Tokyo – JACKMAN ESCAPADES

Kyoto And On To Tokyo

Back In Familiar Territory …. A 2 1/4 hour Shinkansen trip saw us back in Kyoto for a return visit. My fourth time and Liz’s third. After a nice lunch in a restuarant near our apartment we headed for the Teramachi Dori Shopping Street in downtown Kyoto. It is always interesting as you see locals and tourists seeking out bargains or looking for somewhere to eat. We knew it was a public holiday in Japan but what we didn’t expect were the crowds. It seemed everyone in Japan headed for Kyoto on a public holiday.

There were people everywhere then out of the blue came a protest march which held up traffic and the crowds. We found out it was against Nuclear Arms. After a couple of hours of wandering downtown Kyoto we decided we’d had enough and headed back to the santuary of our modern but small apartment.

Protest march in Kyoto — Protest march against nuclear arms in Kyoto – Don’t think they like North Korea

We Jump On A Bus …. The next morning after a bit of research we decided to take on the Kyoto bus system to explore the city. Our first stop was the Ginkakuji Temple, sometimes called the Silver Pavillion. The main feature of this temple is the magnificent gardens.. It was just stunning with the autumn colouring and the beautifully maintained gardens. We then walked the “Path of Philosophy’, a 1.8 km path running along side a canal lined by cherry trees, gardens and restaurants.

Ginkakuji Temple, — Ginkakuji Temple and gardens – A magnificent display of autumn colours

Kiyomizudera Temple and Gardens — Ginkakuji Temple and gardens – A magnificent display of autumn colours

Path Of Philosophy – A 2 km walk along a canal

Back On The Bus …. Our next stop was the Kiyomizudera Temple, but trying to avoid the tourists we came through the Nishi-Otani Mausoleum and cemetry. An amazing uphill walk through the cemetary to finally reach the Temple and the crowds. The route back takes you down a quaint little street with many gift shops and restaurants.

Our Next Stop …. A must do in Kyoto is a visit to the Issen Yoshoku Japanese Restaurant as it serves only one dish, Okonomiyaki, a delicious pancake style dish with all sorts of ingredients. We then spent a bit more time walking some of the unique parts of Kyoto before jumping on another bus back to our apartment. We really do have the confusing Kyoto bus system mastered.

Enjoying Okonomiyaki — Enjoying Delicious Okonomiyaki at the famous Issen Yoshoku Japanese Restaurant

We Return To Tokyo …. Arrived in Tokyo, jumped on the subway and were soon checked into our apartment in Roppongi. Spent the rest of the day getting some supplies from the local supermarket then dressed for dinner as we met up with friends from Huntingdale Golf Club in Shinagawa, a couple of subway rides away. Great night with plenty of laughs.

Dinner with Huntingdale GC friends – Not sure why the young lady next to Rob wanted to be in the photo.

The Old Haunts …. On our first full day we returned to our old stomping grounds, first to Asakusa, then to Ueno, great for shopping, then to Akihabara, electric town. Returned home for dinner then headed to the bright lights of Ginza. It was nice to revisit familiar territory and we felt really at home.

A Day In Yokohama …. Next day onto the subway in Tokyo rush hour. An experience everyone should have once in their life. We arrived in Yokohama 45 minutes later and within 15 minutes were on a ferry heading for Yamashita Park. The ferry ride was a real eye opener. Yokohama is a beautiful modern city with wide streets, parkland along much of the waterfront and lot’s of things for tourists to do. We walked through two parks, then onto Bluff 99 where there are many European style houses, then down to Motomachi Shopping Street. This street is Toorak Village on steroids. Beautiful shops, boutiques, and restaurants. We took a rest stop in the Renoir Coffee House, a Windsor Hotel style establishment. All very classy.

Motomachi Shopping Street – Very posh shopping area

On To Chinatown …. Next stop was Yokohama Chinatown, the biggest in Japan. It was a hive of activity and very classy. From there we walked to the Aka-Renga Soko (Red Brick Warehouse) previously shipping warehouses and now a tourist attraction with shops and restaurants. It was then on to the Cosmoworld Amusement Park to ride the giant ferris wheel for an aerial view of Yokohama.

Yokohama Harbour from the top of the ferris wheel

A Unique Experience …. By this time we had hunger pains so we jumped on another train and headed for the Ramen Noodle Museum. This turned out to be a real highlight of the day. The museum is set in a mid 50’s Japan townscape with a number of tiny restaurants serving various types of Ramen dishes from all over Japan. After a beer in the courtyard area we settled for one restaurant, ordered from the all Japanese menu and was served a delicious ramen noodle dish. What an experience.

Ramen Museum in Shin-Yokohama. A unique dining experience

Ramen Museum 1950's townscape — Ramen Museum 1950’s townscape

Another Day Trip, This Time Nikko …. Once again we jumped on the Shinkansen for 50 minutes and then a local train for 45 minutes to visit Nikko. This small town has a number of World Heritage sites which includes temples, shrines & mausoleum. The biggest of these was the Toshogu Shrine and we spent around 1 1/2 hours walking this amazing shrine. Then onto the Futarasan Shine and back on the bus to the Shinkyo traditional Japanese bridge and a walk through the town back to the station. An interesting day.

A small section of the amazing Toshogu Shrine

Our Final Days …. Our final days in Tokyo were spent visiting Shibuya, a main shopping district, across to Odaiba Island to visit the Toyota Megaweb and the Tricky Art Museum.

Liz fighting a reptile in the Trick Art Museum

Now who's the biggest — Now who’s the biggest

On Saturday we visited the Koishikawa Korakuen Japanese Gardens followed by a visit to Ikebukuro Shopping District. What an eye opener. As big as Shibuya and equally as crowded.

Sayonara Japan …. So tomorrow we sadly depart Japan. This is an amazing country. Friendly people, world class technology, a transport system the envy of the world and massive building complexes that interlink with train stations, department stores and shopping complexes. At the same time it proudly displays its heritage and culture.

Christmas lights at Roppongi Hills near our apartment

A Week In Tokyo

Off To A Wet Start …
We arrived in Tokyo 30 minutes ahead of schedule after a very comfortable business class flight on the new Boeing Dreamliner. This is a very quiet and comfortable plane so we both had a restful overnight flight. We checked into our East Ginza apartment and then went out for groceries and supplies. Unfortunately our first day in Tokyo was raining so we were a little limited in what we could do but managed our grocery shopping and a walk around the Ginza, the high class shopping district of Tokyo. Grocery shopping in Japan is a real experience as there is almost no English on any products so you rely on pictures and asking people for help.

Grocery shopping in a large department store in the Ginza

Edo Museum …
On day 2 in Tokyo we were presented with better weather and took off to explore Tokyo. Our first stop was the Edo Museum which covers the history of Tokyo from 1603 to 1868. We were extremely lucky to have the services of an English speaking guide who took us through the museum and explained many aspects of life in the Edo period. He was a very nice gentleman and a volunteer at the Museum and at the end of the 1 1/2 hour tour he insisted on taking our picture for his own personal website.

And On To Asakusa ….
Asakusa is a very popular tourist destination about 15 minutes by train from central Tokyo. It must have been school excursion day as there were hundreds of well behaved children all taking in the history and culture of the area. The main attraction of the area is the Senso-ji Buddhist temple. At the entrance to the temple is the Furai jin-mon (Gate of Wind God and Thunder God) adorned with a large red paper lantern that bears the inscription “Kaminari-mon” (Thunder Gate). Around this area are many tourist shops and restaurants. Our lunch consisted of tasting the many different snacks available from vendors in tourist the strip leading to the temple. From Asakusa we went by ferry and train back to our cosy apartment in East Ginza.

Enjoying Japanese snacks in the tourist area in Asakusa

We Venture Further Afield ….
Perfect weather on Friday and we were off to Hakone about 100km from Tokyo. This mountainous region of Japan and is a popular area for Japanese to take holidays and relax. After a 90 minute train ride we then hopped on a pirate ship for a cruise on Lake Ashi and then onto a ropeway (we would call it a cable car) to the top of the mountain range. We were lucky to see a perfect view of Mt Fuji topped with snow standing majestically in the background whilst in the foreground were the autumn tonings of the trees. What a great sight as there was no haze or cloud to block Mt Fuji. It was then onto a funicular railway which took us past sulphur mines and onto our last stop, Gora, before returning by train to Shinjuku where we spent 20 mins trying to find our way to the right subway line. Shinjuku is huge interchange station and even the locals get lost trying to navigate this station.

The pirate ship on which we cruised Lake Ashi.

The Weekend Arrives….
We decided to use the bicycles supplied by the apartment so took off after breakfast with our first stop being the Tsijuka fish market. It was quite busy with people buying up their fresh fish for the weekend and trolleys of workers delivering boxes of fresh fish everywhere. You must watch out for them as they whizz past you up and down the aisles. We wandered around the adjacent sushi restaurants where people have been queuing for hours just to taste the best sushi and sashimi in town. It is nothing to see 50 people lined up outside these restaurants.

The Tsijuka Fish market. The biggest fish market in Japan

Queues outside sashimi restaurants waiting for a table in the fish market precinct

From here we cycled to the Hama Rikyu Gardens, a park right on the river and surrounded by office buildings. It was a pleasant walk amongst some greenery and trees and away from the city. Back on our bikes and we rode around Tokyo for a few hours following the Sumida River, over many bridges until we were a long way from home. Our intrepid map reader, Rob, was able to get us back on track and we reached home just before dark.

A common sight in Japan. People with a telescopic pole taking selfies

Sunday it was back on our bikes early for a ride around the Ginza before the Sunday crowds visit the Ginza shopping and eating. We were almost the only people on the quiet streets and it felt strange that in 3 hours time there would probably be a million people in the Ginza. We couldnt go to Tokyo without going to Harajuka to see the young teenagers congregate in their dress up costumes. They meet at Harajuka Station and spend the day enjoying each others company. Takeshita Street is the street to walk down with all the food shops, teenager dress up shops and trinket shops on each side of this narrow street which is always busy, but packed on a Sunday.

Teenagers dressed up on Sunday in Harajuka

Meiji Shrine is set in Yoyogi Park quite close to Harajuka Station so we walked the 1 km into the shrine and found a few Japanese couples in their traditional costumes being married along with young children in their costumes all parading around with proud parents and grandparents.

Sunday best dressed for a special celebration at Meiji Shrine in Yoyogi Park

It was then a walk to Omote-sando and we found the street packed with a Halloween street parade. This was amazing as families all dressed up in halloween costumes and paraded up and down the street to the sound of music including a Scottish Highland Pipe Band would you believe. Crowds of people lined the street and everywhere to eat had queues outside waiting. We decided to return home before the peak hour.

Halloween, Japan style. A big street parade

Electric City Awaits Rob…
Today was our visit to Akihabara the electrical empire of Tokyo where you can spend a full day just looking at the latest electronics that take your fancy. Hundreds of stores dedicated to electronics, computers, animae and computer games. One store, Yodobashi has 12 floors of goods on display and almost every item you are free to play with at your leisure with nobody annoying you.

Yodabashi Electrical store. 12 floors of every electrical product imaginable

An Architectual Museum Worth A Visit ….
The Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectual Museum in Koganai about 25 minutes from Shinjuku Station was an interesting day. This museum is set on acres of land and holds a huge display of houses through the feudal times to present day which have all been moved from original sites and reconstructed in the museum grounds. Each house can be entered and you can envisage through the ages how the Japanese people lived. There is also a township of different shops reconstructed on the streets to give the feel of the times gone by. It was a good half day of sightseeing.

Traditional bath house in the Edo Architectual Museum

View from the 45th floor of the Municipal Government Offices in Shinjuku

Our day ended with a visit to the Tokyo Municipal Government Towers at Shinjuku to see Tokyo and beyond from the 45th floor and then a walk around Shinjuku before heading home and packing to continue our travels.

Tokyo – Our Final Few Days

In The Heart Of Tokyo ….. Our hotel for the last few days was situated right next to Tokyo Railway Station in the heart of Tokyo. Very convenient when returning from Kyoto and also for our journey out to Narita Airport on the Narita Express train. We arrived early afternoon and checked into the hotel then went out to explore the area spending much of our time in the Tokyo Station. It is just amazing how big these stations are complete with department stores and shopping centres and more restaurants than you can imagine. It seems that no one in Tokyo eats at home because many of the restaurants are full and some have ques outside of 30 to 40 people waiting for a table.

View From Our Hotel Window Down To Tokyo Station

Exploring A New Area ….. The following day we ventured further afield, but due to inclement weather our plans were a little curtailed. We hopped on the train and travelled 4 stops to a suburb called Okachimachi. There is a well known shopping arcade adjacent to the railway line called Ameyayokocho. This shopping arcade is built under the railway line and runs for a kilometer with other shops running off the side streets. And what a contrast to the Ginza. This area is where the locals shop. Prices are much lower but so is the quality of the stores. An interesting contrast to the Ginza and great if you are looking for sporting equipment or clothing.

Ameyayokocho Arcade – Where The Locals Shop

An Amazing Store ….. We walked from Okachimachi to the next station, Ueno, had a quick lunch then headed back to Electric Town, Akihabara to look in just one electrical store. Yodobashi Akiba. This 10 story building selling just electrical goods, cameras, computers and toys has to be seen to be believed. We took the elevator to the top floor and slowly worked out way down to ground floor level. We didn’t have time to do the basement floor and sub basement floor. One complete floor of this building is dedicated to cameras and camera accessories and every camera is on display so you can touch and feel it with no restrictions.

Yodobashi Akiba Electrical Store – 10 Floors Dedicated To Electrical Goods

Our Final Day ….. On our final day in Tokyo we went to Shibuya, about 20 minutes from downtown Tokyo. This is a major regional district and popular with teenagers for fashion and entertainment. It is an area where you can rent a hotel room by the hour or the half day. I have no idea why you would want to do this but if someone knows please let me know. We spent a couple of hours in Shibuya taking in the sights and fashions and then headed back to the hotel in preparation for our return home. A great two weeks in a most interesting and enjoyable country.

By the way. We stayed in a much nicer hotel that the one in the photo above. We payed by the day, not by the hour.