Tackling Tokyo

Monday 20th February

After our bumper evening you would think that a lie in would be in order. That’s what I thought but at 6am my peaceful slumber was interrupted by the biggest child in the world. Rory’s huffing, puffing and impatient sighs are enough to wake even Sleeping Beauty and so our day began. I took my time getting ready and while I haven’t mastered the fancy toilet, the shower is much easier to work and was an absolute dream. By 8am we were on the streets of Tokyo which were surprisingly quiet. The cold morning air and the blue skies exceeded my expectations and we happily set off in search of our first stop – the Imperial Palace.

Built on the grounds of the original palace it is home to Japan’s Emperor and some of the Imperial family. Once the largest fortress in the world the current palace was completed in 1968, and replaced an earlier one built in 1888, which was largely destroyed in WW2. Access is limited and on Mondays the East park is closed but we were still able to catch a glimpse.

From here we stumbled across Hibiya Park which contains a replica of the Liberty Bell which was given to the people of Japan at the end of WW2. I really liked this park and while it was replanted and restored after WW2 it has an old, untouched feel. From the quiet of the park we made our way to the hustle and bustle of the world’s largest fish market!

The Tsukiji Market is where fruit, vegetables, flowers, meat and most famously, fish are traded daily. They trade 2000 tonnes of seafood each day and the main events is the tuna action where enormous fish are sold for thousands of pounds. Access to the tuna market is seriously restricted and only 120 people are permitted daily which means getting up at 3am and waiting for up to three hours before seeing any of the action. We decided to give that a miss and instead visited the inner market or as it’s also known, the Wholesalers Area. This is open from 9am and by the time we got there things were winding down a bit which meant that the handcarts and forklift trucks were performing a hectic dance, avoiding merchants, tourist and each other, in an attempt to get the market ready for tomorrow.

We also spent some time exploring the Outer Market which is a series of pedestrian friendly streets lined with vendors selling everything from crockery to seafood. Tsukiji would have been the ideal place to try sushi but nothing grabbed our attention. Most places looked touristy and overpriced and I’m really not that keen on seafood so we gave it a miss and happened to stumble across the busiest stall in the market. Selling freshly made ramen, Chuka Soba Inoue operates at lightening speeds and has featured in the New York Times. For 700Y, roughly £5, you get a large bowl of tasty ramen. You’re served conveyor belt style and there are no seats, just a mad scramble to find a free spot at a road side table but it was worth it and we headed towards our next stop, Ginza feeling very full.

Ginza is known as “Tokyo’s answer to New York’s Fifth Avenue or London’s Oxford Street” and it was nice for a quick walk through but we’re not really shoppers so we didn’t hang around for too long. Instead we went to Shibuya to see the world’s busiest intersection and more importantly, the Hachiko statue!  While the crossing was busy, I suppose I expected it to be congested that walking was limited to a step by step crawl – I actually found the opposite. The crossing was quick and uncrowded but perhaps it get busier during rush hour! The Hachiko statue was almost as buy, with plenty of locals waiting to get their picture taken with the famous dog. If you’re a fan of Marley and Me (who isn’t?) then the story of Hachiko will have you in floods. To summarise, Hachiko’s owner was a professor and every day Hachiko would wait  for him to return from work. His owner passed away in 1925, but Hachiko continued to return to the same spot, every day, until his death ten years later. Richard Gere made a movie based on the same story a few years ago called Hachii and I won’t lie, I watched it and there may or may not have been tears. While we’re on the subject of man’s best friend, shout out to Kelso – I know he’d never wait, getting him out of his basket is a struggle but he’s still my best boy!

From here we headed to Harajuku – yes like those girls in the Gwen Stefani song but unfortunately we didn’t see any! We did however, visit the Meiji-jingu, which is Tokyo’s grandest Shinto shrine. It was originally built in 1920, but was destroyed during WW2 and was rebuilt in 1958. The grounds of Yoyogi-koen are impressive and again, feel ancient. We even caught a glimpse of a traditional Japanese bride on her wedding day! In an attempt to add to the spectacular sights we set off in search of the government building which offers great views across Tokyo. Unfortunately we got seriously lost and after 45 minutes (although it felt like a literal eternity) with the threat of rain looming, we gave in and returned to our hotel. Thankfully we managed to stop off at Baskin Robins which meant that my mood miraculously improved and my sore feet were completely forgotten about!

It was an absolutely action packed first day and while we could have continued to sight see, holidays are also for relaxing (apparently) so we spent the rest of the day in the hotel! Japan is shaping up to be another great holiday.