It’s
a brilliant idea to combine Seoul and Tokyo in one trip, it’s only a 1.5hr
flight. Why did I not think of this earlier?
This
isn’t my first time in Japan, in fact it’s my 4th time since 2009 July Tokyo, 2013 July
Sapporo, and 2014 July Osaka. Notice how all previous visits were in July? I’m
glad this time I’m not in the blazing heat, and I can shop for autumn and
winter clothing for once. As much as Japan pretty much has the perfect subway
& train system, there is still a lot of walking involved for transfers as
well as to see the beautiful streets and architecture, so not being in 30C+
heat really allowed me to wander around comfortably.
4
days seem pretty short for a Tokyo trip, but my main focus is put on visiting
shrines, food, and shopping. It will take more time if you also want to go to
Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea, and also if you want to spend more time in
specific neighborhoods or the outlying areas near Tokyo. Here's a snapshot of
what I did:
*Day one is marked in bold
- Shrines: Nezu Shrine (Nezu), Hanazono Shrine (Shinjuku), Gotokuji Temple (Gotokuji), Sensoji Temple (Asakusa), Togo Shrine (Harajuku), and Meijijingu Shrine (Harajuku)
- Shopping: Harajuku's Takeshita Street, Shibuya's 109, Asakusa Area, Tokyo JR Underground Shopping Street, and Mitsui Outlet Park Tama-Minami Osawa Branch
- Sight Seeing: Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Sky Tree Tower (from Asakusa)
- Targeted food items: Japanese curry, Sashimi, Yakitori, Ikayaki, Tonkatsu, any kind of Don (Rice bowls) and Green Tea/Red Bean desserts.
- Special Agenda: Owl Cafe
If
it’s your first time in Tokyo, just looking at all the names and lines on the
Subway line probably makes you more lost than you already are. The key is to
use the JR (Japan Rail) circular line as the guideline. And the few big
stations that have multiple lines crossing for transfers are Shinjuku,
Otemachi, and Ikebukuro. Although the railway and subway share stations and
tracks, if you transfer between the two there will be extra costs. Same thing
if you transfer between different railway lines. For example when transferring
from Odakyu Railway to Keio Railway you will need to exit the gates and pay for
2 separate tickets.
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Straight
after getting out of customs, the first thing I did was found the subway information
booth and bought a 3-day Tokyo Subway ticket.
These things cost ¥1,500, and if you do the
math that’s ¥500 per day, and the lowest fare is
¥170 which means 3 individual trips. It’s totally worth it. And you don’t have
to shuffle around and look for coins at every stop to buy a new ticket each
time. You can also get a Pasmo Card (IC sensor chipped) if you will be
switching lines often and are staying for more days. One thing about the Tokyo
Subway Ticket package though is that it’s not applicable for any railways,
including JR Yamanote line (circular railway). But it’s still pretty convenient
transferring between the metro lines.
From
Haneda Airport to where I was staying (Ikebukuro) took about 45 minutes or so?
I did choose the furthest point in the city to reach both Haneda or Narita. But
last time I stayed at Ikebukuro and loved it. It’s not really a tourist spot,
so it’s just full of restaurants, malls, business buildings and hotels. This
means I get to enjoy the full experience where everyone around me is speaking
Japanese, no annoying tour groups. Another good thing about Ikebukuro that it
is a very big subway transfer station with 8 transfer lines. Fun fact, it is
the second business railway station in
the world (after Shinjuku) with a daily passenger count of 2.71 million! With such a large amount of passengers going
through the station, it also has very nice underground shopping and
restaurants. The whole underground commercial space is called “Echika”.
Japan
is famous for being structured, organized, or you can also say inflexible and
cannot-bend-the-rules. I arrived at my hotel at 1pm, and check in wasn’t until
2pm. So I just had to leave my luggage with the hotel, and head back to the
station to get some essentials as well as grab lunch. My first meal was at this
place called “Soup Stock Tokyo” which is right near exit C6. They served soup
along with combos with Japanese curry. I had forgotten how tasty Japanese curry
was. It has a more subtle taste compared to Thai and Indian curry, and is
sweeter in flavor. I got my curry along with Seafood Bisque soup and an
iced-tea. This was only ¥1,150! Unbelievable for how expensive I imagined Tokyo
to be. If only my work complex had this shop.
After
picking up some conditioner (you know, because hotels always have crappy ones),
contact lens solution and face wash, I returned to the hotel to check in.
They’ve actually already brought my luggage to my room, how nice! It was by no
means any fancy 5 star hotel, it was just a standard business hotel. But the
service in Japan is just so considerate of everything. They also asked me to
choose some complimentary bath salt. Baths are essential in Japan; people take
them everyday. And since my apartment in HK is too small to fit a bath, of
course I am going to take an advantage of all the baths I can take in Japan.
First stop – Nezu Jinja
Nezu
(C14) is just west of Ueno station. Although it’s still within Tokyo, it was a
more quiet and residential neighborhood. It’s hard to imagine that Ueno is just
right beside it. People were on bikes, and there were small roads with rows of
trees planted on either side. There weren’t that many people at Nezu Shrine as
it isn’t well known by tourists. As I stepped in the outer gates I could hear
the sound of trees, their leaves ruffled by the wind. I miss that, open space,
trees, and peace. Inside Nezu Shrine there were those red gates, like the
famous Fushimi Inari temple in Kyoto. However this is in the middle of Tokyo,
so it was just a mini version with 2 sections. Nonetheless, it’s one of my
favorite type of architecture, if you would call it that, from temples. The
main building was a maroon red with bright gold linings. It looked like a
gorgeous silk kimono in a temple form. There were maybe less than 10 people
there. But I saw an old Japanese lady praying for a long time, and maintaining
a deep bow more than 90 degrees. I just admire the respect that people put into
these traditions and culture.
Throw
the coin(s) > Ring the bell (if there is one) > two bows > make a wish
> two claps > one bow
In
the late evening, I choked my credit card (exaggerated) at 109, a famous
shopping mall for young adult’s fashion at the heart of Shibuya. The stores
there will sell outfits from the latest edition of all the major fashion
magazines like Vivi, CanCam, Popteen. There’s just floor after floor of
clothes, shoes, handbags, and accessories. It’s only day 1 in Japan, and I’ve
picked up a pair of shoes, one handbag, and 3 outfits. Oh dear, I hope it fits
in my carry on. Before heading to dinner, I found a place in the Shibuya
station around 3-4 floors above ground to film the famous Shibuya cross walk.
It is spectacular to watch in person. I must’ve stood there for a good 8 rounds
of crossing.
For
dinner, I stumbled into an Izakaya in this building on the right hand side
facing 109. The name of this place is called “Kimuraya”. If you don’t know what
an Izakaya is, it’s basically a bar/restaurant for the Japanese businessmen to
hangout after work. It’s probably the one time this place has gotten a customer
like me, a girl traveling alone, with a big bag full of shopping I just did. I
was placed into a private booth with a wooden sliding door, great!! I get some
privacy so it’s less awkward. I ordered some Toro Sashimi, a couple of
Yakitori, and also Ikayaki (grilled squid). And don’t forget the pint of beer!
It was satisfying to not have to share. When it comes to these food items, you
will need to bargain me hard if you want a piece of the Sashimi I ordered.
That calls it a day. I’m absolutely exhausted
and so are my feet from walking around.
Hot bath saves the day.
Next on Day 2 in Tokyo, I’ll be covering Hanazono Shrine, Gotokuji Temple, Meijijingu Shrine, Mitsui Outlet Park (Tama-Minami Osawa), Harajuku’s Takeshita Street, and Wako Tonkatsu in Ikebukuro.
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I
absolutely love the train system in Japan. Feel free to skip this section if
you aren’t interested, but I am going to dedicate the rest of this section to
my observations as well as appreciation to the Japanese railway system.
>
On passenger etiquette
First
of all, people have very good etiquette when it comes to walking around. You
always stay on the left, which means even if there are 2.71 million people
transferring; you will not bump into anyone. It was very crowded, but no one
every bumped into me. People always stand still on the left side of the
escalators and the right side is for people to walk up/down if in a hurry. The
subway car is completely silent. People don’t chit chat or shout of talk on
phones and you can hear the announcements clearly. Certain stations have gates,
and for those above ground with no gates, there will be staff standing at the
edge of the middle section of the platform to communicate with hand signals to
the train operators on whether or not it’s clear to close the door and depart.
Even without gates, I don’t see any trash on the tracks, in contrast with New
York City subway, which is the nastiest public transportation system I’ve ever
seen.
> On the system itself
There
are “high speed escalators” in certain stations, sounds like my type of thing.
Depending on which subway lines you are on, each station plays a different
melody when doors are closing. The two ends of each train car are for the
elderly, disabled, pregnant, and women traveling with young children. Those
areas require you to have your cellphones off. In other parts of the station
your cellphones must be on silent mode. There’s also a female only subway car
during rush hour to prevent unwanted physical contact. And it is probably the
most extensive and efficient train system I’ve ever seen. Take Shinjuku Station
for example, it has 16 tracks serving 11 different lines with 2 directions each
for the JR lines. It has 10 tracks serving the Odakyu line for the various
train speed types (Limited Express, Rapid Express, Semi-Express etc) It has 7
tracks shared between the Keio line and Toei Subway line. And last but not
least it has 2 underground tracks for the Marunouchi Subway line. That is 35
tracks in one station, imagine how many stops you can reach from Shinjuku
directly without transfer. It not only needs to serve each line at both
directions, but also at least 5 different modes of express for each railway
line. The efficiency level and volume it can handle puts any other railway
station to shame.
> Some more fun facts
1.
There’s approximately 27,000 km or railway covering Japan serving 22.24 billion
passengers (stats from 2006).
(Compared to Germany which has 40,000 km of railway serving 2.2 billion
passengers per year)
2.
Japan is home to 46 of the world’s 50 busiest stations.
3.
Being one of the most punctual railway systems in the world, the average delay
on the Shinkansen in 2012 was only 18 seconds.
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