Tokyo, Tokyo, JapanJackson and Abigail's 10 Fun Facts Of The Day About Japan
21.
In Japan you bow instead of shaking hands.
22. Black cats are considered good luck.
23. Dogs are the most popular pet, followed by cats.
24. Biggest lake is Lake Biwa.
25. Shinjuko Station is the busiest in the world handling over 3.6 million commuters on average every day.
26. Japan is a safe country with one of the world's lowest crime rates.
27. Home to the world's shortest escalator with just five steps.
28. Japanese avoid number 4 as the word sounds similar to the word for death.
29. Japanese prefer odd numbers.
30. Bag holder boxes are provided in cafes/restaurants. They don't want your bags on the seat or floor.
We have already covered a few kilometres or more in our tour of Tokyo; however, today Dad had us walking for well over fifteen kilometres (maybe more, we lost count) experiencing many different neighbourhoods.
We started upscale in the ritzy Ginza, home to all of the upmarket brands and luxury goods you see around the world, in addition to upmarket bars, restaurants and entertainment. It is no surprise real estate here is up there with the most expensive in Japan with one square metre worth over 125 thousand dollars. It is the place to be seen and strolling down the street is made easier when they close off the wide main streets to vehicles on weekend afternoons allowing pedestrians to wander in style at leisure. We joined the "who's who" and were even interviewed by Tokyo TV. (We will be on air on the 18th April for anyone tuning in).
Our stroll continued to the Imperial Palace, the primary residence of the Imperial Family.
The grounds are extensive, covering 115 hectares, and an oasis of green amid the concrete jungle, and the closer we got, the bigger the crowds became. Whether it was the fine sunny Saturday, or the fact that the cherry blossoms were blooming, or a combination of both, the number of people out enjoying a leisurely stroll through the gardens was insane. We soon learned that the Imperial Family grants access to the public to more of the palace grounds during the brief cherry blossom season. We were fortunate to be visiting during this time, however, the downside is you have to experience that privilege with huge crowds coming to the Imperial Palace. There was thus to be no serenity on this walk. Mum said it was like we were all on a death march to somewhere. We had to pass through intense security and just put one foot in front of the other and keep moving. We were entertained by all of the Japanese around us snapping photos like crazy of each cherry blossom. We were all happy to be back across the moat and out of the Imperial grounds.
We kept walking and walking, back through the main business district. Another observation is that no-one is smoking on the street. In fact, there are no smoking signs appearing frequently. Smoking is on the decline, and we have noticed that smoking is banned in many areas.
We were heading to Tokyo Station, the busiest station in Japan in terms of how many trains pass through each day. The 304 metre long station manages 3,000 trains passing through daily on its 14 lines. It makes the most money of any station in Japan. The fact that it was a weekend meant it was a little quieter, but it was far from quiet at 3pm. We had somehow missed lunch, and we ravenously studied the incredible variety of pre-packaged bento box meals available in a busy Tokyo Station shop. The Bullet Train lunch boxes sold us kids. We didn't mind what was inside. Again, no seats, so we had to sit on the steps in one of the busiest stations in Japan to chow down. The verdict - delicious!! We hope we get to enjoy these again.
Meiji Jingu was next on today's Tokyo tour. The Meiji Shrine is the most popular and most visited shrine in Tokyo. Dedicated to Emperor Meiji, who died in 1912, he was the first emperor of modern day Japan. He was thus the first emperor to embrace the western world, forging friendships and relationships and challenged the Japanese to learn from other cultures, whilst still embracing their own traditions.
When he died, people from all over Japan and around the world wanted to commerate him and over 100,000 different trees were donated and planted creating the Yoyogi Park and forest around the Meiji Shrine.
Walking through the forest to the Meiji Shrine, crowds aside, is beautiful, and it is hard to believe we had just exited from a very busy train station a few hindred metres away.
We have visited a few Shinto shrines now and we are fascinated by the rituals and now have them down pat. First, you have to cleanse yourself, by dipping a long handled wooden cup into clean running water. First your left hand, then your right, then you have to rinse your mouth and spit gently. Then you clean the handle. Next, we allow the incense to waft over us. Then it is time to approach the shrine and toss money, and perform a bowing and clapping sequence before then praying.
As we enjoyed the walk through the forest, Dad asked us how we would enjoy the Banyule Park State Forest opposite our house being this busy!!! The short answer is we wouldn't!
Back to Harajuku. This station was still bursting with people. We have moved from the ritziest shopping precinct to the brightest and busiest area in Tokyo. It was heaving with fashion and trend conscious teens and 20 somethings and tourists aplenty. We had just joined the most fun party in town on Saturday night. We were swept up in the crowd making our way down colourful Takeshita Street. You can't help but smile, be happy and embrace all the colour and fun!!
There are cat cafes, owl cafes and dog cafes aplenty, with many booked out for the remainder of the day. Thank goodness, thought Mum and Dad. There was plenty to eat, if you were only after foods that contained a lot of sugar! Anyone who has watched a documentary or read about the fun things to eat in Tokyo might recall the gigantic (it is larger than your head) rainbow fairy floss available here.
Well, Takeshita Street is where you get it. We climbed the stairs to watch it being created. (Sadly the Echuca East Fete didn't have anything like it). There was a long queue; however, a camera crew paid for one and filmed it being made and then gave us the finished gigantic rainbow fairy floss as a gift. Our eyes and bellies couldn't believe our luck. We were quickly ushered downstairs as you have to go down and eat your fairy floss on the yellow tiles only. We were on a sugar high!!!
Our sugar fix continued as mum allowed us to line up for a famous Marion Crepe, made in Harajuku since 1976! The Japanese appear to love crepes as there are plenty of creperies. Marion Crepes didn't just offer a few standard crepe options: they have over 100 varieties and a cabinet with fake crepes made up to show you your options. You just have to order by picking a number. Mum and Jackson decided just to enjoy the classic banana and nutella whilst Abigail wanted the peach melba complete with ice cream. Our normally sensible parents had well and truly overdosed us on sugar now. We were bouncing down Takeshita Street with the best of them!!
Now, we were in search of some more nutritious and savoury food options. We walked along through the next shopping neighbourhood of Omotesando. All the regular chains were here, along with some uniquely Japanese ones. We did find a delicious crumbed pork (tonkatsu) restaurant, with all you could eat rice, miso soup and cabbage. Dad was in heaven. Even us kids were happy to enjoy this meal without sugar!
It was well past our bedtime now, but we all continued walking towards Shibuya and enjoyed the sights and sounds of Tokyo by night. We walked all the way back to the famous Shibuya crossing. We crossed at night with the masses and jumped back on our train home. What a fabulous day and night!
Helen
2019-04-09
I'm loving your entries. Thank you. You fitted a lot in. X