Thursday October 2nd
Today, we were going to need to transfer hotels across the city. When planning the trip, we decided we wanted to experience as much of Tokyo as practical, without trying to cram in too much. So we thought one hotel near Tokyo Station and the other in Shinjuku would give us a couple of different perspectives. And it worked out really well! Tokyo Station was much more a business district, with Giza giving it an up-market feel; and as it turned out, Shinjuku was Tokyo craziness as we had expected.
But before getting to that, and as we still wanted to explore the Imperial Palace Gardens and grounds, whil we were nearby, we needed to be up early.
Looking down over Tokyo Station from our hotel room - one last time!
Our checkout was at noon, and so we were up early and packed to be ready to go. About 9:00 we headed over to the Palace grounds, and entered into the East Gardens. The last time I was here I was still running and remember doing a run all the way around the Palace. But I missed going into the East Gardens. So I was glad we were doing it this time.
Us outside the Palace grounds.
The main entrance to the East Garden, through one of the main gates.
There was a small line to get in - no cost, just a security check. Once inside we started to wander, and generally just trying to avoid the worst of the crowds. The gardens are amazing, but sadly this time of year there’s not a lot in bloom. But you could imagine how spectacular it must be in the spring.
There are a series of old building scattered throughout the grounds, and a whole variety of different gardens to explore, from bamboo groves to formal Japanese gardens to citrus groves. It was pretty amazing. But as the morning wore one, the crowds just kept getting bigger.
One of the many, beautifully maintained areas of the gardens.
The remnants of the foundations of the tenshudai, or main keep.
In the far side of the East Garden of the Imperial Palace lie the austere remnants of a dream unrealized: the foundations of the tenshudai, or main keep. This imposing stone base was intended to support the grandest castle tower in Japanese history, begun in the early Edo period but never completed due to a devastating fire in 1657. Although the shogunate possessed the resources to rebuild, a strategic decision was made to forgo the reconstruction, focusing instead on other defensive and administrative structures. Today, these massive stone blocks show you what might have been, but really were not much to lookat. We climbed up, but the hot sun made it a quick stop - the view was nice.
One of the main guard towers at a corner of the grounds. There were several around the perimeter.
After having our fill and wandering around the gardens, we headed back out and walked around the external perimeter of the Palace. It’s a decent walk and gives you a series of different views of the various parts of the Palace grounds, including the fara way views of the Palace itself and some of the ornate bridges that lead up to it.
One of the private gates leading up to the part of the Palace that the Emperor and family still occupy. No going in that way…
Our walk from the Station to the Palace, around and then back to check out.
About 11:15 we needed to head back to the hotel to check out. On the way back we had a chance to get a few more photos of the exterior of the old Tokyo Station. It’s an amazing building an we were very glad that we had stayed in this part of the city for the first leg of our trip.
We made our way back to the hotel to grab our bags, and hop in a taxi across town. Originally we had planned to use a baggage service to transfer, but they needed a full day and it would have ended up being more expensive than taking the bags with us in a taxi. So we all arrived together at our new home for the next fews days.
We got to our hotel in Shinjuku around 1:00, and amazingly the room was ready and we were able to check in early. That was unexpected and meant that we could go explore more easily. Shinjuku is a much more lively past of town with all the bright lights and craziness that you imagine from Tokyo. This was going to be a fun place to stay.
The view from our hotel room. This part of the city was much more lively - you could feel it already and it was not dark yet!
We immediately walked over to the station - the busiest in the world - as we wanted to find the bust terminal that we would be leaving from on Sunday morning. We did not want to have to rush around and not know where we were going at that early hour of the morning. It ended up being pretty easy to find, and the bus depot is on the top floor of the complex. It’s a pretty crazy place.
After checking that task off the list, we made a quick stop at Shake Shack for lunch. We always find Shake Shack when we travel, and this checked it off the list for Japan.
This area is also a just shopping area, and we noted a couple of stores that we wanted to go checkout. We did some shopping, picked up a few things and then continued exploring.
Our next stop was at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, a short walk away. This is a massive park in the center of this part of the city, and was once again made up of a series of different gardens within the park.
I thought this cool Japanese Maple looked more interesting in black and white.
With the age of the city and their reverence for parks, there are some truly huge, old trees in many of the parks.
What was different about this one was that people were allowed to use it more the way we think about parks - people were actually on the lawns and lounging in the green space. It was nice to see people out and enjoying the park.
People were out on the well-manicured lawns, actually using the green space, not just looking at it!
We wandered for a while, checking out the massive trees, and the formal gardens. The Japanese Gardens were, as you would expect, stunning. But my favourite thing about the park was the massive greenhouse! Sadly it was closed by the time we got to it, but I have not see. Anything quite like it. I’d love to go back.
By this point we had walks a lot and needed a rest. So we walked back to the hotel and chilled out for a while. A couple of hours later we went up the the rooftop bar for a drink. The bar is quite nice, on the 14th floor with great views out over the surrounding area. We had a couple of drinks and some munchies while enjoying the perfect evening. It was still warm, but the heat had dropped a notch or two.
After relaxing for a bit, we headed out to explore some more of the area around us. We headed down to Golden Gai.
Golden Gai in Shinjuku district, a short walk from our hotel, is like entering a fascinating time capsule in stark contrast to the gleaming skyscrapers alla round. This small area is a labyrinth of six narrow alleys, home to over 200 tiny bars, each with its own distinct personality. This little area, just a few blocks from the hotel ended up being a highlight of the trip. The tight, narrow little alleys were so wild, and each of the little bars, barely seating a half dozen people all clearly have their own character.
We ended up stopping in two of them. The first, which had an amazing stained glass window of Lafphroaig, was a pure whiskey bar. They had an amazing selection of Islay and Japanese whiskies and Justine and I each tried a different Japanese one. I tried the Hakushu 12 and Justine tried the Yamazaki 12. Both were good, but I liked the one I tried a little better. I felt it had more depth of flavor. It was an expensive stop, but a great one. The bartender was personable, and tried to explain the options for us.
The architecture of the area is a relic of post-war Tokyo, with many of the wooden structures predating the economic booms that transformed much of the city. As we wandered through the dimly lit lanes, we saw a complete range of different establishments, some of which were welcoming, others marked as private clubs. All tiny.
Golden Gai truly comes alive after dark, its paper lanterns casting a warm glow on the narrow passages. It's a place that let us experience a different side of Tokyo's nightlife, rooted in the unique charm of the area. Its a hidden gem amidst relentless modernity.
After our first stop we wandered a bit more then went into a second one that Justine recognized from some of her research. We just had a beer in this one, but there were a couple of rally chatty Americans crammed into the tiny space that made it fairly entertaining.
I barely fit into this one!
At this point we remembers that we hadn’t really eaten, and it was clear that these little bars were all about drinks, not food. So we headed back out onto the Main Street and found a yakitory place in the basement of one of the buildings. This place also had a ton of character, and there was a line up donor seemed like a good one to try. There was a big (12 people) Philippine family ahead of us, so once we figured out how you got on the list, it didn’t take too long to get seated.
The food was great - you just ordered off an iPad and the food and drinks just keep coming until you’re too full. The chicken thighs and leek were amazing!
A late night dinner. It was so good we ended up going back a second time!
After eating our full we wandered a little more, buying had been a big day and we were quite tired. So we headed back to the hotel and called it a night.
Daily Step Count: 21,927