Parks, shrines, and crazy crossings - Wednesday in Tokyo

Today, Wednesday 2nd of October, is a day of parks, shrines and crazy crossings. A lovely day in various parts of Tokyo via the efficient metro system. So, let's begin.

Morning

I woke up at 3.30am - which has been my more or less regular Australia time of 4.30am (with the clock change). Still having been in bed since 8pm last night, this is a very long sleep for me.

I get up and load the photos from yesterday to Flickr and check and respond to the comments on there. 

Yesterday was the first day of the month, so I check the end of month details on my accounts - I had at least 45 minutes of fun bringing the spreadsheets and accounting software I use up to date.

Drew awoke at 6am and I made a cup of tea for us both. We then undertook our ablutions, ready to go down to breakfast for 7am.  

Breakfast

We travel down to Breakfast on the 28th floor (we are on the 31st), the photo below is the lovely view we have from the breakfast table. A bright, sunny Tokyo.

The buffet breakfast here has an amazing range of food, you are also able to choose a cooked item from the menu.

Drew started with some fruit

I added nuts to my fruit.

I also tried the bread selection, there were four different types of breads, a pan de champagne and a walnut bread made with rye flour.

For his main dish Drew choose an omelette with a side of pork sausage

While I opted for Two fried eggs over hard, sausage, bacon and a potato cake.

Drew was very pleased with the sweet selection here, these being a Strawberry Danish and Chocolate Danish.

And I finished off with Cream Cheese, Brie and Gruyere with a salty cheese biscuit.

Drew decided the sweet treats were so nice, he went back for another - this one a Blueberry Danish.

We went back up to the room at 7.35am and use the toilet. 

Japanese Toilets

Until this visit to Japan I had no idea how much I enjoyed the cool calming sense of a room temperature toilet seat. All my life I have had the experience of sitting down and having the warmth of the skin nicely cooled by the seat. I had not realised how much I enjoyed, nay relished this feeling, until it stopped being available!! Isn't it amazing what you take for granted, when I should have daily been counting my blessings for a cool toilet seat.

Here in Japan, every toilet seat, including the one in our room is heated to, what seems to me, to be an unreasonably high temperature. While the toilet has controls that will sprinkle, blast or otherwise wash your behind, nothing seemed to allow for the heat to be turned off or even down! Going to the toilet in this country is like being given a hurry up. I get the sense I should get off the seat before a fire occurs. When I feel you should have a chance to have a relaxing pleasure in the loo, not a rush. Poor Drew heard me complain about this every time I used the facilities! [Co-pilot's note: To give you an example, dear readers, "It's not nice, I've got third degree burns of my bum!!" and "oooh, oooh, oooohh, this is really uncomfortable."]

Shibuya 

We leave the hotel at 7.40am and buy a 24 hour ticket for the metro at only ¥600 each (£3). We catch the Marunouchi Line from Tokyo Station

and change on to the Hanzomon Line at Otemachi Station to Shibuya. The six and a bit mile journey only taking 40 minutes on the metro. 

to see the famous road crossing. The metro system, as well as being cheap, is clean and busy, with directions on maps and announcements in both Japanese and English, making it easy for us to navigate.

Shibuya Crossing

We have come to Shibuya to see the famous crossing, often called in English, Scramble Crossing. Shibuya Crossing is best known for the incredible 'scramble' that occurs every time the traffic lights turn red, stopping all vehicles in every direction to allow a huge wave of pedestrians to flood into the intersection for a few moments. I'd seen it on TV, but seeing it in real life was simply amazing.

Drew was particularly amused to see the people in Starbucks, overlooking the crossing, taking photos from there.

The mass of humanity that cross in five different directions at the same time is astounding. Here is a compilation of shots, which, I hope, give a sense of the rushing movement.

Not being sure how the compilation would work, I also used my phone to take a video of Drew crossing the road.

It really is a scramble.

Hachiko Statue

Our handy three days in Tokyo guide, which I'd downloaded a few weeks ago, suggested that, when visiting the Crossing, we also get a photo of the statue of Hachiko, a dog!

This dog has an interesting story retold in this BBC article more clearly than I could explain it. His story has even become a film with Richard Gere in the lead role.

Yoyogi Park

We cross back over the crossing and walk up the road called 2-chōme-1 Jinnan (don't ask me to explain Japanese road names, they are beyond me!) to Yoyogi Park. 

The spacious park has been a since 1967, and the area where it is located was the site of the Olympic Village for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, before that it was as a residential area for US military personnel and prior to that was a garden flavoured by the Meiji Empress, Shōken whose memorial stone is one of the sculptures in the park. Here is a taste of the images in the park including some wonderful fauna and huge trees. Strangely one of the statues is of Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god. It was set up at a ceremony to celebrate Japanese-Mexican relations:

Meiji Shrine

Having left the quiet of the park we soon arrived at the Meiji Shrine, here the peace and quiet was almost palpable. The many years of the shrine as a place of worship and respect seems to have infected the air with coolness and the area with a sense of peace. Even the quiet of the nearby park was exceeded by the reverence shown by everyone who is visiting the shrine.

The Meiji Shrine is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the deceased Emperor Meiji and his consort, Empress Shoken. The shrine was completed and dedicated to the Emperor and Empress in 1920, eight years after the death of the emperor and six years after the death of the empress. The royal couple were the first rulers of the restored Imperial Government after 700 years of feudal government in Japan when the country was ruled by the Shogunate, military rule. While the emperor's role in this period was purely titular. 

The Emperor was renowned for opening Japan up to the West and the French wine barrels opposite the Japanese sake barrels are an example of this. He liked the best of both.

Hedgehog Cafe

Having had such a lovely day so far following the guidance of the three days in Tokyo, we had less success with its next recommendation. This was to visit the Hedgehog Cafe

We found our way to the place, but on entering were pleased to find that they were full, as the smell of the place reminded me of a seedy petshop of my youth. What other elements of fir and feather were in the place in addition to hedgehogs I have no idea, but my feather and fur allergies were being actively triggered. My meanness might also have been trigged when I realised it was £14 for half an hour with the hedgepigs (to use the old English name!). A lucky escape to my mind.

Coffee

We found a more traditional, and very pleasant, cafe a few doors down, which was part of the Japanese Doutor Coffee chain. I'd noticed yesterday that when asking for an Americano, the question which is asked in Japan (like, do you want milk with that is asked in the UK) is hot or cold. My normal instinct is to ask for hot, but after walking in a 32C heat on a muggy day, I decided I'd go with cold today. A refreshing cup it was too.

Drew opted for his more traditional hot Latte.

I was intrigued, when visiting the toilets, to find that the coffee shop had a smoking room (possibly a Vaping room) hidden away, behind double glazing upstairs. I wondered why similar isn't on offer in the UK, but of course we still allow people to smoke on the streets, something that is banned in Japan. The warning signs on the door did mean it looked like a quarantine facility for people with a plague!

 

Shinjuku Gyoen Garden

The next location on our list for today was the Shinjuku Gyoen Gardens, a 1.5 mile walk from our coffee shop. We enjoyed the walk past busy shops and decorated streets.

and even down a shortcut which brought us past some houses with their washing on the line

until we arrived at the entrance to the gardens

The huge park was originally the Shogan's Tokyo residence and garden. It was converted by the Emporar into a botanical garden where the Imperial Family and guests could walk and entertain guests. It became a public park after World War II. Elements of it are very Japanese, but other parts are quite European, including a long strand of Popular trees. Here are some shots of it

Though there are many more on Flickr, starting here. 

Having entered through the Sendagaya Gate on the west, we left through the Okito Gate on the east, with the Shinjuku-gyoemmae metro station a short distance away. We caught the Marunouchi Line to our next destination which was near Shinjuku station.

Omoide Yokocho

Our final visit of the day was to Omoide Yokocho, which translates as memory lane, however it is known in English as Piss Alley. 

The lane started as an illegal drinking area in the late 1940s and was a renowned spot for cheap drinks and cheap food with small cabaret-style hostess bars. Due to the lack of restroom facilities, patrons would wander off and relieve themselves on the nearby train tracks, and it didn’t take long for Piss Alley to earn its name, but it is now rather gentrified.

Though it still has a graffiti area

and now even has its own toilets!

though like everywhere in Japan, there is still a set of very detailed rules:

Though as this electric bike parked on the no parking sign shows, not all Japanese people are as rule friendly as one assumes!

From Omoide Yokocho we headed back to the hotel, again on the Metro, this took us on the Marunouchi Line from Shinjuku Station, to Akasaka-Mitsuke Station where we change onto the Ginza line and travel seven stops to Nihombashi Station which is a half a mile walk back to our hotel.

We arrived back at the hotel at 3.30pm. Drew made use of the bath and, when he had finished, I used the shower as we both prepared for this evening's Michelin star meal - but that will be a post all to itself, so look out for it tomorrow!