We arrived last night at Tokyo Station, just a 2.5 hour high-speed train ride from Osaka. America needs high-speed rail like this! A quick connection on the subway and we pulled into Asakusa Station. The Asakusa area is on the edge of central Tokyo, and is referred to as the old "low city" because of its elevation and position on the Sumida River. It has more of an old-school atmosphere, and is less flashy than many other areas of Tokyo. Our hostel is right next to Senso-ji, Tokyo's oldest temple. We can also see the Tokyo Sky Tree from Asakusa. It's a 2080 foot tall communication and observation tower that is under construction and scheduled to open early next year.
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| Senso-Ji |
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| Our first meal in Tokyo - simple and cheap. |
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| Sky Tree looming over Tokyo |
Our first stop today was Ueno Park, home to a couple of shrines, a zoo, and a number of museums, including the Tokyo National Museum. The park also has the highest concentration of homeless people in Tokyo. We walked around for a while, then spent a couple of hours at the National Museum. It had a pretty impressive collection of Japanese artifacts and art.
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| Two buildings of the National Museum |
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| Painting in the museum |
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| A big tapestry/screen |
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| Painting of a mythological creature |
We hopped the JR yamanote line over to Harajuku, where we had a quick lunch at Yoshinoya and perused some of the shops on Takeshita street (seriously) and Omote-Sando street before visiting Meiji shrine. The shrine's grounds are a huge tranquil green space in the heart of this pulsating city.
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| A little girl's visit to the shrine |
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| Meiji Shrine entrance gate |
We hopped back on the Yamanote line to Shinagawa, on the south side of Tokyo, to visit Aqua Stadium, which happens to have a roller coaster! Galaxy Express 999 became Paul's 410th coaster. We also rode a 3-D ride about a squid and whale fighting to the death. I think it was a tie.
Once again we caught the Yamanote line (it goes everywhere!) and went to Shinjuku. It really is Tokyo in a nutshell - huge skyscrapers, colorful lights, shopping, restaurants, and even small old-style buildings and windy alleys with forgotten bars. It's also home to the city's red light district. Shinjuku Station itself is a major hub, with multiple subway lines, multiple commuter rail lines, a bus station, and a huge underground area with more shopping and restaurants. In fact, it's the busiest station in the world, with more than 3.6 million passengers per day!
Shinjuku is also home to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, which has a free observation deck on the 48th floor. We got there at dusk, and lucked out with a very clear view - we could see Mount Fuji, which is more than 60 miles from Tokyo! After taking in the view, we walked to the Square Enix Store so David could buy some Final Fantasy merchandise, then had some dinner and checked out a couple of arcades (Street Fighter IV!) before taking our old friend the Yamanote line back to our hostel. So much more to see in Tokyo! David has got a full blown cold now, but he's keeping up like a soldier. We're nearing the final stretch with just two more days in Tokyo before we head back to the states!
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| Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building |
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| Mt. Fuji |
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| Shinjuku |
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| Tokyo goes on and on and on |
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| City lights in East Shinjuku |
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| Eggs end up in pretty much everything in Asia...and we're ok with that! |
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