This year on the way back to the US for our summer break we decided to stop over in Japan for about 10 days. Neither of us had ever been there, so we were excited to explore. We started out with a couple of nights in Tokyo before heading to Hokkaido for the rest of the trip.
Tokyo has so much to offer, including great shopping, outstanding food, and lovely parks. With only one full day there, we decided to stay in the Shinjuku area so we had easy access to public transportation. Omoide Yokocho is a street in that neighborhood with all kinds of tiny izakaya (little bars that also serve food) packed into a narrow avenue. The first night we arrived in the late afternoon and decided to head there right away to find some food.
We wandered up and down the street, peering into all the packed izakaya. Finally, we saw a couple of seats open up in a tiny place populated mostly by what looked like older Japanese men. The proprietor and patrons were welcoming, so we sat down and ordered some food and drink. Our first Tokyo stop didn’t disappoint. We tried a few small dishes, including sprat and cucumber with miso. The cucumber with miso was surprising – I didn’t realize you could just eat miso like that as a kind of dip. It probably had some other things mixed in with it, but it did seem to largely be made of white miso paste, and was delicious and savory with the crisp cucumber. While we ate some other folks sat down, and it turned out they were Korean tourists. They had a lot of fun sharing shochu with us and encouraging us to drink more. We had a good time, and managed to get out of there without having to drink too much!
For our full day in Tokyo, we decided to explore the Meiji Jingu Shinto Shrine in the morning. The shrine has an Inner Garden area, where in June the iris garden is fully in bloom. They are planted to look like a river through the garden. It was a stunning view! That garden also has a pond with beautiful waterlilies, as well as an azalea garden. The azaleas were almost done blooming, but we were able to find a few beauties!
The Meiji Jingu shrine itself is a fairly large complex up the path past the iris garden. Before entering the shrine you must complete a purification rite by washing your hands and mouth out. The shrine itself has a large central square surrounded by several covered walkways and buildings. The Meiji Jingu shrine seemed to be a popular place for weddings. We saw more than one wedding procession during the short time we were there.
The rest of the day in Tokyo we spent eating and shopping. We checked out the fish market, and found a little sushi stand for lunch. In the afternoon we visited the Asakusa neighborhood to find a shop for woodblock prints that a friend had recommended. That district is one area where old buildings have survived. The woodblock print place was a little challenging to find, but it was fun to wander around the old streets. We ended up with a couple of prints.
After Asakusa we walked over through Tokyo’s restaurant supply district in search of a chef’s knife. Angie had read this is the place to find them. We wandered into a shop crammed full of kitchen supplies, and managed to squeeze into the narrow aisles to peruse the knife selection. We found one we like, and have been really happy to have it here at home since we finally got back to Jakarta.
The last stop on our wishlist for Tokyo was a ping pong shop. Adam was in ping pong heaven! A friendly and very knowledgeable fellow helped him pick out a blade and rubber, and the shop glued it together for him right there. What fun!
Our final shopping stop ended up being a bookstore. Angie’s nephew Henry had requested some manga, so we saw a store and walked in to check it out. The amount of manga they had was phenomenal. Row after row of books. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any in English. We did have fun checking out the store, though. And, later when we returned to Tokyo at the end of our trip, we did manage to find a manga shop with English titles, so we didn’t totally fail at Henry’s request.
That evening, we decided we should check out some of Tokyo’s bars. Adam even found one that had very science-y cocktails! All in all, it was a wonderful stay in Tokyo.
