Japan Day 4: Tokyo

We started off our day with a quick subway ride down to Meiji Jingu. This shrine to Emperor Meiji is surrounded by very beautiful grounds, and the entrance is particularly cool:

The shrine area has a place to hang prayers written on wooden boards. Most people write generic wishes for good health and happiness, though you can see that some people get a little creative. I personally like “Wish for optimal work/life balance for everyone” and “I shall hope that IGN’s review on Sonic Lost World is wrong when I play it (IGN are bias people)”.

You can’t take picture of the interior of any shrines, but the outside is pretty:

After the peaceful shrine experience, we walked down the road a bit to experience pretty much the exact opposite: Harajuku. We walked the trendy tree-lined Omotesando and then came back via Takeshita Dori, a super crowded and frantic area with odd stores and interesting fashion.

This used to be the center of cosplay culture in Japan, but in recent years that has dissipated. After we had our fill of Harajuku, we headed down to Shibuya for lunch. We went to a small conveyor belt sushi place fully populated by locals, but I felt weird taking pictures so unfortunately I can’t show you anything. The sushi was quite good and actually really cheap! We managed to fill up for about $10.

From Shibuya we took a subway to Asakusa, a major historical area of Tokyo. There are lots of old-looking things in this area, though many of them have been heavily renovated or entirely rebuilt after being destroyed by wars or earthquakes throughout the years. We walked under the giant red lantern that starts the path to Sensoji Temple:

Then we walked down the path, which was filled with small shops and food vendors:

 

The temple grounds looked beautiful in the setting sun:

Once again, we shifted the cultural opposite and rode the subway to Akihabara. This area is known for its massive electronics shops and intense anime culture:

There are tons of maid cafes around (cafes where cute women in maid outfits wait on you) and lots of stores selling anime and video games. We visited a massive store filled with random items called Don Quixote. There are a few around Tokyo, and they really are just filled with a random selection of items, from costumes to groceries to glow sticks. We also explored Yodobashi Camera, which is a five-story store devoted entirely to electronics.

We were tired and hungry after a long day of sight-seeing, so we headed back to Shinjuku and stopped at Ichiran Ramen. This chain of ramen restaurants uses tonkotsu broth, a very thick pork-based soup broth, and allows you to customize most features of your soup.

There is no human interaction involved; ramen is ordered via a ticket vending machine, customized on a form, and sent to the kitchen. You sit in individual cubicle-like booths and the food is delivered quickly to your booth. We loved it, and we’re definitely planning on going back before we leave.