About five minutes walk from our hostel was the as yet unfinished Tokyo Sky Tree. It is the tallest building in Japan and is 634m tall. On a clear day you can see the top. On our first morning in Tokyo, it looked like this:
We could tell from early on that it was going to be a Bad Weather Day. Nevertheless, armed with umbrellas we set out to explore the biggest city in the world. We saw this collection of buildings every time we went to or from the hostel. There was much speculation as to what it is. Some say it is a Golden Poo. Some say it is a Golden Parsnip. Turns out it is neither, it's the headquarters of the Asahi Brewery. The gold building in the middle supposedly represents a glass of beer. I can see it now, but it would never have occurred to me had Father not pointed it out.
There are some nice fences in Tokyo:
It is customary for the Japanese to eat miso soup or onigiri (rice balls) for breakfast. Rather than jumping straight in with this, we headed for a bakery. It was still not without its Japanese twist. Look at this delicious looking panda bun.
Obviously, if we had understood ANY of the signs we would have known that the filling was not chocolate, as I was hoping. It was actually red bean paste. Thankfully it is not as disgusting as it sounds (though it is VERRRRY sugary) but it was still a bit unexpected.
First stop... Shinjuku. Home to the busiest train station IN THE WORLD. This is no exaggeration. I have never seen anything like it. We managed to escape and started our Grand Tour on the west of the station- the skyscraper district.
It was impressive. It is probably much more impressive when there is not so much fog and rain that you are unable to see the tops of any of the buildings. Wet and bedraggled, we reached our destination- the Metropolitan Government Building:
It has 48 floors in total, and on the 45th of each tower there is an observation deck which just so happens to be free. Whilst in the queue for the lift, we were approached by a member of staff and offered a free tour in English. Jumping at the chance was perhaps not the wisest course of action as it turned out to be just Boyo and I with two middle aged women who wanted to practise their English. It was AWKWAAAAAAAARD! They told us lots of facts (none of which I remember of course) and did a lot of bowing and nodding and "aaaaah"ing. After a fairly uncomfortable half hour or so, we made it up to the 45th floor. I'm sure it is an excellent view on a clear day. Rumour has it you can even see Mount Fuji. Personally I am not sure about this because when we were there, the view looked like this:
Still, it was nice to go up and the gift shop was quite good (as they all are in Japan). After a lunch of corner shop noodles, we somehow ended up on the east of the station which is where the shops are.
Department stores in Japan are GOOOOOD! They are about a million floors high and the people who run the lifts wear the nicest outfits ever. I wish I had a photo now. They are all different, but the uniform that sticks in my mind was a Jackie Kennedy style suit in baby blue with cream buttons, cream gloves and a cream hat. If I were to choose a job based on a uniform (not that a thought like that would ever enter my head!) I think I would work in a Tokyo department store.
That afternoon we went to Harajuku to meet Dan-san, a friend of Mr Boring's from uni. While we were waiting, we got in some quality people watching. Sadly the only photo I took was this one:
The school uniforms in Japan are the best I have ever seen. Seriously, it's like they wear fancy dress to school. The girls wear ridiculously short skirts, knee length black socks and a shirt like an old fashioned sailor, you know, the kind with a sort of bib at the back. I WANT ONE! We also saw a couple of Lolis (the girls who dress up in crazy outfits), though most of the people who indulge in Cosplay weren't out, presumably because they were at school.
We had a look around Meiji-jingu, Harajuku's main temple. It is very impressive. These are all sake containers. I am not sure of the link between Buddhism and sake (maybe Mr Boring could enlighten me?) but they are at a lot of temples and shrines. Maybe the monks/priests/men of the cloth have not-so-secret alcohol problems?
As with all temples/shrines, you could write your wishes on a piece of wood. Seems to be a popular thing:
After a little bit old Japanese culture we modernised things a bit and wandered down the Takeshita-dori, Harajuku's main shopping street.
In the immortal words of Gwen Stefani- "Harajuku Girls, you got some wicked style. It is SO TRUE. I wish I could dress like a Japanese girl. Here are a couple of pictures from Harajuku:
It is a contender for my favourite place in Tokyo, possibly in the whole of Japan. I realise I am neither young nor cool enough to dress like people there, but I did do a teeny bit of shopping (really teeny tiny, I was with two boys so I had to be quick!) for accessories.
Having exhausted the shops there, we went to Shibuya. It is famous for a statue of a dog (the Japanese equivalent of Greyfriar's Bobby) and the "scramble" crossing. I can't seem to find an estimate of how many people cross in an hour/minute but let me tell you, it is officially QUITE A LOT. I think I heard somewhere that 3000 people cross per minute at peak times!
In the train station there is a kind of observation deck where you can watch. It is mesmerizing, I could have stood there for hours just watching people walk. Oh dear, that sounds a bit sad!
The Dan-san tour ended with a trip to a ramen restaurant which was really nice. I have been pleased to discover that the Japanese love egg in any shape or form. I would fit in well!
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