Today, we had an all day tour that started in Shinjuku and ended in Akihabara. We woke up around 5:45 am as our room turned extremely hot and humid during the night. I woke up once during the night and noticed it seemed a bit warm, but I figured the blankets were just working too well, so I fell back asleep without much thought of the temperature. At 5:45 I woke up again and Sara was wide awake too, she said she had been up a while due to the temperature and then it hit me. Let me explain what happened. When we entered our hotel room yesterday for the first time it was hot and humid in it. The lights also did not work, but I noticed a small box on the wall that said to insert the key card into it. Once inserted, the lights turn on and you are able to operate the wall mounted AC unit.
With that said, last night before going to bed I didn’t know the card slot was also tied to the AC unit, I thought it was only to control the lights…wrong. So it turned everything off and throughout the night the heat and humidity crept back in.
Once we got up and ready to head out we went down to the first floor for breakfast. It was a buffet complete with rice, rice cakes, a cold pasta with a white cream sauce, some sort of japanese salad, a bunch of different kinds of bread, miso soup and sausages that looked just like hotdogs, but tasted more like a very sweet sausage. They were awesome! After breakfast we loaded up the cameras and headed to a hotel about a 10 minute walk from our’s to catch the bus for our tour. I took a screenshot of a map off of Google on how to get to the hotel, however the map had no street names on it, only a dotted line of where we need to go. It seems that Japan, or at least Tokyo does not name smaller streets, so the directions were literally walk so many meters and turn right/left.
After we reached a main road we saw a sign for the hotel we were trying to reach, but it was just for the parking lot. I saw a man dressed in uniform, similar to a policeman’s, but he was only an employee of the hotel. This was my first opportunity to test out some japanese. I asked him for directions to the hotel and he responded in a way using no words I knew, so I told him I did not understand in japanese. He then slowed himself down and searched for new way to tell us and he said, “six hundred meters,” and pointed in the direction we needed to go. I responded that I understood and thanked him for his help. We then walked the route and found the hotel.
Once in the hotel, we waited in the lobby for the tour to begin. Our tour guide was a middle aged woman of small stature and extremely nice. She spoke quickly and almost always repeated the last word of each sentence. Granted she usually was explaining something about Japan and using the japanese names and words so the second iteration was welcomed to hear the word(s) again.
Our first stop was at Tokyo tower where we would be able to get a bird’s eye view of the city. We went up to the observatory deck 150m (~492 ft) above the ground. Once we got up there another guy from our tour, about our age, started talking to ask. His english was spot on with only a slight accent on certain words. He turned out to be from Munich, Germany. So, I ended up throwing down a little german with him which he was loving haha. We would talk to him a few times throughout the trip. He was a very funny guy, running all around catching anything and everything on his video camera. He seemed to be making a vlog and was handily wielding a self-we stick.
The tower provided an excellent view of the city and for the first time we got to feel how big Tokyo truly is. See, on the ground traveling around on foot and bus it seems like any downtown area, but what you don’t realize is the city extends to the horizon in just about every direction save for Tokyo Bay. Here are some views from Tokyo Tower:
The tower also had some spaces in the floor where it was only a glass panel that you could look all the way down to the ground through. You could, if you’ve got what it takes, walk and stand on them. We did it! It feels weird stepping on it at first, but once you’re on it it’s no different than the regular, non-see-through floor.
After taking the photos we then rode the elevator back down to the main lobby of the tower where there were various dessert stands. Everything looked really tasty, but we didn’t get any at this stop.
After Tokyo Tower, we boarded the bus and awaited a few stragglers to get on. Once they did, the group was very nicely scolded by the tour guide, but then she apologized as she told us we had to be on time. The tour then proceeded to Meiji Shrine. Meiji Shrine was built in 1915 and dedicate to Emperor Meiji for his contributions to the modernization of Japan. The original shrine was destroyed in WWII and was reconstructed in the 1950s. The shrine is in a park and is in a manmade forest where all of the trees were sent from all over Japan to create it. The park is very peaceful and hides the sites and sounds of the city surrounding it fairly well.
The shrine is also a popular place for traditional japanese weddings which, if you’re lucky enough to be there when it happens, you can get the chance to see one or at least a part of it. We were lucky enough to see one. As the bride and groom walk around there are guards in gray uniforms and white gloves who come by and clear a path. It is customary to parade the grounds and any onlookers a free to take pictures as long as they are quiet and don’t block the procession.
In the main courtyard of the shrine there is a moderately sized structure where the japanese patrons of the shrine stop and write prayers on wooden placards, of course foreigners are welcome to partake in this ritual as well too.
The following picture shows the main part of the shrine, unfortunately I was not able to get a picture inside of it as pictures of the inside are not allowed. Nevertheless here was the closest picture I could get. You will see a bunch of people lined up by windows that overlook a courtyard inside. As they approach the window they toss a coin into a “trough” and then clap their hands twice, bow twice, make a prayer and then clap and bow once more. Most, it is said, prayer for safety and health in their families. Our tour guide prayed we’d have safe and wonderful trip, so that was nice of her.
After this stop we headed to the Imperial Palace grounds, but I will have to upload more tomorrow as a part two to this post.
Return to top
Wow wow wow, Sara get off that glass floor! Sooooo interesting. Wedding looks beautiful so different from our traditions but yet you can see the joy in the face of the bride. Great pictures and great story telling. Can’t wait for day 3!
Love you both.
Hope your room is more comfortable tonight. Haha
Hahah don’t we worry both got on that floor haha it was pretty cool looking down to the ground. The wedding was really neat too, and the bride had at least two other ladies that did everything for her just like at Ashely’s friends at her wedding lol. Keep reading, Tokyo is crazy! I can’t say it enough. Some great things are coming up in the posts soon too.
Great pictures!! Loving the commentary! Are you guys doing a lot of walking? Keep it coming, we can’t wait to hear more!
Thanks haha, We are doing a ton of walking! The trains get you in the vicinity of just about everything and trains go everywhere. Once off the train it’s all walking from there unless you want to find a cab or a bus, but really it’s not needed. I’d say, at least everywhere we’ve gone we haven’t had to walk over a mile to any one thing. Average walking distance for us is probably half a mile from a train station, but overall everyday we are walking miles!
Oh I’m having the best time! Where are we going next????? I’ve been sitting here in my office listening to Japanese flute music and reading the blog- not getting anything done! I think I may have to add Japan to my “places to see” list!
Be safe!!!!
Hey Mary! Glad you’re enjoying the blog, there’s so much more yet to come too, it’s tough to keep up with it as we are packing our days to the brim here. You definitely need to come to Japan, I’m telling you this place is wild, it’s amazing, it’s chill, the people are wonderful and the food is great. Seriously I can’t say enough about it.
That glass floor scares me to death! Thank goodness you were wearing pants Sara. How great that you got to see the wedding. This trip sounds so amazing and I”m only on day two!
HAHAHA we are laughing soo hard at this comment lol. Too true, the trip was absolutely amazing. It was everything we expected and way more. Everyday, I swear was better than the last too, Japan is sweet.