A busy day in Tokyo - Japan at Cherry Blossom 2023 - 4
19.03.2023 - A busy day in Tokyo
Weather: Nice, sunny spring weather
Walking distance: 22.5 km
The first item on today's agenda is St. Mary's Cathedral [↗]. Initially, I had planned to visit it on the first day, but I had to shift it to today as we had to pick up our Japan Rail ticket there.
I have seen some nice pictures on the internet, but in reality, you are not allowed to take photos inside. The architecture is rather cool, with a lot of visible concrete and very little decoration. The first prayers are arriving for the mass, so I leave soon. I take some pictures from the outside, but after a first look, I mark them for deletion. If I had known before, I would have skipped the church and would have started earlier in the day.
The next difficult thing with the Cathedral is that it's quite a walk to reach a metro station that is serving Shinjuku, my next destination. So I already have an hour’s walk through residential areas under my belt before I enter a metro for the first time today.
The main reason to go to Shinjuku are the skyscrapers and especially the Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower [↗].
Shinjuku Station [↗] is huge - really huge. As I changed the agenda I now arrive at a different part of the station and have to figure out where to go first. If you also want to go to the skyscrapers, look for signs to the western exit and later to the western concourse. At the western bus station, you can then walk up the stairs and you will already see the Cocoon Tower. If you like you can continue downstairs to the Metropolitan Government Building, but if this is not your only destination I don't really see a reason to do so.
I'm strolling through the streets and taking photos. As it's Sunday there is not much going on today. This is mainly a neighborhood with office buildings. Reaching the other side of this area, I turn left and head for the northern part of Shibuya.
On the way, there is the Meiji Shrine [↗]. It's situated in the middle of a nice park. The shrine itself is ok, nothing special except for its age and importance.
Just as I enter the inner area a guard comes and sends all the people aside so that a wedding procession can pass. In front two priests, followed by what in Europe would be some bridesmaids; then the bride and groom in front of an umbrella-carrying guard. At the end of the queue, the rest of the guests are following. All move at a measured pace.
There is even a second procession a while later and other couples taking wedding pictures. Great photo opportunities!
At the south entrance, some Sake and French wine barrels are piled up. These barrels are donated every year by the brewers to pay their respects to the former Emperor Meiji and his Empress Shoken.
Next, I want to see the cosplay girls who are supposed to pose on a bridge between the train station and Yoyogi Park. First I stroll unsuccessfully through the streets of Harajuku and only after reading my notes I find out where the real hotspot should be. Unfortunately, there is none to be seen here either. Probably because later in the day a big cosplay meeting takes place in the stadium.
The streets in Harajuku are packed. You are pushed rather than walking. Super annoying. So I decide to escape and take a metro to Akihabara. I have been there on Friday but was not in one of the arcades or department stores.
The arcades are usually not super wide (although I'll see some in Osaka that were the size of a normal department store), but quite long and stretch over 3-5 floors. Downstairs you have those grab machines you might remember from amusement parks, but upstairs you have those arcade machines that became popular in the 80s but have disappeared almost everywhere else. Here they have new models with big screens and speakers so loud you can't hear the people standing next to you. Totally different to the rest of Tokyo where everybody seems to be keen to be as quiet as possible.
Akihabara is not only know for manga style (in many stores you can buy manga figures and other stuff), but also for electronics. Interestingly I don't find any gadgets that I’ve never seen before - maybe I just don't know where to look for them as the signs are in Japanese only. But while Media Markt and Saturn here in Germany are closing stores or at least reducing floor space, you can find Bic Camera in every part of town. 5 stories high and full of electronic and (partly) non-electronic stuff. Nothing I haven’t seen in Germany or online, but with a super wide assortment. They still have things you won't find in Germany anymore, like portable DVD players.
It's 4:30pm as I find a self-service Japanese BBQ restaurant. I enter the restaurant and am seated at a kind of counter. The individual seats are separated by a plastic barrier. On the screen, which you can switch to English, you select what you want and order it. As soon as it is prepared, you get a notification on the screen, take the card with the seat number and pick up the tray.
I selected two sorts of meat with a total of 200 g. I also get a bowl with rice, soup and some kimchee. The water comes from a tap and spices and dips are also ready. In front of me is a small gas grill set into the table, which I turn on with two knobs and then put the meat on for as long as I want. Half a minute or so is usually enough. It's really tasty and I only paid 1560 yen (12 USD).
The sun will set in fifteen minutes, and I head back to Shinjuku to take some evening shots. Arriving there I walk straight to the Metropolitan Government Building [↗] to get a view from above. This time I'm staying underground using the moving walkways. The entrance is easy to find, but unfortunately, one tower is closed and the queue in front of the other tower is therefore very long. It makes no sense to wait here for more than an hour or so. Instead, I walk back to Shinjuku Downtown and take a few photos of the neon lights. Finally, I return to the hotel.
