Today was a full day! We arrived at the port of Yokohama, Japan at 9:00 am and were cleared to get off at the ship shortly after 9:30. Upon disembarking the ship, we boarded a shuttle bus to the train station, and then caught a JR (Japanese Railway) commuter train into downtown Tokyo. This was a 45-minute ride into the city and our first stop was at a Tourist Information Center. The bilingual ladies there were extremely helpful and assisted us in planning our day.
Their office was situated adjacent to the Ginza shopping district. So, after we left their office, we proceeded to walk through this area, on our way to the Sony building. The Sony building houses a huge store exclusively housing Sony’s new products, some of which have yet to hit the market. This was any exciting stop. We saw and played with items such as Sony’s new MP3 Walkman, 3D TVs, and their yet to be released SLR digital camera.
After the Sony building, we walked to a huge “green space” in the middle of the city where the Emperor’s Palace (Japan’s White House) is located. While the area around the palace is beautiful, it was a little disappointing that the public can only view one little corner of one of the outlying buildings. Next we took the subway to Ueno. This part of Tokyo is one big park. In fact, it was China’s first park. We met up with a tour guide here that gave free walking tours of the area. Mr. Fuiji first gave us a Japanese history lesson, and then we began walking. He pointed out many sites, including museums, memorials, and places of famous battles. It was nice to have a guide for a short period of time. He then escorted us to the subway and refused to take any compensation for his guide services.
We took the subway to Asakusa, an area of Tokyo located on the Sumida River, where we purchased tickets and boarded a 45-minute river cruise through the city. This was also a good choice as it was a different way to view the city. Our boat passed under 14 of Tokyo’s city bridges, for which we had an English commentary explained the sights. This also avoided traveling the subway during afternoon rush hour.
After the boat trip, it was getting dark and we headed over to the Shinjuka area, where a visitor can ride up to the 45th floor of Tokyo Metropolitan Government building for a spectacular view of the city below. This attraction did not disappoint; by the time we arrived, the sun had set and the city lights were aglow. After taking in the view, we made our way back to Yokohama. We did make a slight error and ended up on the Express train…while much faster than the local train that we took into Tokyo, this particular train blew right past where we wanted to get off without ever stopping. So, got off at the first possible stop and took a local train back to the station in Yokohama. I guess if that was our only mistake all day long, then we didn’t do too bad. We took the subway back toward the ship and re-boarded just a little after 10:00 p.m. It was, indeed, a good full day in the metropolis of Tokyo; one that I surely won’t soon forget.
The Japanese are very orderly people. They vigilantly use crosswalks at the appropriate time, including ones that go across the intersection diagonally. When it’s time to walk, every goes! This is an intersection in the Ginza shopping district of Tokyo
The Sony Walkman debut at the Sony Building
The crowded subway going into Tokyo
Me by in the gardens of the Imperial Palace, with what little bit of the palace that can be seen by the public in the background
Origami cranes folded and strung into colorful paper chains
A group of school children gathering for their fieldtrip to the Tokyo Zoo
The Japanese have some high-tech toilets including such amenities at a seat warmer, a bum spray, a “powerful” deodorizer, and a fake flushing noise. I was especially intrigued by the fake flushing noise when depressing the music note button. I was hoping for some nice music, but I guess the function of this button is to create “normal” and “appropriate” noise for when your bathroom business might entail some bodily noises that could be embarrassing when heard by your neighbor in the next stall. The fake flushing noise is eco-friendly as it saves water by providing an imitation flush sound instead of the real flush usually used by people.
This spire is only one-third finished, but will one day be the tallest building in the world.
In Japan, everything can be found in a nearby vending machine, including hot chicken nuggets or French fries.
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