We have been in Tokyo since the 20th and the thing that I have noticed more than anything is how quiet it is. Quiet in this case is an all-encompassing word. I’ve felt peace. I feel like my shoulders have come out of my ears and that I have been able to relax in a way that I haven’t been able to fully in a while. It definitely has helped that everything that has been going on with our family has cleared. Praise God.
Even though Tokyo has 37-41 million people it doesn’t feel that way. I did a little research about Japanese architecture and I learned that it prioritizes a deep connection to nature and a desire to bring the sense of peace that you feel when you are in nature into even the smallest spaces. That must have something to do with the way that I have been feeling as well. In the time that we’ve been here, here are some things that I have noticed. Even when you’re in a super crowded tourist area there isn’t any pushing or shoving or yelling. When you’re in a packed train everyone understands that that is the way it is. I haven’t heard a single car horn. They don’t allow smoking on the street which is amazing. No one listens to a video or music on full volume, on their phone in public, without ear bud. Nor do they have a conversation on speaker phone. You can leave your computer, cellphone, purse, anything on a table and get up and use the bathroom anywhere and no one will touch it! I have felt safe walking anywhere and everywhere in the city by myself day or night. You can drink tap water. The public toilets are free and pristine. There is always toilet paper available and you can flush it. No one crosses the street unless there is a green walking person showing. There aren’t any garbage cans around so we carry a plastic bag with us and bring it home to dispose of. I thought this was because they make the streets look dirty but when I looked it up this is what Google said “Japan lacks public garbage cans due to heightened safety concerns after the 1995 Aum Shinrikyo subway sarin gas attack, a cultural norm of taking trash home.” The food is delicious. Also, things are less expensive than in the United States. It is very hard for me to not want to buy everything and Dave is glad I don’t have the space.😘 There are SO many things that I haven’t experienced in other places I have traveled and it is awesome to have them all in one place.
For those of you who might be nervous about visiting Japan because of the language barrier, the best advice I can give is that making an effort goes a long way. Much like in other countries where you don’t speak the language. 🙂 Google translate works great and when in doubt a smile and a bow goes a long way. I am sure that I have made many mistakes and I’m trying to take advantage of the touchpoints/ small interactions whenever possible. I have found that everyone is willing to help when you ask for it. I don’t imagine that I will make any lifelong friends while I’m here, although you never know.
Even though it has only been a little over a week since we arrived we’ve already seen and done so much. On day one we booked our first “Air BnB experience” and took a walking tour of the Senso-ji, also called Asakusa Kannon. It is the oldest temple in Tokyo and opened in 645 AD (CE). It was such a great way to begin our three weeks here. The temple is only about a 20 min walk from our Air BnB and is a bustling area with tons of culture and history. See: a mixture of old and new. Our guide taught us so much on the tour that has helped us prepare for the rest of our time in Japan and begin to understand more about it’s culture. She told us about the two major religions in Japan, Shinto and Buddhism and how they differ. She explained that Shintoism focuses more on this world and daily life events like births and marriages. Buddhism is concerned with death, the afterlife and rebirth. It is sometimes said that one “lives by Shinto and dies by Buddhism.” She told us the stories about how Buddah came to Japan and explained the purification process that you go through before you enter a temple; First, scoop up water in a ladle with your right hand and pour water over your left hand. Next, hold the ladle with your left hand and pour water over your right hand. Finally, pour some water from the ladle into your left hand, rinse out your mouth, and spit the water out beside the fountain. This was all new learning for us and I feel it will be priceless as we move through the rest of our time in Japan and visit many more temples. After our tour we discovered our new favorite pizza place called Savoy. Woodfired yumminess that we have already had three times!
One day last week we walked through Ueno Park to the Okachimachi neighborhood where there are tons of affordable and diverse shops and restaurants. That is where we discovered the restaurant Ramen Kamo to Negi. There was a line of people waiting to eat at 11am. You purchase your food from a machine outside the restaurant where you order from the small assortment of pictures, then you get a ticket and sit on one of the stools until someone comes and brings you inside to your table. The sign outside the restaurant touted that their duck broth is only made with duck, green onions, and water, and it was the richest, most delicious duck soup I’ve ever eaten. I’m drooling just thinking about it. In that same neighborhood we found a toy store that was seven floors filled with every toy you can imagine and many of the coin machines that you can find all over the city. As I mentioned, it has been very challenging not to buy all the things! Especially since there’s so much cuteness.
Another day we took the train to the Daikanyamacho neighborhood which has kind of a Brooklynlike feel. The quiet neighborhood has several higher-end shops, bookstores and restaurants. Our friends who have been to Tokyo before recommended the restaurant Ivy Place and it did not disappoint. We were able to squeeze in for breakfast even though we didn’t have a reservation and the food was delicious. I had an omelet and Dave had pancakes that were lighter than air. Of course we ate it up before I remembered to take a picture. After breakfast, we walked around and found Spring Valley Brewery where we popped in for a pint. Dave, as I mentioned, is working Central Standard hours and tries to go to bed around 1pm so he headed back at that point and I decided to make my way to Shibuya to see the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing. I did a little research, for those of you who haven’t heard of it, to give you an idea of how busy this crossing is. “Shibuya Crossing sees approximately 2 million to over 2.4 million pedestrians daily, with up to 3,000 people crossing at once when the lights change. This makes it the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing.” (Google) Dave had told me about this building there where you can see the crossing for free so I made my way to Shibuya Hikarie’s 11th-floor Sky Lobby and took in the sight from a safe distance away. I finished my day on Takeshita Street, which is famous as the iconic, youthful heart of Harajuku in Tokyo. It was the Autumnal Equinox holiday and the pedestrian street was packed. It felt very reminiscent of the State Fair but with much narrower streets. I only made it a couple blocks before I had to make my way home, it was just too crowded. I was exhausted after the very full and wonderful day.
On the 24th I decided to take a walk along the Kanda River, which was also recommended to me by a friend. The pedestrian street along the river is the embodiment of peace and tranquility. There are many temples and parks all along the way. It also provided some much needed respite from the heat because it has been HOT! Upper 80s most days, sunny and SO humid! I continued down the river and made my way toward Black Duck Coffee in Shinjuku because it came highly recommended by several people. Unfortunately Google was wrong this time and it was closed. Maybe I’ll make it back at some point before we leave because I have found that delicious coffee is something Tokyo is very good at. Since it was closed, I did what you do in situations like that and I pivoted. I had been wanting to go to visit the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden which is a huge beautiful park in Tokyo where the Naitō family lived in the Edo, the former name for Tokyo, period. You’ll hear more about the Edo period when I tell you about our visit to the Samurai and Ninja Museum. Since the garden is in the Shinjuku neighborhood I told Dave I would walk by the Golden Gai district that he has been wanting to visit. Golden Gai is a festive, popular city district famed for its narrow, winding alleys & numerous snug taverns. It is more popular at night but I did find one wee tavern called Bambi open and popped in for an Asahi (beer) and a Suntory (whiskey). I practiced a little Japanese with the woman who worked there before some fellow travelers joined and then made my way to the park. That will probably be my only visit to Golden Gai, since I haven’t been able to stay up much past 7pm, and I’m glad I checked it out.
Last Thursday we went up the Tokyo Skytree, which is only a five minute walk from our apartment, and is visible from our front door. It was a pretty clear day and we even got a peep of Mount Fuji! The Skytree is the “tallest tower in the world” at 2,080 feet. We went all the way to the top and it was worth it. What a view!
On Friday we took the train to Akihabara, which is known as Electric Town, and Dave was in tech heaven. We spent a couple hours in a store called Yodobashi Akiba which has nine floors of amazingness and had the best time. Dave definitely made a mental wishlist and we had fun buying stuffed capybaras out of one of the several coin machines. I even bought myself a mini Monchhichi. I don’t know if you know what that is but my sisters and I had these adorable little dolls when we were kids. They could suck their thumbs and we thought it was the coolest thing. My tote is definitely covered in flare after that visit and I’m not sad about it! Dave went home after that and I decided to walk back over to Ueno Park and visit the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. It was a cool space and I definitely think there was a language barrier that prevented me from seeing any of the galleries other than the Van Gogh exhibit. It’s all good though and is part of the adventure.
This past weekend continued with more joy inducing fun. Saturday we began our day at the Samurai and Ninja Museum which was awesome. We learned about the history of the Samurai and our guide told us about the Edo period which was a period of over 200 years, 1603-1868, where the borders of Japan were closed to prevent foreign influence. Edo was the name of this area before it was changed to Tokyo in 1868. One thing I didn’t know about Japan before visiting is that they drive on the left side of the road. We were curious to learn why that was. We were told at the museum that the tradition dates back to the time of the Samurai. They carried their sword, called the katana, on their left hand side. When they would walk down the street it would’ve been disrespectful if their swords came in contact with other Samurai’s swords or people so they walked on the left hand side to avoid that. The people followed suit out of respect and the tradition never changed. We also got to see some of the traditional Samurai attire and we even had a Ninja throwing star (called shuriken) competition at the end of the tour. This was surprisingly hard for me but Dave did great. I think his experience playing darts helped. 😉 It was a great way to start the day.
After the museum we had lunch at Savoy before we went to our first Sake tasting at WASAKE Sake Experience. Before going to the tasting we knew little to nothing about sake. I had tried it in the states and to be honest didn’t really care for it. We happened to be the only ones who booked the 1pm experience so we were able to ask our amazing guide Bo all of the questions we had. We tried what Bo called the “Ferrari of Sakes” , a Seven Junmai Daiginjo sake that is handmade and takes around five months to make from start to finish. Typically sake takes two to three months to make. They begin the process by polishing the rice down to 40% of its original size before they enter the brewing and maturation process. We also learned that no sake should be more than 20% ABV. I think we can both safely say that we are fans of sake now.
We finished off our weekend on Sunday with a visit to the capybara cafe in our neighborhood called Cafe Capyba. My friend had told me about how these cafes existed before we came to Tokyo and I honestly had no clue what we were getting into. I didn’t realize that you needed to make reservations in advance so when we arrived they said they were fully booked for the day and the rest of the time we are in Tokyo! I went online to visit their reservation site anyway and noticed they had a spot for two people in about 20 minutes and we were able to visit after all! Capybaras are actually native to South America and we saw some walking along the road when we were in Brazil. They are so cute and sweet and being able to pet them and feed them carrots was beyond! What a special experience.
Today we visited the Gardens at the Imperial Palace. We again didn’t realize you had to make reservations for the tour online in advance and the same day tickets were sold out only 30 minutes after opening. I’m glad we were able to still visit the beautiful gardens and learn more about the history of the palace. If we have time we may go back for a tour. After we had lunch at a delicious food truck called Viva la Vida in the adorable Marunouchi pedestrian park I continued on to get my first view of the Tokyo Tower. I found that the tower is located near the Zojoji Temple that was also on my list and it was a beautiful way to end the day.
The next couple weeks should be a little more relaxed I think. We’re going to go visit the Small Worlds miniature museum tomorrow which we’re really excited about. This is the website if you want to check it out. It looks amazing! (https://smallworlds.jp/en/) We actually have a friend of a friend that is coming to Tokyo for the week as well so we’re hoping to meet up with them at some point which would be fun. We learned that there are several Oktoberfest celebrations happening around town so we hope to experience how the Japanese celebrate that at some point. Another friend told me about this day trip she took through Viator to get a closer look of Mount Fuji, sail on Lake Ashi and see the Great Buddha of Kamakura and I thought that sounded like a solo adventure I’d like to do so I booked that today for the 8th. Fingers crossed there is good weather that day so I can get a good view of the mountain. Finally on the 9th we have tickets to TeamLab Planets which is an immersive experience that I have heard is one not to miss. ( https://www.teamlab.art/e/planets/) There are so many amazing things to see and do here and I’m grateful that we have three weeks to do it in a relaxed way. And, I know it is ok to save things for next time.
I hope that this finds you well wherever you are! I’m always thinking of you and sending you a universe of love!
Love, Alison
