Still 6th October 2019.
I had
planned an itinerary to try to pack in as much of Tokyo in a day that I could.
BUT, the as the Sumo session finished at 10.30 and not 09.00 as I had thought,
the plan was already in disarray!!!
I had
wanted to go to the Edo-Tokyo Museum
located in the Ryogoku
Area. But we didn’t have time for that so that was scrapped. We walked over the
bridge and saw the Sumo Tournament area and the Asahi beer building.
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| Asahi beer building |
Our first
stop was Senso-ji Temple (Buddhist Temple) billed as
‘The spiritual heart of Tokyo, Senso-ji is a bustling, mercantile and colourful
temple that's always fun to visit’.
We did as
instructed by the guide books and approached through the impressive
Kaminari-mon Gate and then the Hozo-mon gate and walked along the store-lined Nakamise-dori – spotting many Japanease tourists in Kimonos-
before arriving at the main hall. Many
people were burning incense sticks at the huge urn in front of the hall.
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| Senso-ji Temple |
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| Senso-ji Temple |
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| Senso-ji Temple |
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| Senso-ji Temple |
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| Senso-ji Temple |
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| Senso-ji Temple |
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| Senso-ji Temple |
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| Senso-ji Temple |
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| Senso-ji Temple |
We also
went to the Shinto
shrine - Asakusa-jinja Shrine. This is located alongside
Senso-ji Temple and The Truly Tokyo - who itineraries my inspiration says its a popular shrine that is a good place to make
a wish and observe how Japanese worship.
We then used the Metro to get to
the Imperial Palace, the Metro is very easy to use as the signs are in English
. we got off just before the stop for the palace as we wanted to visit the Rugby
World Cup 3D sign.
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| Rugby World Cup 2019 Japan |
This led us the Marunouchi –Nakadori Avenue,
where we found Rugby Bench Art; popular characters with rugby balls sitting on
benches in the tree lined Avenue. Also a Rugby Shrine, large Rugby Ball and a
Fanzone.
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| Rugby Bench Art |
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| Rugby Bench Art |
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| Rugby Bench Art |
We then took the Hanzoomen line
(purple) to Shibuya.
Taking the Hachiko exit saw the Hachiko Statue- the
statue had a rugby shirt on and was very busy. The story is of the faithful dog Hachiko, who
met his owner at Shibuya Station every day and continued to do so long after
his owner's death.
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| Hachiko- not my photo- |
Then we walked across the
famous Shibuya Crossing and into one of the city's best
shopping districts.
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| Shibuya Crossing |
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| Shibuya Crossing |
Having checked out a few of the the big department stores. We stopped for
lunch at a Ramen shop where you ordered on a machine outside.
Having rested our feet and having
gained new energy from the Ramen, we took the Yamanote Line one stop north to
Harajuku. Walked west from the station (across the bridge) and entered the
beautiful grounds of Meiji-jingu Shrine.
Meiji-jingu Shrineis surrounded
by a forest so feels like your in the country, this superb Shinto shrine is one of Tokyo's top
attractions.We were lucky, as a traditional Japanese wedding being was being held
at the shrine.
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| Meiji-jingu Shrine |
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| Meiji-jingu Shrine |
Back onto the Metro we took the
Yamanote Line two stops south from Harajuku to Ebisu Station, then switched to
the Hibiya Line subway and take that two stops east to Roppongi.
In Roppongi we walked
west from Roppongi Station to the Roppongi Hills complex. We wanted to see the
big Spider and to head up to the 52nd floor Tokyo City View observation deck of
the Mori Tower to see the city as the sunset .
Sadly the Que for the
observation deck was so long that it would have been dark by the time we got up
to it. So we just stopped for a welcome cup of coffee.
Then made
our way back to the hotel, very happy with our day as we had glimpsed Tokyo, mastered the Metro and didn’t
get lost once!
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