Japan is full of culture shock. We have already seen many extraordinary, beautiful and adventurous things in Osaka, Himeji, Hiroshima en Kyoto! However, Japan’s capital Tokyo is a world of its own! This is the center of Japan, together with Hong Kong the center of Asia and in terms of population it is even the largest city on earth. With more international flights than any other city on earth, as a traveler you cannot ignore this. For example, plan your trip to Tokyo during a transfer. We have a week, so the question that remains is: what to do in Tokyo? Or Tokyo, as we also write in the Netherlands. Both are allowed by the way!
Tokyo is 23 cities in one!
You can get quite lost in Tokyo. Tokyo is the collective name of 23 special districts, each with their own history. Upon our arrival in the Ginza district, we are immediately given the first impossible mission: looking for our accommodation without an internet connection. All we know is the name of our hostel and the Asakusa district. In Tokyo terms, this is like looking for a goldfish in a swimming pool full of orange juice.
Tokyo gets up early and millions of people rush to work. It is not entirely clear whether they are late for an appointment or are trying to beat the world record for speed walking in a suit. We are not in a hurry, so we quietly look for a metro station. A tip: look for a WiFi connection, because in Tokyo there are a hundred new networks on every street corner!
We take the metro to the trendy Asakusa district and that requires concentration; there are about thirty subway lines ‘from here to Tokyo’. From the station we cross the Sumida River and immediately see some sights, including ‘the golden turd’. It is difficult to describe the roof of the headquarters of beer brand Asahi in any other way than that. We also see Tokyo’s tallest tower, the Tokyo Skytree.
Asakusa and the Senso Ji Temple
The district where we are looking for our hotel is called Asakusa. And you shouldn’t miss it because of the Senso Ji Temple. People from all over the world come to Tokyo’s most sacred place for the healing effects of incense. Above the altars with incense you see people cleansing themselves and doing all kinds of rituals. Beautiful!
What to do in Tokyo: The skyscrapers of Shinjuku
We still don’t know where the hostel is, but we ask for help in a shop. The good man doesn’t seem to understand it, but returns with a map showing the walking route to our hostel. A good example of how practical and helpful the Japanese can be, without using a word of English. Let’s compare this with China: there I couldn’t even buy a ticket at the train counter with facial expressions, hand gestures and all the other categories of the Party & Co boardgame. So yes, in this case we prefer those silly Japanese.
We drop our stuff at the hostel Asakusa Smile and explore Tokyo by metro. Tip: buy a day ticket for five euros, because you can get it out in no time! The metro runs until midnight.
Are you in the immense city of Tokyo for the first time? Then it is nice to stand on a skyscraper with a view of the city. The best place of course seems to be the most visited Skytree or the famous Tokyo Tower, but we have the free alternative. Visit the Metropolitan Government Building in the Shinjuku district. From the forty-fifth floor of this building we see a phenomenal view and we actually have a twenty-person elevator to ourselves. We look out over the Shinjuku Gyoen gardens and in the distance we even see the contours of the sacred mountain Mount Fuji!
The world’s busiest intersection
Because Tokyo is so large and consists of 23 ‘small cities’, you cannot really identify a ‘center’. For example, Shinjuku is the economic center and Downtown Tokyo is more the geographical center. However, when asking ‘what to do in Tokyo’, you cannot ignore the cultural center! Most shops, restaurants and that famous atmosphere with the many neon signs can be found in the Shibuya district. We also visit the world’s busiest intersection there: the Shibuya Crossing.
This enormous traffic circle has four sides with zebra crossings and then another two diagonal ones, over which a thousand people every five minutes make every piece of asphalt invisible. As soon as it turns red, the same crowd of people miraculously disappears again and the cars immediately continue racing. The Starbucks right next to this intersection is one of the most visited coffee houses in the world, just because of the view of this spectacle from the second floor.
What to do in Tokyo: The neon lights of Shibuya
Tip: When it starts to get dark, take a five-minute walk from the busy streets of Shibuya to the Hikarie Building. This skyscraper has a number of restaurants and art galleries, but you can go to a lounge on the eleventh floor for free. From there we see all the neon lights slowly turning on. The sun sets, while the decor slowly begins to change into a kind of kaleidoscope of colors and lights.
We eat in Shibuya at our favorite chain that we know from Osaka: Ichiran. You order the typical Japanese Ramen from a vending machine and enter: the thickness of the noodles, firmness, amount of pepper, with or without meat; they don’t even ask which hand you want to hold the spoon with. Then we go to a counter with partitions, as if you were at the municipality to apply for a new passport. Each unit has a water tap and a hatch to the kitchen. Within a few minutes the Ramen is on the table, a nice bow is made and something like ‘enjoy your meal’ is said in Japanese; or you are called a rotten fish, because you don’t understand a word of it. By the way, there is a sign stating that you cannot order anything else. After all, there should soon be room for the next Ramen lover. Slurp-and-go!
Sleep like a chicken in a tiny oven
Our next hotel is at least as special as the Ichiran restaurant, which is also completely in style with the hustle and bustle and lack of space of Tokyo. A popular concept for a good price: the so-called capsules. Instead of bunkbeds, the Oakhostel Cabin provides us with little ovens, that each have their own night cabinet and TV. They are well insulated, so you are much less bothered by each other, and yet twenty people can sleep in one elongated room. However, the main reason we chose this hotel tonight is of a completely different nature: around here we are going to the absolute number one attraction in Tokyo!
Tsukiji Fish Market
One of Tokyo’s most unique sights is the Tsukiji Fish Market. During the day the ‘Wall Street’ of the fish trade is already special, but at night the real spectacle takes place. The most beautiful and expensive tuna, sometimes weighing as much as two hundred kilos, are then auctioned. Chefs from star restaurants all over the world get the very best tuna here. The ‘show’ starts at 5am and only 120 tourists are admitted. Then the door closes and you’re out of luck. This seems like a lot, but at two o’clock it is already full!
The capsule hotel is a twenty-minute bike ride away. We go to bed early and set the alarm. We arrive at the fish market as if we were sleepwalking, or sleep cycling in this case. There we suddenly find ourselves in the middle of a chaos of hundreds of hand trucks and trucks racing around to get the fish to the right place on time. Where should we actually report? It’s not all that clear. Time is ticking and the entrance appears to be completely on the other side! As we pedal quickly we see more and more tourists. We’ll catch up with them, so who knows, we might still be on time. When we finally find the entrance and get our coveted ticket, there is a number on it: we are numbers 117 and 118! Just in front of a group of four, half of whom have to go home, and the door closes behind us with a loud bang.
Tunas worth half a million bucks!
We recover from our race against the clock with a heartbeat like a Bubbling remix from 2004, what luck! Then we sit on the floor with 120 people for three hours in a large waiting room wearing brightly colored vests. The first sixty people are picked up at five o’clock and it’s our turn around half past five; We walk with the group at walking pace through the chaos of the fish market to a large ice-cold room. There are huge tunas weighing up to a few hundred kilos. The Japanese experts walk past the fish and take notes while smelling and feeling the fish. Then the bell sounds and everyone shouts loudly. In twenty minutes, millions of euros are flying around in front of us. The whole tuna auction experience is bizarre and a must-do! The show, the scene around it, the exclusivity, the time and the exciting race and even better: afterwards of course a delicious breakfast with the best sushi in the world!
Manhattan in Tokyo: Daiba
In many ways, Japan’s capital can be compared to New York; the countless skyscrapers; the busy avenues; the location of the city on the water and the whole atmosphere of this hectic metropolis. Today we even found out that Japanese people don’t have to leave the country for New York holiday photos. We take a trip to Daiba Island, where there is a replica of the Statue of Liberty. Between the skyscrapers and with the impressive Rainbow Bridge in the background, it is also in the middle of a setting that could represent New York. We take cool pictures and even see a Japanese film crew filming as if they were in America!
The rest of the island is also worth a stroll; the Fuji TV building resembles a Star Wars spaceship and in front of a mega shopping center stands a life-size Gundam, a robot from a Japanese animated series. The view from the island also shows how big this city is. It took an hour to get here!
The chaos of Tokyo’s subway stations
Shinjuku Subway Station is known as the largest and busiest station in the world. You can spend days wandering around underground, eating, sleeping, shopping, playing arcade games and, above all, getting lost. I wouldn’t be surprised if tourists have gone missing in this living version of ‘the enchanted maze’. If we want to travel further from Tokyo in the evening, our bus leaves from ‘Shinjuku Bus Terminal 4F’, which loosely translates to something like: too bad guys, missed the bus. Especially when the metro is overcrowded and we only have 10 minutes left at this monster station. We tie all our luggage securely and stand at the front to get out. When the metro doors open, the starting signal sounds for us in a race against the clock.
We fly through the station like bulldozers with turbo injections, while we have to avoid the poor Japanese in our path. Where are the signs? Or better yet: where is our terminal among 1478 other signs!? With five minutes on the clock, Suus spots a sign that says ‘Bus Terminal’. This is nerve-wracking! I run through the crowd shouting and clearing the way for Suus; we covered a kilometer in eight minutes with about forty kilos of luggage (unfortunately about seventeen Japanese were injured in the process). A friendly employee helps us out, changes himself into sprint champion Usain Bolt on the spot and runs in front of us towards a sign: Willer Express! With the engine already running, we proudly hand over our ticket: out of breath and sweaty like a polar bear in the Sahara. I give Japanese Usain Bolt a high five and our day can’t get any better. Shinjuku, we beat you!
To be continued..
If you want to escape all the hustle and bustle, you can go to the largest park in Tokyo: Yoyogi Park! A walk through the Meiji Shrine is worthwhile. In the north you also have Ueno Park, where you can really mingle with the locals. A visit to the Imperial Palace is nice, but certainly not a must. We found this quite boring and it would certainly take you a whole day. It is also time for us to find some peace and quiet. The next blog is about smaller villages in the Japanese Alps. The mission is to find the so-called Snow Monkeys, the only monkey species in the world that practices wellness! They chill with the whole group in a natural hot spring when it is cold. I have to see that! Read more here to see if it worked: Backpacken in de Japanse Alpen.
