Yep, after Australia we are going to another new country for us- Japan. Technically, it isn’t new because we have stayed here on layovers before, but this is our first REAL visit. We found direct business class flights using credit card points, so it was an easy 7.5 hours from Cairns, Australia to Tokyo. We are going from Australia that was super easy to understand, to Japan, which is going to take some getting used to. There is so much to learn so we are excited…. and really excited about seeing Tokyo first.
Tokyo can be overwhelming. We wanted our first day to be easy, so we booked a hotel in a touristy area (Asakusa), and then prebooked an express train from the airport. We had the tickets for the train and connecting subway on our phone but it took us a while to figure out how to get paper tickets that would allow us to go in the subway turnstiles. We have been in sooooo many subways in the world that it should have been easy for us but, Tokyo metro isn’t always easy. But we did it, and made it to our hotel just fine. The hotel didn’t have a staffed front desk, rather kiosks and a 3-D holograph that helped us check in after we scanned our passports. That was another first. I’m not sure if it was faster, but they didn’t have to pay anyone to give us our keys. Of course, we didn’t know who to ask for more pillows. The room was small with the bed up against the wall. Ugh…. but we made it work and we were in a fun neighborhood with tons of restaurants.
The next day, we had booked a “free” walking tour of Asakusa. Our Argentinean guide, who has lived in Tokyo for 10 years, gave 8 of us tourists a tour of our neighborhood. We saw the local temples and got refreshers on how to request good luck from the Buddhist and Shinto gods. She also showed us the best drinking, eating and shopping streets. Tokyo was beginning to feel not so overwhelming. We had some good meals and tried our first “hoppy’s”. It is non-alcoholic beer with a shot of vodka or gin. So alcoholic, non-alcoholic, beer. Not a big fan… but we have to try everything. The next day we paid for a food tour. I’m still not sure what I feel about food tours. We have had some great ones in South East Asia trying lots of new things but we also have seen some in Mexico and Spain where they are going to the same places that we would go and eat the same foods. This one was in Shinjuku which is one of the busiest tourist areas of the city. It was OK but probably not worth the $60 each.. We enjoyed talking to the others on the tour but we mostly ate food that we already know pretty well from in Japanese restaurants back in Seattle. Our Filipino/Japanese host was not really a foodie and didn’t have much to say about most of the food.
Or next 2 days, we went into super tourist mode and visited the Imperial Palace and Gardens and then a couple of museums. The Imperial Palace wasn’t really there anymore but we saw the old gates and guard buildings in the park nearby. The history was interesting but the sites and garden weren’t that exciting. We visited the National Gallery which had some ancient artifacts, old art and gave us a bit more of the history I needed to begin to understand the city and the country. We then checked out some 17th-19th century European art in the Western Art Gallery. They had some good stuff from well known artists but it was weird seeing it in Japan.
We had a good 5 nights in Tokyo, but that was enough. There is so much we didn’t see in this huge city that probably need to come back to see the many “unmissable” things that we missed. But for right now, we are anxious to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and head for a much smaller town without confusing subways. Our next stop is Matsumoto!