2024 Blog & Images - Tokyo
Days 2; 22; 26; 33-37
Day 2 - Tokyo
Well today was my first day back in Tokyo since Covid descended on the world. While it is only for one day (as I fly out for Europe in the morning), I will be back later in the trip to meet up with Luke and my grandson Matthew.
After sorting myself out, the first port of call was to the 7-11 which was situated 200 metres down the road. For anyone that has visited Japan, I am preaching to the converted. For those that haven’t, know that the food is fresh and of an excellent quality. The pancake with maple syrup is a definite go to as were the bananas to maintain the semblance of a healthy diet haha. Once consumed, the whole focus of the day was to meet up with Jamie Richards & his family and friends. It was their first time in Japan, and luckily both dates coincided.
Rendezvousing in Harajuku, our first port of call was Meiji-Jingu which was just across the road. While I have visited the Meiji Shrine before, New Year’s Eve was slightly different as a Shinto ceremony begun as we were present in the main quadrangle. The colour of the lanterns, Sake barrels and the overall ambience of the area make this a must-see site in Tokyo. How history views the emperor who ushered in modern Japan is down to historians, the gardens are for all to enjoy.
From here, it was onto the JR Yamonate line and onto Ueno. The whole idea was to show them quickly the gardens for later in the trip. The focus, however, was to head down to the Ameyoko markets. Along the way we passed through Takadanobaba station. I had found this quirky little section of Japan on my first trip back in 2017. Every station has a distinct musical signature to make passengers aware of where they are. This station’s theme is a 15 second grab of the Astro Boy (or Mighty Atom) theme song. To a baby boomer like myself, this is manna from heaven. It’s also a reminder of the power of popular culture in bringing two very different cultures that little bit closer together.
The Ameyoko markets provided clear evidence of how populated Tokyo is and how maybe walking through a busy place on NYE could be thought out better. I have never experienced this part of town so packed but in a way, it certainly brought the area to life. For those who have never been, this is an area where you can buy almost anything, and the food is brilliant. This is where we parted company as I have a relatively early flight to Europe in the morning and I wanted to get things organised. It was nice to catch up with friends as I will be on my own for the next couple of weeks. Last call to 7-11 and it was off to bed with the prospect of a 14-hour flight looming large.
Day 22 - Tokyo
The flight was a half hour late taking off but arrived on time in Tokyo … good work ANA. The food was great, and the best part was I was able to get about 5 hours sleep on the plane. You pay a little extra sitting up the front but the fact you have a bed to kip on certainly makes up for the exhaustion. The fact that I got to my hotel just before 9.30am and check in was at 4pm put me into adventure mode.
Starting at the hotel I walked and walked in a direction towards Shinagawa. I saw what I think is the smallest golf driving range I have ever seen. It would have been no longer than 60 metres and had 10 bays. If you are a golfer and live in Tokyo, there isn’t a hell of a lot of space for golf courses to exist, so I get it. The fact that it was a membership-based establishment goes to show how valuable space is in this city as well as leisure time. You tend to take for granted not only the space (which is forever changing) that we have in Australia, but also the weather. From here I just kept walking. The space between houses are almost non-existent and the side streets are all so narrow. It really is a fascinating place to walk around, in an over-crowded, claustrophobic sort of way.
I headed towards the railway as the weather while not torrential, wasn’t as pleasant as it could be. My compass was pointing towards Shinagawa, in particular the Shinto shrine that is there. An interesting point came up as I was looking into it and that was it was used in a scene of Shine Godzilla. Well, I didn’t see a monster rising from Tokyo Bay so I considered it safe to enter. Back in the early 17th century, the site is where Tokugawa Ieyasu is said to have prayed for victory and in June of each year, the annual Shinagawa-jinja Reitaisai festival attracts huge crowds. I love the simplicity of the religion and the fact that it is open to all to join in the ritual. Whereas religion can be a very touchy subject with some, here it is what it is and while there are rituals to follow, it doesn’t tend to exclude people from its focus of worship. This particular shrine is said to benefit success in entrance exams, health or recovery from illness, business success and luck. Maybe a few of my students could benefit from it.
After a short wander to Shinagawa Station, it was off to Shibuya to see the world’s busiest intersection. I didn’t really hang around to long, it was more about reacquainting myself with it and see if had changed. The one thing that had changed was the outfits on the go-karts that I saw at the lights. Looks like Mario and Luigi are out, and other nondescript characters have taken their place. While this probably is the busiest traffic crossing, I’m sure a portion of that is taken up by people videoing themselves walking across the road (I have been guilty in the past), adding to the congestion. It is, however, an experience as people seem to come from every direction in their quest to make it to the other side. I survived the ruck and headed towards Harajuku, passing the Toyogi National Stadium, a legacy from the most recent Olympics.
The train was calling my name and armed with my JR ticket, I travelled around the entire Yamanote Line back to Shinagawa in a valiant effort to kill some time. It was then onto Kamata Station then Otorii and I was back with a 9-minute wait. To say that I was buggered is an understatement and armed with a few provisions from 7-11, it was up to the room and a chance to put my feet up. 18,000 odd steps and it was fair to put the feet up. Sapporo tomorrow so bring on the next leg. Matt and Luke will be here in a few days so looking forward to it.
A walk through Ota City
Shinagawa Shinto Shrine & The Gotenyama garden
Onto Shibuya & beyond
Day 26 - Sapporo to Tokyo
Today I defied all logic and time-honoured truths by actually making the Japanese transportation system run behind schedule. Well, I didn’t actually cause disruption to the service, but I think my presence had something to do with it. The train that took me from Sapporo station to New Chitose Airport ran approx. 20 minutes behind schedule, so it was two days running that my trains were out of whack. Yesterday it was a blizzard, so I can’t really take credit for that one but two days in a row? Anyway, after finally getting to the airport and making it through security without any references to Walter White, I make it onto the plane and find my seat in the emergency aisle (got to love extra legroom). We then sat on the tarmac for at least 45 minutes while emergency maintenance took place to said Boeing. To cut a long story short, I got to my hotel and didn’t have to wait to check-in which was a positive. Due to the fact that I was meeting Luke & Matthew at the airport about 4 hours later, there wasn’t much I could do but put my feet up and wait.
I am so used to travelling by myself at this stage of the trip, it will be interesting to see what it is like to cohabitate with others again. It was nice to see them at the arrival gate, especially seeing Matt walking through after his first overseas flight. Based on the amount of photos Luke took, I could see that they were going to enjoy themselves. Anyway, tomorrow it’s off to Osaka for a few days and some Takoyaki.
Day 33 - Kanazawa to Tokyo
A pretty special day yesterday to say the least. First of all, we made the trek from Kanazawa to Tokyo on Matt’s first bullet train experience. I am not going to go on about why Australia can’t organise set up a fast rail link on at least between Sydney & Melbourne, god knows I wouldn’t be the first and definitely not the last to comment on this topic. Suffice to say, Matt definitely saw the difference between the Japanese & Australian experience and knows which one he prefers. He constantly made reference to the train to Melbourne (well he referred to it a couple of times) and you could tell, as much as you can with a teenager, the trip was like comparing chalk & cheese. The view from the train is stunning as you move through the mountainous landscape. You really get an understanding why this country experiences so many earthquakes, based upon the manner in which this particular area is formed.
Tokyo really is a different world so it will be interesting to see how he finds it. The lights, people, sounds make this a place which really is unique. While Osaka is its own world, nothing is quite like Tokyo. There are bits that I love and bits which are a slightly negative but this is not the place for that (a different time and venue would be more appropriate). By the time we had booked into the motel and got sorted, it left a little bit of time to venture down to Akihabara to get a bit of dinner. I went with the White Miso Ramen while the boys went with Burger King (when in Japan as they say). I left them to have a bit of a wander through the area as I know this is what Luke was most looking to.
Day 34 - Tokyo to Nagano (day trip)
Today was the day we headed off to Nagano and the Snow Monkey Park to make full use of our train pass. If you take into account the time that we have here and the fact this was a full day out of that time, I would have to say it was thoroughly worth it.
Of all the adventures that I have had in Japan, this is definitely up there with them. The manner in which the environment has been preserved is a credit to the people who run it. This is an example where tourism can work with nature and serve as a learning experience. The walk into the main part of the park was a little treacherous but my experience in Sapporo held me in good stead. I will have to remember to get snow tracks for next time I venture into a Northern Hemisphere winter as walking on ice is not high on my list of enjoyable past times. The view through the forest however was stunning. To provide a track in any other form would ultimately detract from the experience as well as doing little to preserve the natural setting.
Once you reach the Onsen and ultimately the main part of the monkey park, you are transported into another world. The thing that struck me the most was how used the Japanese macaque (snow monkey) were to having the tourists in their biosphere. At one point, I had to move as one walked straight towards and past me without batting an eyelid. The snow monkeys did not take or look for food from the visitors, as they are fed seed (which I saw the monkeys eat). People were mindful of the rules with the exception of one person (whose nationality will remain nameless), who was kicking a fence while a monkey was seated on it in the hope of getting a reaction. Apart from this isolated instance of ignorance, the park works so wonderfully well. Some people may find it intrusive, that’s up to them to work out but personally, I enjoyed the visit. Another bonus was that Matt and Luke had their first real taste of snow. By the time that we left, it was really coming down, maybe not as heavy as my trek to Hokkaido but still enough for the experience to be real. The site itself is a UNESCO World Heritage for a good reason and it truly was a treat to have visited.
By the time we made it back to the room, that was me done for the day. From 7 am through to 8 pm, that was plenty but there were a few more days in Tokyo to look forward to (even though the days away are starting to show a little). Tomorrow and Saturday, Luke has organised to catch up with some friends which is nice. I will see what will happen with me.
Jigokudani Yaen-Koen Park (Snow Monkeys)
Nagano
Day 35 - Tokyo
Today was a day to take in what Tokyo serves up as normal … if that is possible. Luke had organised to meet a friend at Shinjuku Station at around 1pm so with that in mind, I left a little early to see what I could see before meeting up with them at ground zero. I jumped on the train at Asakusabashi station and headed my way in the general direction of Shinjuku. On the way I saw a small Japanese Bar with a whole stack of very expensive champagne bottles over the door (empty of course) and a model of a cow’s backside sticking out from the wall of a restaurant. This is a place where nothing really surprises so they were both in keeping with the whole vibe of the city.
My first stop was to the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery. Having taught this area for the past four or five years, I am actually quite interested in the manner in which the Meiji Restoration shaped modern day Japan. I’m also very much interested in the way in which it and Emperor Meiji is portrayed in the present day. The gallery itself is one of the earliest museum buildings in Japan (opened in 1926) and commemorates the “imperial virtues” of Emperor Meiji. It is located on his funeral site in the outer precinct of Meiji Shrine. On display in the gallery are eighty large paintings, forty in “Japanese style” and forty in “Western style”, which depict important scenes from the emperor’s reign. I always find it fascinating how historical figures and events can be portrayed and thus taken as a truth. The artistic representations were extremely interesting and while it was unfortunate that no photography was allowed, it did maintain the integrity of the art work.
I made a quick visit to a baseball batting cage which was located at the nearby Meiji Batting Centre. We took Matt to one in Umeda when we were in Osaka and I really enjoy the difficulty of the whole thing. It was the perfect time to go and enjoy the hope of being able to connect with a ball being thrown at 110 km an hour … I need to build up to a bit more pace. To me, baseball is one of the greatest examples of western influence on Japanese culture there. Even through the Showa restoration when factions were all about the expulsion of Western influence, Babe Ruth and an American team toured here. Anyway, after hitting a few foul balls, it was on past the National Stadium and the cauldrons of the 1964 & 2022 Olympic Games (the games that covid delayed but could not stop).
Shinjuku was the next stop and while waiting for the boys, I quickly ducked down “piss alley” and had a quick look at Godzilla. Eventually I found Luke & Matt and had lunch with them and their friend Yuki (which was really nice). We had a wander around Kabuki-chō and caught the 4pm Godzilla screech. Having wandered enough, I decided that I would find my way back across Tokyo for a bit of peace and quiet. My enduring memory of the day will be the billboard with the 3-D cat which presents itself in a variety of different manners. While I have already said it before, I will say it again, only in Japan.
Morning - Meiji, National Stadium and area
Shinjuku
Day 36 - Tokyo
Like yesterday, Luke & Matt were catching up with some of Luke’s friends at Akihabara for a deep dive into Japanese pop culture. As they say, four is company five is a crowd (well I may have twisted that one slightly) so after meeting them near the station, I thought it best to make the most of my last full, non-transit days in Tokyo. Tomorrow, we are moving hotels back out to so we are close to the airport so at best, we will get half a day to wander.
First stop today was Tokyo Tower. While I saw it on my first trip when I very briefly visited (and subsequently escaped) Roppongi, I have never been near this iconic structure. I have seen Godzilla destroy it so many times, that I had to see for myself that it was intact (it turns out it was). While I was there, I decided to pay the 1200 Yen to travel to the viewing platform 150 metres above the ground. Normally I would go to the Government Building for a view but thought why not. Tokyo when you are on the ground has a claustrophobic feel at times with the tight streets and alleyways that create a maze of living and working hubs. From the sky, it isn’t much different apart from the green spaces that are located throughout the visible human landscape. While it isn’t the most congested place that I have seen, Hong Kong holds that title, it definitely is in second place. Aerial views, be it from the Eiffel Tower, a plane or from the Tokyo Tower provide a fascinating view of how cities have evolved over time and how human coexist.
Second stop today was the Yasukuni Shrine. I had visited here with Tracy a few years back and we saw some Sumo wrestling and visited the war museum (which is located on the site). The shrine was my focus today and I got to enter from a different point from my last visit, I always find this interesting as it provides a different perspective to a site that you may have visited previously. Established in 1869 by Emperor Meiji, the shrine is dedicated to those who lost their lives in conflicts beginning with the Boshin War, which saw the Emperor take power from the Tokugawa Shogunate. The park and site itself is absolutely gorgeous even though controversy surrounds some of those included. The fact that no Emperor has visited since 1975 may be something of note.
From here it was onto the Kitanomaru Park which is on the site of the old Edo Castle. The entrance through the Tayasumon Gate is a direct reflection of the site. An inscription on the outer side of the states the gate was constructed in 1685, making it one of the oldest surviving structures of the original castle. I walked past the Nippon Budokan where the Beatles played in 1966 along with others such as Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan and other musical icons of the past 60 years. You want a place that reeks of popular culture in music form, here it is. Walk a few yards and you immerse yourself in gardens that brings a serenity to the madness that is Tokyo. It was the perfect contrast that highlighted the very nature of this amazing city.
After sampling the tranquility of the Kitanomaru, Akihabara once again beckoned to meet back up with Luke, Matt and company before wandering back to the hotel. Saturday night in this neck of the woods (as it is in other areas of Tokyo) borders on madness so it is easier to take these tired bones back rather than dodging the masses. One more day then, a plane back to Australia calls.
Tokyo Tower & adjacent area
Yasukuni Shrine
Kitanomaru Park
Akihabara
