Tokyo Again 16th April

 

We docked very early this morning – which meant a degree of noise and vibration which woke us briefly.


After breakfast we went ashore. The plan had been to take the shuttle bus to Shinagawa station. However a hundred or so other people had the same idea – mostly disembarking Japanese people, as it’s a gateway station for the bullet train and the rest of the island. While we were queuing, Lynn befriended the English women in front of us so we pooled our resources and got a taxi to Shimbashi station (it being closer) where we got an all-day ticket for the metro region and got on the Yamanote line. This runs around inner Tokyo in a loop and was a good way to get close to a few attractions.

We got off at Meguro and walked down to the river. This is a famous cherry blossom viewing area, and though the blossoms are past their best it was still lovely.


We walked back to the train and went on to Shibuya, mostly just to see the crossing next to the station and the surrounding billboards and shops. We went to the top of the Magnet building where an entry ticket also buys you a drink.


We went one station further to Harajuku. First we went down the adjacent shopping street. This is meant to be a hotspot for alternative culture, but it’s partly been overtaken by tourists. About half the shops sell clothes (both alternative and souvenir types) and the other half sell food, most often crepes, toffee apples etc. Scattered amongst these were cafes featuring cats, dogs, piglets, otters and hedgehogs.

Wandering onto the main round we passed a shoe shops and Lynn got some sneakers. By this time we pretty tired, but Tokyo doesn’t seem to go in for benches or chairs very much. We crossed the road planning to sit in the park, but found ourselves in the gardens of the Meiji shrine. This was verdant and calm but involved a lot more walking. After visiting the actual temple we went into the inner garden and at least had a seat for a few minutes before making our way back to the station.


We took the train anticlockwise this time, back to Shinagawa. The plan was to take the shuttle bus back, but because we didn’t come on it we couldn’t work out where it stopped. After walking a long way we eventually gave up and took a taxi. This still ended up a little more complicated because he didn’t understand our directions and took us to a ferry terminal – fortunately still on Odaiba and only a couple of kilometers from the ship, so we made it back eventually and collapsed in our room.

I am posting this before dinner, but the shows look like a repeat pof the last leg so we'll likely come back to our romm and watch a movie afterwards.



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