Tokyo, Japan (Ueno District)

The best way to get around Tokyo is the amazingly large and supremely punctual metro. I love taking metros as a way to explore a city. This one had me pretty intimidated at first. Luckily, when South Korea/Japan hosted the World Cup in 2002, the metro was updated and made more traveler friendly. They have the districts and stops labeled and spelled phonetically along with a number and color coded system. It's still massive, but it would have felt impossible without those updates. And, apparently Drew is a savant when it comes to tackling Asian metro systems, so we ended up going all over Tokyo. We didn't even get lost!
The Tokyo Metro costs anywhere from 160-280 Yen, roughly $1.75-$3.00 and you can go everywhere. We took advantage everyday.

On our first full day, we went to Ueno, a district near Asakusa. Ueno is a great example of how a place can feel old, peaceful and spiritual, despite the fact that it is surrounded by huge skyscrapers, millions of people, markets, arcades, etc. The peaceful park area of Ueno is a great place for a stroll. It is one of the most popular places for cherry blossom viewing.
This is in the Ueno Park area:

After you make your wish, you can ring the bell so that it will be heard.

And, you can write your wish on these wooden plaques.

I believe these papers are for wishes as well:

I could see why this would be a popular place for cherry blossom viewing. We were just a little too early. We can only imagine how amazing this would look in full bloom.

Incense at the entrance to a temple:

Inside the temple. It's good to sit and quiet the soul.


Just a peaceful scene at the park. There were some cute, fuzzy ducks swimming around. A beautiful day.

A little old with a little new:

Everybody enjoys the blossoming trees.

There were temples all over the place. On all sides!

We got to the end of our beautiful walk in the park and came upon the Tokyo National Museum. They have some wonderful Buddhist art.


Feeling a bit tired from all the walking? How about a warm can of coffee from a vending machine? Oh, yes, thank you.

After exiting the park area, we wondered around the busy shopping area. It is such a fun experience to walk around areas like this: the lights, people and sounds, the busyness, the many things that confuse us...



We thought that this was a game where you have dinner with your family and you have to have the right table manners to win the game.... maybe?

Some school girls:

Tokyo, Japan (Asakusa District)

I'm going to do my best to break down the Japan trip into sections by areas we were lucky enough to visit. There was so much to see! I'll begin with Tokyo!

In Tokyo, we stayed in Asakusa, a district northeast of central Tokyo near the Sumida River. It was a great place to have as a home base in order to explore as much of Tokyo as possible. Asakusa itself has a lot to offer. It is famous for the Senso-ji Buddist Temple, which offers some amazing architecture, meditating, shopping and plenty of street vendors selling delicious treats.

This is at the airport. 7 Eleven ATM?? What??
The Khaosan Smile. Not a bad place to stay on a budget. We stayed there the first night and then moved on to the Khaosan Samurai, a great place to stay (still on a budget)! They are owned by the same company, but the Samurai wins!

The vending machines are plentiful! There are blue and red buttons below the item you are looking to purchase to let you know if it will be cold or hot. Mmmm...hot can of coffee for 100 yen? I think so!

This is the infamous breakfast where we thought we could handle traditional Japanese food for every meal. That didn't last long. Miso soup and rice are fine, but we could never get used to the raw egg in a bowl. We did some research and apparently, you aren't more likely to get sick eating a raw egg opposed to a cooked one. It just seems like you would. Even so, we couldn't bring ourselves to eat it. There was also some really sticky stuff in another bowl that remains a mystery.

We stayed just across the Sumida River from the Senso-ji and all the action. There is a blue bridge, red bridge and green bridge near by which helped color code things for us. Cruises are available on the river and appeared to be quite popular.

A squiggly pedestrian sign:


Part of the Senso-ji. I am fascinated by pagodas! They are the coolest!

There were some very fashionable people in Japan.

And some traditional people as well.

Before entering a temple, it is custom to wash your hands and mouth and then purify yourself with incense. You are to wave the smoke from the incense over your face and head.

Here is the inside of the Senso-ji. I snapped a picture of it when there were no people in front of it, which is rare thing. We returned to the temple on another day and could barely fit inside because of all the people around. We got our fortune here too, so if you are in the mood for a laugh, ask Drew or I how that went... ;)

The grounds around the temple.



Shopping:

I like the happy bus at this bus stop.

Me goofing around outside an arcade:

This is a pachinko parlor. The level of noise inside this place is staggering!

Plastic food outside a restaurant: very helpful for non-Japanese speakers!

Sushi-go-round! Every plate of sushi has a different price. As the sushi goes around, you grab what you want and stack up your used plates. They know what to charge you when you decide you are done by counting the plates and looking at the design of the plates. Genius!

We saw many people wearing the surgeon mask in Japan. It's the type of thing you couldn't see becoming popular in the U.S, but it is socially accepted and even considered polite there.

That weird golden thing is the Asahi beer headquarters. In the building just next to it is a lovely cafe on the 22nd floor with quite a view (we made it up there later in the trip).
Okay, that's all of Asakusa for now. We return there to complete our trip and have lots of fun!

JAPAN!!!!!!!!

I knew that Japan would be interesting and different and cool to see, but I didn't realize how much freaking fun it would be!!! Seriously, we had a blast! Every time we thought we were worn out and couldn't possibly visit another city or another temple or experience any more, Japan would show us something so unique and amazing that it would energize us and get us ready to tackle another day. Tokyo IS a city that must be experienced! And, the Kansai region a must see. The cities were packed full of people, lights, food and entertainment. Vegas pales in comparison. Yet, the temples, shrines are gardens are so peaceful, it's hard to believe the city exists so close outside of the walls. It is a place for meditation, trying new things, eating, singing, hiking, shopping, staring in awe at the bright lights and millions of people - you name it!

This is my first Japan blog post and it is just to give you a little into to the trip. I'll get some more pictures and info about the places in posts to come. Welcome to Japan!!