitting end to our time in Tokyo.
The Sensoji Buddhist Temple, with the five-storied pagoda in the background.
The HUGE lantern outside the temple.
There was a service of some kind happening when we were there. It was very cool, and a little surreal to have the whole thing broadcast over a PA system. But it gave it a mystical quality.
One of the statues outside the main temple (next to the macha ice cream place).
Part of the formal procession. This guy, one of three, represented a monkey, and acted up for the cameras.
A lucky shot from our water bus of some landmark buildings in Tokyo. In the centre is the Tokyo Skytree Tower and on the right is a building that (we think) is having a massive sweet potato sculpture installed on the roof. (Yeah – sweet potatoes are a big thing in Japan.) I say a “lucky shot” because the next day, when we left, the sky was so thick that you couldn’t even see the top observation deck of the Skytree Tower. (I also later found out that the building with the "sweet potato" is for a beer company, and the building is supposed to look like a beer glass with a foam head on it.)
This unique building on Odaiba Island we found out was the Fuji TV station.
On the right, you can see our water bus leaving to go back up the river. It had a cool “spaceship” style to it.
And (of course) the statue of liberty, with modern Tokyo in the background. This is some of the newer areas of Tokyo, on manmade islands (that also protect the bay from tsunamis).
A unique clock sculpture at the Akihabara Station. We waited until the quarter hour for something to happen, but later found out that it only animates every 3 hours or so. Damn – it would have been awesome. It’s about 2 stories high, with (what looked like) many parts that would move.
Akihabara, right out of the train station, and a store with a five-story external escalator.
More of the colourful and chaotic signage of the area.
Would love to have seen these buildings at night.
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