Japan Day 6

Dave left today so Marika and I decided to go... shopping!!!

First stop was Akihabara. This is the electronics area in Tokyo. We only spent a couple of hours there and I could have spent longer but we really wanted to get to Nippori. Walking out of the station, there were a lot of people handing out flyers for discounts to various stores with electronics. I was only looking for a replacement eye piece for my camera as mine had broken the night before.

My first stop was Labi because I had been recommended to visit this chain store that also has electronics. I was told that the prices are reasonable. They did not have my camera eye piece but I was pointed towards a large camera warehouse shop in the local area. Found what I needed and bought it for a decent price.

Gundam Cafe

I could have spent another half a day here... and this is why... Akihabara is also full of Anime/Manga stores!! Had a short look around and then got back on the train bound for Nippori...

Love all the anime shops

Nippori is also known as "Fashion town". It is a whole street of fabric and sewing supply shops. We spent a few hours looking at beautiful fabrics. I bought a couple of meters of 100% cotton and 100% made in Japan fabric that I just couldn't resist buying because I thought it was really beautiful. Ended up buying a kimono at a second hand shop and the kimono, obi and all the ties and undergarments for about AUD$45. Another amazing buy... I just am not entirely sure when I will get to wear it...

Beautiful fabrics of Nippori

Beautiful fabrics - I wanted to buy them all!

After Nippori, we headed back to Kappabashi to buy on the knives I had decided to buy. Again, they are beautifully crafted and 100% made in Japan.

After a successful shopping day, we headed back to the hotel. We were very tired from all the walking so decided to get food from the basement of the Mitsukoshi department store and take it back to our hotel room for a quiet night.
Packed so we could check out the next day.

Sashimi salad

Sushi with everything in it!

Japan Day 5

Today we took a walking tour that Dave found and booked online. It's called "The hidden/local sites and off-the-beaten tracks in Tokyo".

It's a 6 hour walking tour for a small group of up to 6 people. We met our tour guide in the lobby of our hotel at 10am. From there we went via train to our first stop of Yanaka which is a little neighbourhood near Ueno. We got to walk around this gorgeous neighbourhood looking at the older Japanese architecture, little shopping alleys, small temples and shrines and we visited Yanaka cemetery which is famous for cherry blossom trees and is the resting place of the last Shogun of the Edo period.

The main street of Yanaka with many small shops

The little alleys have lots of little shops and restaurants. It is an old style building with a wooden roof

Sembei shop - rice crackers... yummm. This shop sells many different flavours.

We watched the man make the rice crackers... He would pull them out of the oven and turn them and baste them with seasoning.

One of the small temples we saw. There is a large buddha inside. Yanaka is one of the few places left in Tokyo with small temples and shrines around. Most of the other bigger neighbourhoods have just one big temple and shrine rather than a few smaller ones.

Yanaka Cemetery is the resting place of the last Shogun (Tokigawa Yoshinobu) of Japan. In 1867, the rule of the Shoguns came to an end as power and governance was handed back to the Emperor of Japan.

The Yanaka Cemetery has beautiful cherry blossom trees. During Spring, these trees flower and many people come to admire them.

Kagurazaka

After Yanaka, we travelled to Kagurazaka. This area is filled with cobbled and narrow passageways.
It is an area known for Geishas. We were not to see any during the day but we checked out all the little restaurants lining the passageways in Kagurazaka. The area is designed so that it provided anonymity and some discretion for its visitors. Business men and politicians may come to this area to entertain clients or guests and have companionship and entertainment with Geishas.

The Geisha training school

 We took a break for lunch and dined at a restaurant along the main road in the Kagurazaka area.

Our bento lunch with our tour guide Monami (I think that's right)

After lunch, we took a half hour ride to Shiodome which is in a business district. From there we rode the lift of a tall building to see a view of the Tokyo river. Looking down, we could see Tsukiji markets and also some of the bridges linking the mainland to the island of reclaimed land (Tsukishima - Moon Island). We saw the rainbow bridge but it was not lit up because it was still daylight. I think that this part of the tour could have been missed because a half hour ride for the view hardly seemed worth it...

The view from Caretta Shiodome. You can see the Tsukiji fish markets and across the river is Moon Island - Tsukishima

We returned to our hotel after visiting Shiodome. After a half hour rest we set out for Shinjuku were I had arranged to catch up with an old school friend for dinner. 

Shinjuku is like another city on the western side of Tokyo. Near the station there is a shopping area with a lot of neon signs. We didn't explore much as we were trying to find the restaurant my friend Yumi booked for our dinner catchup.

After dinner we made our way to another area closeby named Shibuya. This has the intersection that boasts the Shibuya crossing - the rumoured world's busiest intersection aka 'The Scramble'. We took our obligatory photos at the crossing.

Old school friends

Yummm dessert... green tea sponge roll

Japan Day 4

Disney Sea

Today I dragged my fellow travelers to Disney Sea. Last year I had been to Disneyland and the layout of Tokyo Disneyland is very similar but just smaller. So I thought it would be cool to go to Disney Sea for a change.

Once you get to Maihama station, you change trains to the Disneyland line. The looping Disneyland train is so... Disney... with Mickey Mouse windows and even Mickey Mouse handles for standing riders to hold onto.

Disney Sea was bigger than I thought it would be.

Entry plaza at Disney Sea

So we went straight for rides!! I love roller coasters and rides... the scarier the better...
The trick with rides is to go for the Fastpass. This way you spend minimal time waiting in lines.
We ended up riding most of the big rides. Most weren't that great but I ended up riding a ride called 'Raging Spirits' in Lost River Delta (Indiana Jones land) twice... It has a small loop where you go upside down for a bit but it's pretty tame really... That was the scariest ride on offer.

The other stuff we got up to that day just involved getting into the spirit of things and trying on stupid hats and accessories for fun.

I think the hat is cute but I didn't buy it cos I've never wear it again...

Our waiter from the Teppanyaki place last night also works at Disney Sea. So we caught up with our new friend and bought a hotdog from him.

Yes even the icecream is Disney themed!

Fun with Disney accessories!

Fun with Goofy

 

It was weird watching this stage show were the songs are in Japanese...

At 8pm, people gather at the big lakefront of Disney Sea (Mediterranean Harbour)... They then have a big performance with all the Disney characters. The show features a light show and also some pyrotechnics/fireworks. Again, it was kinda weird listening to songs I know in English but sung in Japanese.  After the show there was supposed to be another fireworks show but they ended up cancelling it. So we decided to call it a night and head home...
We ended up grabbing dinner at TGI Fridays at Maihama station before heading back to the hotel. I was pooped after a fun day out!

Light show. Mickey was standing on a platform on top of a huge lit up wizard hat.

 

Japan Day 3

The first thing we did today was take a walk to the Imperial Palace grounds. We had booked the tour of the Imperial Palace grounds and the gate we needed to be at was about 2km walk from our hotel. You never actually get to go inside the Palace which is the residence of the Emperor of Japan and his family but get to see the grounds and the East Gardens.

The tour of the grounds needs to be booked. It is free and they run 2 tours daily at 10am and 1:30pm on most days. It is an easy walking tour that runs for about 1 1/2 hrs. They limit the amount of people allowed in the grounds so you can only go in with a proper certificate of permission. Tickets are booked online and the tickets for the following month are available from the first day of the month before. We knew we were going in June so I just had to pick a date and time and I booked the tickets on the 1st of May.

So we arrived at the proper gate just before 10am and showed our letter to the guards. We were then escorted up to a reception hall where other visitors gathered. There are free lockers to put your belongings and we picked up headsets too. The tour is in Japanese but they provide free headsets for the tour in English.  As the guide walks around, he tells the group what number for the English translation and you can listen to the same explanation he is giving in Japanese.
After watching a short video with English subtitles, we set off on our tour.

The Imperial Palace and grounds occupy the main quarters of the former Edo Castle which housed the Tokugawa Shoguns in the Edo Period. After the last Shogun, ruling power was handed back to parliament and the Emperor of Japan.

The second stop on the tour was this Mt. Fuji-view keep (Fujimi-yagura). It was a watch tower and one of the oldest remnants of the old Edo Castle. The keep is about 15m high and was designed so that it would look the same no matter which side you looked at it from.

Fujimi-yagura - Mt. Fuji view keep

We also walked along Kyuden Totei Plaza which is located in front of Chowaden Hall of the Imperial Palace. Chowaden Hall is where the Emperor receives special guests and dignitaries. On New Year's Day and the Emperor's birthday, the Emperor and Empress and members of the Imperial family stand on a balcony at the side of Chowaden Hall. Members of the public are allowed to gather in the plaza to see the Imperial family and hear the Emperor deliver an address.

Dignitary entrance and the side view of Chowaden Hall

We pretended we were people gathered to see the Imperial family

After the tour, the group returns to the first hall and we returned our headsets. We were given the option to visit the East Gardens as well. You need to have a ticket to visit this too. We picked up a token which was our entry ticket which was to be returned on the way out.  We took a quick look around the grounds. They really are well kept and beautiful. You could see this as a place where you come to just sit and read a book and relax for a bit.

The obligatory Japanese peace sign photo infront of a traditional building in the East Gardens

After our quick survey of the East Gardens, we grabbed a quick lunch on the way to Ueno.

Ueno is also built on the old Edo grounds. Today it is a vibrant parkland with lots of attractions. Ueno station is a large interchange. If you walk out the Park exit then you find the Ueno Imperial Park. Attractions of note in the park that seem to be popular tourist attractions are: Ueno Zoo, The National Science Museum, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and the National Museum of Western Art. The area also has various arts schools so you could say it is the museums and art area of Tokyo. 

We took a free guided tour of Ueno run by the Tokyo Systematized Goodwill Guide Club (SGG Club). The details of the free tours of Ueno and Asakusa can be found here: http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~sgg/guide.html

I thoroughly recommend this walking tour. It was a 2hr tour around the Park and it's useful for getting the lay of the land so you know what you might like to see in more detail. Our guide Keiko was very knowledgeable. 

There are two main religions in Japan - Shinto and Buddhism. Two places of worship for the two religions are shrines for Shinto and temples for Buddhism. On our walking tour we saw a temple and a couple of shrines.

Torii - entrance to the shrine

Little shrine - people make 1000 paper cranes in the hope that their wish may be granted

Face of a Buddhist statue. People write wishes and leave them in the hope that they will come true.

After our long walking day... we did some more!! It was a fine day so we went to the Tokyo Skytree.

The Tokyo Skytree first opened 3 years ago as a telecommunications tower to replace Tokyo Tower. It is a high tower and offers 2 observation decks with a 360 degree view of Tokyo and surrounding countryside. It is rare to see Mt. Fuji from Tokyo Skytree but it can be seen on the exceptional day when Tokyo skies are clear. 

The obligatory pose with the 3rd anniversary cutout

The elevator has a glass ceiling. You can see your progress up the tower.

View over Tokyo from Tokyo Skytree

I have been to a few towers before. It seems like most cities now have some kind of tower with the 360 degree view of the city. E.g. Centerpoint tower in Sydney, Burj Kalifa in Dubai. I have found that if you can time your visit for just before sunset it is good. You get to see the city in daylight and then wait a bit to see the city by night with lights.

Sunset over Tokyo

After Tokyo Skytree we took the bus back to Asakusa. We were starting to get hungry. The main street outside the main gate to the Sensoji temple (which we visited before) has lots of restaurants. 

The gate for the Sensoji temple

View of the Tokyo Skytree from the main street of Asakusa

Marika mentioned wanting to try okonomiyaki which is a Japanese pancake or Japanese pizza. Dave found this place on Trip Advisor and we had teppanyaki (which I had been wanting to do).

Happy diners cooking our food on the hotplate... and sitting on the floor to eat

Okonomiyaki - beef

Our Edamame has hair or fur!

Teppanyaki scallops in butter - Yummmm!!!