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Published: September 30th 2012
After an action packed first 3 days in the mega city that is Tokyo, we had another 3 to go. On Day 4 we were up early as we wanted to visit the World Heritage town of Nikko, 2 hours/135km away by train. We left the hostel at 7.30am to get the 8.10am train from Asakusa station nearby, and after purchasing the World Heritage Nikko day passes for 3600 Yen (about £31) each we were set to go. It’s worth getting this pass if you don’t have the Japan Rail (JR) pass as the train journey to Nikko alone is 2640Yen return PP (around £21) and the temples are between 500-1000 Yen to enter each (around £4-£8) and there are atleast 5 of them. It also includes the return bus from the train station in Nikko to the temples which saves a few more ££. If you do have the JR pass, you can buy a combo ticket for all the temples for 1000 Yen in Nikko.
We napped on the train there and had our breakfast of yoghurt and juice from the 7/11 before arriving to Nikko in the rain at about 10.30am. Nikko is most famous for the
dazzling shrine Tosho-gu, which is World Heritage listed and features famous carvings of the three ‘’Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil’’ monkeys, which represent the three major principles of Tendai Buddism (we thought it was just the name of a funny film until we got here!) . The decorative Rinno-ji and Futarasan-jinja temples are also a major attraction of Nikko, all of which are surrounded by beautiful forests and mountains.
The town itself is nice enough and small with a few shops and restaurants, but the real beauty lies within the temple area at the top, about 10-15 minutes away. The temples/shrines were built back in 1617 and, aside from the hordes of Japanese school kids on day trips, the setting was very peaceful and remote with stunning scenery. We wandered around the temples and shrines for a good 3 hours taking it all in, finding corners of tranquillity here and there, and spoke to some Japanese school kids to help them with their English, before making our way back to the train station for a bit of lunch. Today we had Ramen noodles for the first time since arriving to Tokyo (like a noodle soup
with big bits of meat in them) and they were delicious! We then jumped on a train back to Tokyo and slept the whole way before arriving back in Asakusa at 5pm after another brilliant day out.
When we got back to the hostel Scott wanted to visit the local Onsen (public bath) again so he did that while Vic washed her hair for the first time since arriving 4 days ago (getting into traveller mode already!) and that is when she found out that her hair straighteners do not work in Japan as the voltage is different! Cue a ten minute devastation episode and a 20 minute fight with the hairdryer before giving up and realising that she would have to have rubbish hair for the next 2 weeks!
That evening we were pretty tired after our early start so decided on a quiet local dinner near the hostel of Tempura (battered/fried) prawns and vegetables, as well as a shared chicken Katsu curry and rice (our favourite Japanese dish so far) before doing some computer stuff, having shots of Japanese Whiskey with some other people from the hostel (as you do) and calling it a
night around midnight.
On day five we had to leave the hostel we had come to love (as we had only booked for the first 4 days and they were full) and were faced with the dilemma of staying in another one in the same area, saving money and a bit of time but not being able to go out properly that night (as the bars/clubs are on the other side of town) and still being in bunk beds in a shared dorm room, or moving to a proper hotel on the other side of town, costing more but enabling us to be close to the nightlife for our last night in Tokyo, and also share a bed for the first time since arriving…the latter option won and we quickly booked a hotel online in the Shinjuku area of the city, excited about a night out in Tokyo and also having a bed and a room to ourselves!
We checked out and loaded with our backpacks, made the journey on the subway to the new hotel, which included changing trains three times, not easy in 25 degree heat, with 15kg each on our backs and another
7kg each on our fronts (we have sooooo overpacked!), all the while being stared at as if we were crazy by the local people! We got to the new hotel in about 40 minutes and it seemed nice, we left our bags with reception and then rushed back to the metro to central Tokyo, as we wanted to join a free walking tour of the Imperial Palace & it's gardens which we had heard about that was starting at 1pm – it was now 12.40 and a good 20 minutes by metro to Central Tokyo – as usual we were in a rush! But we made it just in time and joined the walking tour, which was given by Japanese volunteers who are practicing to be tour guides.
The tour, which a few other people from our hostel were also doing, took us around the well maintained outer gardens of the Imperial Palace, which is home to the Emperor and his family, and occupies a vast chunk of the Central Tokyo area. You can only enter the inner gardens of the Palace on a pre-arranged official tour twice a day which needs to be booked a few
weeks in advance, apart from on the Emperor’s Birthday (23
rd December) and January 2
nd, when it is open to the public. Back in the 17
th Century the Imperial Palace was the location of Edo Castle, which burned down in the early 1900’s, but the gardens are still a good way to spend a few hours learning about some history. Again, old mixes with new here, and the historical gardens and Palace are against a backdrop of modern skyscrapers and buildings which make up the financial area of Tokyo. During the tour Scott got to dress like a Ninja (!) for 5 minutes and Vic had a practice with some chopstix, just so the guides felt we knew all aspects of Japanese life.
After the walking tour we made our way back to the metro to go to the stylish shopping area of Ginza. One thing to note about big metro stations here is that the walk from when you enter the station until you get to the actual platform below can be really long and this one took us over 15 minutes and was about 1km! When changing lines within a station you can walk for quite
a while as well. Anyway, a couple of stops later we arrived in Ginza, not to shop as the area is known for, with designer and boutique stores lining the wide streets, but to see the Sony building/centre. We thought it was going to be full of strange gadgets but aside from some musical stairs, which played different notes when you walked up them, creating a tune, it was just full of normal Sony TV’s, phones, music systems and such like. The one aside from all this technology was a large room in which there was a Michael Jackson tribute going on, with his music playing and photos of him everywhere and his videos playing on a large screen, to celebrate 25 years of his ‘Bad’ album…we were a bit unsure why this was such a big thing in Tokyo, but the Japanese people were loving it!
It was around 4pm by this time so we decided to move on back to the Shinjuku area of the city to go up to the Observatory Tower, which sits on top of Tokyo Government Building, as we had heard it offered some amazing panoramic views of the city. Shinjuku
station is huge, and if you come out of the wrong exit you could walk for an extra half an hour just to get to the correct place, so we couldn’t find the Government building at first and surprisingly none of the local people knew where it was either…another observation here, is that even if you are trying to go somewhere 5 minutes away from where you are, most people won’t know what you are talking about, even when showing them on a map! We eventually found the building and took the lift up to the 45
th floor where we were greeted by clear views over the city which looked even more widespread from a height. On a really clear day you can see Mt Fuji apparently but typically it was cloudy in that direction. We hadn’t eaten all day and fatigue had caught up with us by this point, so we didn’t stay very long and headed back down to make our way to our hotel. As we left the building, which is surrounded by other large corporate buildings, we were surprised to see a man (we think he was homeless) sitting on a chair by the side of
the road, with about 10 ginger and white cats in boxes and on leads, which seemed to be his…imagine walking out of Liverpool Street station and seeing a site like this…just another mental Tokyo experience!
We made our way back to Shinjuku station, where we exchanged our JR pass receipt (which we had bought at home) for the JR 7 day pass to start on Sunday, and started to walk back towards our hotel. We got a bit lost but came across a Katsu curry shop (with vending machine), and as we were starving now and we love this food we went in and ordered like pro’s before wolfing down the best Katsu curry & rice we have had so far. We didn’t know exactly the way to our hotel so jumped on the metro 2 stops and checked in to our small but modern room, where we had a much deserved rest and got ready for our last night in Tokyo.
We had bought some Vodka from the shop earlier so enjoyed a few drinks in our room as we got as dressed up as we could (Vic struggled without her straighteners) and
we went out around 9pm. We headed to an area of Shinjuku called Golden Gai where there were lots and lots of tiny bars in narrow streets which we thought would be busy, especially with it being a Saturday night, but it was quiet so we carried on walking into central Shinjuku to find a bar or two. After a while of looking around we didn’t see anywhere we fancied so jumped on the metro to Shibuya where the nightlife is supposed to be really good. Again we wandered around looking for bars but they must be really hidden as we literally couldn’t find any…probably one of those places where unless you know it you can’t really find something. Feeling pretty tipsy from the Vodka we had drank, we were in good spirits and looking forward to having a good night out, but it was proving difficult to find somewhere to go.
After a quick chat and a photo with some keen Japanese guys it was around 11pm so we headed to a club we had heard about called Womb which was meant to be pretty good, but it seemed we were there too early as it wasn’t busy
yet. It was one of those decisions – do we stay out, spend money, wait for the club to get good and have to walk the 6k back to our hotel later or wait for the 1
st train at 5am, or do we call it a night, get the last train home and save money, all the while enjoying our private double room…the latter decision came out best of course! So we walked back to the metro station, passing through Love Hotel Hill which we couldn’t find the other night - we had a look at one of the themed hotels which was called Paradise where you could rent the room by the hour or for the night, and the rooms came complete with Jacuzzi’s and palm trees! Now that’s romantic…
We then jumped on the train back to our stop, pleased with our decision and already thinking about grabbing a late night McDonalds from opposite our hotel as we had only had the Katsu earlier in the day and it was now midnight. When we got there, Scott was almost heartbroken as the Golden Arches were closed! But opposite was a pizza place so we ‘treated’ ourselves (thinking
of the money we had saved by not going clubbing) and got 2 pizzas to take back to our room, which we thoroughly enjoyed, before having a really good night’s sleep in our comfy bed, with a lay in for the first time since we arrived in Japan.
There is an area of Tokyo close to where we were staying called Harajuku, which on Sunday’s is renowned for ‘CosPlay’ – people dressing up in wacky costumes and parading around – which of course we had to see, so headed there on our last morning after checking out of the hotel. On the way there we walked through Korea Town which looked cool, before jumping on the train to Harajuku station. As we left the station we turned down a small street and it became apparent that this area is the epicentre of role play, with a huge variety of boutique style shops selling all sorts of costumes, from French Maid outfits to Gothic style clothes to Super Hero get-ups. We actually saw a couple of girls dressed completely like Nursery rhyme characters and Disney Princesses from head to toe– think Little Bo Peep (along with the pink
bonnet and umbrella) and Belle from Beauty and the Beast – so bizarre!
There were also ‘normally’ dressed people just browsing the shops, not all of which were selling costumes, but all were quite strange – we found one shop which was dedicated to different game console and cartoon characters, and sold everything from Mario, Princess and Yoshi plush toys, to The Simpsons stationary and writing sets, to accessories from the Gremlin films to Hello Kitty pyjamas and slippers! Another shop sold only dog accessories and clothing in all sizes, from small to large, in the theme of different films, such as Toy Story – just think, you could dress your dog up like Woody or Buzz Lightyear! The whole area had a great vibe to it and reminded us a bit of Camden at home, although this area was much more out there.
Back on the main street the small niche boutique shops disappeared and gave way to lots of crowds and the familiar high street stores that we have at home, although much bigger – Forever 21, Zara, Topshop, Gap, H&M and Urban Outfitters to name a few – and again showed us another
glimpse of modern, fast paced Tokyo sitting alongside a much more relaxed and care free side. We loved the Harajuku area and only wished we found it sooner, as you could people watch all day here and not get bored. We walked back towards the station and came across a few more people in costume, before jumping back on the train to our hotel, as we were going to Kyoto soon on the famous Bullet train and needed to get our bags.
The last few days in Tokyo have been amazing and informative, overwhelming and exhausting, fun and crazy and everything in-between, and although we felt we had seen everything we wanted to at a good pace, we were still sad to be leaving and probably would have spent another day or so here. We have loved this bubbling pot of creativity and style which blends with age old Japanese tradition, in a modern urban society. Alongside the orderly and efficient ways which make this city run seamlessly, the surprisingly heady nights, the yummy food and the kind and helpful people, Tokyo has definitely left us with a great first impression of Japan, and we are so
glad that we have been able to experience it.
Whilst researching this trip, we came accross various bloggers who wrote 'traveller tips' and various details about where they had stayed. We both found this very useful so will now be writing a few details of our own at the end of each section to help any other would be traveliers out there.
S&V's Traveller Info: Tokyo General Info: Approx 125 yen to £1. Like any major city, Tokyo is expensive, with comparable prices to London, New York or Sydney, but there are lots of ways to save money by hunting out cheap eats and jumping on free tours. Walking can save a lot on rail travel but the city is vast and you could not easily walk easily from one neighbourhood to the next. Tokyo felt incredibly safe and immaculately clean. Although English is not widely spoken everyone was very friendly and always willing to help. Transportation: Getting around Tokyo is a breeze once you get your head around the complex metro/subway system and it's various lines. A single journey will cost between 160-270 yen, whilst a one day travel card granting unlimited access to all metro lines runs at 710 yen. A JR pass is worth buying before you leave for Japan for long distance train travel and can also be used on the JR lines within Tokyo. You can get a Pasmo card for the metro which works like an Oyster card, but it doesn't save you any money, it just may be more convenient than getting a ticket each time. Taxis are very expensive and most budget travellers will want to avoid them - a 7km journey could cost as much as 3500 yen. All stations had English translations and useful maps. Beware - all metro trains finish at midnight. From the airport we got a Keisi train straight to Asakusa (which is where we were staying) for 1260 yen each and it took 70 minutes - the faster Sky train goes to the centre of Tokyo but costs nearly double this amount.
Food: The food in Tokyo has been incredible, something which we have both really enjoyed. Be brave and cheap delicious feasts can be found at local joints with picture vending machines (Breaded Chicken Katsu Curry with rice from 450 yen), Local Ramen noodle houses are 650 yen + per dish and if all else fails there are always the Supermarkets & 7/11's where Bento boxes and Pot/Dry Noodles can be purchased for 200 yen and upwards. A lot of places have Japanese only menus but English ones are sometimes available inside.
Accomodation: Again in a major city, expect to pay a premium. A bed in a hostel in a 4 bed dorm costs around 3000 yen per person, and a private room in a hostel is around 7000 yen in the older part of town, whilst a hotel in the centre of town will cost at least 10,000 yen but likely more. Asakusa seems to hold the biggest concentration of good value hostels (Khosan Tokyo have several branches here) and whilst not being directly in the centre, it is well linked by the metro, has a great vibe, impressive selection of sites and some good value restaurants. Other observations: Smoking in Tokyo is limited to certain areas where you can stand and smoke - you shouldn't really walk and smoke! Nursery ryhmes are played at random in the train stations. The toilets usually have several extras such as front and back sprays, a dryer, heated seats and flushing sounds! People wear paper face masks on the metro and outside to cover their mouths and noses from pollution. People only cross the road when the green man is showing, even if there is no traffic. Comic books are the preferred and acceptable forms of reading amongst adults.
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A. Susan
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Amazing blogs
What an amazing time you are having. The blogs are fantastic and I feel like I know Tokyo pretty well. Can't wait for next instalment. Love and miss you both. A. Susan