Tokyo
Before I elaborate on our longest leg of the journey thus far, I’d like to point out that I’ve created an email account for all Brother Annie inquiries or comments, relating to either my blog or my youtube channel/videos. You can find it on my About Me page.
So where do I even begin? We trained our way to Gotemba station and then took a stupid long bus ride to Shinjuku–the district of Tokyo in which we were scheduled to reside, at a little ole capsule hotel called Ace Inn. I’ll take this time to explain what I mean by capsule hotel. For some of you, its a term of which you’ve heard ridiculous rumors about hotels which consist only of rows and rows of cocoons for people to sleep in, Matrix style. Hotels where the inhabitants aren’t charged per room, but per bed.
The rumors are true, folks. And the beds are rather cozy to be honest. This one was geared more towards youngin’s like myself, and not businessmen who had drunk a little too much at an izakaya and missed the last train home.
That night we went out for a ridiculously expensive (but delicious) meal at this restaurant where we ate Japanese BBQ. In the middle of the table was a grill, and we would order raw meats and vegetables that we cooked ourselves, right there on the table. It was delicious.
The next day it was off to Shibuya, another district of Tokyo. It’s famous for shopping, and that big sprawling intersection with the giant screens. The sort of Time Square of Japan. In Lost in Translation, a brontosaurus walks across the screen of the middle billboard. That’s the place.
In Shibuya we shopped for shoes better suited for walking/snow, as well as hats and other warm weather attire. It was very busy, and in general I really liked the atmosphere. We also found a Burger King where you could order Heinekin with your meal.
On January 2nd, we took a trip to visit the Imperial Castle grounds. Seeing as its rarely open to the public, this was a rather big event. At the front we went through two security check points, one for checking bags, and another for a pat down. I was a little surprised at the level of security for just having a stroll through the grounds, but I soon learned the reason for this. Being such a nationally treasured day, most of the mob of patriotic Japanese held paper Japanese flags. There were people handing them out at the front, so we grabbed some ourselves. After walking for a bit, the crowd collected and stopped at a particular building. This was the reason for all the security:
The Emperor of Japan only shows himself to the public two days a year. Once on his birthday, and once on the 2nd of January.
Afterward we left the grounds we headed over to a shrine where lots of venders had sprawled out their stands. The smell of every different marine creature being fried and skewered wafted over the crowd. Once past the giant torii and into the temple, there were more vendors and performers. The temple was all decked out for the new year of the Tiger.
It was getting dark by the time we left, and we decided it would be a perfect time to visit the Tokyo Tower. Like seemingly every tower in Japan’s major cities, it resembled a glowing orange Eiffel Tower. Though great in the day time, I think these kinds of buildings are better enjoyed at night. We paid to go up to the viewing deck. Tokyo, I’ve found, is a very sparkly city.
Other districts in Tokyo we visited included Harajuku and Akihabara. I mentioned in my update video on just how disappointed I was with Harajuku. Being the fashion district, it is supposed to be known for its swarms of young Japanese sporting eccentric, unique attire, often in the form of cosplay. I saw two girls on the train on my way there who were dressed up in Alice in Wonderland style dresses, which was super cool, but other than that, when we went to the famous bridge in Harajuku where these crazy teenagers supposedly amass, there was nothing to be seen. The jerks.
However, what Harajuku lacked in nerdy cosplayer goodness, Akihabara completely made up for. If you are interested in Japan, there is a high likelihood that you are interested because you are fascinated with anime, manga and/or Japanese video games. Akihabara is the place for you, my friend. Similar to Den Den Town in Osaka, Akihabara is pulsing, thriving, living anime convention that lasts all year round.
Another interesting place we visited was Ueno Park. To be honest, I kind of wish I’d waited until spring to see this place. Absolutely gorgeous, and undoubtably even more so when its trees are flushed with cherry blossoms. There we visited a plethora of shrines, pagodas and temples, although we came across this one temple, which looked really cool from a far until we realized it was under construction, and what were looking at was just a giant tarp with the photo of the actual temple printed on it.
In the evening, we then headed off to the most expensive adventure yet. In the end, only Jace and I were willing to cough up the dough for this one, but it was totally worth it. Since I’ve come to Japan, I have fallen in love with the movie Lost in Translation. It’s a very different feeling when you watch that movie, and then are able to look outside and see the exact same thing. In the movie, Bob Harris and Charlotte both are staying in a hotel in Tokyo called the Park Hyatt. It also happens to be one of the most expensive hotels in Japan. We decided to go to the bar of this hotel, where a number of memorable scenes were shot. First we had to pay a 2000 yen cover charge. Although Bill Murray advertises the whiskey in the movie, Jace and I ordered a Suntory beer. It was the cheapest thing on the menu. It cost 1100 yen.
As our time in Tokyo came to an end, I realized there was one very important place I still had to visit. West of Tokyo in near Mitaka station, Studio Ghibli has a museum dedicated to the work of Hayao Miyazaki and his team. I am a huge fan of all their work, and the museum was just like one of their movies. Essentially, its an art museum, but more interactive than that. Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to take photos inside, but outside they had a giant robot from Castle in the Sky (Laputa).
Our last day in Tokyo was extremely long, and began with the Tsukiji fish market. This was very different from most of our other stops. Its the largest fish market in the world (correct me if I’m wrong). To see it in action we had to wake up at five in the morning and get there by six or so. There fish is sold and auctioned off. I’m not sure there’s any creature from the sea that I didn’t see that morning. It was busy and we were constantly dodging trucks and carts and smelly Japanese workers, but it was alive and exciting.
The last thing we did before catching a night bus to Tokyo was visit Odaiba, a man-made island. A major battle was fought here between good and evil, by Digimon, next to the Fuji TV building. This was honestly our main motivation for seeing the place. Comment a high-five if you love Digimon! On the island we also visited this Toyota car expo thingy, where they sported their latest gadgetry.
It wasn’t until 11pm or so that we headed back to Shinjuku to catch a night bus to our next stop, Sendai. I’d never taken these kinds of overnight buses before, but they are super super cheap. They’re easier to sleep in than normal buses because the seats are all separated and you can lean your chair back reaaaallllyyy far. This helped a lot seeing as I have a hard time sleeping in moving vehicles.
Anyways, I am really really sorry this post was so late. This was, and will be, the longest post about my journey, and I’m gonna really try to crank out my other posts ASAP so that I can start doing some regular blogging. Thanks for bearing with me! Hopefully these trip posts aren’t boring to guys too much. Don’t forget to check out the pictures for each leg of the trip if you’re interested!
Happy rice making.
Awesome post with cool pictures! I’m looking forward to the new posts.