Tour day 1: Tokyo

Officially Day 2 but we’ll call it Day 1 as yesterday was just an arrival day.

We have two nights here at Kamata (Tokyo) near Yokohama. After brekky I did a little walking around before the tour started - there is a big shop at the station that sells EVERYTHING!! It is Don Quixote.

Came across Myoan-ji temple tucked away - had a significant number of tombs. Very peaceful and with some pretty gardens and buildings. It’s been raining overnight.

Very busy out there on the roads!

First stop on our tour today is the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa which we visited a week ago when we stayed in our apartment there. Today, being later in the day, it was TEEMING with people unlike the early morning we visited. 

But today the Nakamise-dori (street) had all the stalls open so that was interesting (although busy, busy, busy!). After the second gate Kaminari-mon, there is the Info Centre (very interesting architecture) and the view from the 8th floor is great. We also enjoyed a great (!!) coffee here!!

There was also an interesting exhibition of woodcuts one floor down. Bought some local sweets on the way back to the meeting point for the group.

Asakusa is also a popular area for rickshaws and tourists dressed up in kimonos.

Next was the Meiji Jingu shrine which honours Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken who had led Japan through a period of rapid modernisation starting in the second half of the 19th century. 

The shrine is in a vast area of forest (70 ha.), created by transplanting approximately 100,000 trees donated from all over Japan. 

This was the genuine article:

Shibuya Crossing - again! But this time we were shown a couple of different viewpoints. 

Also we were shown the statue of Hachi based on the 2009 film remake starring Richard Gere of Seijirō Kōyama’s 1987 Japanese film ‘Hachikõ Monogatari’ which told the true story of the Alita dog named Hachikō who lived in Japan 1923–1935.

Hachi taught his owner the meaning of 'loyalty': that you should never forget anyone you have loved.

There is a view of the crossing also from level 2 of the station.

Free time. At level 12 of the new Shibuya Scramble Square (sitting on a chair amongst all the flash bars and restaurants) we really enjoyed our 7-Eleven sandwiches I had bought this morning - good views of the crossing here. 

We pass the Harajuku area where the film ‘Perfect Days’ was filmed (about Hirayama who feels content with his life as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo). Harajuku is a vibrant Tokyo district famous for its youth culture, unique fashion and street food.

We drive past Roppongi Hills - the area for the ‘new rich’: a large, upscale urban complex that blends residential, commercial and cultural spaces, centred around the landmark Mori Tower. It has views across to the Tokyo Tower - used for mobile phones - and is the second highest in Japan (and is a copy of the Eiffel Tower).

The U.S. military occupied the Roppongi Hills area after World War II and this led to a large expat community and it continues to be a hub for foreigners today.

We cross the Rainbow Bridge to the man-made modern, entertainment hub of Odaiba where we have early dinner: shabu-shabu - best I’ve had so far, possibly because I didn’t cook the meat too long (otherwise it gets tough).  

A lovely sunset:

And there are wonderful views of the (1/7 scale) replica of the Statue of Liberty (a lot of copying going on here…) - a tribute to Japan’s ties with France.

Yummy icecream too. Had too much to eat …

Long day. About 7:30 pm when bus gets in. MF-san agreed that it was a more tiring day than MY itinerary days (apart from the day in Asakusa after our trek).

Meanwhile, our tour guide Kubo goes home to his bunk bed in a 8-bed dormitory for which he pays $A350 a month … Renting a one-bedroom apartment in central Tokyo typically costs between ¥150,000 and ¥230,000 per month (i.e. $A1500-2300).

Walked 10.8 kms.