Konichiwa from Tokyo

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I'm in the Japanese capital now and so far I like it very much.
Everything is really clean and tidy, the people are genuinely friendly and helpful, and the service is pretty good almost everywhere (and you don't need to tip people to get good service, tipping is not even customary in Japan).

Some things are a bit strange though to me as a westener, like most streets don't have any names so it can get tricky to find your way around from time to time.
The food is of course also a bit different from what I am used to. I decided to have lunch in a Japanese restaurant today (I'm not going to eat western food when in Japan) so I entered a restaurant and pointed at a picture in the menu, most of the menus have pictures which is helpful when there is no English translation.
But when the food finally arrived I realised I had no idea what I was eating and I had no idea how to eat it. There was some kind of bun for example, and I had the choice to eat it with either chosticks, a soup spoon, or with my hands.
Fortunately the waitress noticed I was confused and told me "hands" when she passed. I guess they had a good laugh after I had left 😊 I managed pretty well with chopsticks though.

Tokyo is a pretty cool city, but of course it has the problems of any large metropolitan city with too much people, too much traffic, too much pollution, crowded trains during rushhour, tired commuters, and so on...
This weekend I will continue to Kyoto in southern Japan where I think I will see a bit more of the traditional Japanese culture.

In Tokyo I have so far visited some of the different districts in the city such as the fashionable Ginza where many of the department stores are located, the Ueno district where the nice Ueno Park is located, Shibuya which is one of the entertainment districts of Tokyo and very popular among young people, and Shinjuku which is another entertainment and shopping district.

This morning I also visited the Tokyo Tower where you have a very good view of the city, and you get to see how massive the city actually is, 12 million inhabitants!!!
Fortunately the weather was perfect, not a cloud to be seen, so excellent views.
I then visited the gardens next to the Imperial Palace, very nice but unfortunately you cannot visit the palace where the emperor lives, you hardly even see it from the garden.

Tomorrow I am planning to make a visit to Yokohama around one hour by train from Tokyo. I have purchased a Japan Rail Pass which gives unlimited travel on all trains in Japan (even the highspeed trains Shinkansen) during seven days.

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Photos

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Tokyo (or perhaps I should say a part of Tokyo) seen from the Tokyo tower.

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The Ginza district in central Tokyo.

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One of those massive crossings in Ginza.

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Sony Showroom in Ginza with lots of new cool gadgets. I especially checked out the new widescreen TVs and some of them had an absolutely amazing picture quality.

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An "ad" for the new Air New Zealand Business premier class which I will actually fly from Osaka to Auckland next week.

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The Ueno district in northern Tokyo.

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Traditional Japanese houses in the Ueno Park.

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The Tosho-gu Shrine in the Ueno Park. One of the few remaining Edo-era buildings in Tokyo.

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This monument in the Ueno Park was built as a rememberance for the victims of the A-bombs in 1945. The flame comes from one of the damaged houses in Hiroshima and the brother of the man who lived there decided to keep the flame alive as a tribute to his brother, it was later transfered to this monument in Tokyo.

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The beautiful Shinobazu Pond in the Ueno park.

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The Ueno Station in northern Tokyo. You check the fare written next to the destination on the large map and then buy the ticket from a machine.
The problem is that all destinations are only written in Japanese, so not very useful for foreigners.

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The Shibuya district in western Tokyo which is one of the main entertainment districts and very popular among young people.

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Shibuya district at night, rushhour in Tokyo!

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Shibuya district at night.

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Shibuya district at night.

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Shibuya district at night.

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Japanese children on excursion. Pretty cute!

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The Tokyo Tower, the highest viewing platform is on a height of 250 meters.

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View from the Tokyo Tower.

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View from the Tokyo Tower.

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The Gardens of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Unfortunately you cannot visit the palace where the emperor lives.

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The Gardens of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

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The Gardens of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

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The Shinjuku district in western Tokyo. One of the nightlife and shopping districts of Tokyo.

Comments

[Tracy]

Excellent Trip Blogs
Hi there, I'm really enjoy reading your trip blog. Also, your photos are fantasic. Hope you are having a wonderful world-wide vacation! Take care, Tracy (from Toronto)