We gave Prof I the choice for where to start the day and he really wanted to see the area around the Imperial Palace where the Emperor of Japan lives so that’s where we headed.
Its a huge expanse of green parkland right in the centre of Tokyo with some very pleasant moats surrounding it all.
We started our exploration in East National Gardens.
This was home to the original Edo Castle (the city’s original name before Tokyo) and was, in its day the seat of the Samurai lord who governed this region and most of Japan. It would have been an impressive sight back then but now very little remains and what was once a dense collection of streets and building is now this expansive park.
There were still some gorgeous cherry trees in bloom.
Remains of the main keep of the castle.
Our first view of a bamboo grove in Japan!
The park is huge and didn’t seem to be on the tourist radar so it was a very pleasant and peaceful place to stroll about and learn a bit of history.
There are a few of the original buildings, now restored but its mostly just open space.
The Ōte-mon Gate that marks the boundary between old and new.
We then took a walk around the moat on the outside.
Its called Kikyō-bori Moat and its lovely contrast between the parkland and water and the skyscrapers in the distance.
The Sakurada Tatsumi Yagura which I think is one of the restored defensive towers.
There are some tours that take you inside the complex but you have to be here very early and as its first come first served no guarantee of getting in. Even then the palace itself is off limits so we were happy with just the views from the outside.
Views back to the Skyscrapers around Tokyo Station. Its the main commercial centre of Tokyo.
I liked these trees on the extensive lawns.
More Skyscrapers across the water.
It was time for lunch and we headed through Marunouchi Square.
To the huge and impressive Tokyo Station. This frontage houses a very luxurious (and very expensive) hotel. In the basement of the station (and pretty well every Japanese station) is a massive shopping and dining complex. This one has what’s referred to as “Ramen Street”, an underground complex of a dozen Ramen restaurants. We picked one and had another excellent and cheap meal although I’ve no idea which one it was!
After lunch we thought we’d take a look at one of the many shrines and temples in the city. This one is the Kanda Myoujin Shrine.
There are two major religions in Japan. Shinto, the native religion and Buddhism from China and the east. Both very similar in their beliefs of spirituality and the live happily side by side with many Japanese revering both. The Shinto places of worship are Shrines and the Buddhist ones are Temples.
They look very similar but are almost always stunningly beautiful especially when tucked away in the heart of a massive urban metropolis.
This statue, at least the two at the top are over a thousand years old. The ones at the bottom are reproductions, the originals lost in the great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.
The fact this place was so stunning yet pretty much deserted does show that people don’t consider Tokyo is a place to visit Temples and Shrines (apart from its most well known one coming in a later post). Yet this one was as impressive as the many others we saw in Kyoto later in the trip.
To finish the day we took a short walk to Akihabara, known as Electric Town. Its packed with electronic stores and loads pf places selling Anime merchandise, figures etc. Japan loves its Anime and the collectibles associated with it. Its big business and many stores sell second hand ones to buy and exchange. The range of different series and characters is bewildering.
What its also known for is Games Arcades. In Tokyo they are huge multi story buildings with floors dedicated to the claw machines where you try to pick up items with a crane (they call them UFO Catchers in Japan), Sports Games, Dancing and Music Games and Retro Games.
We spent a happy couple of hours messing about in here. Most games only cost 50p or £1 to play. We loved family races on the big Mario Kart Arcade as well as many others. They are loud, brash and sensory overload places and we loved them. I wish I’d taken a few more photos
But here is a little video compilation of us having fun!
After this it was back to Kabukicho for a very fine Katsu Meal which again I can’t really remember which one.
It was time for a change of scene from the big city life. The forecast was a full on sunny day so based on some research a day out in the mountains to the west of Tokyo for an explore of Mount Takao.
An easy 1 hour train ride too us to the end of the line at Takaosanguchi Station.
Its a very pleasant little town with nice leafy streets.
And some traditional wooden buildings and temples/shrines.
A short walk brings you to the main station where the rack railway into the mountains starts from, and where you buy tickets for…
The chairlift up to the ridge.
Much more fun on a sunny day than a train ride.
The mountains are forested with mixed woodland and some cherry trees still in bloom.
Looking into the heart of the moutains.
And out over the vast expanse of the Tokyo Urban sprawl.
The main skyline of central Tokyo with Shinjuku on the left and Shibuya and Roppongi on the right. The Tokyo Skytree also visible in the distance.
Out towards Kawasaki and Yokohama.
The mix of views of cherry blossoms, forested hills and the city skyline on a sunny day was amazing.
Its a well known day trip and there were plenty of people about so we decided to stop for an early lunch. This lovely little place, Jūitchōme Chaya, has a sunny terrace with views over the city and were lucky to snag a spot. We had Soba Noodles (thick and made from buckwheat) in a miso broth and it was execllent and the staff were lovely and very patient with our limited Japanese.
From the chairlift station its a lovely walk to the summit through the woods and past a number of temples and shrines.
I wasn’t expecting see all this and the temples and shrines are beautiful.
The Yakuō-in Sanmon Gate that marks the entrance to the Temples
Statue of The Tengu warriors.
Considering how busy some of the well known temples in Kyoto and the rest of Japan can be, this was a great opportunity to see some equally impressive sights with less crowds.
I liked this image of the city skyline between the two pine trees.
If you can avoid the crowds, the temple and shrines are amazingly peaceful and inspiring places.
This was the main shrine on the lower terrace but I don’t recall the name.
A steep set of stairs and a Tori gate brings you to…
Izuna Gongen Shrine. It was absolutely stunning and certainly the equal of many of the more famous shrines we visited on the rest of the trip.
We finally reached the top and hoped that we’d get a great view of Mount Fuji. While you can see it in the centre of the photo the sun was in the wrong position and it was a bit washed out.
The views were still superb so we stopped for a drink from one of the many vending machines on the summit. In my case a nice cold drink. In Prof II’s case an unexpected hot lemon tea. Vending Machines are everywhere in Japan (and I mean everywhere!). In the city you are rarely more than a few yards from one and even up here in the mountains there were half a dozen on the summit and several on the trail.
Time to head back down through this serene graveyard and shrine.
And then paid a visit to our first Monkey Park.
Japan is home to Japanese Macaques, the most northerly dwelling monkey in the world (and the famous ones you’ve probably seen bathing in hot springs in a snowy winter, further north near Nagano)
This was a very small park where the monkeys are kept in a large enclosure. We visited much better parks later in the trip (watch out for those posts) but we were still excited to see them for the first time and the park seemed to be well managed and the cost was trivial.
This guy had worked out where people were throwing the feed down.
He just sat waiting patiently for food to drop.
Scoffed it, then waited patiently for some more.
It was great to see them and their antics for the first time and we were already looking forward to seeing them later in the trip.
Time was pressing on so we had to leave the monkeys and head back to the chair lift.
Another enjoyable ride down and catch the train back into Tokyo.
A short video of our chairlift ride and bit of monkeying about.
For our evening meal we tried a Gyoza place called Kakekomi Gyoza (little dumplings either steamed, fried or boiled up in a broth).
Another superb little place with great food to end a great day out.
This was probably the most unusual thing we did in Japan. TeamLab create what I think you’d describe as an interactive art installations. There are two in Tokyo and one in Fukuoka in Kyushu. They are rated as things you shouldn’t miss so we booked ourselves into to TeamLab Planets in Odaiba.
This one has been recently expanded and has one area that has water based sections, shoes off paddling in warm water. In fact as you enter, the first thing you experience is a dark passage filled with running water and climb a shallow waterfall to enter the exhibit.
Its very hard to describe in words and the pictures don’t really do it justice. It is something you need to “experience” and I found it truly amazing and completely enthralling. My video compilation is at the end of the post and here is the link to their website that describes all the rooms much better than I could. https://www.teamlab.art/e/planets/
I didn’t take photos or videos in every space (there are maybe 12 rooms and areas in total). This one is called the “Infinite Crystal Universe”. They use mirrors extensively in many of the areas to make the space feel much bigger and craete some dazzling and surreal effects.
This room was “Drawing on the Water Surface Created by the Dance of Koi and People”
The mirrored walls make the space feel almost endless and and as before truly enhances the experience.
You stand in the water and the animated fish swim around you. If you walk towards them they move out for the way and react to your presence.
Its a very surreal and fascinating experience.
This one is “Expanding Three Dimensional Existence in Transforming Space”
Basically some huge inflatables with an ever changing light show. As with all the rooms, interacting with the objects is part of the experience and the fun.
As with all the rooms its a very sensory, tactile experience.
To say its unique would be an understatement!
“The Moss Gardens of Resonating Microcosms”
The shapes look solid but they are in fact soft to the touch and the reflections change as you move them.
Weird and yet peaceful.
And the surrealness takes on a new level at night when the room looks completely different.
“Aerial Climbing Through a Flock of Birds”
Like a mini Go Ape course.
There were several physical rooms with lots of bouncing, jumping, sliding and balancing. In each one the displays and lights react to your presence and movements. This one is “Balance Stepping Stones in the Invisible World”
These are like bouncy cushions that change colour until you step on them and you have to follow the trail by bouncing through to the other side. “Rapidly Rotating Bouncing Spheres in the Caterpillar House”
This is the “Catching and Collecting Forest”. You use an App on your phone to find and catch rarer and extinct creatures. That part is mainly for kids but the effect is beautiful and mesmerising.
We had thought this place would occupy us for an hour or two but we were in there 3 hours and we were still rushing a bit at the end (we were hungry!)
“The Floating Flower Garden”
These are all real flowers and plants that move around as you walk through. They use mirros so the space feels almost infinite. Again, a mesmerising experience.
There were so many other rooms to experience and play in. We could have stayed for hours as once you enter you can stay as long as you like.
You get a much better feel either from my video or from the short clips on the website. Its a stunning unique, weird, fun, surreal, beautiful, mesmerising place. I’d say its a must do if you ever visit Tokyo. We absolutely loved it.
We tore ourselves away headed back to Shinjuku and grabbed another sushi meal in the same conveyor belt restaurant we’d visited the night before
The staff were lovely and helpful as we worked out what was what.
And the food was superb, a good mix of fish, meat, veggies and fruit. We’d only been in Japan two days and we already felt like we’d done loads. Something of a change of scene the next day.
Our next destination after Shibuya was out to the waterfront district at Odaiba.
Its quite a long way out of the main part of the city. Luckily Tokyo has an amazing public transport network and the city is crossed by a quite bewildering array of lines. This the station at the start of the Yurikamome line, one I was keen to try as like the DLR in London its elevated and the trains are driverless.
I’m not ashamed to admit that whenever I’m in a city the train geek in me completely takes over. Its probably due to the fact that I live in a rural county with a quite frankly shockingly bad transport network, that I still find hopping on a city train a thrill.
This line runs out to Odaiba and in one section does a full 360 degree spiral to climb its way onto the Rainbow Bridge. How exciting is that! When I say I enjoyed every minute (almost) of our trip to Japan, this is what I mean.
Odaiba is the old docks area that’s now been re-vamped and is home to a variety of shopping malls, museums and office buildings.
This rather curious building with its spherical heart is the Fuji TV Building. I think you can go up into said sphere but we didn’t have time.
There is also another of those Statue of Liberty clones, like the one we’ve seen in Paris.
In fact, originally, it was the one from Paris which the French lent to Japan for a few years as mark of their country’s friendship. They liked it so much the French made a replica for them to keep here permanently.
In these somewhat challenging times, the original in the US is somewhat ironically named, as Liberty over them seems to be rather an outdated concept. This one in a peaceful waterfront park surrounded by cherry blossoms seem wholly more relevant.
There is a rather nice artificial beach at the waterfront and we had a very fine wander admiring the view of the Rainbow Bridge and city behind. Its called the rainbow bridge as they light it up an night in, well, rainbow colours.
And the curious Fuji TV building.
However Odaiba was just a bit of a stocking filler before our main event of the afternoon.
So time for another ride on the Yurikamome line.
I mentioned just how extensive the train network is in Tokyo. To give you an idea of the sheer scale of this giant city this is a map of the Metro system in central Tokyo
And for an even more eye-popping view, this is the entire Greater Tokyo Network. Now try and find your way from A to B without Google Maps (which was as invaluable as always). Seriously its nowhere near as hard as it looks to navigate although we had a few “moments”. Some of the stations are equally complex. Shinjuku for example is the busiest station in the world with 3.5 million passengers per day passing through its 12 lines from 6 different train companies and its 200 different exits. In fact 9 of the top 10 busiest train stations in the world are in Japan and 6 of those are in Tokyo. We never got lost although the tickets system is a bit challenging sometimes.
Anyway, onwards to possibly the most unique and unusual of all the places we visited in Japan.
Time to spread our wings a bit and head to a different Tokyo neighbourhood – well one about 10 minutes down the tracks.
Tokyo is more like several small cities that have their own collections of skyscrapers, neighbourhoods, look and feel with different attractions. Shinjukua, Akihabara, Asakusa, Ikebukero, Ueno, Ginza to name a few. We were off to one of the larger cities, Shibuya.
This was our main objective for the morning, the tower known as Shibuya Sky, then only open-air viewing deck in the city.
You come up from the train station directly underneath it.
Its the tallest building in Shibuya but its far from the tallest building in the city. Still if its there, you have to go up!
We had a bit of time to kill before our allotted slot so we went off to look athe famous Shibuya Scramble crossing. Here’s a view from the waiting area at the base of Shibuya Sky.
Ultimately it is just a pedestrian crossing but its very well known and features in many Japanase movies and TV shows (including a crucial role in one of my all time favourite TV shows “Alice in Borderland”)
Its Tokyo’s and I think Japan’s busiest road crossing with people, crossing in all directions. In the peak time (about 6pm) up to 2500 people cross at a time. It was much quieter at 10am in the morning. I wanted to come when it was busy and the neon lights were on but we never found the time.
Not all that exciting in itslef but it was fun being part of famous scene for a few minutes!
Cherry Blossoms in the heart of the urban jungle.
One of the other famous tales of Shibuya is Hachiko the dog. He used to walk with his master to Shibuya every day until his master died. After that he still came to the same part of Shibuya every day on his own, becoming something of a celebrity, until he too passed away. This is his statue but they were doing some work around it so it was impossible to get a decent photo.
We whiled away a bit more time in Miyashita Psrk above a major shopping mall.
A nice bit of open space among the towers.
And a great view over the train line, always a good thing. You can see the Docomo Tower I mentioned in previous posts in the background.
And then its was our turn to head to the top. There was even a glass elevator for the first part of the journey up, the Scramble Crossing in the background.
We were lucky with a sunny day (they sometimes close the deck if its wet or windy) although it was a bit hazy. This is the view back to Shinjuku over Yoyogi Park.
South towards Yokohama.
Its quite a large open deck and they restrict numbers so it never feels crowded (at least when we were there). I believe it gets pretty busy at sunset.
We liked these nets that you could lie down on and relax.
NE towards the mountains – you can see Mount Fuji from here on clear day but sadly not this day.
Looking towards Roppongi and the area around Tokyo Station which has the most dense collection of skyscrapers in the city. You can see two of the city’s most famous towers. On the left in the distance you can just make out the Skytree, Tokyo’s tallest tower (the slender tower). If you look closely to the right you can see a red and white Eiffel Tower lookalike, The Tokyo Tower.
And a closer view. To give a sense of scale its kind of dwarfed by the other towers around it, even though its 333m tall itself. It was based on the Eiffel Tower which as anyone who’s been to Paris knows, dominates the Paris skyline. Yet The Tokyo Tower is actually 13m higher. Sadly we never found the time to look at it up close and its pretty hard to spot as its pretty much surrounded by taller towers.
I’m not sure why I find city views from high up so utterly fascinating. Maybe its the look of a model city or perhaps from playing too many city building games like Sim-City (although my kids tell me thats a very dated reference)
Another view down to the Scramble Crossing far below.
I was in my element up here and I could gaze out over these views forever. The city just seems to go on forever unlike any other city I’ve been to where you can always see the green belt that surrounds it.
I was totally mesmerised by looking out at such a huge city and such an enormous number of people and yet is was strangely quiet even though the deck is outdoor. There just doesn’t seem to be the same traffic noise, blasting horns and sirens in Tokyo.
I’m always particularly fascinated by looking at roads and railways and just how they thread their wy through the metropolis or to give a city of this size its proper term, a megalopolis.
A need for food had us bidding farewell, satisfied with our morning above the city. This time it was our first Katsudon meal – breaded pork cutlets and side dishes. We found this great little cafe, Katsudon Tarekatsu. It only seated about 12 people but we only had a to wait a few minutes. The waitress was lovely and it was great to watch the chefs preparing the food. Its a very intimate way to eat and very typically Japanese.
And the food was just outstanding. Pork Cutlets, Prawns, Rice, salad and a bowl of Miso Soup. All perfectly cooked and served with unlimited cold tea. All this for the staggering sum of £24 for all four us. Amazing!
We were feeling very satisfied with our meal choice and were now really feeling part of the Japanese and Tokyo lifestyle. Plenty more to see and do this day yet though.
Tokyo is a city with hundreds of tall buildings and anyone that knows me knows I love a tall building
Shinjuku has the not very romantically named Tokyo Government Metropolitan Building.
Despite its name its one of the highest towers in the city open to the public and most importantly its free!
A short queue for a security check and the lift whisks you up 202 metres to the observation deck (the top of the building is 243 metres)
A very happy family on their first day of Japanese exploration
It was our first chance to grasp the sheer scale of the city. Skyscrapers everywhere and the city stretches as far as the eye can see. The big tower in the centre is the Skytree, more on that in later posts.
You can just about make out the mountains and sea in the distance but everything in between is Tokyo
Some of the nearby towers in what I think is largely a city administrative area.
This view looking west really gives a feel for the huge urban sprawl that is Tokyo. The mountains in the background are about an hour away by train!
I find these views utterly mesmerising. Looking down there always seems to be something you missed.
Considering its free its not as busy as the paid for high buildings in the city (more of these coming up in later posts) although it does sit well away from any tourist sights.
After all our travelling we were fading so headed back to the hotel for a chill out and then our first conveyor belt sushi meal in a small local place that was excellent.
The tower also has another level of interest as they put on a sound and light projection mapping show onto the building every evening.
Its really well done and well worth the wander through the deserted office complex to reach it.
It lasts about 15 minutes and ranges from thumping dance music to a Pac Man sequence to some beautiful scenes set to more mellow music.
We absolutely loved it.
However its much better to see it in action rather than in still pictures so here’s a short video compilation.
And to finish off our first day we went back up the tower for views of Tokyo’s night-time city-scape.
Its fantastic that for no charge you get chance to see the city in day and night guise.
We spent another happy half hour gazing at the twinkling lights.
It had been a superb first day with so much to see and a great introduction to city life in its high rise and more tranquil parts.
Tired and fulfilled we headed back for a good night’s sleep with lots of fun stuff planned for our second day
So our first day in a new country and city. Me and Prof I were awake early and went for a stroll around Shinjuku looking for breakfast (more on that in a later post) and once the rest of the family were up we had choices to make.
Late March and April is when the cherry trees blossom in Japan and it draws in tourists from across the world making this period one of the busiest.
It was a happy coincidence that we were here at that time (although flights were more expensive as a result).
We weren’t sure if we were arriving too late to see the blossoms so our first outing was to the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in the hope of seeing them.
It’s one of the best places in Tokyo to see them and a short walk from our hotel. As you can see from the photos they were still blooming!
The park was busy but no way crowded.
We had missed the bright pink blossoms that you see in all the photos but there was still a magnificent display for us to enjoy.
The park is absolutely stunning and beautifully manicured.
It would a wonderful place to walk around even without the cherry blossoms.
But with trees in full bloom its just amazing.
I hadn’t realised that Japan has a huge variety of cherry trees each with its own different styles and colours of blooms.
Most of what we saw were either pale pink or white but they are still stunning.
The lower section of the park has been landscaped into a Japanese Garden with ponds, lakes, sculptures and bridges.
The couple of hours we spent just wandering through and admiring the blossoms was the perfect way to ease ourselves into Japanese and Tokyo life after all our travelling.
I was under strict instructions to come back with a nice photo of the Profs for my parents family collection. This one seemed to fit the bill.
The lakes seemed to set off the blooms to perfection. I’d expected the park to so much busier especially as it was such a warm sunny day but we never felt crowded.
We all especially loved the manicured areas of the Japanese Gardens.
I always enjoy a view that juxtaposes old with new or in this case nature with a more modern background of the skyscrapers of Shinjuku.
The cherry trees do bear fruit but they are small and inedible (as I think are many cherry trees across the world). We were so pleased to arrive in time to see the blooms and we saw them for most of the trip although never quite as abundant as in Tokyo.
The Taiwan Pavilion.
A heron looking for some brunch.
Carp swimming in the ponds. It was rare to see any pond without these huge carp swimming in them.
The tower in the background really caught my eye and I thought it made a superb backdrop to the gardens.
Its called the Docomo Tower (named after a Telecom company) and it reminded me of the Empire State Building.
Its 272m high, the fifth highest building in Tokyo and the worlds second tallest clock tower. Whenever we were up high anywhere I always found myself looking for it like an old friend.
More carp.
And another Heron – we saw lots of these throughout our trip.
More blossoms.
Not sure what this is, not a cherry blossom but its was stunning regardless.
After 2 days living on airport and airline food it was time for our first Japanese meal. We chose Ramen at a place called Ichiran. They are chain and it was our first experience of the traditional Japanese way of dining at long booths. There was a queue (as there is at many such places) but people don’t linger long and you don’t normally have to wait more than a few minutes.
This place was very curious as firstly you order from a vending machine which is not as difficult as it sounds. You choose your style of Ramen then add in the various things you want with it extra meat, mushrooms, garlic, veggies, egg etc. This chain specialises in Tonkatsu Ramen which is a rich creamy pork broth. Once seated you never see the staff as when food is ready they just roll up the shutters, hand you the food and then roll it back down again. And of course the best thing, it was absolutely delicious and several classes above any Ramen I’ve had in the UK
A fine first choice and it began our love affair with Japanese food for our trip. For main meals we always ate Japanese and never once reverted to Western or European. And the exchange rate meant it was astonishingly cheap. I don’t think we ever paid much more than £50 for a full meal for all four of us including drinks, often considerably less. And the quality was always fantastic. I miss the food as much as everything else I miss about Japan. I’ll probably mention it a few more times through the posts!
So, Cherry Blossoms in the park and a great meal. What next for the afternoon?
We’d been thinking about a trip to Japan for a few years. We actually came close to booking a trip a few years back before the dreaded Covid intervened. We talked about a trip for Easter 2025 about a year ago and in September we triggered the trip with the outlay on the flights. We chose Easter as we could do a 3 week trip (thanks to TBF’s employers who kindly allowed her to take a few extra days to extend the normal 2-week break). Obviously we could have done the same in the summer holidays but that time of year in Japan is hot, humid and stormy. So Easter it was.
To say we packed in a lot in those 3 weeks is an understatement! End result is I reckon it will take me over 30 posts to write it all up. I’ll probably put in a final post on some of the practicalities and my thoughts on Japan as a destination (spoiler – its an amazing place) and I’ll also break up the posts with some of the stuff we’ve done since we got back. Having caught up with the blog just before we travelled, it will now likely be towards the end of the year before I catch up again!
So, on a sunny Friday afternoon the family all convened at Birmingham Airport, and after a meal in the city we spent an overnight at the airport ready to begin the – very – long journey to Japan. This is our plane ready to whisk us off on part one. We had a little nervous wait as the plane registered a fault while we were taxi-ing to the runway but we were told it had “cleared itself” – not very re-assuring and away we went!
Stage 1 was a flight to Doha in Qatar. Some fine views over the Alps.
A very bouncy and rough flight I seem to remember, but lots of movies and a couple of beers helped to pass the time.
Hamad International Airport is a huge place and very different to most other Airports I’ve been to. Its almost like they have more money than they know what to do with!
Huge shopping malls replete with sculptures and water features and very surprisingly (if you are used to flying from UK regional airports) lots of comfy seating.
This was all just as well, as we had a wait for our flight to Tokyo of 9 hours!
This is the large cuddly bear that seems to appear on any phots you see of the airport – I’ve no idea what its supposed to represent.
Its a major international hub with dozens of flights an hour 24 hours a day and is massive. So massive that it has an indoor train that whisks you from one end to the other. We all found this very exciting and had to take a trip (even though we didn’t really need to)
I took a short video to get you into the feel of it. In fact I took a huge amount of video on the whole trip and a lot of trains (thats the transport geek in me)
The most extraordinary feature of the airport is the indoor botanical garden.
These are real plants and trees and it does create a rather nice place to wander about, take a rest and stretch the legs after and before long flights.
Its much better than staring at people getting drunk in a Wetherspoons!
Another unusual sculpture.
The airport also has a spa and swimming pool which we took advantage of. Our total flight time was about 18 hours so we wanted to exercise as much as possible.
The pool is quite small and shallow but it was largely deserted and we spent a couple of hours just swimming and relaxing.
It also had jacuzzis to unwind in and of course nice showers to freshen up in before the next long leg. It was pretty expensive but we all felt it was well worth it as way to break up the journey. I’d like to think that the exercise helped avoid a bit of jet lag and maybe a bit of DVT!
Our next transport awaits to whisk us over to Japan.
I slept surprisingly well (about half the 11 hours flight time). This is our first view of Japan and I was already beyond excited despite it being pretty much 36 hours of travel since we left home!
Our approach into Tokyo and if you zoom in to this photo and look closely at the upper left of the middle of the photo you can just about make out Mount Fuji!
After landing we had a fairly easy transit through, customs and immigration, and then caught a train into a city of 32 million people!
After almost 2 days of travel we emerged from the huge and complex Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. This was the first sight that greeted us! The 3-D animated cat billboard is a very well known site and we passed it several times each day while we were in Tokyo.
We had decided to stay in Kabukicho in Shinjuku for our week in Tokyo. Its everything you expect Tokyo to be. Brash, loud and a dazzling array of neon.
I was absolutely blown away by it and fell in love with Tokyo immediately. Even though it was late (around 10pm) I was so pleased that our first real experience of Japan was this one.
We walked through Kabukicho dragging our cases, exhausted from the journey but grinning from ear to ear as we were drawn into the buzz. A famous Japanese character welcomed us – can you spot him? (Not the bear by the way – he’s Peruvian!)
We checked into our hotel, the excellent Hotel Amanek where the staff welcomed us in what was to become the regular and wonderful experience of the Japanese people.
Our rooms were small (most Tokyo hotel rooms are small) but it had everything we needed and was modern and comfortable. And our first experience of Japanese toilets – more on those in later posts!
So, we’d made it, leaving home on a Friday afternoon, arriving late on a Sunday evening and walked through one of the most vibrant and exciting of Tokyo’s neighbourhoods. What we needed now was some sleep. Tomorrow we’d start exploring properly….
I spend alot of my time surfing the web looking for ideas on places to go, walking routes, travel ideas and tips to plan the perfect holiday or day out. (I'm a project manager I like to plan). I thought it was time to share my own experiences and contribute to the vast amounts in information that's already out there.
I'll also add in some gear and tech reviews and when something irks me I may even use this forum to have a rant - I do that pretty well I'm told.There are a few pages at the top that give a bit of background to what I like to get up to and what you can expect to see in my posts. I'm not exactly a creative writer but I hope some people will find my stuff useful or inpsiring or at least enjoy some of my photos.
surfnslide 
