A Day in Tokyo with Guide
Now having caught up on our sleep, we are ready to spend a day with a guide looking around Tokyo. We are quite hungry, as the last meal we had was a light snack on the plane about an hour before landing. our guide will meet us in the foyer at 9am, so we headed down for breakfast at 8am. There was a queue of people waiting for a table, so we patiently waited in line and it was only around 10 minutes before we were seated. Tourism is alive and well in Tokyo, it seems.
Right on tome we meet out guide, Ryoji Shimada, and after introductions, we head off to Shibuya station to begin our tour. We will be using trains to get around and I suspect there will be a fair bit of walking, which suits us fine.
The railway station is very close to our hotel, so we board the train to our first destination, the Meiji Shrine
The Main Gate to the Shrine
Once through the gate, a long perfectly manicured wide path leads to the shrine, through a totally man made forest that was planted when the shrine was constructed.
It seems the Emperor and his family had a penchant for good wine and Sake, and as a tribute to their consumption, original (but empty) wine barrels( mostly from France), with wine variety, Winery and vintage details on each barrel. Sake is displayed on the other side of the road.
We then arrive at the gate to the Shrine. It is not very crowded today, which makes it a lot more pleasant getting around. Apparently yesterday, this placed was packed.
Our guide Ryoji (left) telling us about the Shrine
Entrance to the shrine
It is a very popular place for weddings and apparently, wediing photos always include the two camphor laurel trees below, which are perfectly manicured to look exactly the same. Taken at the right angle, the two trees look like one and this is symbolic of marriage.
Photography at the Shrine is not allowed, but there was a reasonable crowd continuously moving through after the short praying ritual.
Our next stop is the Tsukiji Fish market, site of the old fish market that used to be located in town, but a new one was established further out leaving this site now mainly for tourism. It is incredibly busy, as it still operates as a food market for locals.
Arriving at the old fish market, food is obviously the focus, there are stalls everywhere
Wagyu beef on a stick (cooked of course) is a big attraction
A new attraction is white strawberries, here presented as a mixed pack with red ones
Well presented fresh fish
and these highly attractive Sea Squirts which are apparently tasty
Huge oysters from Nagasaki
The narrow lanes are packed with people
Our guided tour through the market was excellent and our guide seemed to know where every free sample to try food was, so we left the market having tried a huge range of different products, and one we were particularly taken with was a "tea bag" for making Dashi. We ended up buying a pack of 30 of these to bring home.
We had lunch at a food court within the complex. Both of us had different Ramen soups and our hunger was well and truly sated before moving on.
Asakusa is our next destination, but on the way we pass an unusual Temple, Tsukiji Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, which has very distinct Indian architecture.
This temple was built after the 1923 earthquake, which totally destroyed the old temple on this site. The sect to which this temple belongs is one of the many sects of Buddhism. This sect dates back to the 13th century.
We continue on to Asakusa, the old town, in Tokyo and probably the most touristy. There are shopping malls everywhere.
Our guide in one of the malls
Shopping mall area with the green roofs is the main roadway to the Main Temple
Below is the same area at street level. Our guide told us that yesterday, there was a huge religious procession through here, which was an annual event, but had been deferred for 4 years because of Covid. This years procession was huge and the whole area packed with people. They ceremoniously carry a shrine weighing about one tonne through the streets and the gate that contains the huge lantern. The lantern had to be compressed uptorads the top of the gate to allow the shrine to pass.
A very long touristy mall leads to the entrance of the main temple.
The Shrine inside the Main Temple is incredibly ornate
The temple complex is huge in area and includes this 5 level Pagoda
After the temple we wander on through Asakusa to meet an appointment we have for a Japanese tea ceremony at 2 pm, taking in more of the sights of this area
Eventually, we arrive at a small shop frontage and step inside. We are greeted enthusiastically by the host, who explained to us that he had been to Australia and had worked in Ballina on a Student work visa. It seemed to be a very busy place and we were asked to sit in a waiting area, awaiting the host for the tea ceremony. In the meantime another customer arrived, presented a receipt, and a curtain opened to exposed some stored luggage which they collected. On the desk in the waiting area was a catalogue of services offered from this small business. It was incredibly comprehensive and included rickshaw rides, tea ceremonies, luggage storage, kimono hire etc.
Soon a lady arrived to take us to our tea ceremony. To our great surprise we are back out on the street and walking to a different venue, as their business had grown so much that they needed more than one tea ceremony studio. We have walked a fair way and come to some traffic lights, where we are handed over to another woman to lead us to the final destination, which is another 5 minutes walk.
When we arrive, we find an American woman dressed in a hired kimono sitting there obviously waitng for us to turn up, so the ceremony could now commence.
A makeshift stage is the centre of attention, when our kimono clad hostess takes us through the short version of the formal tea ceremony (the long version takes up to 4 hours). She discusses the cultural significance of the ceremony and then demonstrates how to properly make Macha and the formal process to drinking it.
You will note that they are 3 water urns and sets of implements on stage, and you guessed it, next it is our turn to see what we had learned. All 3 of us did a fair job (according to our instructor), even without a face mask.
Eventually we were allowed to leave, and move on to our next, and last highlight for the day, Tokyo Sky Tree. A relatively newly constructed tower that is now the viewing point to overlook the city of Tokyo. It is a fair walk from where we are, but we have chalked up a lot of rail and walking km today, and at least it is flat.
As we continue through Asakusa, we once again see our tea ceremony compatriot, the American lady wearing a kimono, this time on a rickshaw. She certainly is getting the total Japan experience.
We have to cross the Sumida River (a scenic walkway has been built under this bridge)
The Sky Tree
Finally we reach the Sky Tree and catch the high speed lift to the viewing platform. It takes no time with the lift travelling at 600m /min and is absolutely silent.
It is the Worlds Tallest Tower at 634 m high
Unfortunately it is a bit overcast and becoming misty as rain is expected later this afternoon, but the view from this height. the viewing deck is at 350 m.
The viewing deck is huge, and popular.
It is time to head back to the hotel, and continue our exploration of the Tokyo subway. Fortunately our guide seems to know his way around. Despite have covered many km by rail, we have managed to walk 15 km during the day.
A cold beer is looking pretty good by the time we are finally back at our hotel, which was at around 5.30pm. We had to wander the backstreets of Shibuya to find a pub, but were eventually successful, slaked our thirst and then looked for somewhere to have dinner.
There are small restaurants everywhere, mainly catering to a much younger audience than us, as Shibuya is "the" place for young people with many clubs kicking on into the early morning hours. In the end we just walked down into one of the basement restaurants serving a mix of Asian cuisines. Not surprisingly, we were possibly the oldest people there and English speaking wasn't a priority. I was one of those scan the QR code and order on your phone menus.
The food was actually very good, and very cheap. We made the mistake of also ordering a glass of red wine each, and were somewhat surprised at what is trendy in serving red wine.
Fortunately it is quite acceptable practice to recover the spillage from the saucer, which seems to be part of the charm in this new serving technique, and the staff don't need to be careful when delivering the overfilled glass.
Tomorrow we plan to go to Mt Fuji. The weather is not looking great, so let's keep our fingers crossed.
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