Time in Tokyo

This is the tail end of our trip and also the third time we’ve been in Tokyo. For the most part we’ve seen the important sites and now, for us, it’s really a matter of just being here and maybe exploring some of the neighborhoods. Tokyo is easily one of the most fun and interesting places on the planet.

To get there we jumped on the new-ish (new since we were last in Kanazawa) shinkansen to Tokyo. It now only takes 2h45m to cross Honshu (the main Japanese island) from Kanazawa on the west coast to Tokyo on the east.

In the middle you pass through the Japanese Alps where it was snowing heavily. When we stopped in Nagano (site of the 1998 Winter Olympics), the train filled up with American skiers.

But soon enough we arrived in a cold and rainy Tokyo and after checking in to our hotel we were off to find dinner. We took another swing at Din Tai Fung and this time had no wait and no trouble getting into their Ginza location.

The next day we were greeted by a bright sunny day!

We thought we’d scale the Skytree since it was such a clear day we thought the view from the top would be impressive. Unfortunately the rest of Tokyo thought the same thing and by the time we arrived it was sold out for the day.

In the same area is the famous Asahi headquarters building with the very controversial art installation on its’ roof.

So we walked to Asakusa, which is an entertainment area in Tokyo anchored by the Senso-ji Temple.

On weekends the temple (and Asakusa in general) is mobbed.

It’s also the location of one of our very favorite stores – the brush store.

It has every sort of brush from toothbrush to hairbrush to grill brush. Even brushes for your brushes.

From there we took a bus to an area called Yanaka.

Yanaka was spared the Allied fire bombings during the WWII and survived the Great Kanto Earthquake and Fire of 1923.

In the past, the area was a thriving artisan town housing some of the country’s most famous writers and visual artists.

Aside from just exploring, we were intent on finding a shop that is known for making homemade rice crackers.

It has been doing so for over 100 years and has been in the same family for the entire time.

If we had more space we would have brought more of them home but they were so delicate that we were afraid to buy more than we could safely carry.

We loved peeking in windows as we walked.

In the evening we headed to Shinjuku which is one of the liveliest areas of Tokyo.

We stopped and watched a little of the famous Cat TV. It’s a giant screen installed on the side of a skyscraper in Shinjuku that broadcasts a 3D cat between commercials. It was very compelling in person!

We were in Shinjuku to get dinner at the infamous “Piss Alley”, also known as Memory Lane.

It’s a relic of 1940s era Tokyo and is a narrow alleyway filled with yakitori (grilled meats – mostly chicken – and veg) joints. Each shop is maybe 6-8 feet wide and about 25 feel deep and you step in and order a beer and some yakitori.

There is usually someone standing at the front of the shop at the grill to entice you to come in and sit down.

When we had our fill we headed back to our hotel. The metro was jammed at 11:30p at night!

But it really doesn’t matter what you’re doing in Tokyo, it’s just a great place to be.