Tokyo City Break

Tokyo twice in a month and Mount Fuji

Recommended days	5
Budget	£££
Difficulty	Medium

Why Tokyo

Japan was never really on my top 10 list, there were so many places higher that I wanted to see, such as the silk road cities and the Aztec and Mayan remains. However, Natalya had a university exchange spending 4 months in Tokyo so we thought we’d have a grand tour of Asia and incorporate a city break in Tokyo to meet up with her.

We flew from Hong Kong for our Tokyo city break and, after a long wait for our luggage, started to navigate the Japanese transport system. We got on the train towards our station but couldn’t see anything to tell us which station we were stopping at and the station signs were tiny and usually shown as you were leaving the station! After much stress we found our station and then after more stress found the correct exit!

The station was huge and even at midnight it was packed with people in orderly queues by each door opening barrier – the trains are so precise that they have barriers to stop you getting to the track other than by places that will match up with the train doors when it stops. If that makes sense. Took a taxi to the hotel and finally got to our room to unpack.

Our Accomodation

We were staying at the Tokyo Marriott for our first Tokyo city break. The hotel is about 10 mins walk or a quick taxi ride from Shinagawa Station and in a quiet little area with a small park nearby. The rooms were small by European standards but probably larger than most in Tokyo!

Roppongi

After a frustratingly bad nights sleep we got up at 7 ready to meet Natalya for breakfast at a cafe she recommended in Roppongi. This involved another train trip and took a long time to even find a sign pointing to the correct line but we eventually got there and I saw #1 daughter for the first time for 3 months!

We had a great breakfast before heading up to the observation deck, pausing at a doggy day care place for a peek. The observation deck, surprisingly, gave great views over the city although it was hard to take pics without looking down!

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Tsukiji Fish Market

Next stop was Tsukiji Fish Market, just to gawp at the delicacies there. They had a tuna fish they were carving up – I didn’t realise how massive they were! How do they fit them in such tiny tins? 😛 Also assorted oddities that Deb would probably have eaten, baby octopus on a stick kind of thing! 

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Shibuya Monster Cafe

Natalya had booked us lunch at the Monster Cafe in Shibuya – one of those uniquely Japanese places! The food was pretty basic although fun to look at but the idea was great and very popular! Certainly something different to do, once!

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It is interesting to see how much the culture has been completely reinvented since the war – the martial, macho mentality has been replaced with a far softer image. I can’t really imagine Hirohito indulging in Hello Kitty! Time had run away with us so after a couple of abortive attempts to visit animal cafes (both fully booked!) we headed back to the hotel.

Although we hadn’t done that much the attractions were so spread out that everything involved numerous train journeys which consumed most of our time. It is a very densely populated city and everyone seems to walk so damned slowly, it was very tiring being stuck beyond them all the time. Come the zombie apocalypse they’ll be wiped out in no time!

Tokyo Dinner Cruise

We got back to the hotel, freshened up and had a coffee before heading out again. First stop was a set of water gardens but they were closed so we just walked on to our dinner cruise embarkation point. 

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The meal was excellent – buffet style so everyone could eat what they wanted luckily! We sat by the window and watched the sites of Tokyo go by in the dark whilst eating loads, mostly desserts in my case, and having a good catch up. It was quite chilly, relatively, by 9.45 when we docked but a brisk amble to the train station warmed us all up before getting our last train of the day, back to the hotel and bed by 2AM. 

Mount Fuji & Hakone National Park

The next morning we had an early start, up at 6.30 to drop our cases for transfer to Kyoto and then walk down to the station to meet Natalya at 8. After a rather eclectic breakfast (snickers, banana and some weird seed cookies plus a coffee) we met our guide for the day, Junko, and got on one of the bullet trains for Odawara. The train was superb – quiet, clean, lots of space and very quick!

Hakone Park and Torii Shrine

Once we reached Odawara we bought the day passes for the Hakone National Park and took the bus until we reached the craft village. This was actually fascinating to watch how they did the marquetry, some very clever ideas and quite amazing the precision involved. We also saw some of the artificial hills that they built to plant trees on either side of the roadway for travellers to rest under.

Next stop was the Hakone Torii shrine. This was part of a Shinto temple complex and Junko explained the various rituals involved in the prayers and washing as well as the growth of the shrines and then the destruction of the entire Shogun culture in the Meiji era.

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Lake Ashi

After a brief stop for coffee and cake we then boarded the boat for a cruise on Lake Ashi, part of a huge volcanic crater. This gave us our first glance of a beautifully cloud free Mount Fuji. The boat trip went from one end of the lake to the other and we saw some smaller torii as well as some traditional Japanese houses and lots of modern hotels. The whole area was a carpet of trees right down to the waters edge, it is apparently spectacular in autumn! 

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Owakudani Fissures

From the boat we then took the quietest cable car (called a ropeway!) ever to the Owakudani fissures. We had more views of Fuji on the way and also looked down on the sulphurous smoke spewing from the ground. They have a speciality here – black eggs – where they bake normal eggs in the steam and the oxides turn the shell black. I didn’t try them …..

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Hakone Sculpture Museum

The souvenir shop had a mass of typical Japanese kitsch, Hello Kitty and Manga style stuff but we managed not to succumb. We then carried on the cable car to the open air Sculpture Museum. This was surprisingly good, not in an arty way as a lot of it looked like it had been made by a drunk 3 year old whilst blindfolded. And then melted. But the settings were impressive and some of the artwork was even decent, other than the viewing platform – an open spiral staircase that went up 4 floors, becoming increasingly less stable as you neared the top! So glad I did that ….

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We then took a couple of normal trains to the main line station, had a most welcome coffee and then boarded the bullet train where all 4 of us took it in turns to nod off. We arrived back in Tokyo after about 12 hours but a most excellent day.

We parted company with Junko and headed out for dinner before the short walk to the hotel. Natalya picked up her bag of goodies I’d bought over from the UK and then she headed home and we started to pack for the move to Kyoto tomorrow. 

Tokyo Imperial Palace

On Monday the alarm went off at 7.45 and we were both still comatose. We staggered around the room, slowly getting ready for our last little trip in Tokyo. We took the train to the Imperial Palace and had a walk around the outskirts.

Entrance to the centre part was blocked off but the place is vast and must have been stupendous in its day. We walked around a bit more of the perimeter and then past some extremely well manicured parks, past a statue of a samurai lord and then on to the Godzilla statue, although it was from the 1950’s version and therefore unrecognisable. 

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Kyu Shiba Rikyu Gardens

After a few navigation errors we eventually got to our station and took the train to our last stop, Kyu Shiba Rikyu Gardens. We had been here before but they were closed. The gardens are quite small but very peaceful to walk around.. There are a few traditional shrines and the trees are sculpted to be pleasing to the eye, no letting nature take control. There were lots of people inside sat down sketching, we were almost the only ones moving!

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Back to the hotel, finish packing, shuttle back to the station and then dinner. Deb just had a tea but I had a set menu which turned out to be shoelace soup with shaved bunions, raw tuna and rice and then cold snot with phlegm. Other than the dessert it was all great! We then got the train to Kyoto and watched the paddy fields and little houses zoom past in a blur.

The bullet trains are justifiably famous – quiet, ultra efficient, lots of space but damned expensive! The trains here, along with much else, are the antithesis of European standards – you are not allowed to speak on your mobile on the train, eating is frowned upon as is any sort of music. Everyone queues quietly and in neat, rigid lines. No litter, no graffiti. Maybe we should give up some of our obsessive individual freedoms in exchange for a far better collective existence!

Our Accomodation

We returned for another Tokyo city break after a few days in Kyoto to meet up with Natalya again, this time staying in the Tokyo Bay Hilton resort hotel for Tokyo Disneyland. They seem obsessed with Disney and any cute stuff here but combined with politeness and happiness without exuberance. The resort area was huge, 4 train stops and the trains were all Disney themed too!

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The hotel was great, a huge room with views over Tokyo Bay, a massive gym and, most importantly, free Hilton breakfast! No more slimfast for 2 days! After check in we dumped our stuff and headed across the city to meet Natalya. Four changes of train later we finally met up, traveling here is quite exhausting! 

Tokyo Harijuku

We hadn’t eaten since the Slimfast at 8 and it was now about 4 so we were famished, first stop an ice cream shop for sesame and red bean ice cream! Nat had then found a nice cafe while she was waiting so we headed there for a late lunch. This area was a lot of small streets and shops, market type stalls and generally pleasant to walk around.

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Senso Ji Temple

We eventually ended at the Senso Ji temple area, watched the sunset, looked around a bit more, admired the painting on the shutters that covered the shop fronts and had some more street food.

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Owl Cafe

As we were walking there was a girl advertising an owl cafe so we went there. I’m not sure how I felt about it, the birds all looked healthy and there were plenty of signs saying how they were cared for and where they were rescued from but I hope they actually got some freedom rather than being stuck in a tiny room! 

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Natalya then took us to one of the strange department stores here, 5 floors that sold everything from novelty codpieces to wasabi flavoured Kit Kat! Fascinating and we bought a few bits 😝 We had dinner at an Indian, not particularly nice, and then took the long journey back to the hotel for a very welcome sleep. 

The next morning we were up around 7.30 for a much anticipated Hilton breakfast. I only managed 4 courses but ate more than I had for a long time. Not exactly healthy but deliciously filling and feel good stuff!

Samurai Museum

The cornucopia of breakfast delights meant we left later than expected and had another 4 changes of train to get to the Samurai Museum, and some excellent navigating by Google through some small streets! The museum was excellent – original armour and weapons from the sixteenth century to 19th including armour they had used to test against muskets.

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Tokyo Harijuku and Shinjuku

After another quick coffee stop we headed into the Harijuku and Shinjuku areas, full of very quirky shops and people! Fun to walk around and browse and we then stopped at a latte art place for a 3D latte – superb and another Tokyo experience!

We were by then pretty hungry so Natalya found an Avocado kitchen and we had an avocado themed lunch – smoothie, avocado and salmon and possibly avocado based biscuits. By this time I was like Mr Creosote “just one more wafer thin mint” …… 

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As usual with the distractions of travelling and eating we hadn’t accomplished much off our list but we had seen a different side of Tokyo. We finished with one of the obligatory Harijuku ice creams before heading back to the hotel. We spent the evening there, actually having time to use the gym!

On Sunday Nat and I were up early for another gym session before breakfast. Breakfast was even better today – salmon and waffles plus the usual stuff. We then waddled up to the room to chill for a while before heading down to another gym session and then packing for Seoul.

2018