With our Japan adventure drawing to an end we had one destination left to explore: Tokyo! After an 8 hour train journey taking most of the morning and afternoon, Claire headed out to stretch her legs on a jog around the local Kinuta park before we spent the evening planning our Tokyo itinerary. We had left ourselves 3 days to explore Japans capital but had not counted on the appearance of Typhoon Hagibis which was due to arrive on Saturday and was sounding increasingly dangerous (even our parkrun had been cancelled!!). As a result we were keen to see as much as possible on the Friday, and ensure our safety on the Saturday by changing our accommodation to minimise travel (and as the Airbnb host we had originally booked with wasn’t sure if the house would stand up to a Typhoon!).
Next morning, our first stop was Shibuya Crossing, which is considered to be the busiest (and most neon) junction in Toyko. To be honest, it looked very similar to many of the other crossing in the city! Claire also wanted to see a statue of a dog called Hachiko who walked himself to the station to meet his owner every day, and continued to do so 10 years after his owner died.
Our main event of the morning was a reunion with David and Alicia with a trip to TeamLab Borderless in the Toyko dock area (Palette Town). This new addition to Toyko’s tourist attractions is an art gallery with a difference; the interactive light displays literally wander around the gallery and fully immerse you in the artworks. We spent a fantastic late morning here with the climbing wall, flying nest and crystal room being particular highlights and rounded it off with a Japanese tea experience like no other!
After a late lunch, we said goodbye to David and Alicia (who needed to get to Osaka pre typhoon) and headed out to explore the streets of Toyko alongside some unique holiday shopping; key destinations including the Rugby World Cup shop, the Pokémon Centre and anime city (aka Akihabara region of Tokyo).
Sadly, concern over the impeding typhoon meant we decided to forego a night out in the city (we knew trains were starting to be cancelled at some point the next morning and didn’t want to get stranded). This meant that by 9am on Saturday we had already arrived at our hotel for the night with our plan to hunker down in the hotel lobby until check in and watch the storm roll by. The slight excitement at being witness to a future GCSE geography case study only lasted the first hour.
At 11am we were already getting itchy feet and the weather outside was essentially a British October day (windy & wet but still manageable for a sturdy umbrella) so we went for a quick walk to stretch our legs and gather food supplies, keeping close to the hotel in case of a sudden worsening of the storm. At 5pm we had checked into our room, realised a) it was tiny b) the hotel did not have a bar. Needless to say, the 7/11 got another visit. At 7pm Claire was doing laps of the hotel. And by 10pm the storm had really started to kick off and Gareth panicked a bit when the hotel room started swaying thinking we were in for a scary night. Fortunately it was just an earthquake! This went unnoticed by Claire who was still doing laps. It was only a small 4 or 5 on the Richter scale, but high up on the 10th floor of a hotel it was definitely noticeable and left the light fitting swinging.
By Sunday morning the winds had receded. Our area of Toyko had got off very lightly compared to other more coastal areas, with little evidence of the night’s drama apart from the odd blown over bin. So, not to miss out on our final day in Japan, we headed out on a sightseeing run to the popular 5k circuit of the Imperial Palace gardens. We decided to follow this up with a walk through the city to the Toyko tower. This mix of slick city skyscrapers, Japanese gardens, temples and a bright orange and white Eiffel tower was the good way to sum up the many faces of Japan we had experienced over the last 3 weeks.
Japan Summary
- Best food:
- Claire – The homecooked Japanese feast on day 2 of the Kumano Kodo;
- Gareth – That feast does take some beating, but I also really enjoyed a couple of the smaller restaurants where we could be a bit adventurous including Yakitori in Kyoto as well as Sakigake at Mount Fuji.
- Best experience:
- Claire – the hilltop of monkey overlooking Kyoto;
- Gareth – the Kumano Kodo was a really enjoyable walking experience and it gave me a great sense of achievement for completing it too.
- Favourite day:
- Claire – The Kii Peninsular day because it started with disappointment that our boat trip had been cancelled but turned into a fantastic day seeing an amazing coastline on electric bikes and ended meeting up with my brother;
- Gareth – Although I really enjoyed going to Watch Wales play Fiji live, I think my favourite day was probably watching them beat Australia in the bar in Osaka, coupled with going out for Karaoke afterwards with our random friends. I think the Fiji game was a bit too stressful and just gets pipped.
- Biggest disappointment:
- Both – parkrun in Tokyo being cancelled,
- Gareth – not getting to try Kobe beef.
- Weirdest thing about Japan:
- Claire – the toilets! Along with automatic lid opening and flushing they also come with music, heated seats and bottom washing!
- Gareth – The crazy street art in the Shin-sekai area of Osaka that we stayed in was something to behold. In particular the giant cartoon whale that hung over an intersection!
If our blogs are giving you itchy feet then please check out our friend Erick’s website who has set up his own tour company IncasPath in Cusco, Peru. He’s a really friendly guy and probaly the best tour guide we’ve ever had. We completed the Salkantay pass with him to Machu Picchu four years ago and have had the travel bug ever since!!!! http://www.incaspath.com
Claire and Gareth go travelling! 