Japan Day 4 – A Private Tour of Tokyo – 11/3/18

I woke up early, ready and excited for the day today. When I learned I would be spending a weekend in Tokyo this year I elected to book a private tour after my experiences with big group tours in Australia. I wanted something that felt a bit more intimate than a group tour, and after a bit of Googling came up with the company TripleLights. The company has independent guides that offer tours all over Japan, and I browsed a few different guides, and eventually selected a guide named Nobuko given her profile. Nobuko had traveled all over the world (something I always admire in a person), worked as a book editor (I love books!), and lives in Tokyo. I contacted her regarding a tour, and we agreed to a schedule and sites to see along the way that included things like the Tsukiji Outer Market (the world-famous inner-market just relocated here about a month or two ago) and Shibuya Crossing (said to be the busiest intersection in the world). I was looking forward to the day touring around Tokyo, and imagined the amount of walking I had in store for me that day likely rivaled a day traveling with Jen. I would not be disappointed!

I got dressed, had breakfast, and met Nobuko (who asked me to call her Nobu) in the hotel lobby. We discussed the day, and knowing I would be writing a blog entry Nobu asked me if I would be interested in some side-trips today to some fun locations also along the way. These weren’t the normal “tourist” locations, but they were becoming more popular with foreign visitors because they were odd or different than the everyday Tokyo sightseeing. I readily agreed, and we were off!

 

We left the hotel down what is a pretty familiar route for me now winding beside the ANA hotel and down to the metro station. I’d never actually gone into the station before, always having walked past it to see what was around in the area, but this time we would head down the steps into the metro station. It was about the time that we went underground that I realized that this was the first time in my life I would be riding a metro line.

 

That’s crazy, right? I’ve been all over the world. Sure, I’ve been on trains before (I even helped build the one to the Denver Airport and have ridden it many times), but never officially on a subway or metro line. It’s just an oddity that hadn’t happened yet. Well, today would be the first time and I was ready! We went down the stairs and into a long, well-lit walkway. From some of the major metro hubs in Japan, it’s normal to have entrances that branch of sometimes many hundreds of meters away from the trains. This was true of the station near my hotel, and we walked and walked to get to the Ginza line. If you’re curious at all, you can find the Tokyo Metro map here: http://subway.umka.org/map-tokyo/ginza-line.html. We traveled all over the city, with stops in Asakusa (Northeast side of the city), and back in Shibuya on the Southwest side of the city. My hotel is located in Akasaka, which you’ll see near the low-center of the map (directly left from the word “Tokyo”). Nobu helped me buy a day-pass for the subway, and we were on our way to the Tsukiji Outer Market.

 

We rode the train for a few stops before switching to another train. I hadn’t even thought about interconnecting trains, but throughout the day I kept a watchful eye on the lines we were getting on and off. Nobu helped a great deal by explaining which ones we were taking and which stop numbers they were (each line is identified with a letter, like “G” for Ginza, and then each stop has its own number). We would spend probably a quarter of our time on the train, but this was its own adventure for me. The people riding the subway were interesting, some slept during their long commute, families out and about with children and strollers. Others still were headed with us to sight-see, and I was amazed by the diversity that was to be found in the people to Tokyo. I honestly wish I spoke more languages and this trip has been an inspiration in that area not just to brush up my Spanish but maybe it’s time to focus on learning more than one additional language. The world is such a wide place, I feel like I need to do better to interact with it overall.

 

We’d leave the subway about twenty minutes later after a train change along the way, and emerge just outside of the Tsukiji Outer Market. Nobu pointed out a building which was designed by the same architect who will be responsible for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics which are fast approaching. A great deal of Tokyo is becoming more tourist-friendly she told me, and this was part of why so much English was on the signage along the metro as well (I had mentioned I was surprised just how easy it would be for me to get around on the train system, something I had not expected).

As we walked along, we went from just meandering down a street to suddenly being in the Outer Market. Stalls lined the street, and we walked by all sorts of vendors. Originally, with the Inner Market delivering fresh goods each morning, the Outer Market grew almost as an after-thought with so many vendors setting up to sell to visitors who did not purchase at the warehouse/wholesale quantities the Inner Market dictated.

 

The Outer Market specializes in everything from meat and seafood to seaweed and green tea. We sampled some fish stock (which I just happened to see on the sign before I tasted what I thought was a sort of tea), some wasabi sesame seeds, and walked the streets back and forth discussing the various stalls and things to see.

I thought about buying some of the wasabi seeds, but also did not want to carry around purchases for the rest of the day if I didn’t have to. At the same time, my luggage is so close to the weight-limit for flights that I really don’t plan on bringing much back with me anyway. For me the trip to the market was mostly about the experience, having walked the streets, and getting some good pictures along the way.

 

We left the market having toured around most of the stalls, and seen a great deal of people sitting down for a quick bite to eat along the way. Many of the small restaurant stalls had very long lines, even so early in the morning (around 10:00 AM) for lunch or quick meals. It would only get busier throughout the day I was told. Heading back near the way we came, we took our first detour to Henn Na Hotel.

 

Henn Na Hotel has recently become somewhat of a tourist attraction as the “Android hotel”. No, it doesn’t have an Android operating system… it has human-like robots that check you out of the hotel! I have a short video of this, but you’ll have to trust me for now. It was odd and a fun detour for our trip. Nobu helped by talking to one of the androids in a short video I shot. As I walked around, the robot focused in on my camera movements and followed me always keeping a direct line of sight. It was almost creepy, but also fun, and all of that will be in the video I’ll upload once I’m back in the US and upload to the FreeRange Hobo YouTube channel. After a few more quick interactions with robots, it was back to the Metro and on to our next stop, Sensoji Temple.

 

Sensoji Temple is the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo. Walking up to the temple you traverse what is known as Nakamise-Dori Street, and this walk is lined with all sorts of shops on both sides. Nobu and I walked down the street along with a constant stream of people. It was crowded, but never felt cramped. We stopped along the way to watch a sweet-maker put red bean paste into a pastry and bake it right in front of us. Nobu bought a dozen, and offered me one shaped like a bird. I ate it and enjoyed the taste very much! It was a sweet inner filling wrapped in a doughy outer layer and just the right thing to enjoy while walking along the shops.

 

 

I stopped at one shop to pick up an item for a friend that they had requested, and Nobu helped me ask to have it wrapped in a bag. I was disappointed that I’d have one more thing to carry around all day (I was already carrying my camera around), but at the same time I was very excited to have a chance to buy something from a stall along the street like I had promised I would. I failed to do this the last time I was in Tokyo, so carrying something around all day was almost a small penance for a broken promise a year ago, and now I could fulfill it! We were in and out of the shop quickly, and on to the temple.

 

 

As we walked up to Sensoji Temple, Nobu pointed out the five-level pagoda off to one side, and told me that there is a great deal of religious symbolism here, including remains being enshrined within the building.

 

We walked into the central area of the temple, and overheard some type of ceremony underway. We’d come to find out it was a ceremony of the egret. I’m not quite sure what that means, but a band carried within a sort of shrine was paraded along with people dressed as egrets, and just as we finished exploring the temple and Nobu showed me how one prays (no pictures are allowed inside the temple itself, but it was cool and you toss coins into a sort of corrugated metal thing that makes noise), the costumed egrets were paraded to the temple, closing Nakamise-Dori Street for a brief period of time behind them. It was a fun thing to experience!

 

 

 

Also in the square, I took part in getting a “fortune paper”, which helps to fund the temple. You place 100 yen in a slot (around $1 USD), shake a metal container, and then based on how the container has been shaken a stick comes out with a number on it. You take that number to a wall of small drawers and open the draw with your number, collecting a fortune paper. There is everything from big fortunes to small fortunes, as well as what is called a “bad fortune” where legend has it something bad is attached. Once you have received a bad fortune though, it’s nothing to worry about. Now that you know you have it, you fold your paper into a line, and tie it in a knot around a string at the temple, leaving the bad fortune behind you as you move along. I got a bad fortune, fortune #88, and left it tied to the temple in hopes of leaving it here in the temple.

 

It was about midday or shortly after at this point and next Nobu and I were headed for the Meiji Shrine. Nobu asked if I would like to have lunch here, or near the Meiji Shrine, and I opted for the latter after we discussed that likely there would be fewer people. We took a side-street back, rather than try to fight the crowd heading down Nakamise-Dori Street now that the parade was over, and meandered through more stalls before heading back close to the Metro. Nobu stopped short, however, and encouraged that walk a few blocks further as there was a good chance to get pictures of the Tokyo Skytree, which is another tourist destination… along with… wait… what is that?

 

 

If you guessed that the big yellow thing is a flame indicating the heated passion that the Asahi Beer company has for their product and for Tokyo, you’re right! Apparently when it was built, this was not something locals cared for… but they have since come to accept it as just part of what makes Tokyo unique.

 

We left Asakusa by metro, and headed for the Meiji Shrine, and a lunch of soba noodles.

 

I’ve never had soba before, but as I mentioned in prior blog posts I’m always up for new food. Soba comes in warm and cold varieties, and typically includes some type of dipping sauce. Nobu and I took the train close to Meiji Shrine, which pretty much took us completely across Tokyo in the span of about 30 minutes (which was very cool!) and then exited and headed uphill to a restaurant overlooking the street. We took our shoes off upon arrival, and walked in socks to be seated in front of the open kitchen much like the restaurant last night. I’ve come to find out this is a very normal thing in Japan, and having the kitchen hidden in the back of a restaurant would be very odd for someone who has grown up in Japan.

 

I ordered an appetizer plate of different foods including some tuna, duck, beans and tofu all in small bites, and Nobu and I both also ordered soba noodles. I ordered mine cold with a dipping soup made with duck, and Nobu ordered hers with a sesame sauce. We talked about life in Tokyo and Nobu’s family (she has a son at college in Kyoto and a daughter in Tokyo also attending school), as well as the tours that she provides and how the leaves in Tokyo would be changing soon. The food was good, though I was full quickly (I may have been drinking a LOT of water which might have contributed), and soon we were on our way to the shrine.

 

 

Though I enjoyed all my time that day, I think that Meiji Shrine may have been my favorite part of the tour. It felt very much like entering Central Park in New York City, where if you go far enough you can forget you’re in the middle of a big city entirely. Meiji Shrine accomplishes this in only a few steps, and it’s part of the mystique for which the shrine is known. As you go along, you pass through a series of gates. On the left and right side of the gates there are sidewalks, and along the middle is a dirt path said to be saved for “the deity”. We walked as close as we could to the walkway, though sometimes we did walk around a party or two who were walking more slowly.

 

From the time that we entered the first gate, all the way to the shrine and back, it would have been easy to forget that we were in a city. There were so many trees that the sounds and sights of Tokyo were blocked out, and the buildings and walkways along the way were very pretty. Ceremonies were very normal here, Nobu told me, many including sake and shochu, and as a result companies that sold those items had donated many types of spirits in large volumes, enough to make displays along the way to the shrine. A sign along the way indicated that some of the companies had done so due to their expansion under the rule of Emperor Meiji, and how successful they had been during the time of his leadership.

 

I’ve decided that if I’m to leave any legacy in my lifetime, may it be one where liquor companies decide to donate to my estate/burial after I die… that sounds like a life well-lived! (I’m only half kidding…)

 

 

The shrine itself was beautiful, along the path a great deal of flowers were placed in stalls, along with things like Bonsai trees and displays (that may have been for sale, I couldn’t tell). We also saw a wedding taking place and pictures being taken of the bride and groom. It looked like a fantastic place to get photos taken, and it seems like it may be a good time for weddings in Japan… there were a few going on around the city as we toured.

 

 

 

We left the shrine with only one more location to visit, the busiest intersection in the world, Shibuya Crossing. We walked down from the shrine, and along the way Nobu called another place that she had wanted to show me, Kawaii Monster Café. Normally packed, Nobu told me, we’d be able to get a seat if we hurried, and we took off as quickly as we could against a throng of people as we headed to visit.

 

 

 

Kawaii Monster Café, as Nobu would tell me later and as I would experience for myself, is an odd and amusing experience. During the daytime it’s almost a kid’s wonderland of odd lights, fun colors, and foods of all sorts and variations (you can look at their menu if you’d like at the link above. Things like green hamburger buns and purple spaghetti are commonplace).

 

 

Nobu and I were expecting a visit from the “Monster Girls”, as Nobu called them, which is a troupe of women in costume that work at the restaurant. Once seated, we were told that the actors wouldn’t be out for around another hour, and I said that was okay (we were early, as always I tend to just walk through things quickly). We ordered drinks (I asked for a bit of alcohol since we’d be there for some time) and ice cream, and sat back.

 

 

 

Nobu told me some of the history behind the Monster Café, and how it changed at night into more of a club or adult destination. I got some good pictures, and soon it was our turn with the entertainers as they made their way around the restaurant. We got a picture together with one of the Monster Girls and a monster. It was pretty fun, and the ice cream and drinks were good as well! We got the check after, Nobu correcting something where we were double-charged, and off we went to Shibuya Crossing.

 

 

 

Our last stop of the day required just a bit more time on the Metro, and then we were out in the thick-of-it with all the others who were crossing the well-known streets. I’d seen Shibuya Crossing in movies, pictures, and most of the time noted in a negative light about humans and over-population but having seen and experienced it I don’t think that’s necessarily a fair depiction. One thing it was, which was surprising for me, was fun. Crossing the street almost felt like you were part of liquid mass of people all moving in different directions and flowing around and through the throng of other walkers. Nobu and I went through the crowd, and then up the second story of a nearby building so that I could get a video of a crossing (it wasn’t busiest at that time, and I imagine it’s even more of a mad-house when it is really, really busy).

 

I’ll upload the video once I am back in the US. We talked briefly about the crossing, and I thanked Nobu for all the stops and sights that day. It was time to head back to the hotel, and we climbed back on the train and headed back.

 

I left Nobu nearing the exit for my hotel, knowing I’d be fine to find my way back from the hallway in the Metro. I thanked her, and I told her if I was back in Tokyo I would contact her for more tours. There is a ninja restaurant apparently as well that can be a lot of fun, and there are always more temples to see. I am really glad I booked a personal tour of Tokyo, I couldn’t have been happier with all I got to see and do today.

 

I got back to the hotel, tired but in a good way, took a shower… and read some from my book while photos copied over to my computer. It’ll be a while before I’m able to edit them, but I’m including them in the post anyway today. It was a great day!