nakasendo 2024

Tokyo Day 2

Well I will have to take Lesley on holidays with me more often….she knocked on my door first thing to deliver me a coffee! That’s service! (Robyn, James, Warren ….are you paying attention?)

We got the train to Tokyo station to check out where the bullet train departs from (so we know what we have to do tomorrow). Then we got the subway to Shinjuku station. We even mastered the fare adjustment system.

First stop…another visit to the 3D cat, who came out kicking kids toys over and being a member of the police force.

By this time we needed another coffee. Lesley had researched good coffee shops in Shinjuku and we found one called Blue Bottle Coffee.

Then a visit to one of the major department stores to cruise through the food section and see the amazing displays.

The last one looks like a beauty product but it’s actually candy!
And we managed to find the penguin statue…he’s cute, isn’t he!

We then visited the observatory at the top of one of Tokyo’s metropolitan buildings. Great views. We could see Mt Fuji in the distance.

We then meandered through the back streets of Shinjuku and Shibuya until we got to the Meiji Shrine which is the centre of a beautiful park. Very peaceful. It is a Shinto shrine and commemorates the 122nd emperor of Japan, Emperor Meiji, who took the initiative to promote friendship with other countries and to adopt western culture and technology whilst preserving Japanese identity- which laid the foundations of modern Japan. (P.S. the current emperor is the 126th).

Once I saw the sake barrels and wine barrels, I remembered I’d been there before with Robyn and James.

After an afternoon rest, we ventured back to Shinjuku for dinner. The train experience was just like you see in the movies….people packed like sardines.

It took us a while to find our way out of Shinjuku station which is known as the busiest train station in the world and is a massive hub of trains, subways, stores, and passageways.

Just by the west gate of Shinjuku station lies Piss Alley (James, Robyn and i had found this interesting place on our visit to Japan), also known as Drunkards Alley. Starting out as an illegal drinking quarter in the late 1940s, this narrow side street quickly became a prime spot for cheap drinks, yakitori and cabaret-style hostess bars. Due to the lack of restroom facilities, patrons would wander off and relieve themselves on the nearby train tracks, and it didn’t take long for Piss Alley to earn its name. In those days, the area provided a social space for local residents who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford such luxuries as meat and alcohol in the impoverished post-war economy. It’s now a collection of small bars, yakitori grilled chicken restaurants and street food stalls.

We had dinner there, including the mandatory yakitori grilled chicken skewers.

And here’s a couple of signs which attracted our attention. The first was in a lift jam packed with people….