Friday 24 November 2017

This time five years ago... part III

As you know from earlier, five years ago, almost to the day, I went to Tokyo for a few days. Here's my travel diary from then, unedited, for day three of the trip. It was a day of real contrasts, as I recall. Let's see how I wrote it up...

21st November 2012

Up and out early, reluctantly leaving the Eishinkan which I had quickly grown to love. By tube to Ueno Park, a journey which included being forced onto a crammed train when there looked to be no room.

Ueno park has many attractions - you could easily spend two days there and not do it all. I limited myself to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Tokyo National Museum. The former, ironically, had a big exhibition of western art but also had some locally made prints and photographic displays. The latter was much more what I was after, giving a potted history of Japanese art, including ceramics and terracotta figures, Buddhist figures, swords, costumes and more. Very good, as was the park itself, as a lovely relaxing green space.

Then back on the tube to Akabusa for the Kaminarimon Gate and Shenji-jo temple, easily the busiest tourist spot I've been to. The temple and five-storeyed pagoda were impressive though, as were the shots of the Sky Tree in the near distance. Walking back to the tube I was stopped by a group of primary school age (10-11?) kids and their teacher - could they ask me a few questions in English, to help them learn? It was quite sweet - what was my favourite colour, favourite sport, how many in my family, that kind of thing. When they'd finished they gave me a little origami figure they'd made and a homemade sticker that I'll have to get translated sometime. Then the teacher took their picture with me - I might be on a Tokyo classroom wall somewhere!

Then to Shibuya to watch the throng of humanity at the manic Shibuya Crossing - 100,000 people cross the road (in all directions) per hour. It's as mental as it sounds. Also to the statue of Kabichko, sort of a Japanese Greyfriars Bobby.

Then I headed to Kabuchiko to find my hotel for the night in daylight, which I just about did but only by asking in the General Post Office. They didn't know where it was either but kindly phoned the hotel for me to find out. And at least I got to see the Golden Gai, a warren of tiny lanes filled with traditional Japanese bars, many of which don't admit foreigners.

The capsule hotel is odd, not something I'd do again but just this once for the experience. My stuff is in a locker downstairs, as is the communal bathing area. And I really mean bathing, with showers, bathing room and sauna. I get to sleep in a box that is, at most, 3' 6" square ... but it has a light, an alarm and a TV in the ceiling. It's on now, with the sound down. I wouldn't understand the dialogue anyway.

Having checked in, it was back on a tube to Akihabara to see "Electric Town" or Akiba, as it has come to be known. Eight or nine floors of as much tech, and of every conceivable brand, as you can imagine. The guidebook described it as "geek heaven" and I certainly had fun nosing around.

Then back to Shinjuku for a walk to the Tokyo Central Government Towers, to go up to the free observatory on the 45th floor of Tower One. Grabbed some good night shots of the skyline, and best of all it was free to go up. Another triumph for the guidebook.

After dinner in Café Lu-Le in Shinjuku's massive station (3.6 million use it every day, I think - the station, not the café), I walked back to my hotel via the Kabuchiko red light district. Got hassled by a couple of guys trying to hustle me into their club ("Come and have a free drink with a pretty lady!") so decided to call time on a busy day and head to my capsule to write this and a few postcards.

Kaminarimon Gate

Things I seem to have neglected to mention then but stick in the mind now:

  • the Post Office guy didn't just phone the capsule hotel for me, he then took me out through the back of the building and pointed the hotel out to me across the street
  • the only thing I actually bought in Electric Town was a tiny paper diary (I'm so 20th Century)
  • the trip to the Kaminarimon Gate was the first and only time I saw an appreciable number of westerners anywhere during my Tokyo trip

Rest easy, there's only one more post like this to come.

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