#Japan16 Embracing Tokyo

Cover photo: One of the first stamps I collected!

I woke at 6am, too excited and full of plans to return to sleep. The others in my dorm woke at about seven thirty when I finally started shuffling about to get ready. One is another English girl, who also takes annual leave to travel the world independently. She is planning Tokyo-Kyoto-Hakone plus day trips, whereas I am planning Tokyo-Hakone-Osaka-Koya San-Hiroshima-Miyajima-Kyoto plus day trips for the same period of time!

First I got on a metro train heading for Harajuko, which I hadn't really done justice the previous day. Part way into the journey I realised Akihabara anime district. I jumped off the train spontaneously and realised that a) I was going in the wrong direction for Harajuku anyway and b) I had got off at the ideal stop to change for Akihibara! Lucky accident...

Electric Town, Akihabara

I completed my second successful fully Japanese transaction, gleefully purchasing some 'Lotte' koala mini biscuits to banish my hunger pangs, (which I then remembered I couldn't eat in the street!) and walked to the Akihabara Electric district, where there was an immense queue of Japanese men about my age, apparently for the release of a new saga anime game! Everywhere you looked, starry eyed manga girls with ridiculous proportions begged you to play with them or buy something (usually both)

Unfortunately the Anime museum and shop, my second priorities to see after Electric Town itself, were closed, as Mondays in Japan are like Sundays in Britain. However, in the same building, I found myself a very interesting breakfast of tea and cake. The cake was not like what I'm used to, the sweet potato cake being particularly... challenging, but at least it was pushing me out of my comfort zone a little!

Sweet potato cake. Just as stodgy as it looks!
Interestingly, Japanese packaged cakes come
 with these drying sachets inside!

Whilst I was in Akihabara, I got far too excited about finding a normal toilet (no frightening buttons that have the potential to shoot jets of water at you whilst you're sat, and not a squat either!), and I also bought some amazing souveniers...

Chihuahua waffle anyone? Or would you prefer a St Bernard Burger?

Next, I went to Tokyo station to begin my Japan stamp collection (no really), and see the Imperial Palace. The station is attractive, although not very Japanese looking, and sits in the middle of the high rise metallic business district of Tokyo. I took some photos, collected my stamp, and then headed on to the imperial palace.

Tokyo station is so large, it calls itself a city in its own right!

The imperial palace gardens were closed for Monday, as I knew they would be, but I enjoyed the fountain park and walking the perimeter of the palace. I honed the art of selfies further, but still can't balance my phone and manage a peace sign at the same time. Happily, there wasn't much to see, so it's not a major issue that my face fills most of the photo!

God I'm so happy!

With my first stamp in my notebook, I boldly returned to the hostel to grab my Japan Rail pass, and commenced a tour of Tokyo via the Yamanote line (an over-ground loop of the city), disembarking at every stop and stamping my little notebook. I got to visit Shimbashi (the home of Japanese railways), Kanda, re-visited Ueno, Akihabara, and Shibuya (the latter in the dark, for what I hoped would be more dramatic photos of the neon) and finally arrived at Harajuku. Harajuku is amazing. The closest thing I can compare it to is London's camden market, but without the seedy, druggyness, and more Kuwai (cute!). There were also crepe stores offering ridiculous crepes involving things from cheesecake to Tuna Curry. I personally opted for green tea icecream and 'brown sugar syrup'. It contained three weird gelatinous balls, and the 'syrup' was pretty gelatinous too and, come to mention it, so was the sauce which I had taken to be whipped cream... but the green tea icecream was nice! I'd had a fruit smoothie from Shimbashi for lunch as I'm concerned about the nutrition I've been not getting.

An Harajuku Crepe. Ew.

Last stop was Ginza, as I was hoping to watch a Kabuki performance - Japan's traditional theatre, in which famously only men are allowed to perform, many of whom as female characters. It promised to be an amazing spectacle, but unfortunately my city map was hopelessly vague, and and after I explored all street corners within a three minute (one block) walk of Ginza metro station, I only later discovered that it was ten minutes away. I got very frustrated at that. However Ginza was a beautiful place, full of polished, expensive high end shops, and I came across my first Japanese busker - a talented lady playing a saxophone to a respectable gathering of onlookers. This didn't seem quite right in Japanese culture - in a country where waiters do not accept tips, and eating and drinking in public spaces is not permitted, it seemed to clash with the practice of paying people playing music in the street.

Finally I mooched back to the hostel. Tomorrow my metro pass expires, as I will be going out of town for at least a few hours to explore the seaside town of Kamakura.

#Japan16 first day in Tokyo

Cover Photo: Ueno Park, Tokyo

After spotting whales in the ocean from the plane, and admiring the impressively square, small, identical fields that were very unlike those in England, I landed at 9.30.


I collected my rail pass, and wandered around Narita airport for an hour, impressed to actually see the famous Japanese vending machines in the flesh, and trying not to feel too concerned about so many people wearing protective facemasks!


I boarded the Skyliner train, which was shockingly five minutes late (I assumed I must have somehow missed it, as I'd been assured that Japanese public transport is never late!) and it was a beautiful shiny pointy blue train, which didn't stop nattering in Japanese for a good ten minutes into the journey!I only realised after looking at the map I was given with my Skyliner ticket that I could have saved myself Y1,200 by just getting the subway into the city. I'll write the unnecessary expense off as 'an experience'. It was cheaper than the Narita Express (another train, and my original plan)!

Ｓｅｌｆｉｅ　ｏｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｔｒａｉｎ．　Ｉ　ｈａｄ　ａ　ｌｏｎｇ　ｗａｙ　ｔｏ　ｇｏ　ｔｏ　ｍａｓｔｅｒ
　ｔｈｅ　ａｒｔ　ｏｆ　ｃａｐｔｕｒｉｎｇ　ｂｏｔｈ　ｍｙ　ｓｅｌｆ　ａｎｄ　ｍｙ　ｓｕｂｊｅｃｔ　ｉｎ　ａ　ｓｅｌｆｉｅ

I spotted a red and gold pavilion in the distance, Japanese boys playing baseball (a popular sport in Japan apparently) and later a lone 'sakura' cherry blossom tree, as we sped into a surprisingly hot and sunny Tokyo, I actually feel like I'm on holiday! Wish I'd taken sun glasses...

The Skyliner terminated at Ueno, and Ueno park was on my list of interesting places, for its Sakura, and its zoo. The Sakura was just starting to bloom. I think it will be perfect by the end of the week! I went to the peony garden where there was a stunning elaborate Chinese gate. I have decided Japan is Disneyworld for photographers. The 20th March also happened to be Ueno Zoos anniversary (it's one of the oldest zoos in Japan) so it was free entry! I'll mentally deduct that Y600 off the cost of my Skyliner ticket. Ueno zoo has a pair of giant pandas, and my best friend loves pandas,  so I joined the immense minute queue to see it. (similar to when I returned time and time again to the red panda in a previous blog about Scotland's Highlands Wildlife Park)!

Ｑｕｅｕｅ　ｔｏ　ｓｅｅ　ｔｈｅ　Ｇｉａｎｔ　Ｐａｎｄａｓ

Ｅａｒｌｙ　Ｓａｋｕｒａ　ｉｎ　Ｕｅｎｏ　Ｐａｒｋ

I saw both pandas. There was no way not to. As Japan's oldest zoo, Ueno zoo has worryingly small enclosures. After seeing a mopey toucan in a cage less than five metres cubed, a balding bear, a seal with two weepy eyes, and a polar bear writhing on the floor in a way suggestive of a mental breakdown on this hot sunny day, I'd had enough. I'm glad I didn't contribute financially to keeping it running. It was interesting from an anthropological perspective though. I was pretty much the only 'western' tourist there, so I got good photos over everyone else's heads! The crowd oohed and ahhed every him the animal they were watching moved, like they were at a fireworks display! There was also the ubiquitous photo taking. Of animals, of selfies, of signs for animal enclosures, of selfies with signs...

Ｒｉｒｉ　ｔｈｅ　Ｐａｎｄａ，　ｐｈｏｔｏｇｒａｐｈｅｄ　ｏｖｅｒ　
ｔｈｅ　ｈｅａｄｓ　ｏｆ　ｍｏｒｅ　ｌｏｃａｌ　ｇｕｅｓｔｓ

Next stop was Asakusa, for my hostel. I chose this hostel on the basis that it won a Hostelworld 'Hoscar' as best hotel in Japan (third best in all of Asia). It's a nice hostel. Bright, large, friendly, with brilliant maps and guides for anywhere you want to go. I also collected my WiFi dongle so I can get maps online and don't need to worry about asking for directions by simply saying "konichiwa, <insert destination here>" in a pleading voice! (although it has worked marvellously so far!)


Next, on to Shibuya, the famous crossing in Tokyo's version of times square. It was a good "Wow, I'm really in Tokyo!" moment, people were walking across backwards, filming themselves on selfie sticks. J-pop was blaring out into the streets over the soundtracks of giant video billboards. I entered a shop which was a bit like HMV - only, being Japanese, half of the music was J-pop, and half of the books were manga. I went to the top to get a good view of the crossing. It was pretty impressive.

Dodging japanese girls (and women!) taking selfies with boyband posters, I then wandered to the nearby Ｙｏｙｏｇｉ park, where I had read I could spot a traditional Japanese wedding! I was out of luck, as it was early evening by the time I arrived, but I did get lucky with some very atmospheric low light shots of the Ｍｅｊｉ　Ｊｉｎｇｕ　temple, and I also saw a lot of fascinating ｈａｒａｊｕｋｕ　ｇｉｒｌｓ！! The park had a few performers dotted around, reminding me of London's Covent garden, and unlike Ueno was a forested sanctuary. Definitely my kind of park!

Ａ　ｖｉｅｗ　ｏｆ　ｍｏｄｅｒｎ　ｔｏｋｙｏ　ｔｈｒｏｕｇｈ　ｔｈｅ　Ｓｈｉｎｔｏ　Ｇａｔｅ

I followed the crowd to the metro station, and eventually returned to Asakusa in the dark, where I climbed (don't ask me why) the eight floors of stairs to the top of the Asakusa Tourist information centre. From here I got fantastic views of the Asakusa's principal attraction- the Senso-Ji temple with it's elaborate gate, and the Tokyo Skytree (Japan's tallest building)．
After that I couldn't resist a visit to the temple. It was a lot quieter and arguably more atmospheric at night, and I got some terrific photos, even though night photography has never been my strong suit.

Ｇｒｉｎｎｉｎｇ　ｌｉｋｅ　ａ　ｌｏｏｎ　ａｔ　Ｓｅｎｓｏ－Ｊｉ　ｇａｔｅ

Ａ　ｐｈｏｔｏ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅ　ｔｅｍｐｌｅ　ｉｔｓｅｌｆ

With all my buzzing around Tokyo, I hadn't had time to eat more than a cookie (which I had to quietly stuff info my mouth as eating in public is not accepted in Japan) but the lovely lady at the hostel gave me directions to an indian restaurant ("they always have vegetarian options") everywhere else was already closing at 8pm, but I had a delicious 'laasi' drink (it was very different to any laasi I've had before), a spinach Dahl curry and an immense naan to eat whilst I watched cringey indian music videos and tried not to inhale the second hand smoke of my fellow diners cigarettes. It was a nice place, and I would happily return if I wasn't seeking more authentic Japan.