Saturday October 4th
Saturday was our last real day in Tokyo. We were up at a decent time, ready to explore for one last day before heading on a bus to the Japanese Alps for a very different type of experience. Today was planned as a bit of a buffer to explore all the places we either wanted to go back to or missed along the way.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Building
Our first stop was at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, or "Tocho" as it's often called, is a prominent landmark in Shinjuku. Designed by Kenzo Tange, its distinctive architectural style evokes a Gothic cathedral. It houses the headquarters of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and is renowned for its two free observation decks on the 45th floor of each tower, offering panoramic views of the city, and on clear days, even Mount Fuji.
Sadly, it was a bit of a rainy day, and while we could get a view of the city from the 45th floor observation deck, there would be no Mount Fuji. The clouds were hanging a bit low, but we wanted to go up and see what we could see. And it was free.
It was not at all busy as we hoped on the elevator and rode up. It’s an enclosed observation deck which isn’t as much fun, but still the views were great. There are actually two towers, and we decided on the North tower. After walking around at the top for a bit and checking out the views, we came back down and were thinking about going back up the South tower, but there was now a huge line up, se we decided to continue on our way.
From the Government Building we headed back to Shinjuku station and hopped on an express subway (another first) towards Shimukitazawa, a suburb in the southwest part of the city that is known as for being a bit more bohemian, filled with second hand clothing stores and other trendy shops.
Getting off the train we quickly entered a very fun area of the city. The shops were more low key, with lots of second hand stores.
The train took about 1/2 an hour, but we had seats on train and we were there in no time. After getting off the train we just started wandering. It started in an area with lots of little restaurants (I’m starting to wonder in anyone in Tokyo cooks?) that eventually turned into a residential neighbourhood. We ended up a little bit off course but it was interesting to see how “normal” people live in the city. We did find a realtor shop, and there were rental apartments for the equivalent of about $1,500 per month. Which seems pretty good.
We headed back into the main shopping area and quickly found many small streets and alleys filled with interesting shops. We wandered and perused for a while, checking things out. We didn’t end up buying much, just a few snacks for our bus ride tomorrow.
It was pushing towards lunch time, so we stopped at a local ramen shop and tested our feet for a while. It seemed like we make a good choice as the place was mostly locals. The food was really good - different from the other day - but excellent. We enjoyed our lunch before heading back to the station and getting onto the train.
The next stop was to head back to Akihabara, about a 30 minute (and one train change) ride away. The last time we were in this area, it was night time and all the small, interesting electronics stores were closed. Instead, all the Maid Cafes were in full effect. I wanted to see the cool, craziness during the day. We were also trying to find a few gifts. The first stop was at Hard Off, a second hand electronics store. They had so much interesting stuff - from original PlayStation consoles to musical instruments to old LPs and 45s to bins of computer accessories. I could spend hours there. But sadly I could not find what I was looking for.
From there we just wandered the small back streets. There were some cool and crazy things to see, but sadly the rain started up again (quite heavily) and so we made a dash for the station, and the quick trip back to Shinjuku.
Once back in Shinjuku we wanted to hit a few stores. We started at Sekaido Shinjuku, another monster stationery store. This one was only 7 floors, but the floors were bigger than the one we were at in Ginza. And maybe a little less interesting. Lots more art supplies - paint and bushes and canvas and such. But still fun to check out.
From there we made a short stop for a drink at this little bar/restaurant called Beer Bistro. It was tiny - seating for a dozen at most - with the smallest kitchen you have ever seen. How they prep and serve food is hard to imagine.
As we were walking from store-to-store, we stopped at a small shop and bought a coupe of the “fish” treats that seem to be a thing I. This part of the city. They take a batter, much like waffles or pancakes, add some filling - we had the custard - and then more batter, then cook it all in a fish-shaped mold. They look cool and are delicious!
From there we went to a couple of Muji stores then into the Disney Flagship store, which had some neat stuff. After that it was over to a 9 floor bookshop called Kinokuniya. It seems that reading physical books is alive and well in Japan. Of course we could be read any of them but it was still fun to look around and see what was available. I did find some Tolkien books, but decided against buying anything.
Our last stop was the “food hall”at Isetan, a big department store. The place was amazing! The was a full grocery store, a huge liquid selection and most of the floor dedicated to prepared foods that all looked spectacular. But what caught our eye the most were the 3 or 4 bread counters. There was a huge selection of amazing looking treats! We restrained ourselves and only picked up a couple of things for the bus ride.
At that point we were pretty much done, so we headed back to the hotel to relax and rest up for a little while. We wanted to go back out later, but it was time for a quick rest stop. While at the hotel we watched a bit of the F1 practice sessions, and started to get ourselves organized for checking out tomorrow. Around 7 pm we got ourselves dressed and headed back out into the craziness of Shinjuku one last time. It’s been almost a full week in Tokyo, and although the next stage of the trip will be interesting, I will miss the craziness.
We headed back through the heart of Shinjuku, back underneath Godzilla and fought our way through the crowds. We wanted to go back to Omoide Yokocho and have dinner in one of the tiny restaurants in the smoke filled lane.
We worked our way through the crowds and checked out the different restaurants. Each barely sat 8-10 people, some less, with their charcoal grills serving up helpings of yakitori. It was so great.
The place we picked started out good, but eventually they crammed us back into the back corner of the small restaurant. So the ambiance wasn’t the best but the food was very tasty. We had amazing grilled squid, more chicken and some excellent grilled veggies. And some cold beer to wash it all down with.
After dinner we made our way out of the craziness and headed up the street to a whiskey bar that I had wanted to check out. Bar Zoetrope might have been my favourite place on the trip so far!
It started by getting into an elevator barely big enough for two people. The bar itself sat 14, and the owner and bartender was amazing. He had this incredible collection of Japanese whiskies and an encyclopedic knowledge of them. You told him what you like, and he picks the right drink for you. It was a blast!
We stayed for 2 drinks each (I could have stayed all night), before reluctantly taking g our leave and heading back to the hotel. It was a fun night and a great ending to our time in Tokyo.
The rest of the evening was spent packing and and getting organized for the morning and our bus trip to the Japanese Alps!
Daily Step Count: 20,278