July 25 – 26, 2016

On the 25th, it was time to say goodbye to Kyoto and the fun we had there. We packed up, checked out of our hotel around noon, and got back on the bullet train to Tokyo. I learned my lesson and checked to make sure the train number matched the number on my ticket.

The train ride was smooth, about 3 hours, and I made sure to keep an eye out the window for Mt. Fuji. But for some reason, I still managed to miss it. The cloud cover on that day was thicker than the ride down to Kyoto and there was a heavy fog that hung on the horizon. That was a little unfortunate.

Our friends E and C had booked a hotel in Shinjuku’s Kabuki-Cho district and the neon that greeted us as we left the train station at dusk was blinding. There were so many LED billboards, pulsating neon signs, and a giant screen with TV advertisements, going all at once. I just stood there not knowing where to look. We made our way across the street in the direction of the hotel in a stupor.

Finding the hotel and checking in was easy. We dropped off our luggage and went searching for dinner. We had no idea where to go, so we headed for the direction of the main street near the train station.

 

There was a restaurant advertising All-You-Can-Eat Korean BBQ for 3,000 Yen, or around $30, so we thought, ‘Hey, why not?’ as C has a good appetite for meat. Just as we were about to enter the restaurant, a guy handing out restaurant flyers convinced us that if we chose to eat at the restaurant on the 2nd floor above the one for Korean BBQ, we could get All-You-Can-Eat Japanese style BBQ with an All-You-Can-Drink beverage package for a total of 4,000 Yen, or $40. So we chose that one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following day, Grant was tired so we left him behind and E, C, and I went exploring on our own.

First stop on the Sasha tour was Sensoji Temple in Asakusa.  Sensoji is a Buddhist temple located in Asakusa. It is Tokyo’s oldest temple and one of its most popular. It is said that in 628 AD, two brothers were fishing in the Sumida River when they pulled up a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy. And although the brothers threw the statue back in the river that day, the statue kept finding its way back to the brothers. So the temple was built for the goddess of Kannon in the year 645.

There are two outer gates that lead to the temple. The outermost gate is called Kaminarimon and is named after a giant hanging lantern with the kanji for kaminari, or “thunder” in Japanese, on the front. Mon is Japanese for gate. Between this gate and the inner gate, Hozomon, there is a row of merchant stands called Nakamise-Doori, selling all kinds of souvenirs from yukata (a casual summer kimono) to ninja throwing stars. Nakamise-Doori has been there since the beginning of the temple and is like an ancient open-air shopping mall. And yes, I could not resist buying a ninja star.

I found Kaminarimon to be endearing:

 

 

And a giant grass slipper hanging from a gate (said to be the shoes worn by the Gods):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we explored the outdoor, cramped, but bustling market called Ame Yoko located in Ueno. Ame Yoko is typical of outdoor markets found throughout Asia. It stands in stark contrast against the much more commercial glass and steel department stores that characterize Tokyo and forms the backdrop to this outdoor market. Kind of like where historic Tokyo meets the modern. In Ame Yoko you can still smell the fish being displayed on ice and hear vegetable vendors hawking their wares, or in this case selling 2-for-1 cucumbers and bundles of enokitake, shiitake, or whatever other take (mushrooms) you may want.

 

 

Eventually, we came across a toy store where I found:

 

 

To top this tour off, I led E and C back on the subway and we took the train two stops to another district in Tokyo called Akihabara. I was told by my mom, who had grown up in Tokyo, that Akihabara’s neon lights are the most impressive and that it is called “Electric Town” (that’s what it even said on my map). I told E and C that if they thought Kabuki-Cho was lit up with neon, wait till they get a sight of… this was Akihabara? Maybe back in my mom’s day the lights were impressive but today, not so much.

Still Akihabara in known for its many electronic stores. If you can’t find the appliance you want here, you probably won’t find it in all of Japan.

 

If you want to experience bright neon lights that typify Tokyo, I recommend Kabuki-Cho in Shinjuku and another district called Ginza, at night.

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