Tsukiji Fish Market

Quick visit to the fish market to see what the fuss is am about.

Tip of you are going from Shinjuku.  Head to Tsukijishiba  station on the Oedo line instead. It's direct with no changes required.

We didn't bother to go at 5am to queue to see the auction. Being a weekend thof people there for breakage as well. There are obviously some very popular stalls judging by the queues.

Interesting were the fish shops selling cuts of fish as well as making up sashimi for customers on the spot.  Can't get fresher than that I guess.

Mt Fuji day tour

Well that was a long day but at least most of it was on a coach rather than lots of walking.

The coach ride to Mt Fuji takes quite a while as it's a long way. Leaving Hamamatsucho at 9.15 we only got to the 5th station of Mt Fuji close to midday.

Along the way we were lucky there was a good view of Mt Fuji as it was a nice sunny day and the peak was not obscured by cloud. Unfortunately I was on the wrong side of the bus!

The 5th station is 2300m above sea level so we were pretty much above the clouds.

After that it was down to the foot of the mountains before a drive to Hakone for a short cruise on Lake Ashinoko and a cable car ride up to the top of Owakudani.

It was quite late by the time we got off the cruise and just made the last ride up at 4.30 pm. the sun was already setting and the clouds were rolling in as we walked along the peak giving us just enough time for a quick look before it got too cold and time for the last ride down.

After that it was a coach ride to Odawara to catch the Shinkansen back to Tokyo which took 35 minutes. Others on the tour who didn't book the Shinkansen option then had another 2 hour coach ride back to Tokyo.

Back to Shinjuku and had a nice ramen dinner. Being a Friday night most places were busier than normal and the little restaurant we wandered into seemed to churn covers pretty quickly. I just had to have amount taste of ramen with bone broth. Heavenly. Even came with a side of grief rice.

Tokyo Day 5 Trip to Mt Fuji

Booked a day tour to Mt Fuji with Hato Bus, with an English speaking guide. Tour takes us up to the 5th station of Mt Fuji and then on to Lake Ashinoko for a cruise and cable car ride,  or as they call it,  the ropeway.

Tokyo Day 4 Thursday 16th

It's Ghibli Museum day today.

Up and our early as our tickets were for 10 am and it will take us about an hour to get there.

Not knowing much about Ghibli myself but it's the daughter's big wish to visit. The tickets are in huge demand and we got our tickets a months ago when they were released. Not too pricey at ¥1000 pet adult.

The place certainly is popular! The queues to get in seemed never ending. Unfortunately photos aren't allowed wiring the buildings but I can see why amine fans will love  this place.

The museum itself isn't very big but they do cram a fair bit in there. even so we were done in about 2.5 hours and Ray to head off to the next place.

Arvo and we thought we'd check out the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi Hills. there is a special exhibition relating art and the universe, entry fee was ¥1600. Was it worth it? Meh.some bits were interesting other bits not so. Not a big place again,on the 52th floor but you could pay for a different ticket to also access the observation deck. Not sure if it's worth it as we plan to visit the Tokyo Metropolitan Government buildings in Shinjuku tonight where you can get up to the observatory for free.

Tokyo Day 3 Wednesday 16th

First up in the morning was an aborted attempt to visit the Tsukiji Fish market. they are closed on certain Wednesdays and today was one of them. So we went to Tokyo tower instead.

Looks like the Eiffel Tower. Except that is red.

On the way there we observed some eager parents surreptitiously following their little ones as they are taken on a day trip by their carers. it was really cute the way the parents followed at a "safe" distance trying to stay out of sight.

For lunch we decided to try an all you can eat buffet at Ueno-Okacimachi. It's part of a chain of family restaurants across Tokyo with a selection of sushi and sashimi, steamboat, barbecue and desserts. You pay for the time you want to stay in there and we paid ¥1728 per adult for 90 minutes at lunchtime, ¥1512 for a uni student.

The chain is translated from Japanese to Stamina Taro. The store we went to in Ueno-Okachimachi had Next in English next to its Japanese name.
http://edo-ichi.jp/stamina/shop_search/6493.html


After lunch we wandered through the night markets there as we headed to Akihabara, which is the personification of Japanese Amine. you could spend days in the various stores checking out all things amine. Animate has two large stores that we saw and you just seem to keep going from one floor to another floor dedicated to different amine stories,  genres or whatever it is they are categorised as.

And obviously it's also about cosplay and maid cafes and maid casinos, karaoke etc.

Tomorrow we have tickets to the Ghibli museum. Booked months in advance.

Tokyo Day 2 Tuesday 15th

First full day in Tokyo. wandered about with no set plan apart from wanting to explore the Shinjuku area and perhaps a bit of shopping.

Top tip, Seria  is a chain of 100 yen shops (¥108 yen after tax) that has lots of nice stuff. A little more upmarket than Daiso and with lots of household stuff. Why mention it?  This being Japan it's worth a browse if only to check out the very clever products and household gadgets that Japan is famous for. Oh and cute as well if you are in the hunt for small presents to take home. Didn't take any photos but will do the next time I happen upon another one.

Lunch time and we noticed a tempura place that looked busy so we popped in. Good value tempura sets and lunch for the cost us ¥2200.

One of the restaurants in our hotel complex with a clever theme for a spot of fun. Catch your own fish dinner. 

Catch a fish and the chefs will cook it in two of four different ways including sashimi. 

Tokyo Day 1 Monday 14th

Arrived at Tokyo main and transferred to the Chuo line to get to Shinjuku. Our hotel is about a 15 minute walk away.

Checked in and had a breather in the room. Room temperature is set at 25 degrees! Couldn't get it changed obviously as it's set for the hotel so all we could do is open a window to cool the room down.

The thing is with the Japanese they like it warm. You see them out with their jackets and coats and it's only 18 degrees outside, just because it's autumn. (actually it was similar in Taipei)

Anyway we went walking and ended up having dinner here. The only English in the place is on the board outside!

Fresh sushi made for you as you stand around the sushi bar. Literally standing room only and only space for about a dozen people at a time.

Couldn't chit chat not knowing the language but lots of pointing and face gestures got us different stuff to try. The old guy who served us was really cool and it's obviously an art form what they do. All seafood and a lot of it raw. Very raw but very fresh. Quite nice really but takes some getting used to if you get squeamish about eating raw stuff.  I have been waiting to try sushi since we got to Japan and finally got my wish and certainly was not disappointed.

Also saw this place, the steaks and wings looked really good but we didn't try it, yet. Maybe let the ladies go shopping one day and I'll go have a beer while I wait.

Off to Tokyo

Well that's Nagoya done. Was it worth stopping by? Really there's not a lot to see or do. The lack of other tourists around was obvious and spending a Sunday there when there was a local festival on helped but really we spent the afternoon of our arrival visiting Nagoya Castle and the Science museum and that wad pretty much it.

The lack of masses of tourist probably contributes to the fact that there isn't as much infrastructure to accommodate visitors. The number of times I've had to lug my luggage up and down stairs in subway stations isn't funny.

But we are now on the Shinkansen Nozomi again headed to Tokyo. About 350kms in 1 hour and 40 minutes. By my calculation that's edging up to an average speed of 200kmh. Factored in two stops along the way and the top speed must be pretty impressive.

We will be in a hotel the Shinjuku area. That should be interesting.

Nagoya

Why are we in Nagoya? Not really sure. Apparently most tourist will travel between Kyoto and Tokyo and just by pass Nagoya so we thought what the heck, we'll stop for a look see.

Nagoya castle is supposed to be one of the three most significant castles in Japan so we hoped onto the subway to see what the fuss was all about. There was some sort of festival there earlier in the day so we missed most of it since we only got in in the early afternoon.

Apart from that there's the Science museum withn the giant sphere which we walked to see but didn't enter.

After that it was pretty much back to the hotel for a break from seeing the sights, a rest day if you will.

We did find a nice restaurant for dinner though. it's amazing what you find when you wander about and go up and down stairs exploring.

We enjoyed that dinner and it only cost ¥1,720 or about A$25.

Tomorrow is take it easy day. Checkout of our hotel is midday so we can take our time before we head out to Tokyo.

Nagoya

Why are we in Nagoya? Not really sure. Apparently most tourist will travel between Kyoto and Tokyo and just by pass Nagoya so we thought what the heck, we'll stop for a look see.

Nagoya castle is supposed to be one of the three most significant castles in Japan so we hoped onto the subway to see what the fuss was all about. There was some sort of festival there earlier in the day so we missed most of it since we only got in in the early afternoon.

Apart from that there's the Science museum withn the giant sphere which we walked to see but didn't enter.

After that it was pretty much back to the hotel for a break from seeing the sights, a rest day if you will.

We did find a nice restaurant for dinner though. it's amazing what you find when you wander about and go up and down stairs exploring.

We enjoyed that dinner and it only cost ¥1,720 or about A$25.

Tomorrow is take it easy day. Checkout of our hotel is midday so we can take our time before we head out to Tokyo.