Japan has been on our bucket list for a long time but we've been intimidated, afraid of the language barrier and how things work so when our friends mentioned they were going to Tokyo as part of this grand adventure, we were happy to tag along!
Tokyo started out as a small village named Edo. In 1603, it became the seat of power for the Tokugawa Shogunate. At the time there was a pyramid of power. First was the Emperor and then came the Shogun. These were the guys that actually ruled the empire during that time. In 1868, the imperial capital was moved from Kyoto to Edo. Then the name of the city was changed from Edo to Tokyo.
Tokyo is divided up into "wards" and that was how we toured the city.
The flight from Honolulu was about 9 hours but we crossed the international date line so it basically took us 2 days to get there.
We stayed in Shibuya, which is one of the popular areas to stay. This is a view of Tokyo at night from the window of our hotel, which was located quite near Shibuya Station.
It's very hard to see but this is Shibuya Crossing, one of the busiest intersections in Japan. All traffic lights go to red and all pedestrian crosswalks go to green so that all pedestrians can cross at the same time. It's a mass of humanity! People will stop in the middle to take photos making it that much harder to get across. Anywhere from 400,000 to 1 million people cross this intersection a day. Tokyo is densely populated. I've never been around so many people. The photo really doesn't tell the true picture.
This is Hachiko, the world's most loyal dog. He would meet his owner here at Shibuya station everyday. When his owner passed away, he continued to wait here for his owner for nine years. The exit near this statue is named for him. People were lined up to have their photo taken with the statue.
First neighborhood was Asakusa and the Seno-ji Temple. This is the Thunder Gate the outer gate to the temple. It was first built in 941 AD. There are two statues on either side: One is Fujin (God of Wind) and the other Raijin (God of Thunder). The gate has been destroyed many times over the years. This version of the gate was erected in 1960.
This is Nakamise, a street that leads from the the outer gate to the inner gate of the temple. It started in the late 17th century when locals were given permission to open shops here. In return, they are expected to keep the area clean. This street is about 250 meters long and is full of shops and food stalls.
Just outside the inner temple gate is this five story pagoda. The top story is said to have relics from the Buddha's remains.
This is the Senso-ji Temple. It's a Buddhist Temple dedicated to the goddess of mercy and it was built around 945. Like many other structures in Tokyo, this one was destroyed during World War II and subsequently rebuilt.
We went to the Samurai & Ninja Museum, also in Asakusa and they let us dress up in Samurai Armor. That helmet was heavy! I bet it weighed about 2 or 3 pounds. That's why the Samurai had the hairstyle that they did, to use as cushion for these helmets!
The museum was interesting. They gave us a history of the Samurai which was mostly during what is called the Edo period when there was a Shogun running things on behalf of the Emperor. These are various Samurai armor. Note the horns on the helmets. These were worn by the leaders and helped them stand out to their army. A little factoid: The Samurai were all right handed so they wore their swords on the left. If the sword of one banged against the sword of another, that could cause trouble so in Japan, they all walk, and now drive, on the left.
This is Akihabara. It's the hub of electronic stores and anime stores. All the buildings that you see are stores with floor after floor of just stuff to buy. We went into one store that had several floors of anime stuff. It was amazing!
Akihabara at night.
The Chiyoda neighborhood is where the Imperial Palace is. Japan has the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world. The Imperial Palace is where the current Emperor lives. This is the main gate and Nijubashi Bridge, the formal entrance to the Imperial Palace Grounds. When heads of state visit, this is the entrance they use.
The watchtower to the Imperial Palace. This is where I goofed up...twice! We got up early to stand in line to get tickets to the Palace. We got them but then we realized to go in, you needed to present your passports. Write that down kids, in case you want to go. We left ours at the hotel. Then, while we were waiting for our friends to take the tour, we could have gone to see the ruins of the original castle but I didn't realize it was on the other side of the palace. Bad planning on my part. But, now I have to go back.
This gorgeous building is Tokyo Station. It was opened in 1914 and is an interchange for several of the metro lines. Like everything else in Tokyo, it was damaged in 1945 but rebuilt. The upper levels are offices but underground is another mall that was, on a Wednesday, busier than any mall in Texas on Christmas Day. It was wall to wall people down there!
This is the Tokyo National Museum. It's three buildings worth of artifacts to explore for the paltry price of $6. It's situated in Ueno Park where there are at least three other museums and a zoo in addition to the park. By the time we got here, we were almost out of steam so we only toured that first building but the stuff we saw was awesome.
The grand staircase inside the main building of the Tokyo National Museum.
Inside, they had a lot of artifacts from Japan like Kimonos, palanquins used by Emperors past and this piece of art.
"Tsumago" by Utagawa Hiroshige. "Depicted here is Tsumago, now part of present-day Nagano Prefecture. During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), it was an important place for travelers to rest as they made their way along the Kiso Road, a key trade route at the time. The combined use of color and ink in this print effectively captures the danger of this mountainous road." I really liked this picture.
In Harajuku we walked up this beautiful tree-lined path to the Meiji Jingo Shrine.
The Shrine was dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. In 1868, the emperor was responsible for the restoration of power from the shogunate back to the emperor. It was also the end of the Samurai era. The shrine was opened in 1921 and occupies about 170 acres. It is super peaceful out there.
Later we found ourselves on Takeshita Street, which is a street in Harajuku that is all about youth fashion, quirky items and animal cafes. It's another street that was wall to wall people!
You're wondering if you read that right, animal cafes? Yup! This is a pig cafe where you can pay to go in and hang out with pet pigs. They have them for several different types of animals. It started with cat cafes. I guess it's tough to have pets in Tokyo so these cafes were created so that animal lovers of all kinds could find their type of pet and pay to go pet them and love on them. This one was on Takeshita Street.
Back by our hotel, we went up to Shibuya Sky, an observation deck where you can go and watch the sunset. Unfortunately for us, it was rainy and overcast but that didn't stop us! This is a view of Tokyo from the top of Shibuya Sky.
My people in our assigned sunset watching spot. You gotta love these guys. They are a crazy bunch.
Instead of the sunset, we got to watch the city light up which was incredible!
Tokyo Dome! While we didn't get tickets to a "Climax" game (the Japanese version of the playoffs), we did get to take a tour of the stadium. It was opened in 1988 and the dome is air-supported. There are pressurized fans inside along with revolving doors that keep the dome up. It's the home of the Tokyo Giants.
As part of the tour, we got to go on the field, which was pretty cool.
John batting lefty at home plate while May is catching. Attached to the Tokyo Dome was the Japanese Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame. That was equally enjoyable. I actually recognized a couple of players. Can you guess which one? Shohei Otani, of course!
The food was fantastic! We ate ramen several times and each time it was delicious. This ain't your "college 4-packs for a dollar" ramen, either. This is the good stuff. This one had a delicious soft boiled egg in it along with some pork.
Among other things, we also had tonkatsu which is a pork cutlet. Yum! There were udon noodles which was similar to ramen but the noodles were a lot thicker but equally delicious. Then there was sashimi, tempura, yakitori and shabu-shabu! We ate it all.
The Japanese are also serious about some craft cocktails. This was at a themed bar called the Wales of August. All the cocktails were named for movies. On the menu, it would say the name of the movie, the type of alcohol in the drink and the type of glass it was served in. This was a "Taxi Driver" which was a rum drink. Tasty!
Some interesting factoids about Tokyo: There are no public trashcans. You are expected to hang on to your trash and take it home with you as explained by this sign. My guess is that the Starbucks cup that was left there was by an American...but not this American. For the most part, there is no litter on the streets of Tokyo.
Along those same lines, you don't see people eating and drinking while they are walking along the street. It's frowned upon and people don't do it. That probably helps with the litter issue.
Another little note: there are public restrooms everywhere! AND, they are clean and well-stocked and free.
I could go on and on but this is already a long entry. Suffice it to say we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Tokyo and hope to go back again.
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