Tokyo, Tokyo, JapanJackson and Abigail's Fun Japan Facts:
11.
Mount Fuji is the highest mountain at 3,776 metres above sea level.
12. Tokyo is the 9th Most Bicycle Friendly City in the world. Cycling is a popular form of transport. Fifteen to thirty percent of Tokyo's residents get around by bike every day, depending on the neighbourhood.
13. Students in Japan have to help clean their school. Students have to clean the toilets, classroom and grounds.
14. Ninety percent of all mobile phones sold are waterproof as the Japanese like to use their phones even when bathing.
15. The Japanese have many unique Kit Kat flavours, including Green Tea, Camembert Cheese, Wasabi, and Banana. We are both looking forward to trying these, especially the banana flavour!
16. Convenience meals are a way of life. Many Japanese buy breakfast and dinner pre-made at a grocery, department or convenience store.
17. Almost 19 million people commute by train/subway daily, making it the busiest conmute in the world.
18. You don't have to wear a bike helmet in Japan.
19. There are more than 3,000 McDonalds in Japan. (Australia has less than 1,000 and Canada just under 1,500).
20. High tech toilets. The seats are heated and each toilet has an array of options.
Let's start with the toilets. We weren't long off the plane when we had to use the facilities. The first thing us kids noticed was the toasty warm seats, then as soon as we began to do our business, the sound of a waterfall began to play. We were most intrigued by the different modes and options we could choose. Water could be sprayed to different parts of the body (ahem!) in different intensities. We have since discovered there are many variations and sounds from toilet to toilet. Japan certainly puts a new spin on going to use the restroom!
While it was dark when we checked into our room, we were thrilled to see not only sunshine (23'C forecast today) but also views of snow capped Mt Fuji in the distance from our room on the 26th floor. Dad told us this was very rare! How special!
We ate breakfast like the locals, from a convenience store just outside Shinagawa Station. Remember seats are scarce, so we had to eat standing.
The Tokyo bananas display was unexpected in the convenience store and we hope we can convince Mum and Dad to let us sample a banana Kit Kat before we leave Japan.
We joined the other 19 odd million people travelling around Tokyo by subway or train. It was quite the rat race, but an efficient one. Everyone kept left, there are barriers up along the edge of the track, which align with the train doors and open only when the train doors are opened This ensures no-one is pushed onto the tracks. Apparently, in peak hour, they have staff to push you onto the train. We never saw this, and we did travel at peak times. Whenever we ventured into the subway/train station, Mum said we were rats in the race and we stuck close to her and Dad.
Dad was taking us back down memory lane today with a visit to his grandparents, and his old neighbourhood from his year at Wasada University. We did get an unexpected tour of both neighborhoods as Dad orientated himself. Who would have thought things would have changed in 22 years?! This was an added bonus and we were able to experience the Mejiro and Higashi-Nagasaki neighbourhoods with only the locals. We bought some fruit at a local green grocer and us kids were rewarded with free fruit jellies.
(Just like in Echuca!). The strawberries we ate were among the sweetest we have tasted (no comparison to the supermarket ones sold in Australia). We also had the pleasure of shopping in a local supermarket. Mum needed some toiletries and it was quite the challenge with not only no English labels but completely different packaging for almost everything.
Dad said we were heading to one of the best shopping neighbourhoods today. An unusual statement for Dad, who unlike Mum, really doesn't enjoy any retail therapy. Mum was excited; however, she isn't the ideal size for Japanese clothing, only Abigail is!
There are almost as many department stores in Japan as convienience stores, so we picked just one to experience in Ikebukuro. And there was more than one mega department store in this location! The Seibu department store was made up of the equivalent of five separate buildings with the highest building having 14 floors. You can't seriously do it justice in one day. Two floors across three buildings are devoted to food. (You can see now why Dad wanted to come shopping). Fresh food, food as gifts, pre-made food; in fact, almost every food imaginable was here to buy in every way. We understand why people wouldn't bother to cook at home when they could pick up a meal freshly made. We wished we had a home with a kitchen to take all of this marvellous food home to to eat! We also stumbled upon another floor which had a promotional food event featuring many delicacies from the Hokkaido region.
We feasted on the many samples offered to us and further wished we were travelling north to Hokkaido as the food was divine.
Looking at all of this food in the basement food hall was making us hungry, so we went up to the restaurant floor. It was quite the decision choosing which one. A friendly robot greeted us off the elevators. He asked us lots of multiple choice questions to help recommend a place to eat. Right at the end, when we were eagerly and hungrily awaiting his recommendation, he malfunctioned. Robots aren't ready to take over the world yet! You could tell which were the most popular restaurants by the longest queue. We have frequently seen long queues outside certain restaurants, so it is quite common in this city of millions. We ended up choosing a tempura restaurant with a short queue. It was delicious and both of us kids managed grown up chopsticks for the first time.
We left Seibu almost empty handed. Dad couldn't resist picking up some of his favourite treats. Mum did conclude children's branded sneakers were vast in choice and up to half the price we pay at home though.
Unfortunately, we didn't need any, and with our strict "carry on" only mother, we just had to dream about which ones we would choose!
Dad had promised a visit to the largest Pokemon store in Tokyo. Sunshine City was just a few blocks away. This was a mega shopping centre and was still packed with people and stores. We even had to travel along travelators to get to the centre. Jackson wanted everything Pokemon, but settled for a pack of new cards. Even walking to Sunshine City was an adventure with the masses of people and sales people out on the street promoting their wares.
Shibuya is famous for the busiest pedestrian crossing the world with 2,500 people crossing every time the lights change. Leaving the subway station, we noticed, and heard, the most tourists we had seen to date. We spotted the Mario G-karts whizzing by too. We all really wanted a go on these carts, but sadly you had to have a driver's license. As well as experiencing this famous crossing, we all paid a visit to Hachiko, the famous Akita dog.
Hachiko came to meet his master at Shibuya Station every day until 1925 when his master died of a heart attack whilst at work. Hachiko continued to come to the station for the next 9 years, in search of his master, until he too died. As Hachiko had become a Shibuya institution, a statue was erected in 1934. It is now a popular meeting spot, and it is here that we met Dad's university friend. He took us to a cafe that served us the biggest strawberry sundae we have ever seen or eaten!
It was getting late by the time we left Shibuya. We marvelled at the many bright lights. We couldn't believe our ears when Dad suggested we try one of the 3,000 McDonald restaurants. His friend said we had to experience eating at a Japanese McDonalds just once. We were disappointed they had run out of the Happy Meal toys and received a Japanese children's book instead. Mum quite liked her teriyaki and egg burger.
2025-05-22