I woke at about 9.30am and got my things together. From Asakusa Station I caught a train to Tokyo Station where my day’s itinerary began. I walked through the Wandenkura Fountain Park to the Imperial Palace, home to Japan’s emporer and the Imperial family. You can only get into the gardens so I had a nose around there for a few minutes, at one point hearing the Imperial Guard practicing kendo nearby. Had I not read in my book to anticipate this I’d probably have thought there was a mass torture going on, it was just constant screaming. I got a train to Otemachi and transfered on another train to Ueno, and another back to Asakusa. I walked along to the Sensoji temple. While I was there a crowd was gathering so I thought I’d go and see what the fuss was. A Japanese man apprached me and asked if I was aware of what was happening, then told me there was a popular Japanese pop star coming to the temple to pray and perform a show. She came out with half a dozen geisha and I watched that for a while, before catching another train.
Oduba was my next visit, a man-made island where you’ll actually find a beach. It’ no Bondi or Nai Thon but it makes a change from skyscraper after skyscraper. After getting lost for about 20 minutes I found the famous Toyota complex. It’s a big, extremely modern building where if you want you can push a button and have automated elevators present a brand new car to you ready for test driving. Also inside they had a showcase of their GT cars and the Toyota F1, along with Gran Turismo gaming simulators and other such modern facilities. Another train took me round to the Fuji Television building, a massive, impressive looking structure overlooking the Rainbow Bridge. It was getting on for 4pm and my final stop for the day was the hectic metropolis of Shinjuku. This place is as modern as you like with huge shopping malls, endless neon lights and skyscrapers so tall I never got far enough away from them to fit them into camera shot. The train station here is one of the busiest in the world handling over two million people a day. My first must-see was Kabuki-cho, Shinjuku’s red light district. Very little of it is geared for foreigners so unfortunately I don’t have any sordid tales to tell. I was looking for a sports bar I’d heard of that might be replaying the England game but I somehow got off-track and wandered about a mile in the opposite direction. About 45 minutes and some very tired legs later I found the place and ordered a well deserved pint of Stella Artois, along with some kind of chicken and beansprout dinner, which was tasty. The England game wasn’t on but I got them to put it on and chilled out there for a couple of hours.
I was a little tipsy upon entering Shinjuku Station and struggled to work out which train I needed to catch. I knew I couldn’t get directly back to Asakusa, I’d have at least one transfer. There was so many platforms and lines and people and trains that in the end I just kind of hopped on one to see where it took me. I ended up at a smaller station with less things to confuse me so I got back on the right track and two more trains later I was back at Asakusa. I must’ve boarded two dozen trains since I got to Tokyo and I haven’t once been confident I was getting on the right one, but I always have done. Haven’t gone wrong once. If I am going to get it wrong though it’s bound to happen this morning when I need to get to Narita airport to catch my flight back home. So, mum, dad, if I don’t appear out of the arrivals gate tonight it’s because I’m still going round in circles on Tokyo’s extensive rail network.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I didn’t have enough time here. You can’t experience a culture in three days. And although I’ve enjoyed Tokyo, I can’t help but be on a downer because it’s the very end of my trip. Thoughts about re-entering the ‘real world’ have clouded my mind and taken the emphasis off of what I’m here for. But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. I look forward to seeing everybody I’ve missed in the last five months. I’ll post some kind of evaluation of my travels when I’m home. Until then, sayonara!
has it all ended so soon? wow! must catch up asap.