tokyo day one

Last night at 9 pm our trip officially started.  As is usual with all things Japanese, we left not a moment later than we were supposed to.  Our overnight bus was slated for 9.5 hours from Aomori to Tokyo.  That didn’t seem too bad, especially considering that our bus was almost completely unoccupied.  As it turns out, however, our seats on the nearly-empty bus were right next to an old woman who talked to herself and snored extremely loud.  So after 9.5 hours of sleeping in a chair with a snoring woman just feet away, I was ready to get off the bus.

Melissa and I were on the move from Ueno Station at about 7:30 or so and on our way to McDonald’s after a stroll through Ueno Park(think Central Park…I guess…I have never been to NYC).  I can’t explain it, but starting the day off with some hotcakes is just a huge success.  Being so early, there was barely anything open so we headed to Asakusa to see Senso-ji temple.

Tokyo really isn’t the place to see temples or shrines, but what makes Senso-ji worth the trip is that it has a long corridor of shops that sell anything from key chains to swords to traditional snack food to dog kimonos(for 4000 yen it is a shame because I wanted to get one for my parents’ dog).  The walk down didn’t offer much as many shops were still opening and foot traffic was low, but after wasting some time on the temple grounds our return trip was everything I wanted.  I just love the walk looking for neat little trinkets and bargains amidst the sea of people.  It is basically a non-white trash flea market with cool stuff(unless, of course, you are Japanese).

Afterwards we were harassed by rickshaw runners(pilots? drivers?) to ride their man-powered carts on our way back to Ueno.  This portion of our day was dedicated to museums and we started at the granddaddy of them all, Tokyo National Museum.  Inside the walls of Japans oldest museum, one can find many forms of art and artifacts, but for me it is always a rush to the “Military Elite” section.  Coming from America and growing up wanting to be a ninja(and yes, ninjas are way better than pirates), I have always been fascinated with the mystery of samurai.  I was aware of the quality of swords in the Edo Period, but seeing the amazing craftsmanship of 800 year old swords is what really blew me away.  I mean, you could see the difference between the 1300s swords and 1800s swords, but the older swords must have been like owning an Abrams tank or something.  Seriously high-tech, even by today’s standards.

We then, for the first time in our day, were able to settle a bit.  Our trip planning was helped immensely by my former study abroad advisor.  He volunteered to book all of our hotels and was great enough to put us in interesting parts of the city.  We are staying in the Cube Hotel.  I assume the name comes from the size of the bedroom, which has about zero floor space.  But even for its size, I really like it.  It is very nice and really I didn’t expect much area in Tokyo anyways.  And it sure beats the capsule hotels I have read about(and I believe my friend Crave stayed in).  For those it is quite literally a bed in a little capsule and that is all you get.  Kind of like sleeping in a washing machine(google it).

Our hotel is pretty much right on Ameyoko – a street bazaar that is full of all kinds of random things.  From an evening walk through the network of streets, it seems to focus on shoes, fruit, clothing and fish; quite the combo.  An interesting feature is that the entire area is set up directly underneath an elevated train line.  We even found a cool little curry restaurant that shook violently every time a train coasted by overhead.  It was a really good feel.

And finally, to end our LONG day, we went to Akihabara.  Akihabara is also known as “Electric Town.”  It is the place to go if you want to buy ANY kind of electronic or game(and most likely the area the “42 Game” from the Fenrick childhood was bought).  It is also the cosplay and arcade capital of Japan.  Unfortunately for us, by the time we got there most of the electronic shops were closed.  I really wanted to see this in full force because from what I read it really is quite mind-blowing the amount of things for sale, but I hopefully will have another chance if Kelleher and I come back to Tokyo in a few weeks.

Anyways, because of the early-ish end to our night I was able to update this.  I may try to write a bit every night for my own record, but if not you may not hear from us in a while.  We are having a great time and really soaking up everything we can.  Our itinerary has lots of great options.

Next up: Tsukiji fish market, Bridgestone Art Museum, Shibuya(really looking forward to this).

Adam

~ by amfenrick on June 3, 2010.