Tokyo, Japan: land of the shrines and parks

Hama rikyu garden during early spring

slot machines in akuhabara

This is definitely a record for myself. Went to Tokyo twice within a span of a month. The second time was purely for work so that did not count. However, the first trip was nice get away with wife. As usual, all was free and easy; budget style of travelling. Overall, this definitely was one of the best trip we had done, and also one of the more complicated ones. We used Frommer's guide for Tokyo as main framework and tweaked on it.

prayers board which one may find in all shrines

First few things: Japanese are really nice and disciplined people. You would note that pedestrian would even stop at red light late at night whereas local would just cross the street without thinking twice. The same reason why Japan is relatively safe. I had seen people left their phone in shops only to come back and manage to find the phone safe and sound with the counter. The same reason why they would religiously queue up for subs even though it is rush hour. The same reason why Tokyo is so clean.

Kamakura

Food is nice. Despite what local painted japanese food to be all sushi and sashimi, it is not so common to find it in every corner. It is easier to find rice with bento and noodles (ramen, soba and udon). And to be frank, it is rather nice. Street food is not easy to find though and not cheap. The cheaper way is to look for bento especially near closing hours in departmental stores. Plus, the tap water is safe to drink from.

Must visit: Tsukiji fish market

Price is definitely not cheap, but there are always cheaper way to do things. We manage to spend RM3000 per person inclusive of the whole flight, stay, food and souveniors. A decent meal would cost 500-1000 yen which cost bout RM15-35. The main bulk of expenditure would be in transport.

Transport is not easy; as there are few independently run transport such as Metro subs, Toei Subs and Japan rail. The day pass would pose more difficulties rather than convenience, but at least there are Passmo or Suica which is accepted by most major transport. It would take a bit of homework but with adequate preparation, it is still a breeze. Try hyperdia site for real simple instructions across different companies subs/ metro/ train.

The main itinerary:
day 1: since we reached Tokyo late at night (11pm to be precise), we just proceed on to the hotel and call it a day. By the way, we booked the night in Toyoko Inn Haneda which has a free shuttle from Haneda airport.

Sumida park

pork in Yoshinoya

day 2: Checked out, move our stuff to Oak Hotel, Ueno and left our luggage there before going around Tokyo. Since it is Sunday, our first stop is Akihabara. Filled with electronics shop and anime related shop, they even have a flea market on Sunday. Next place to do people watching would be Harajuku, which is just next to Meiji Jingu shrine. Since it is the first full day and yet to check in, we just return to the hotel and call it a day.

day 2: a long schedule ahead, we start off with Tsukiji Market which is a must-go in Tokyo. We did not go for the tuna auction but the wholesale market and the fresh sushi/ sashimi is worth it. Next to it is hama rikyu garden with the sumida boat cruise to Asakusa. There, we just hand around Sumida Park and move on to Asakusa temple. Since it was so near, we chose to go to Tokyo Skytree but did not go up the tower but hang around Solamachi shopping complex.

NIkko

day 3: we sort of finish Tokyo proper so we spent the next few days doing day trips. Our first one was Hakone. Spent some time in the Open air Museum which was superb, move on to Lake Ashi and Checkpoint Museum. The main enjoyment in Hakone is the travel itself not the destination; with small electrical train, cable car and sight seeing ships.

day 4: next is Kamakura which essentially would be temples and shrine. The souveniors here in Kamakura is also generally cheaper than Tokyo. Since we manage to finish earlier, we returned to Tokyo and went up Tokyo Tower.

day 5: the furthest day trip to Nikko which took us at least 2 hours train ride. It essentially is a shrine complex surrounding by tall oak trees. The sight itself is awesome.

day 6: the last day, we still have the whole day before flying off at night so we concentrated in Tokyo. Spent the morning in Ueno Park with Tokyo National Museum. Had street food as lunch before moving to Yanaka for sakura watching. The cemetery is peaceful and probably the best place to watch sakura.

Overall, the trip is great, and I would definitely return to Japan again. (which I did, 3 weeks later for work)

ratings: 4 half poink!
comments: food, shrine and parks. Plus culture and people watching in AKB and Harajuku. That would summarize the whole trip.