Too hot with the air conditioner turned off (and too noisy with the window open) and too cold with it on (even setting it at the maximum of 28C makes no difference!) -- well, we slept as best as we could. My narrow air-bed helps take the pressure off my joints, but rolling over takes conscious effort. I'm not complaining -- just thought my readers might be interested. :-). I do like sitting on a heated toilet seat when I get up in the morning -- that is something I could really get used to!

I decided to opt for a less adventurous breakfast this morning -- fruit salad and yoghurt, some bran flakes and a croissant . Again, we lingered over breakfast so that I could catch up on my blogging, setting off for the day at much the same time as the previous day -- around 11:20am. I had decided we should visit two traditional Japanese gardens -- Rikugien and Koishikawa Korakuen, both situated on the same metro line. 

Hidden behind high walls, Rikugien was only a short stroll from the metro exit. It was very pleasant strolling through gardens, discovering the different nooks and crannies. Rikugien is often considered Tokyo's most beautiful Japanese landscape garden alongside Koishikawa Korakuen. Built around 1700 for the 5th Tokugawa Shogun, Rikugien literally means "six poems garden" and reproduces in miniature 88 scenes from famous poems. The garden is a good example of an Edo Period strolling garden and features a large central pond surrounded by constructed hills and forested areas, all connected by a network of trails.

Of course, summer is not the best time to visit the gardens -- they would be at their best with the all of the blossoms in spring or with their beautiful yellow and orange leaves in autumn . However, we enjoyed escaping the busy city streets for a while.

Our next destination was the Koishikawa Korakuen -- one of Tokyo's oldest and best Japanese gardens which was built in the early Edo Period (1600-1867) at the Tokyo residence of the Mito branch of the ruling Tokugawa family. Although we checked the exit map in the underground station, once we emerged above ground, we could see no signs indicating the direction of the gardens. Of course, we chose the wrong direction and ended up walking around a huge block before we finally saw a sign to the garden. (Every step is currently hard work for me, as my calf muscles are so sore from all the walking up and down the subway stairs, and my feet are just achey from walking in general!)

Like the Rikugien Garden, the entrance fee was 300 yen (just under $4). The Koishikawa Korakuen garden was named Korakuen after a poem encouraging a ruler to enjoy pleasure only after achieving happiness for his people . Sadly, this garden is now surrounded by high-rise buildings and is located right next door to the Tokyo Dome (sports arena) and an amusement park. There cicadas were almost drowned out by the thumping drumming (music?) in the background, and the sound of the roller coaster thundering past. It was still very pleasant wandering through the different areas of this garden, imagining how wonderful it would be if such landscaping were to be built in Victoria Park. The inclusion of artificial hills between the different sections of the garden created the illusion of expansiveness. (I didn't mention that there weren't too many visitors at either garden.)

By the time we'd finished exploring this second garden, it was about 3:30pm. Michael was keen to have a look in the shops in the Ginza area (the shopping district we visited with Eri on our first night here). We walked through a few stores, but didn't find anything particularly interesting -- just lots of small departments selling the usual range of cosmetics, clothing, and knickknacks . By this time, I was really dragging my feet, and so we took the metro back to Akasaka and hiked up the 102 steps to the next street and back to our hotel. 

After freshening up and donning some dry clothes, we walked to the nearby business area where we found an inexpensive restaurant with some tasty food. We took our bakery choices back to our room for dessert, mindful of not eating as we walked in public!

Our next destination is Osaka, but we will be back in Tokyo again at the end of our trip, and so anything we should see before we leave, we can catch up on then. If any of my readers have any recommendations, please feel free to make a comment. You can also read others' comments at the bottom of each entry. Thank you to all those who are contributing to the conversation in the bus...especially Dad and Tom! :-)