Tokyo is not a city, its a train station
Trip Start
Apr 09, 2008
1
46
115
Trip End
Apr 19, 2009
Tokyo,
Kanto,
Japan
Sunday, September 7, 2008
I was staying in Asakusa one of the many areas/cities that are collectively known as Tokyo. Did you know that altough Tokyo is a metropolis made up of many cities, it has several "centres", out of all of these places not one is known as Tokyo. The only thing called tokyo is a train station (in Ginza area)?
The next day I was 24, I got up late but I think I can blame jet lag
People leave wishes outside the temple
. I went as far as Ueno park, which is not far. It was a monday so everything was closed, Modays are the international day that museum staff are hungover (Sundays being their going out night). I visited a little shrine in the park and looked at all the fun things I could have done, zoo, national history museum, amusement park, it could have been a great day! I left the park heading north to visit a graveyard which I had written in my notes as worth seeing. I had left it to late, it was closed. So I made my way back to the hostel. I introduced myself to some english people sitting in reception near enough saying hi I`m Martin, its my birthday. They were about to head out for dinner and I was invited. I had a noodle soup. After dinner I had a free drink in the hostel bar, not because it was my birthday but because everone in the hostel gets one free drink. After that we bought one-cup sake from the 7/11 and went back to the hostel to play cards. I won big at poker, the equivalent of about 60p but still I was impressed with my skill. Not the best birthday ever but not the worst either. I really dont feel 24 at all. More like 22 anyway.The day after I was up more or less normal time and headed down to Ginza a busy shopping and business area, a park and the imperial palace, much of it is closed off because it is still a residense or used for meetings and things. Japan still has an emperor
Imperial Palace building
. Anyway it was quite a nice walk around. I saw a shrine some other nice buildings including the british embassy (first one I`ve seen actually). I then had dinner in Ginza, white fish salad, the white fish turned out to be octopus tenticles but I ate it all anyway. Day after I went to the really big building that is home to the city administration. It was too big to fit on one photo, either that or I was too close. And after into Shinjuko an area of shopping and things. I had intended to go to shibuya too but time caught up with me. So next day I went to Shinjuko again walked through a park with a Japanese garden (in Japan, Japanese Gardens are just called gardens) and past a really big shrine and then into Shibuya another shopping area but really exclusive. All the clothes in Japan are too expensive for me. Everyone wears expensive suits.That night I went with some people from the hostel to karaoke. It was not how i expected it would be, we had a room to ourselves. This was good because we got to pick songs all night one after another but bad because there was none of the nerves of getting up to sing. All in all it was a great night. The next day I got up late and found that because I hadnt booked I didnt have a bed for that night. So I had either a choice of booking into a capsule hotel or staying up all night. I choose the later. In the morning I went to look around asakusa, there is a temple and a park without grass. Lots of little shops with souvenirs like china pots and chopsticks. I then went to the electronics district with all the lights just like on the TV. There are also loads of bookshops there and DVD shops and lots of this dress up business. The girls dressed as anime characters or just as nurses or maids trying to entice you into thier shop.
So baring in mind I didnt have a bed to go to I went out again, this time just drinking and as the only place open when we left the hostel was the 7/11 I bought sake and the others had beers and we sat by the river until 5 in the morning talking and acting like fools
Ginza at night
. I wasted the next day completely apart from watching a little festival in the neihbourhood and sleeping in front of a film. That night I checked into the capsule hotel and was impressed by all the services there. The day after I went back to the museum to see if I could get in this time, it was a tuesday so it should be open but I forgot the day before was a public holiday (hence the festival). So the museum would have been open on the monday and was in fact closed on the tuesday. To make up for this I went to the science museum next door, which was actually quite interesting even if it was all in Japanese. I also booked onto a bus to Kyoto. That night back at the capsule hotel again I made use of the public spa and sauna on the roof. It was great apart from sharing bath time with some old japanese business men. The next day I got up at ten and went shopping until it was time to take the bus to Kyoto. 
