JAPAN 2019
Somewhere that has always been on our travel list is Japan. The images of historic temples, cherry blossoms and Snow monkeys have always stuck with me, and when a great travel deal came across the Interwebs, we jumped on it. Obviously you are a little nervous when you consider the travel challenges of a different language, very different symbol based text, and a whole lot of unknowns. But after months of pestering friends that have been to Japan, live in Japan, or know someone in Japan, we were ready to dive in to a very different culture.
(click to enlarge)
TOKYO
January 24
It's a bit of a trek to get to Tokyo from Vancouver, a 9 hour flight, but at least it was a direct flight through ANA (All Nippon Airways). When we arrive on the 24th it's only 6:30pm, but it's a 17 hour time difference from when we left... on January 23rd.
It was recommended to us to stay in an active area near a key train station, so we chose the Shinjuku area, a hustling bustling area full of restaurants and shops. Getting there involved booking a Limousine Bus, which back home we call "a bus".
A short while later we were rolling our suitcases from the Shinjuku train station where the bus drops you, through the streets to the Siena Hotel. Immediately we are overwhelmed, so many people, so many lights, so much neon, so many signs you can't read, so many people wearing hospital masks. We definitely chose an active area.
Finally we made it through the madness to our hotel, I always find it odd when your hotel reception is on the 3rd floor, but the view from our 7th floor hotel was... a view.
I got so much advice when I was planning this trip, I decided to share some of that advice throughout this blog, hopefully it will someone else if they think of going to Japan. The first piece of advice is get a Pocket WiFi! I arranged ours through a company called Econnectjapan.com, they were great. For way less than you expect you have a device that you can connect multiple devices to and have a WiFi connection almost anywhere in Japan. The only places it didn't work was in deep subways and train tunnels. It was waiting at the reception of our hotel when we arrived, and included a self addressed envelope that we just had to drop off before we flew home.
Included was the device, a charger cable and a battery pack you could use to recharge it or your phone. A charge usually lasted all day.
January 25
After a good night sleep, on our first morning we wanted to get a lay of the land in Tokyo, so we found a Hop On-Hop Off bus service, and took a train to Tokyo Station to find it. It was a very nice cool day, clear and about 5-6° (42F). The Chuo train runs right from Shinjuku Station to Tokyo Station, and the bus stop was a short walk from there.
Rivers and bridges of Tokyo
Freeway entrance of Tokyo
Tokyo Skytree
Our first stop was Senso-ji temple, an ancient Buddhist temple in the Asakusa area of Tokyo. The first temple here dates back to 645 AD, which makes it the oldest temple in Tokyo. It was built to honor Kannon, the goddess of mercy.
The area is like a park of temples, shrines, statues, and a giant pagoda. And... about a million people.
So many girls are dressed up in Kimonos, mostly standing around taking pictures of themselves.
On the outer edge of the temple area is row upon row of vendors, most selling souvenirs or amulets (as a form of protection) or talismans (as a provider of luck), some of which are intentionally left behind "to guide or protect." There is also a wide variety of street cooked or baked foods and desserts.
We hopped back on the bus and stopped to check out the Akihabara district. Akihabara is famous for its electronics stores, ranging from tiny stalls to vast department stores. There is shops specializing in manga, anime and video games, and Radio Kaikan with its 10 floors of toys, trading cards and collectibles. Mostly it is store after store of Action figures and arcades. Of course you can't ignore the girls dressed as maids that serve tea and desserts at nearby maid cafes.
Of course if you are hungry, there is no shortage of unique restaurants around.
From this crazy area, we jumped back on the next bus and headed to a very different area of town known as Marunouchi, effectively the center of Tokyo with the Tokyo train station, the main business district and the Imperial Palace.
It's very quiet here, and an area that is the polar opposite of where we had been earlier. Modern structures, parks, art displays and subtle advertising for the upcoming World Cup of Rugby.
Just across the road is the Imperial Palace, of course we find out that the one day a week it is closed is the day we decide to visit.
Our next stop is the Zojo-ji temple, it is a Jodo-shu Buddhist temple, famous for having six of the Tokugawa shoguns being buried in the temple grounds. The temple's main gate is the oldest wooden building in Tokyo, dating from 1622. The original buildings, temples, mausoleums and the cathedral were destroyed during World War II.
A couple of the temple caretakers
The row upon row of small statues with knitted hats, are "care guardians of children". They are dedicated for the safe growth of children and grandchildren, as well as for the memorial service for still birth or miscarried children. The Red hats and aprons protect and warm their heads.
Giant incense burners and prayers tied to strings made up two of the most active areas in this temple.
As you can see in the above photos,Tokyo Tower was right beside Zojo-ji temple, so we had to go check it out. Ooh look, a tower.
They did have a nice little (and I mean little) Light display set up in front of the tower. I think it was in celebration of the 50th anniversary of these eggheads, at least that was what I could figure out from the signage.
One of the most impressive displays at the tower was this lacquered food display of all the types of sweet filled waffle cones.
It's also a very Japanese thing to see Mario Karts go zipping by on regular streets, with the drivers dressed up like Mario characters. We saw them in different parts of the city a number of times throughout the day. These were the best pics I could get.
One last bit of exploring the Tokyo Station area, and we would take the train back to Shinjuku.
Some signs are a little easier to understand than others, I'm glad I wasn't driving.
We found this little restaurant near our hotel called the Tsurutontan Shinjuku noodle restaurant that looked pretty good. At least the lacquered food display out front looked really good. It had a short lineup, but the wait was worth it.
Our stomachs full, and our feet aching, it was a good time to call it quits for the night.
For such a modern country in so many ways, Japan is still very ancient in the way it deals with money... it is very much a Cash based society. In most restaurants and shops you will need to pay cash, we never had any issues with hotels using Credit Cards though. So always make sure you have some Japanese Yen ¥ with you. 100¥ coins and 1000¥ notes are most common, but you are going to end up with a pocket full of change, some people suggest you get a coin purse, but I toughed it out with only spilling coins several times..
One of the great things they do have is their IC cards (Suica or Passmo in Tokyo), you just go to a machine in the train station and can load them up with cash. Then when boarding a bus, or entering a train station you can just tap the card to pay for it. It can also be used in some shops and on one of the billions of vending machines scattered around the country.
One of the truly unexpected things we discovered about Japan, is that 7-Eleven basically owns this country,. There is 7-Elevens everywhere, airports, train stations, and if you do a Google map search almost anywhere in Japan, you will find three 7-Elevens within walking distance. Unlike back home they have a wide selection of edible food, and an ATM machine you can count on when you need to get some more Japanese money. We never did get our regular bank card to work, but had no trouble with cash advances on our CC.
January 26
Today we decided to wander some other areas of Tokyo we haven't seen yet, from Shinjuku district it's a short walk to the Tokyo Metropolitan building. From the crazy town of Shinjuku to the more subdued business district.
5 minutes in and Norine gets pooped on by a bird. It took a few napkins to clean up, but I hear that if a bird poops on your head it brings good luck and fortune... and it gives your hair body and shine. I don't think she saw it that way.
The Tokyo Metropolitan is home to the Metropolitan government of Tokyo, but the observation deck on the 45th floor also has some of the best views over the city, and compared to Tokyo Tower and Skytree... it's free!
Yes, that's Mt Fuji with some cloud around the top
We had a great breakfast overlooking the city from a restaurant 202 meters [663 ft] above the city.
Back on the ground we saw our first display for the upcoming Olympics, and walked past one of the venues under construction.
Our next stop in foot based exploration was the Meiji Jingu shrine, a Shinto shrine centered in a large forest that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shoken.
Prayers on displayOfferings of Sake
You have to be a patient photographer to get nice photos when the actual scene at these temples look like this.
From Meiji Jingu shrine we walked back into the madness at the world famous Shibuya Crossing. Shibuya Crossing is said to the busiest intersection in the world, like a number of intersections in Japan traffic is stopped in all directions, and people cross in any direction they want. At first everything seems calm, and all of a sudden... "WHERE THE HELL DID ALL THESE PEOPLE COME FROM?"
I was told of a secret viewing place in Mark City overlooking the crossing, but was only able to get a couple quick snaps before a security guard kicked me out for not being a guest of the hotel.
Shibuya is another hustling bustling area of Tokyo with lots of shops and restaurants, and way less sleaze than the Shinjuku area. So we took a little time and did some window shopping, some actual shopping and a whole lot of walking.
There's always something interesting to see as you wander the streets of Tokyo.
We caught the train back to Shinjuku as we were going to meet up with an old friend at our hotel. I used to work with Ray back in the earliest days of EA Canada, and he now works in Tokyo. We met up with Ray and his girlfriend Mounia at our hotel, and he was taking us to lunch at a very special place. He proceeds to walk us to the exact same restaurant we had dinner at the night before, too funny. So we walked a few doors down to a really cool Japanese restaurant called Tsukitei, it even had a creek running through it.
Norine doesn't eat red meat, so Ray tells the waitress and she brings out a special cook pot for her. We can't touch it until it's done, mine has beef inside, and we discover Norine's has Fugu... the infamous Japanese blowfish. We have only been in Japan for two days, and this may be where the trip ends. Turns out they have very strict standards for chefs there, and it was delicious, as was the incredible variety of other foods that were part of the meal; fugu sushi, some kind of custard, some other seafood and vegetable dishes, all of it delicious!
It was great to catch up with Ray, learn that his girlfriend works at Disney, and get some tips for the rest of our travels. One of the things that we learned is that the area we were staying in was famous for one thing... not Hostess Clubs where Japanese girls make a man feel special, but Host Clubs, where Japanese Men (boys) make women feel special. Apparently it's not a sexual thing, but the clientele are fawned over by heavily made up and coiffed young men. I always take Norine to the best parts of town.
After the meal we said goodbye to Ray and Mounia who were heading off on a little holiday of their own, and just kind of relaxed for the remainder of the day. We were so full from that huge meal, and our feet were numb from a day of walking.
January 27
A quick train ride from Shinjinku station to Tokyo station, and we head to the JR office to activate our passes.
With our JR passes now activated, we make a reservation and are on board the Kagayaki Shinkansen to Nagano 10 minutes later. The 225 km trip will take about 80 minutes, traveling at an average speed of 222.4 km/h.
There may be snow on the route, so trains will only go 200 km/h
Mount Fuji views along the way
As you work your way across the country and a little North, eventually dense city becomes, farmland, and Snow becomes the dominant landscape feature. Good thing we packed lined pants, gloves and toques.