Asakusa Taito

First full day in Tokyo!

Still suffering from from jet-lag so we were up around 4am. Decided to make today a 'tourist day' so we jumped in a cab and headed straight for the Tsukiji Fish Market. I cannot begin to describe the organized chaos that this place is at 6am. You cannot stand still for moment without be run over by a bike/cart/ …

As it was our last day in Japan we decided to take it easy. We slept in, then went for a walk around Asakusa again. We got lots of Purikura done, and went shopping in the 100 yen shop.

We walked around the shops for abit, i think i would have liked to spend more time looking at these shops and buying more gifts for people.

After …

As starts many of my international vacations, I begin with an unexpected illness. Paul and I arrived at our hotel in Tokyo on Thursday night, in a cute, central neighborhood of Akasaka, filled with dozens of restaurants, bars, and snack shops. I was pleasantly suprised with my value hotel due to it having a king size bed, which is rare in …

These days have been all about meeting up with old and new friends, enjoying their company, and letting them guide us through this huge metropolis! We've enjoyed seeing all the famous spots that come up when we think of Tokyo, eaten what Sumo wrestlers eat, sang in karaoke like the Japanese do, and generally had a really great time catching up with …

Our last full day in Tokyo we went to Asakusa which is home to some excellent shrines and temples. It is also where there is a street that has a bit of the old Edo feel. It's filled with souvenir shops and snack shops. In addition to all of this there was a minor festival going on that day as well. With all of these things lumped together as the …

Tokyo was amazing, and too busy to update everyone on what was going on, hopefully I remember it all. Sunday we started out the day by going to the Ghibli Museum (the studio that did Totoro and Spirited Away among many others incase you've never hear of it before). Kacey is a huge fan, and has been looking forward to this part of our trip since the …

Because of the way our rail pass worked, we needed to stay an extra night in Tokyo before we could start using the pass. Mike used his points to get a night in the Shinjuku Hilton which normally runs ~$350/night. They upgraded us to the deluxe room on the 30th floor! The view was awesome and the room was enormous.

Our overnight Willer Bus is brilliant. Bright pink reclining soft seats with pull down shades to block out sound and light. Alan takes full advantage and gets a good sleep. Sharon struggles and is wrecked by morning time. We're dropped off at Shinjuku at 7.15am which is supposed to be one of the busiest places on earth in rush hour. It's …

A couple of weeks before my scheduled return to Japan, I had a weird experience at work which threatened to jeopardise my trip before it had even started. As per usual, I was doing my best to fly under the radar of the various supervisors and managers ...

... Asakusa and once again, up to Senso-ji - this was becoming something of a pattern for new arrivals to Japan! I do think that this old part of Tokyo is ideal for an initial wander though, as going straight to somewhere like Shibuya or Shinjuku would be ...

...for the best toilet experience in the world (at least as much as I have seen of it)...is Japan!  Never before has my bum been so well cared for as here...I'm talking about the hotels primarily.  Imagine...if you will...sitting down and ...

... this time we were given a tambourine and could only book in for an hour... The next day was our last day in Tokyo, and Japan... :'(  We spent it walking around in a hungover daze in the Akihabara - Electronic City, to check out the electronics a ...

... with noodles) is delicious and great value at about 750yen ($7.50) for two people. We are located in the part of Tokyo known as Asakusa.  The area is quite touristy, thanks to a couple of big temples and a pagoda.  Leading from the main ...

... such traumas, it's with great delight to report that the proceeding two months went absolutely swimmingly... On my first trip to Japan, I'd tried (and failed) to see the elusive Fuji-san on numerous occasions, each time being greeted by a wall of ...

... attraction in the area was the Temple, Senso-ji, in the same area is a five-storey pogoda, the second tallest in Japan.  Here is a brief low down of the other neigbourhoods:   Shibuya - famous for the pedestrian crossing where every ...

... back to the stadium, people were beginning to line up at the ticket window. Apparently this is the only sumo stadium in Tokyo and possibly in Japan, When I got inside I saw that it was the same arena I was watching on the TV while we were barhopping in ...

... to airport where we met a really nice Japanese man who spoke to us all the way about all sorts - sport, culture, our opinions on Japan. The people here have been incredibly polite (in the most part)and a few people have offered to help us find our way ...

... to do that? So we set out (at just after 6:00 a.m.) with our undetailed and relatively useless map, and started walking. Asakusa Temple was just across the river from our hostel, so it was our first stop. There is a very cool market leading ...