Tokyo revisited
Trip Start
Dec 02, 2007
1
33
55
Trip End
Sep 01, 2008
Tokyo,
Japan
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Unfortunately, we both became a little under the weather so we didn't quite see as much as we might have. However, we did manage two activities that were high on our list when we got to Japan: eat in a traditional Japanese restaurant and attend a sumo tournament.
Luckily, I have a Japanese friend who is currently on secondment in Tokyo to help with the restaurant booking (and ordering!) We met Yuki in Shibuya, home to a famous crossing under a blaze of neon, where a mass of people surge across the road in four directions every time the lights change. This spectacle was added to by the fact that it was raining, and that everyone had an umbrella. Unfortunately, being a bit taller than your average native of Japan, my eyes got to see several of these rather closer than I would have liked.
From Shibuya Yuki led us down some side streets to a restaurant that fitted in perfectly with what he had hoped for, where we had one of the best meals of the trip so far and a good catch up
P and Yuki in Shibuya
. We weren't always sure what we were eating, but it was certainly very good!A couple of days later we made the journey across town to Ryogoku, where the May sumo tournament had entered its third day. There are only three tournaments there a year, so we counted ourselves very lucky that our visit coincided with one. We travelled more in hope than expectation that we would be able to purchase a ticket, but were pleasantly surprised that there were still plenty available on the door.
The sumo experience itself was certainly something very different. There is an enormous amount of tradition and ceremony, even between two bouts. It was absolutely fascinating though, and by the end we were shouting and cheering with the best of them (assisted by some English language commentary available on FM radios to hire).
On our way home from the sumo, we experienced travelling between the two busiest stations in Japan, Ikebukuro (where we were staying, in second place) and Shinjuku, which sees more than three million passengers a day. Needless to say, it was rather crowded! The purpose for our visit was the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, from which there were great views across the city and dusk.
