Around Tokyo: City Tour

Our third day in Tokyo was spent touring different parts of the city. Our tour guide, Shonikai, or Sho for short, was happy to show us around some of Tokyo's tourist traps best attractions.

Contrary to what we were expecting, we traveled from one stop to another on foot, by cab, and by train. We were supposed to be shuttled around Tokyo in a van--unfortunately, there wasn't one available that day (weren't they supposed to reserve one for us in advance?). This whole day of walking and stair-climbing and train-hopping left us feeling exhausted, but it was worth it--what better way to "see" Tokyo than by doing all this (rather than sitting comfortably in a van), right?

Tokyo Tower

Our day started with a stop at the Tokyo Tower, a communications and observation tower which also happens to be the second-tallest structure in Japan. 

The Tokyo Tower offers a great view of the city. For Y460 you can go up to the main observation deck. For the price of another ticket (Y490, I think?) you can go up even higher to the special observatory, at 250m up.

On a clear day, you can get a glimpse of Mt. Fuji from the tower. Unfortunately, it was really hazy when we were there so visibility was limited. You can still see the Tokyo skyline though--imagine how amazing this view would be at night!

The nearby Zojo-ji Temple, as seen from the Main Observatory.

The Tokyo Skytree is Japan's second communications and observation tower, opened to the public in 2012. It is now officially the tallest structure in Japan, and the second tallest in the world, after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It's a shame we didn't have enough time to visit this one.

Meiji Shrine

One of my favorite stops of the tour was the Meiji Shrine, built as a dedication to the spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shoken. If you remember some of your history lessons, it was during the reign of this emperor that the Meiji Restoration occurred, a series of events between 1868-1912 which eventually led to Japan being a modernized country.

We arrived at the Shrine from the Tokyo Tower by cab, paid for by the travel agency via our tour guide (as part of the tour package we've already paid for some months back). Cabs in Tokyo are EXTREMELY (read: EXTREMELY!!!) expensive, and I cannot emphasize this enough. Just to give you an idea, an average trip from Tokyo's Narita International Airport to the center of Tokyo (a distance of 66 kilometers) will set you back--hold your breath--US$300 (according to CNN). That's around P13,200! Fortunately, that's what the trains are for--to give local commuters and tourists a much cheaper alternative. The cabs are very clean and the cab drivers in Tokyo are very polite, although the language barrier can be quite frustrating. 

These barrels of Sake (Japanese wine) were donated to the shrine. Opposite these barrels are barrels of donated French wine, which many now see as a symbol of Emperor Meiji's openness to Western culture, which did somehow contribute to Japan's rapid industrialization and modernization during his reign.

Today, the Meiji shrine is a popular venue for weddings. We were lucky enough to have witnessed a traditional Japanese wedding procession while we were there. It was quite a sight--tourists watched silently (and snapped away with their cameras) as the wedding entourage silently walked behind the groom, the bride, and the bride's mother (dressed in traditional costumes). 

Before offering a prayer at the Shrine, visitors are advised to go through a ritual cleansing of the hands and mouth involving some very precise procedures, like rinsing your left hand first before the right (among other things). There are also certain procedures to follow when offering a prayer.

When you're at the Meiji Shrine, it doesn't feel like you're in the middle of a busy, crowded metropolis! The whole area is so peaceful.

Harajuku

On the other hand, just steps away from the gates of the peaceful Meiji Shrine is the chaotic Harajuku district, known as the center of Japanese youth culture. Here, you'll be able to see lots of young Japanese women dressed in "edgier" (sometimes mind-boggling) clothing, browsing through the small boutiques and large well-known brands. 

Takeshita Street is a pedestrian-only street lined with small boutiques and cafes. It was particularly crowded when we were there since it was a Saturday, so the place was filled with teenagers! 

The Imperial Palace

After lunch (also paid for by the travel agency), we proceeded to the Imperial Palace, the official residence of the Japanese Emperor and his family. For privacy and security reasons, visitors are only allowed to go to the East Gardens of the Palace. This stop was definitely my favorite part of the tour! I took lots of photos here, so I think it deserves its own blog post. This is what I'll be posting about next!

Other Sights

After visiting the Imperial Palace, our guide took my family and I to the streets of Central Tokyo:

There is no work on weekends so the streets are empty.

The Tokyo Station is the busiest train station in Japan, serving train lines of the Japan Railway (JR) network, the Tokyo Metro network, as well as the Shinkansen (bullet train). Many people believe that the design was patterned after the Amsterdam Centraal railway station in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, although some scholars deny these claims.

After entering the train station, our tour guide Sho gave us small packs of kawaii (cute) Japanese candy. These are actually two small white candy balls placed on top of each other, to resemble a cat when placed inside a transparent wrapper. The Japanese certainly have a thing for all things cute--I actually wrote an entire paper on the subject back in college, and the experience actually helped me better understand the role that the love for all things kawaii plays in Japanese culture.

Sho also brought us to Bic Camera, a large electronics retail chain with stores found throughout Japan. We were given about an hour to browse through their store at Yarakucho, which is the retail chain's largest store. This store is massive! They sell all sorts of gadgets and accessories, from personal gadgets like cellphones and tablets to household items like televsions and radios. They have everything here!

At this point of the tour we were already so drained from all the walking but we didn't want to be rude so we let Sho take us to Tokyo's Ginza district for a bit of shopping. Sho wanted to take us to two of Japan's most famous retailers: Muji and Uniqlo. 

To be honest, I wasn't really quite excited about the idea of it anymore, since these two brands are already present here in the Philippines anyway. Still, I found it quite amusing to see how different Muji is in Japan:

Muji in Japan has almost everything! From packed, ready-to-eat meals...

...household appliances...

...and even a restaurant called Meal Muji! The restaurant seems quite popular, too.

The Uniqlo store we went to was the one at this large department store called Printemps Ginza. Unlike Muji, Uniqlo in Japan isn't that much different from the ones we have here. As expected, Uniqlo items in Japan are cheaper than what we have here in the Philippines, but not by much (a P990 shirt here would cost around P800 in Japan).

Before finally heading back to our hotel, Sho treated us to some Mochi, or Japanese rice cakes, topped with fresh strawberries, which we ate back at the hotel. They were really good, although a bit messy because of the flour on top. 

Up next: The Imperial Palace!