That was seven weeks ago, and it seems even longer after my recent trips to Boston and Brooklyn. I really need to push myself to write up the rest of the trip while I can still remember it. I have a long train ride on Amtrack to Albany, so no excuses today!
*** I am just editing before “publishing” this and see that in the “review” section before doing so it tells me that this post is 2,286 words and a 12 minute read. That’s reasonable, I think. I guess my goal, though should be to keep them to 2000 words/10 minutes***
Saturday, March 1st, was the day before the Tokyo Marathon. After walking over 30,000 hilly steps in Kamakura on Friday, I was glad I had pre-planned a Tokyo BUS tour for Saturday morning. The current iPhone and Mac Photos app has a feature called Days. For blogging, it is great because I can immediately now see just the 148 photos I took on March 1st without having to refind them in the library repeatedly.
It was another beautiful sunrise over Ginza. Alex shared some of the cutest snack cookies with me. I did some standing Yoga in the giant shower room.
After a quick breakfast in our room, we were outside by 7 a.m. for the short walk to the bus pickup area.
We passed several very high-end stores and modern buildings in the Ginza.
It was jarring to see a line of Americans on the sidewalk, yapping loudly. We only saw a few Westerners the entire day in Kamakura, and I remember how weird it was to hear someone speaking English for the first time all day when we had lunch.
I chose just a half-day tour since I wanted to get some rest after lunch, and the full-day tour included some things we planned to do on our own. And eating with a busload of tourists is something I NEVER want to do.
The bus was VERY nice. They used the same ones for the tours to Mt. Fuji and other distant places. Our guide was a young woman who spoke perfect English. We drove past our hotel and got a good view of the lobby balcony on the 6th floor.
Below the Balcony is an ad for Joe’s Shanghai restaurant in the mall below the hotel (above the subway station). I thought we might treat ourselves to a meal there, but in passing, one day, I looked at the menu and saw Sharkfin Soup! I thought only the Chinese still allowed the awful slaughter of sharks just for the fins, but the Japanese did also (of course, whale meat is still legal there). So don’t eat at Joe’s in NYC!
https://seabff.com/blogs/save-the-ocean-jewelry-blog/japan-shark-fin-slaughter-house
The bus spent about 30 minutes driving through only moderate traffic, as it was early Saturday. I was glad we had already walked around Shinjuku as it was hard to see stuff down the narrow sidestreets; there was only a brief glimpse of Godzilla from one side of the bus (I showed my photo from Wednesday to people).
We also circled the City Hall (where Alex and I went to the top and saw Mt. Fuji on Wednesday) and the red light district. Our first stop was the Meiji Jingu Shinto Shrine. That was the 1st place Alex and I visited with our tour guide on Wednesday. The guide walked us from the parking lot to the large Tori, and after explaining some history, she set us free and told us the time to be back at the Bus. She had made sure we noted the bus’s plate number as many were there.
The bus tourists definitely did not get anywhere near the experience that Alex and I did with our guide or even that they would have on their own because the forest and shrine were huge and had many historically important things to see and read.
It was much more crowded than on our previous visit, as it was a Saturday, and the Tokyo residents were enjoying one of the first warm and sunny spring days. Alex and I split up to see some things that we didn’t get a good look at last time.
Just as I entered the courtyard, I saw a procession walking past.
And then some women in traditional dress.
I donated an offering and made three wishes. One has failed so far, but I remain moderately hopeful for the other two.
The luck/wish charm desk was not yet open when Alex walked past but I saw it had at 9am so I got in line to buy some items they wanted to get as gifts for friends. By the time I got the items, I had only 3 minutes until “departure,” so I quickly walked (no running in Shrines/Temples) and texted Alex I was on the way. It was no problem as the whole tour group was clustered around the parking lot vending machine assortment.
Some machines took only cash, some the Metro app, and others credit cards, which was confusing. My iced coffee (just BLACK) was great and only $1.25.
When we drove past the residential compound of the Royal Family, our guide showed us a photo and told us a little about them.
https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/g37081130/japanese-royal-family-photos
The Japanese Royal family (see link above) goes back at least 1500 years, making it the oldest continuous monarchy. The current Emperor took over in 2019 after his father stepped down. This is common in Japan, where in the past, the Emperor emeritus would often still pull the strings of power. Now, the monarchy is only ceremonial. The Emperor and his wife (the first commoner to be Empress) have only a daughter. Hence, the Emperor’s brother is next in line for the throne, as only males can rule in Japan (although the government may soon consider a more modern policy).
If you look closely at the gates of the royal palaces and the Tori at some shrines, you will see a gold “Chrysanthemum” motif representing the royals.
The guide told us the Toyota symbol on all the cars is from the traditional seal of the centuries-old family.
Our bus next drove around the parks, gardens, and moats surrounding the Tokyo Imperial Palace (where I had run on Friday morning). Tours are available most days, but you don’t get to go inside any buildings. There was an “official” shakeout run for runners on Saturday morning that ended at the gate.
I LOVE the ancient moats and modern buildings side by side.
The moats around the Tokyo Imperial Palace are largely the result of Edo Castle’s construction and expansion, with the outer moat being completed in 1638. Therefore, the moats are around 386 years old. The land was previously the site of a residence and later Edo Castle, built in 1457 by Ota Dokan. The moats were significantly expanded during the Edo period (1603-1868) as the castle became the center of Japanese politics and culture.
Our guide explained the area’s history and the statue, and then we had 20 minutes to wander.
She pointed out an older building (behind the Bonzai Pines, in front of the big tower) that was built for General Douglas McArthur’s governance of Japan in the post-war period. It was intentionally placed so that he could see into the Imperial Palace.
The 2012 movie Emperor stars Tommy Lee Jones as McCarthur. It is great at explaining how and why Hirohito was allowed to stay on after the war, but only in a ceremonial role, as America wrote a democratic constitution for Japan.
After we were back in the bus, we drove through many distinct neighborhoods that the guide described, one was called “nerd town” with all the electronics, another specialized in cooking and restaurant supplies (plastic “food” for displays in restaurant windows is a big industry), and an area known for its “maid” cafes (cosplay of various sorts).
We got off the bus for the last time in Asakusa, a busy area of shops and restaurants with a huge shrine in the center.
We went into a VERY touristy Matcha shop with hot and cold teas, ice cream, and other treats. We would have a real traditional Matcha experience on a different day.
Alex and I said goodbye to our guide and headed to the large Temple. The rest of the group was heading to lunch, and I hoped it would be less touristy than the Matcha for their sakes. As we approached the Senso-Ji Buddhist Temple, we had an awesome view of the 2000-foot Skytree Tower behind it.
It was a very big complex of buildings and gardens and small shrines.
It was very crowded (almost all natives) on the first warm Saturday of spring. People were lined up at all the many places to buy chances at luck, good fortune, college acceptance, romance, etc.
I saw a wedding party on the balcony in traditional dress and tried to get a photo WITHOUT somehow holding a cell phone but….
These candy-coated Bananas looked great, but we wanted to get more of a sit-down lunch.
Heading East, there was a series of very narrow, long streets with shops and restaurants.
Here is a short video of the walk. There was some chatter as opposed to the complete silence in less commercial areas.
Alex randomly saw a shop with some cool paper machete art and handmade paper. We went in so they could get some gifts for friends. It was one I had read about in the guidebook. It has been there since 1836! Making paper by hand is an ancient Japanese traditional art.
We didn’t want to eat in the super busy (?touristy) area, so we found a place a few blocks away on Yelp. It was amazing—right on the river.
When we first walked in it looked like just a take out place with some small tables but then we were led upstairs and as soon as we walked in the bar everyone yelled something (like on Cheers!). We were the only non-Japanese in there and managed to order everything in Japanese. The food was amazing and the atmosphere very cool, hip music and decor. I imagine late at night it really gets crowded.
Video…
Across the Sumeda river was the SkyTree Tower and also the world’s largest ? yellow pepper, sex toy? I had to Google it.
The large yellow sculpture in Tokyo is known as the Asahi Flame, or Flamme d’Or. It’s a golden structure atop the Asahi Super Dry Hall, a building designed to resemble a beer glass. The flame is intended to represent both the “burning heart of Asahi beer” and the frothy head of a beer. It was inspired by the Olympic flame.
At first I wanted to just walk halfway across the bridge to get a good photo but then wanted to go all the way to see the other view. My steps were adding up now, not a good thing the day before a marathon!
These rickshaws seemed possible but our hotel was on the other side of the city. There was a nearby subway station and Alex navigated us back but it was so busy I had to stand. The guy in front of Alex was full SUMO size.
Back near Ginza we had a long underground walk, saw some cool art and got some snacks..cake and ice cream from vending machines! We enjoyed the ice cream on the lobby balcony.
Time-lapse of busy Ginza intersection.
After relaxing in the room for a little while, I decided to head over to a nearby park to sit and read my Kindle. I had some postcards to mail. I think they arrived at people’s houses about 10 days later, a day or 2 after we got back to the U.S. But the stamps were only 60 cents, and it was a lot faster than the 3 weeks from Fiji. Right around the corner from the hotel was a cool area with the Toho Studios headquarters (Godzilla creators) and also a set of stairs that I had seen illuminated at night from the hotel’s rooftop bar. It had an elaborate flower display being assembled.
I got excited when I saw a sign that said “TimHo”, ? Timmy Hos, Tim Hortons??? 🇨🇦 Alex had found one in Madrid so … but no, just a restaurant.
I found a nice bench overlooking a pond and settled in to read as the sun set across the park. At first I thought the turtle was real…
The benches ensured personal space, which seemed strange as the Japanese are so used to being crushed together on subways, etc. They seemed a little inefficient, though, as clearly, three people could fit comfortably.
After a half-hour, I heard some music and decided to investigate.
A wedding was taking place in a nice garden gazebo, the music had ended and the couple was thanking their friends and family.
The more I walked, the more I learned about the park. After Japan opened to the West in the 1860s, it became one of the first places to exhibit Western horticulture.
For some reason, there was a variety of stones on display.
And more gorgeous plants.
This interesting building across the street would have views of the park and the Imperial Palace grounds, can’t imagine how expensive the condos would be.
On the walk back to the hotel I stopped in the underground mall and got us Ramen/Udon for dinner and some 7-11 snacks for my pre-race breakfast. I saw on Instagram that it was Ramadan and thought running a marathon with no calories would be tough.
And another language lesson in the elevator. Video…
My goal for Saturday was to stay under 10,000 steps, but I was past that even before exploring the park. 15,000!
Please comment, “like” , share, enjoy! I really enjoyed doing this post as the photos reminded me of things I had completely forgotten!