More Tokyo

Trip Start Sep 04, 2007
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55
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Trip End May 28, 2008


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Where I stayed
Ace Inn
(Tokyo hotels)

Flag of Japan  ,
Sunday, May 18, 2008

On Saturday morning I was up very early to get to the Tsukiji fish market. This the largest fish market in the world and at its best before 8am. The market is a very busy place with carts and scooters flying around so you really have to keep your eyes open. There was a huge variety of fish and seafood including tuna fish, octopus and weird shellfish. It was a fascinating place to walk around, but after a couple of hours I was getting hungry which meant only one thing... time for sushi. I headed to a nearby restaurant where they had a nice menu with photos and English descriptions of the available sushi. I could just point to the menu and the chef on the otherside prepared the fresh sushi for me. I've never had sushi so fresh and it was amazing!

Next stop was the Sony Building which displays all the latest gadgets including cameras, TVs and the Sony Rolly -a weird dancing music player. The latest digital cameras detect when you smile and automatically take a photo, although I had to force a grin like a Cheshire Cat before it took a stupid photo. The most impressive thing was a 4k cinema showing a film on Iguazu Falls in full 4096x2160 resolution. The picture quality was amazing, even if I didn't understand any of the Japanese commentary.

The rest of the day was spent walking around the National Diet and the Imperial Palace gardens, before heading to Roppongi to check out the infamous nightlife.

On Sunday I visited the National Museum of Emerging Science & Innovation, which was a great science museum and not just for kids. The museum is home to ASIMO, a Honda built humanoid robot which can walk and run on two legs. In the afternoon I headed over to Meiji-Jingu shrine where a wedding was taking place, so I saw some traditional Japanese outfits. This was in contrast to the nearby Jingu-bashi where Tokyo teenagers dress up in goth and punk clothing. It was quite a weird place, but its what makes Tokyo so fascinating.

Later on I headed over to Asakusa to catch the end of the Sanja Matsuri festival where portable shrines are carried through the streets. The nearby Senso-ji temple was heaving with people, whilst in the grounds there were hundreds of food stalls selling local specialities (some more palatable than others).
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