After our stay in the mountains at the Takaragawa Onsen we headed to Tokyo, Japan's largest city and have been here 5 nights now. To say this is a city is an understatement, it truly is a metropolis and spreads out in all directions as far as the eye can see. There does not seem to be any one center, but rather the city is characterized by 23 city wards, each with its own flavor. We spent the first 4 nights at the Sakura Hostel in the Asakusa area. The hostel was great, like all our other budget accommodation in Japan, spotlessly clean, modern and friendly. Asakusa is one of the most popular spots in Tokyo so a great place to be based. It is home to Tokyo's entertainment district, so always a buzz with people. Also Asakusa's main attraction is Sensoji, a very popular Buddhist temple, built in the 7th century. The temple is approached via the Nakamise, a shopping street that has been providing temple visitors with a variety of traditional, local snacks and tourist souvenirs for centuries.
We spent our days traveling by train and metro from ward to ward seeing the sites and mostly just soaking up the atmosphere. This is a great city to visit as there is lots to see and everything is free (food and transport excluded of course). One stop was the offices of AT&T Japan, and lunch with a colleague Miho. The meal was fantastic and in a beautiful setting. We really enjoyed our short time with Miho and I hope I will get to work with her in the future.
We traveled to Shinjuku to travel to the top of some of the cities tallest sky scrapers (all free) for a view of Tokyo and hopefully to see Mt. Fuji, unfortunately the sky was not clear and the later was not realized.
Another cool area is Harajuku. Traditionally people come here to visit the Meiji Shrine, home to the worlds largest wooden Torri and located in a beautiful park. This was an added bonus for us, but we mainly visited to see the Coz-play-zoku, basically teenagers that descend on the weekend to this area dressed in costume. There are some crazy outfits :-). This is also one of the main fashion areas for young Tokyoites and made for a cool walk, we even saw a famous Japanese Celeb.
Ginza is a must, it is the shopping district that Tokyo is known for, somewhat like Chicago's Magnificent Mile, but is spread over a much larger area with every brand you can think of. We visited the Sony Building, Nikon Gallery and other showrooms... and of course the 5 floor Apple Store! We also took in a Movie, get this you can get a blanket if you like and as they do in South Africa, seats are assigned.
Akihabara was a must see for me given it is the electronics district. Let me just say, block after block of 10 story electronics stores that put everything we have in the US to shame... they have everything under the sun, and its all on sale...
If you have ever watched a movie with scenes of Tokyo you will see Shibuya Crossing, the large intersection in front of the station (Hachiko Exit), which is heavily decorated by neon advertisements and giant video screens and gets crossed by amazingly large crowds of pedestrians each time the traffic light turns green. The area around Shibuya Station is one of the most popular shopping and entertainment districts in the city. You must visit after dusk to get the full effect. Danielle managed to find the statue of a dog, residents errected it to remember the dog who used to walk to meet its owner at the station every day, and continued to do so even after he had passed.
Being a tourist we also headed to the Imperial Palace and the East Gardens. This was a great way to spend the morning, and although you cannot enter the Palace (it is the home of the royal family) you can see it peaking over its fortifications in spots. The east gardens (free to visitors) is a beautiful walk. We also got to watch the Tokyo Womens Marathon as it was being run alongside the park.
This morning we checked into the Tokyo Conrad Hotel. Thanks to D's Gold Status and points with Hilton, this 5 star stay is 100% free. We explored the area alongside Tokyo Bay, took in the views from our amazing room, and swam laps in the 29th floor 25m pool overlooking the city. We finished the night with dinner provided by the Gorden Ramsey Restaurant in the Hotel.
Tomorrow morning we are waking up at 5am to visit the Tsukiji Fish Market and hopefully witness the famed Tuna Auction taking place, then a bullet train to Osaka and a plane to Hanoi, Vietnam.
We have loved Japan, my only regret is we did not fit a trip to Mt. Fuji into our trip, but we will save that for our next visit.
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