Last day Tokyo

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Last day in Tokyo. We visited the areas of Ueno and Yanaka. There are many interesting museums here but on our part this was poorly timed. Being a Monday, they were mostly all closed. So we wandered.



Ueno koen (park) is a beautiful old park with lanes of Sakura (cherry trees) in the spring it must be magical. At the south end of the park there are two large ponds. To our surprize, these ponds were filled with lotus plants. Almost no water was visible. A sea of plants with the city as a backdrop.

Yanaka is a quiet neighborhood with many residences and temples. Here I finally found something I had been looking for for a while. A shop which specializes in sembei (rice crackers). In the west we know them as maybe one or two kinds. Here it is an art form and there are hundreds of different kinds. Diana waited patiently as I asked all about the different kinds and bought enough for the whole trip. Now I need to get some good sake to go with them.

At the end of the day we decided to get some perspective on the phenomenon of Tokyo and we went to the Mori Art museum. This museum is on the 52nd floor of the Mori tower in Roppongi Hills and has great exhibitions and of course a commanding view over the whole of the city. We watched dusk turn to night and the city light up into a sea of lights with rivers of traffic moving through the streets. It was a perfect end to Tokyo. After being at street level for so many days, fascinated with the details, enjoying the smells and sights and sounds, it was amazing to see the city as a whole. Watching the planes flying into Narita and seeing the silhouette of Mount Fuji in the background. The sea of lights of Tokyo extended literally to the horizon. In all directions.

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Photos

Yamanote line through Tokyo
Perspective from the engineer.