Tokyo

It was quite an experience arriving in the biggest city in the world.  Tokyo is all that we expected but the real Japan we dreamed about we saw in Kyoto.  Tokyo is a big Manhattan with impeccable cleanliness and polite people.  The shear size is what is shocking.

Akihabara area, where all the electronics stores are and also all the "maid cafes" where girls dress like cos-play dolls/little maids in very ornate and elaborate costumes and all the cafes are super cute and the food is like little animals and they put on a kind of show and compliment you a lot.  It is fun for the whole family, I hear, but we didn't spring for the 3000 yen cover to go and eat ice cream, which we are trying hard to avoid:)

This picture shows a poster of the "maids" and if you look closely, you can see one of them speaking in a microphone trying to get you to come into the cafe.

This is a sample of how the Harajuku Girls dress also - because it is not just cutesy cos-play and maid stuff, it can be more punk.... Normally they go on weekends to the bridge by Harajuku Station (close to the Yoyogi Park entrance).  We were there on a Wednesday, so didn't see them.  That said, they are everywhere and walk around in the crowd.  We learned later that it probably would be ok to photograph them, but in the end, didn't take any good shots :(  

One of the many electronic stores in Akihabara.  They have stuff we had no idea existed.  And they were spread out through 7 floors!

TMG Tokyo Municipal Government Building

View from TMG's 45th floor open to the public.

The Subway/Train system is very well organized.  The map above shows where you are and the fare for all the stations in the system from your origin.  You pay the according fare, insert the ticket at the entry gate and again when you exit.  If you paid less than you should have, a chime will sound and you have to complete the fare due.

The entrance of Yoyogi Park

Barrels of sake in the Yoyogi Park

The Meiji Jingu Shrine which is in honour of the late emperor and empress and I believe their burial place.

A newly married couple taking their wedding photos at the Meiji Jingu Shrine.  What you don’t see is the 10 or 15 different tourists who accosted the poor bride to get her to pose for a photograph with them!  When Cassio and I entered the Shrine, it looked as if there was a geisha who was there for the purpose of posing for photos until we saw the rest of the wedding party.  How embarrassing! The bride and groom were far too polite to refuse, but it was one of those moments when I was ashamed to be North American. The photo Cassio took is one when the couple were posing for their own photographer and we figured that wasn’t so bad.  After all, she looks really pretty!

These "fish flags." are everywhere and are quite pretty.

The famous Shibuya Crossing! It actually didn't seem all that big or busy but it was early in the day.

Near Shibuya

The massive central building housing the Tsukiji Fish Market – which is surrounded by shops and restaurants for locals and tourists, but really, here you get the sense that you had better stay out of the way of the many men driving small fork truck type vehicles – transporting fish from one place to another.  It is very much a working fish market that turned into a tourist attraction.

Look at the solid, lovely pieces of tuna!

More food!

Restaurants in the fish market.

So many people here wear surgical masks on the street that they must be poking fun at themselves with this cute frog in a souvenir stand.

More of the Outer Market by the Tsukiji Fish Market

Asakusa crossing to the Shrine with a view of the “Skytree”  - We didn’t bother going up, having been up inside the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (TMG) the day before, and having already seen the spectacular vista of huge Tokyo from there.

 The Senso-Ji Shrine itself, while enormous and beautiful, lacked all of the grandeur and solemnity that we experienced with all other Shrines and Temples we visited.  It was jammed with non-Japanese tourists and this created an entirely different atmosphere.

Buddhas near the Shrine.

Serious tourist trap in the old Asakusa neighbourhood by the Shrine – We haven’t seen this many white people added all together in the rest of our trip!

Unexpected Japanese “barge type bars” along the canal.  They looked very rustic.