Imperial Palace and Shinjuku

After leaving Maruzen, the rain had stopped, so we walked over to the Imperial Palace area, “to see what we could see”. Turns out, one needs a special reservation to visit the inside public areas of the palace grounds, and those requests must be made months in advance.

We were permitted to walk some of the grounds. The palace area is huge, a green oasis in the middle of Tokyo. We walked across the outer and inner water filled moats, viewed a few massive guard towers, and made our way to the main entry gate, guarded by two sentries.

And that was it!. Trees, green grass, spacious marching grounds and a few moats.

Oh well, let’s venture over to Shinjuku, and boy are we glad we did.

“Grey skies are gonna clear up, so put on a happy face!”

Mike had recalled that there is a free viewing area atop one of the government buildings near the Shinjuku station, so we headed there. But first a long walk back to the Tokyo train station.

We boarded a train to take us to the Tokyo Government Building complex in Shinjuku. This is where the skyscrapers cluster in the city's west side. Atop one of them is a free observation deck, with a 360 view of Tokyo. We got there as the sun was about to set.

After we were done checking out the views, we discovered that there was a cafe at the top that was about to open. We were the first to be seated, and got two seats at the bar, with a great view. We ordered drinks and a few appetizers, to tide us over until dinner.

After drinks and snacks, we descended the tower, and decided to visit our automated sushi delivery restaurant again for a late dinner. Just took the train to Shibuya, walked over to the restaurant taking a different route, and upon reaching the restaurant, only had a short wait.

Chicken Dinner Near Shinagawa Statio

Chicken Dinner Near Shinagawa Station

Upon retunring from Kamakura, it was time for dinner, but we were pretty tired. Wanting to avoid eating st the hotel, we investigated the options near the train station. Thanks to the Internet, we found the layout of the Takanawa West complex of stores and restaurants, and wandered around. Wanting to stick to Japanese offerings we ignored the chains and the ubuquitous McDonalds (500 yen for a Big Mac meal).

We found a place off to the side that was all Japanese, but did have the plastic models of the food offered. Just a few people waiting, so we got in the queue of seats waiting for a table. It was a cramped place, no sign of English anywhere, so we hoped for the best. Worst thing, we could simply point to one of the plastic food models, or pictures on the menu.

Fortunately, there was an English menu offered, and it turned out this place only serve various chicken and vegetable offerings. We got gyozas, grilled peppers and chicken, cabbage salad with a fermented plum dressing, edamames, and fried chicken thighs. And of course, more sake!

Service was great, but smoking was permitted inside. Still, it did not bother us, as the ventillation was good. We were happy with our meal.

Then back to the hotel.

A Walk Thru the Ginza

Upon our return from Kamakura, we decided to stop in the Ginza to explore some of the stores. Deb was on a quest to visit Itoya, a renowned stationary store that offered pens.

Itoya was a short walk East of the Yurokucho station, in the Northern extent of the Ginza shopping area. The store was a typical narrow store front with many levels, in a very nice area of the Ginza. Worldwide brands like Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Harry Winston,and Apple <grin>.

Though interesting, Itoya was a bust. No pens of interest for Deb, but a few unique offerings if one is into paper and crafts.

Some interesting calendars.

This is  kit to build your own miniature orchestra!

This is an Origami kit to build your own panda bear.

But not a complete bust, as we walked over to Tokyo Station, and Deb found a favorite store: Traveler's Factory, a new store selling the Traveler's Notebook journal. This is a product from Midori that son Mark told Deb about. It is a journaling system. Of course, I encourage Deb to pick up the special edition for Tokyo Station.

Akihabara - Disappointing

This is supposed to be an electronic gadget lover’s paradise.

Perhaps in the past, but to Mike, not anymore. All the main multi-level stores seemed to cater to the ordinary foreign consumer with “tax-free” goods, but I think Frys has a better selection. We did not venutre down any of the alleys, where the offerings might have been more. Mike was expecting to see amateur radio stuff, tablets galore, cell phones, computers, and accessories.

Yes, some of the stores had these, but they were outnumbered by hundreds of earbud and headphones, rice cookers, and refrigerators. Then there were the prices. Amazon is your friend! Amazon has a wider selection, better prices, and will deliver to your door. Yes, Amazon is very big in Japan, too!

Several unexpected things: Sightings of Samsung goods is extremely rare. Cell phone stores also rare. Only tablets I saw with Stylii were Wacom and Apple. Not a single Japanese tablet with real stylus capability. Granted, Mike knows there are Japanese manufacturers of tablets and cell phones, but it was interesting to see them so rare. Samsung phones were available but limited to carrier offerings, like in the US. No unlocked SIM-free Samsung phones sold in the stores. Yes, we are aware that Samsung is a Korean company. 

Mike will say his goodbye to Akihabara, until he gets a tip as to where the real electronic gadget market is in Japan!

Day Trip to Kamakura

Day Trip to Kamakura

With fine weather predicted for Monday (Sep 11), we traveled south to Kamakura, a seaside town that is home to a giant Buddha statue, one of the most famous icons of Japan. An easy 50 minute trip.

The site is a 30 minute walk from the train station.

Mt. Rainier packaged coffee drinks are available everywhere!

In addition to walking the grounds and viewing the bronze statue from the outside, we also were able to go inside it, into the “belly of the Buddha” if you will!

We stayed for a little, and walked the surrounding streets.

Fortunately, we also encountered another temple and shrine complex on our way back to the station: Hase-dera. This is one of those “1000 Places to See Before You Die” sites, and oh boy, we are glad to have stopped by. Many temples and shrines set amongst several gardens with pools of koi fish, all in one compact hillside location.

Hase-dera, commonly called the Hase-kannon is a short walk down the road from the Giant Buddha. In one of the temples is a massive wooden statue of Kannon.

As we walked the steps to see this statue we encountered a small shrine that had hundreds of small Buddha statues arrange in tiers around a small offering plate.

There was also one larger Buddha statue sitting, while leaning its head against its arm and hand. Seemingly sighing, “so many Buddhas”!

Then back to Tokyo to explore the Ginza area, then dinner.

Walking Around - Tsukiji Fish Market and Tokyo Station

On Tuesday (Sep 12), we decided to visit the Tsukiji fish market, and do some shopping around Tokyo Station and Akihabara. As it was raining, we looked for inside activities until the rain was forecast to stop in the afternoon.

We took the train from Shinagawa to the Shibuya station; Tsukiji fish market was a 30 minute ⍬←ºwalk from there. For awhile, the rain only spritzed a bit, so the walk was fine.

Once we arrived at the market, the rain arrived too, and umbrellas were necessary.

No way was Mike going to wear a rain jacket when the temp was 85º F (30º C) with 95% humidity!

To us, this seemed like a huge Pike Place Market (Seattle), with nothing by seafood and seafood stalls selling today’s catch. There were just a few stalls selling fresh fruit and vegetables. 

WHile there were some inside stalls where we could come in out of the rain, most of the action was outside, so we also joined the masses wielding their umbrellas while navigating the narrow alleys. There were a few entanglements where umbrellas crossed.

This is a pic of fresh wasabi root 

A shop selling custom knives. Yes, they offered left-handed and right-handed chef's knives for preparing sushi!

No pics of the early morning auction, but I did get one pic of a Blue Fin tuna flown in from Boston a few hours early.

The rain did not let up, but we still needed to walk over to Tokyo Station, to visit Deb’s pen and stationary store, Maruzen Marunouchi Main Store. We easily found it thanks to Google Maps (how did we live without these tools!)

This store had multiple levels; a huge bookstore with a stationary, office supplies, and pens! Deb was on a mission to find a unique Japanese fountain pen, and she was successful. A slim profile, with green and black lacquer finish. The store clerk made sure she would try it out beforehand, but we did not want to keep it full of ink due to our follow-on air travel. The sales clerk emptied the pen of all ink, flushed it clean, and made sure the pen was clean overall before packing it up for Deb. They even supplied a free carrying case with our purchase.

Deb is VERY happy!