Japan - Tokyo

View from Tokyo Tower
see all photos »

Tokyo

We have been in Tokyo since Sunday and there is only one word for this city - Hectic!! We have become pro's at travelling around the cities surprisingly easy to navigate rail network. We have visited the tourist places such as the Tokyo Tower, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ginza and the Tsukiji Fish Market as well as the local area around our hostel (Asakusa). The hostel itself is really good and friendly although our room is tiny to say the least and there is just enough room to stand up in between the bunk beds and the wall......... however we have been lucky and have got a balcony 'of sorts' with a view of the Sumida River so that makes a change from the usual hostel views of brick walls. There is also a roof terrace with picnic tables which we will visit for a few beers (or cocktails for Teresa.... 90p for a can of Tropical cocktail at 5% Alc which are available in vending machines, how the chavs would love it here!)

Hectic

Shibuya Crossing
see all photos »

Tokyo Tower/Shibuya

We visited the Tokyo Tower which was massive (taller than the Eiffel Tower) and went up to the main observation deck. We didn't bother going right to the top though as the weather was hazy and it cost an extra 1000 yen so we gave it a miss. We then moved on to Shibuya and the site of the famous crossing point, it was mad to say the least and there were so many people crossing the road. We went to the well known Japanese cafe called 'Starbucks' or something and looked down on the madness from the first floor windows...... it was good to see but it does seem strange that one of the tourist attractions is to watch lots of people cross the road!!

Tsukiji Fish Market
see all photos »

The Imperial Palace/Shinjuku

We didn't actually see the Imperial Palace as it is closed for most of the year like Buckingham Palace. We did however go and visit some of the gardens which were very picturesque (how cultured do we sound?!) We also visited the main business district of Shinjuku which was so busy. We stayed in Shinjuku until the evening and went to the viewing deck in the with Metropolitan Government Offices on the floor 45th floor. The views were spectacular of Japan and its bright lights in the dark, we got the metro back to our Hostel that evening around 9pm and the coaches were still packed - the people here definitely work too hard.

Tokyo Tower
see all photos »

Akihabara/Ginza/Asakusa

Yesterday we visited the Sony building in Ginza to see all the new Sony products ready for release. This was quite good although the prices were very high as you would expect. We also visited the area known as 'Electric Town' in Akihabara which was essentially heaven if you are a geek! There were so many gadgets and pointless devices in all the shops including the fake bubble wrap popping electronic toy! In the evening we visited the Senso-ji temple near our Hostel and the stalls or traditional Japanese crafts which Teresa liked.

Shinjuku
see all photos »

The Tsukiji Fish Market

We had an early start today (23rd) and were up at 5am to go to the world famous Tsukiji Fish Market. To say this place was exceptionally busy would be an understatement. There were motorised carts buzzing everywhere along with mopeds and trucks and we nearly got hit a few times! The scale of the place was huge and the amount of fish on show was phenomenal. We saw loads of massive fresh and frozen Tuna laid out in the auction rooms and also saw the wholesale market where the fish and seafood was prepared and put on sale. The smell was very fishy (as you'd expect in a fish market!) and the whole experience was quite overwhelming. I found it fascinating to see how the fish was prepared and how fresh it was. There were massive queues for the on site Sushi and Sashimi restaurants even though it was 7am - I couldn't quite stomach sushi at that early hour though! Teresa didn't really like the market as it was busy and was a bit squeamish about the working nature of the market and how there was fish guts everywhere!

View from Metropolitan Government Building - Shinjuku
see all photos »

We are having a quiet day today and will do some washing in preparation for us flying to Oz tomorrow evening. We will be in our campervan for 12 days from Saturday travelling from Sydney to Melbourne so there may not be another blog for a couple of weeks as our internet access will be limited. We will try and squeeze one in though.

Barney & Teresa

x