Tokyo 1
As usual, more pictures can be found on my flickr account - for this entry they're all in the Tokyo set (along with a few more from 2 more days in Tokyo).
Tsukiji
The first morning, we get up ridiculously early (4.30) to go see the huge Tsukiji fish market. We buy a one-day Tokyo Metro pass - only to find out later, that a combined Tokyo Metro/Toei pass might have been a better option.
We leave the station and find a map. After a minute or two of pattern matching, we realise that it's not oriented towards North. Instead it's oriented dependent on the direction the viewer is looking - this is quite common in Japan as we will find out later.
On the way, we see a Lawson conbini. We try to buy tickets for the Ghibli museum but fail. Apparently, it is sold out for all dates we could go. Oh well...
After a short walk, we arrive at the fish market. On the way from the closest Toei station to the market itself, we are almost overrun by electric barrel cars. There are hundreds of them! Somehow we manage to safely arrive at the hall. It is very very huge and the stands only leave a small percentage of space for walking between them. Everywhere, people are transporting huge white styrofoam packages of unknown content. In some places, men cut huge tuna into smaller pieces. Other stands concentrate on shells, octopus and other seafood. Some offer customers to try some food (we pass since we're not used to this yet).
After walking around some (probably small) part of the market, we leave for breakfast. Wikitravel suggested sushi breakfast after the fish market so we walk around the small streets near the market. One sushi place has a huge queue in front - must be good! We want to queue - then we're told (with a combination of talking and gesticulation) that the queue continues 20 metres away around a corner. We have a look and see a 30m long queue. Wow. But we don't feel up to waiting so long so we enter a different sushi place which has enough space left. We both order the Sakura menu. A miso soup and a plate full of delicious looking pieces of sushi.
I love the tuna, crab, mackarel, inari and omelette ones. The shrimp, and even more so, the sea urchin, are not really my cup of tea (speaking of which: we got free green tea of course). We thank the cook - a very friendly guy, we manage to communicate easily despite the language difficulties - fortunately, I have learned how to tell him I liked the food (my grammar was slightly off since I confused i and na adjectives, but he understood and told me the correct term :D). Before we leave, we're given the restaurant's business card.
Tsukiji fish market, originally uploaded by q-rai.
Tokyo Tower
Since we got the wrong ticket, we walk to Tokyo Tower. It's not very far so we can cope. We arrive at what feels like 12. Since it's only 8.30, it is still closed though. We sit in the Shiba park for a while. Unfortunately, it's very cold, so my fingers all but freeze of while writing a bit for my travel diary.
A little later we're back at the tower, and welcomed from employees everywhere. The elevator to the (lower) viewing platform is a glass one so we can see through the read and while steel bars.
The view from the platform is great - we see the Rainbow Bridge, Odaiba and a lot of the surrounding buildings. However, Fuji-san is concealed by a very cloudy sky. The platform has two levels. On the lower level, there are windows on the floor, so you can look down the tower.
The souvenir shop has lots of Tokyo Tower merchandise. Tower-shaped bottles, more common things like tshirts, keychains, mobile chains and sweets but also rather uncommon things like pegs.
Going back down, we're brought to a huge tourist shopping area. They sell lots of pretty but useless things. I buy a daruma and a small acryl block image of the Tokyo Tower. There are also a great variety of different wallscrolls, tshirts, cups etc. For the Japanese tourists, there are lots of gift packages of local specialty sweets. One of the more curious souvenirs to bring home is a pair of boob-shaped puddings (in front of a manga face + cleavage). On the way back to Germany, Lars buys one of those for a friend - and guess what went of at the Chinese security check!!! ;)
Tokyo Tower, originally uploaded by q-rai.
Maranouchi
We take a subway to Tokyo station. From there, we walk through Maranouchi to see the Emperor's garden. The palace is surrounded by a *****burggraben***** which is surrounded by cherry trees that are already in early blossom.
To get in, we walk by a few buildings what are off-limits for the public (the emperor uses them). From one of the buildings, we hear cries. We're not entirely sure if those are battle cries from martial arts of if there is a spanking going on inside.
The garden itself is huge and quite nice - I suspect it will be even nicer in Summer (or during full bloom of the cherry blossoms).
Emperor's garden, originally uploaded by q-rai.
Ginza
We walk towards Ginza and pass by a subway station - one of the lines goes to Ginza so we enter the station. There's another Lawson conbini. Here, the Loppi machine - and the friendly employee who helps us handle it (we're not quite sure what the screen says, there are too many Kanji... but it seems we did it right) - tells us it's sold out. In this case, we decide to go to Nikko instead which we had to exclude from the original plan to have time to see the Ghibli museum (which is, by the way, pronounced "jiburi" in Japanese).
The subway exit leads us right to the main crossing of Ginza - awesome! :D We are greeted by the bells of Wako store. We walk along the suggested route from one of my travel guides. One of the two main streets is a temporary pedestrian precinct. First, it leads us to Matsuya, a huge depaato. There we see Gaspard and Lisa for the first time. They're a black and a white animal (dog?) from a children's book (the author names sound pretty German) and very very popular here. There are big stuffed Gaspard and Lisa figures there - and a huge bunch of Japanese people taking photos.
We continue through the pretty and modern streets of Ginza till we arrive at the Sony Building. Once again, there are stuffed Gaspard and Lisa figures. But we're not here for mascots but for cool technology. In the entrance room, there is a small cylindric object that contains a 3D video image that can be seen from all sides. Amazing!!! (Needless to say, the video played contains Gaspard and Lisa.) Other than that, there is a variety of different mp3 players, 3D screens, home entertainment systems and cool devices like a speaker that dances to the music it plays (Michael Jackson's Thriller) - very cool!
After the visit to Nikko, we come back to see Ginza by night. The pedestrian precinct street is opened for cars and the buildings - especially those at the main crossing - look magnificient in the dark!
Ginza, originally uploaded by q-rai.
Akihabara
We continue to Akihabara. While it was quite quiet and peaceful in Ginza, we are met by the comlete opposite here. It's loud and rather crowded.
Just a few metres from the station, we find Akiba, a huge depaato selling everything a geek heart loves. Electronic articles, books, games, comics and almost a whole (huge) floor full of merchandise!!! I could spend a whole day here if I wanted! But since we don't have that much time (and we have no idea how much money we need for food etc), we decide to come back later.
At the entrance, there is a huge (manned) Pikachu.
When we leave, it's already getting dark.
Pikachu, originally uploaded by q-rai.
Tsukiji
The first morning, we get up ridiculously early (4.30) to go see the huge Tsukiji fish market. We buy a one-day Tokyo Metro pass - only to find out later, that a combined Tokyo Metro/Toei pass might have been a better option.
We leave the station and find a map. After a minute or two of pattern matching, we realise that it's not oriented towards North. Instead it's oriented dependent on the direction the viewer is looking - this is quite common in Japan as we will find out later.
On the way, we see a Lawson conbini. We try to buy tickets for the Ghibli museum but fail. Apparently, it is sold out for all dates we could go. Oh well...
After a short walk, we arrive at the fish market. On the way from the closest Toei station to the market itself, we are almost overrun by electric barrel cars. There are hundreds of them! Somehow we manage to safely arrive at the hall. It is very very huge and the stands only leave a small percentage of space for walking between them. Everywhere, people are transporting huge white styrofoam packages of unknown content. In some places, men cut huge tuna into smaller pieces. Other stands concentrate on shells, octopus and other seafood. Some offer customers to try some food (we pass since we're not used to this yet).
After walking around some (probably small) part of the market, we leave for breakfast. Wikitravel suggested sushi breakfast after the fish market so we walk around the small streets near the market. One sushi place has a huge queue in front - must be good! We want to queue - then we're told (with a combination of talking and gesticulation) that the queue continues 20 metres away around a corner. We have a look and see a 30m long queue. Wow. But we don't feel up to waiting so long so we enter a different sushi place which has enough space left. We both order the Sakura menu. A miso soup and a plate full of delicious looking pieces of sushi.
I love the tuna, crab, mackarel, inari and omelette ones. The shrimp, and even more so, the sea urchin, are not really my cup of tea (speaking of which: we got free green tea of course). We thank the cook - a very friendly guy, we manage to communicate easily despite the language difficulties - fortunately, I have learned how to tell him I liked the food (my grammar was slightly off since I confused i and na adjectives, but he understood and told me the correct term :D). Before we leave, we're given the restaurant's business card.
Tsukiji fish market, originally uploaded by q-rai.
Tokyo Tower
Since we got the wrong ticket, we walk to Tokyo Tower. It's not very far so we can cope. We arrive at what feels like 12. Since it's only 8.30, it is still closed though. We sit in the Shiba park for a while. Unfortunately, it's very cold, so my fingers all but freeze of while writing a bit for my travel diary.
A little later we're back at the tower, and welcomed from employees everywhere. The elevator to the (lower) viewing platform is a glass one so we can see through the read and while steel bars.
The view from the platform is great - we see the Rainbow Bridge, Odaiba and a lot of the surrounding buildings. However, Fuji-san is concealed by a very cloudy sky. The platform has two levels. On the lower level, there are windows on the floor, so you can look down the tower.
The souvenir shop has lots of Tokyo Tower merchandise. Tower-shaped bottles, more common things like tshirts, keychains, mobile chains and sweets but also rather uncommon things like pegs.
Going back down, we're brought to a huge tourist shopping area. They sell lots of pretty but useless things. I buy a daruma and a small acryl block image of the Tokyo Tower. There are also a great variety of different wallscrolls, tshirts, cups etc. For the Japanese tourists, there are lots of gift packages of local specialty sweets. One of the more curious souvenirs to bring home is a pair of boob-shaped puddings (in front of a manga face + cleavage). On the way back to Germany, Lars buys one of those for a friend - and guess what went of at the Chinese security check!!! ;)
Tokyo Tower, originally uploaded by q-rai.
Maranouchi
We take a subway to Tokyo station. From there, we walk through Maranouchi to see the Emperor's garden. The palace is surrounded by a *****burggraben***** which is surrounded by cherry trees that are already in early blossom.
To get in, we walk by a few buildings what are off-limits for the public (the emperor uses them). From one of the buildings, we hear cries. We're not entirely sure if those are battle cries from martial arts of if there is a spanking going on inside.
The garden itself is huge and quite nice - I suspect it will be even nicer in Summer (or during full bloom of the cherry blossoms).
Emperor's garden, originally uploaded by q-rai.
Ginza
We walk towards Ginza and pass by a subway station - one of the lines goes to Ginza so we enter the station. There's another Lawson conbini. Here, the Loppi machine - and the friendly employee who helps us handle it (we're not quite sure what the screen says, there are too many Kanji... but it seems we did it right) - tells us it's sold out. In this case, we decide to go to Nikko instead which we had to exclude from the original plan to have time to see the Ghibli museum (which is, by the way, pronounced "jiburi" in Japanese).
The subway exit leads us right to the main crossing of Ginza - awesome! :D We are greeted by the bells of Wako store. We walk along the suggested route from one of my travel guides. One of the two main streets is a temporary pedestrian precinct. First, it leads us to Matsuya, a huge depaato. There we see Gaspard and Lisa for the first time. They're a black and a white animal (dog?) from a children's book (the author names sound pretty German) and very very popular here. There are big stuffed Gaspard and Lisa figures there - and a huge bunch of Japanese people taking photos.
We continue through the pretty and modern streets of Ginza till we arrive at the Sony Building. Once again, there are stuffed Gaspard and Lisa figures. But we're not here for mascots but for cool technology. In the entrance room, there is a small cylindric object that contains a 3D video image that can be seen from all sides. Amazing!!! (Needless to say, the video played contains Gaspard and Lisa.) Other than that, there is a variety of different mp3 players, 3D screens, home entertainment systems and cool devices like a speaker that dances to the music it plays (Michael Jackson's Thriller) - very cool!
After the visit to Nikko, we come back to see Ginza by night. The pedestrian precinct street is opened for cars and the buildings - especially those at the main crossing - look magnificient in the dark!
Ginza, originally uploaded by q-rai.
Akihabara
We continue to Akihabara. While it was quite quiet and peaceful in Ginza, we are met by the comlete opposite here. It's loud and rather crowded.
Just a few metres from the station, we find Akiba, a huge depaato selling everything a geek heart loves. Electronic articles, books, games, comics and almost a whole (huge) floor full of merchandise!!! I could spend a whole day here if I wanted! But since we don't have that much time (and we have no idea how much money we need for food etc), we decide to come back later.
At the entrance, there is a huge (manned) Pikachu.
When we leave, it's already getting dark.
Pikachu, originally uploaded by q-rai.