Tokyo Tower, the Imperial Gardens and Mount Fuji
Eh, so my shopping list is pretty much done and at this point (almost going home, sadly) I have bought all the souvenirs I need for my family and have seen plenty of the city sights too. The second week was therefore comprised mostly of sightseeing; the idea of going to Kyoto via shinkansen was sadly shelved for financial reasons but fortunately Plan B turned out to be a good one. Actually this has been a holiday full of very successful Plan Bs that have been nearly as fun as the ideas they replaced: it leaves a few things yet-to-do for the next trip as and when I’ve saved up for it, if nothing else.
One case in point was the Edo palace and the surrounding gardens, which are closed on certain days of the week (some areas are off-limits to visitors anyway). Last week we went to the Shinjuku gardens instead but this time the Imperial Gardens were open…and the weather was scorching! Tokyo Tower is also well worth a visit in my opinion, especially if you get there late afternoon in time for the sunset…speaking of high-up places, it’s possible to see the one and only Mount Fuji in a day trip from Shinjuku. Really. I have pics to prove it. ^_^
The Edo Palace is enormous – a sprawling area of walls, gardens and buildings, both old and new. Whether you like history or just a walk in the sunshine the outer gardens are great, and are free to enter too.
The Eastern Gardens are strictly private property however, since they are the official residence of the Royal Family but to be honest we were happy walking around the parts open to the public for several hours (and got shocking sunburn to prove it). What followed was an epic trek through Ginza and the surrounding areas, clocking up around fourteen miles on foot. The underground rail system is pretty extensive though, not to mention amazingly efficient so when your feet get tired a train ride is a viable option.
Tokyo Tower is another major tourist attraction – as proved by the typical trinkets and so forth on offer in the gift shop. To be honest I don’t really like that sort of stuff so we headed up to the main observation deck (priced at ¥820 or thereabouts) where there are two floors of viewing windows and a coffee shop…it even has a shrine up there! We headed up there during the late afternoon, sat down with a cuppa and waited for the light to fade…
I took a whole load of photos but this one, looking out to the south-east on an enormous junction as the night falls and the lights begin to come on, is my favourite. A larger version is my desktop background actually (I’m toying with the idea of uploading the original 3072×2304 bitmaps from my camera but the file sizes are huge).
Mount Fuji is another place that’s good for views, although the hazy air was a bit of a problem there too. If you get up early and negotiate the madness that is Shinjuku Station (no small feat when you’re in a hurry, I can assure you) there are buses that leave for the nearby town of Kawaguchi and more buses that take you right up to the fifth station. There are more of the usual gift shops and snack-type restaurants but quite frankly there was one good reason why I went to all the trouble.
This.
It’s a bit over-exposed I know (using a cheap and convenient compact camera) but up at the fifth station the air is cooler and clearer; Tokyo is currently very warm and humid so this was a nice opportunity to get away from the bustle and heat for a while.
That said, I still love the city itself and Shinjuku in particular. I swear I’ll never tire of taking cityscape shots like this – as much as the tree-lined mountains and valleys on the way to Fuji impressed me there’s still something about being amidst the neon and high-rise with little patches of greenery and tradition tucked in between.
The legend that surrounds Shinjuku station is true however – unless you are familiar with the layout or are fluent in kanji, it’s an ordeal to navigate and the trains do get very crowded indeed. I’m used to standing shoulder-to-shoulder with tourists and businesspeople now, but at least I’m average height here! The London Tube uses more cramped trains but in Tokyo they’re a bit more spacious and are air-conditioned so the experience isn’t as stressful as I anticipated. When we found the right platform…
Looking at what was opposite, I think we were on the right platform!
In any case, we’re out of time and money and have seen and done most of what we wanted to. I’ll try to upload some more pics and give my final thoughts on the trip next week but I think jet lag will hit me even harder going back to GMT than it did adjusting to Tokyo time (not to mention going back to work on Tuesday morning) so don’t expect much for the next few days. I’ve also been too lazy busy to reply to your comments as well so I’ll say thanks for your input and I hope you’re enjoying my sharing of the visit so far. ^_^
I sure have enjoyed this a lot. Wish I can travel like this someday…
Have a feeling that you are very lucky to spend whole two weeks there!
Thank you very much for sharing your trip here with us! :D
Very nifty wee photos you’ve got here. There didn’t happen to be a man made up in KISS-like makeup humping the base of Tokyo Tower, was there?
Sounds like a wonderful time.
I will be going to Japan for 2 weeks, how long are/have you stayed there?
Got any recommendations?
Oh, I’ve greatly enjoyed reading about your travels btw.
:)
[...] Have you, dear sir X10A_Freedom, went to see Tokyo Tower at night and seen how pretty it is? Or even [...]