A day in Tokyo

Saturday 7th February 2015

A good nights sleep, I made it until 6.30am. I did a bit of diary and published the first three days to the web, while Sue got sorted, then we went down to the Lavarock Cafe for our comp breakfast – the same two chaps who were on last night greeted us. We were seated straight away and the spread was excellent – a really nice selection of fruit, lots of cold items, including cheeses and salmon plus cooked to order omelettes and other hot stuff – all in buffet format – very, very nice and another reason to keep the gold card.

Once we had eaten, we nipped upstairs to get sorted. It is a cold but very bright and sunny morning. We headed out on foot – first stop was the massive Tokyo Station, which is only a short walk away. We did a recce for the train tomorrow, and found that there are lots of different ways to buy tickets for the Shinkansen train, which is the one we need. The old part of the station is a very impressive domed old building but it has been massively added to and has a warren of tunnels, all with shops and fast food outlets lining them.

Leaving the station by the west exit we headed over the road to see one of Sue’s choices that she had read about – the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace. We walked to the main road and then alongside the huge Ote-Bori moat with its massive koi swimming about and some interesting looking ducks. We walked round to the Hirakawa-mon Gate and went in. Entry is free, which is nice.

The gardens are vast and meticulously cared for – it probably isn’t the best time of years to see them, but we had a good wander round looking at the rare and exotic fauna including huge collection of different types of bamboo!. We then made our way out of the Ote-mon Gate and walked round to the Nijubashi Bridge which is the only bit of public domain that gives a view of the Grand Imperial Palace of the Emperor – it is only a glimpse, but that doesn’t stop loads of Japanese folk flocking for a photo-op. Given the number of guards about everywhere, I don’t think many people would be daft enough to try to get a closer look. All morning we have seen loads and loads of runners in all shapes sizes and abilities who are taking part in a fun-run that appears to be a circuit of the whole of the place grounds – not a bad jog in the sunshine.

We left the palace behind us and walked towards the huge block of government buildings, including the Prime Minister’s residence and the massive offices of the National Diet Building! They seem to be doing a good job, because there are very few overweight Japanese folk about. We had a bit of a chat about what to do next and Sue consulted her trusty guide book – we decided to go and see some of the big shops, so we headed to Shibuya. We were right next to Sakuradamon metro station, so it was a quick change at Nagatacho to the purple Z line and two stops to Shibuya.Interestingly as we were waiting at Nagatacho we were stood by a sign for a ‘Women Only’ carriage. It only applies to weekdays before 9.30am – I assume when the trains are most crowded. A girl saw us reading the sign and explained -‘No gropers’ !

Shibuya is famous for its huge retail outlets and Shibuya Crossing, a very busy crossroads that has herds of people walking at each other as they cross the road. This gave us a great photo op. We then went over to a seven storey CD and DVD store opposite and had a pit stop in the Wired Cafe – we had a coffee and a very nice plate of salt caramel potato crisps, which were potato slices fried and covered in salted caramel and on ice cream – excellent! Just the sugar boost we needed. We then had a wander round the shop – an awful lot of UK and other familiar releases available in Japanese format, they seem to be mad on Sherlock given the size of the displays, and the number one album is by Kiss! Their 40th anniversary release!

Suitably refreshed, we headed of into the throng of Saturday afternoon shoppers and went down Koen Street past the massive massive Tower records that still seems to be booming here despite biting the dust in the UK and US many years ago. There is also a massive Disney Store a huge Karaoke complex, and lots and lots and lots of places specialising in Hello Kitty, Pokemon et al. When we got to the end of the road we found it cordoned off as part of a police incident – there was tape over a large area but the incident appeared centred on a building just off the main road – judging by the shields and the cops getting their gear on – my guess is a hostage situation, but we didn’t hang about to get a closer look.

Our next stop was what claims to be the largest department store in the world – Tokyu Honten Store on Bunkamura Street – it is eight storeys high and has three basement levels and is truly vast – we went up to the roof garden to see if we could get a good photo op, but were thwarted by high fences. We split up and had a wander – I wanted to use the loo but was put off by the trough design, I decided to wait till I could sit down ;-).

When we met up we headed back to the station to go to our next destination – another selection from the guide books – The Tokyo Skytree. Fortunately the station for this is Oshiage, which is at the opposite end of the purple line to Shibuya, so it was an easy train ride – when we arrived the whole area as heaving. The tower is 634 metres tall and is the second tallest building in the world behind the Burg Khalifa. At the bottom is a huge seven storey shopping mall, so this is an attraction in its own right on a Saturday afternoon, there is also an aquarium, and ice rink and other people magnets – hence the crowds.

The waiting time for the tower was showing as 60-90 minutes but we decided to bite the bullet and join the massive queue – I have to say it was actually very well organised and fast moving – we joined the queue at 3.25pm and bought our tickets at 4.20pm. Tickets were 2060 yen each ( just over £11.) Once we had bought them we were whisked up in one of four very fast lifts to the top. The view of the city is, as you would expect, stunning. At the top it was busy but we were taller than most, so it wasn’t a problem. The area at the top is divided into 12 sectors with a very good guide to tell you what to look out for in each one. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to see Mount Fuji.

It was great looking out and spotting things so we decided to stay a bit and let it get dark. You are not at the top, you are at the 350m mark called the Tembo Deck could pay extra and go up to the 450m mark to the Tembo Galleria , but we didn’t bother, this was high enough to see a LONG way! Especially impressive was the complex Tokyo train system that runs below like a very busy model railway. Once it was dark, we went down in search of food – easier said than done. There are lots and lots of place to eat, some very busy, some where there was no English on the menu at all, and a few that we didn’t fancy – we refused to come to Japan and eat Indian, Chinese, Italian or American! The ones that were busy have a basic but effective queuing system – a line of chairs – often going round the corner from the restaurant – patrons simply hutch up along the chairs until their turn to go inside comes along.

Eventually we finished up in a food court and found a nice Japanese noodle bar. I don’t know it’s name because the signs were all in Japanese, but there were English translations and pictures of all the dishes, and we were able to point to what we wanted. Sue had Soup Noodles with pork, seafood and vegetables. I had Soup Noodles with fried pork – we also had a Kirin Beer each – very nice they were too and very cheap. Even though it was a food court we had proper pots and ladles (Sue did attempt to eat hers with chop sticks!)

After we had eaten we had a wander round the food stores and supermarkets and eventually got some cake to have back at the hotel. Back on the purple line, then changed to the Ginza line to Kyobashi and back to the hotel. It has been raining this evening but hadn’t bothered us at all. It was noticeable that the Lavarock Bar was deserted – obviously the clientele last night were mainly post work revellers.

Back at the hotel for diary, cake and beer. Sue also had a chat with the ladies on reception to get some good advice and tips about tomorrow’s train journey. Sue stuck to Bud, but I tried more Sapporo, then Ashahi Dry beer. Very nice they both were too. Diary done! All good and time for a bath. We have walked some miles today and my legs are telling me so.