Japan – Episode 7 (Tokyo)

Today we spent our last full day in Japan back in Tokyo. It was like seeing a familiar friend after a period of immense confusion. Our last day was spend more off the cuff with heavier focus on hot spots that were missed the first 3 days in Tokyo. After a 2.5 hour train ride from Kyoto, we hurried to our AirBnB home. This will be the 8th place we stayed at during the course of our vacation! The host Paula was not at home yet but was quick to respond electronically and gave us a number of restaurant suggestions. As late lunch came around the corner, we headed over to a gyoza (Japanese dumpling) spot that Paula recommended. For 500 yen per person, roughly $4.20, we got the lunch special that consisted of soup, 12 dumplings, a small side of sautéed bean sprouts and a bowl of rice. So delicious!!!

After lunch, we immediately hopped on the subway and made our way to catch a siting of the Imperial Palace. We were not able to go in as you have to make reservations prior but the view from across the moat was spectacular enough. At this point, the sun was starting to set so we caught some nice colors that streaked through the sky.

On our way back to the subway station, we took a stroll through Hibiya Park, a park that isn’t necessarily a notable attraction but it was very pleasing to the eye with large, oak trees lined with amber and yellow colors.

Next stop was at Ginza to visit the Sanrio (think Hello Kitty) flagship store. At this point, the fatigue was starting to set in. It’s one thing to navigate the many line transfers by subway and arrive at the correct stop. It’s another to actually find the destination. Siri failed us repeatedly but probably weren’t feeding Siri the correct information anyhow. After a little bit of help from friendly locals, we arrive at Sanrio where I was on a mission to find Gudetama, a lazy egg. This is one of Sanrio’s newest characters and has not been distributed in the US yet. And yes, the mission was accomplished!

After Ginza, which by the way has some of the most high end shopping and for this reason we quickly left, we headed over to Shinjuku. Shinjuku is an area known for its gaming and electronics and is very popular among younger crowds. It is also one of Tokyo’s largest neighborhoods. Here, we wanted to check out its Christmas display which consisted of a large Christmas tree display that changed colors, designs and music every time someone placed their hands on a touchpad. This seemed to entertain the crowd for awhile.

After Shinjuku, we shopped around here and there and grew more and more tired. We made our way to the Meguro neighborhood and stood in line at a restaurant that had a line out the door. When we finally were able to make our way inside, we saw there were people inside waiting patiently as well. What I love about the Japanese is how orderly they are. As one party gets called to sit down, the remaining parties waiting move down the line and wait their turn. No one tries to cheat the system. There is no wait list. Everyone just follows the rules and waits their turn. In 30 minutes, we were seated at the sushi bar that had a conveyor belt of sushi floating along. Sushi train! Noticing quickly that there wasn’t a ton of premium fish going down the conveyor belt, we ordered fatty tuna, scallops, salmon and more tuna off the menu. Each time we ordered we had to ask a server to come help us fill out the order sheet by pointing to items on the menu which thankfully had pictures.

Exhausted and full, we later got back home and met our host, Paula, a translator and researcher from Colombia who has lived in Japan for 7 years. She said she has always loved Japanese culture and since she was little wanted to make her way over here. At first, she was a bit lonely but now she can’t imagine living anywhere else. It’s interesting to me how people are capable of living so far out of their comfort zones. In fact, all of our AirBnB hosts in Japan are not natives but now live in Japan permanently. For someone like me who has always lived in Colorado, it is very intriguing. It also makes me wonder how my grandma, mom, aunts, uncles, etc felt as they left their motherland. I’m sure by now the US is home but I’m sure the experience was daunting the first few years or even more.

Tomorrow we have a very short day in Tokyo before we hop a plane to come back to Denver. This trip has been an amazing and humbling experience. I encourage everyone to travel and try to understand different cultures. Also, spend time with your relatives both near and far. There is so much that family can teach you!