Japan (Day 13-15) – Tokyo – Part 2

My last two days in Japan I decided to see a few more iconic sights of Tokyo, and also find a few souvenirs!

—– Day 13 —–

Monday, the first item on my list was to see Tokyo Tower. I took my time in the morning then took a train over to Hamamatsuchō station. As I was trying to orient myself to walk towards the tower, I found myself in front of the Tokyo World Trade Center, which advertised an observation level. I decided, what the heck, let’s go see what Tokyo looks like from above.

After having my fun taking pictures from the Trade Center, I started my short trek over to the tower itself. The walk involved going through a small park that held the Zojoji Temple, which held some pretty awesome pictures of Tokyo Tower as well.

After Tokyo Tower, I decided to nerd out a bit in Akihabara. First on my list was to actually spend some time in an arcade. I walked around in a few different arcades and watched a number of people play some pretty intricate games, much more intense than what we have in the States.

I finally took some time to sit down and play a few too. The first I tried was kinda an epic failure haha. I started playing it for a couple bucks, but couldn’t figure out for the life of me how to actually start playing the game after character creation. In the end, I ended up navigating the menus so incorrectly that I accidentally ended up ending my game and losing the rest of my credit! Haha, oh well.

The next one went a bit better, mostly because I decided to actually look up English instructions online. This one was a really fun strategy game where you move cards around on this mat that tracks the ID and location of the cards on your board. You go about moving your armies into different positions to eventually defeat the enemy armies and destroy the opposite fortification. Ended up spending probably spending a good hour or so figuring it out and playing.

Being in nerd town, I couldn’t help but check out all the crazy anime advertising/merchandise and the huge manga stores!

After Akihabara, I headed back to the hostel where I got I think 20% off a meal at their restaurant for being a customer there. Who know cow cheek could be tasty? (Also, interesting KitKat flavors in the background, sake!)

—– Day 14 —–

My last full day in Japan :'(. I spent most of today searching for souvenirs, so naturally I spent a lot of the day walking around the biggest train stations and shopping centers I could find. My first stop was Shinjuku Station.

Also, best ramen I’ve ever had (which is admittedly a small pool of experiences), black ramen at a shop near the station!

I managed to find a really neat little artisanal gift shop, but didn’t find much I could pack in my one bag I was still carrying around. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pics of the shop…

I then headed over to Shimbashi Station to hit this monster of a building, Shibuya Hikarie. Essentially a high rise shopping mall, the place had a little bit of everything. I did find what I was looking for here!

After Shibuya, I had found most everything I wanted to grab, so I decided to check out the Imperial Capital grounds. So, I headed over to historical Tokyo Station and walked towards the Imperial Park.

The park limit felt a lot like the stark different of New York and Central Park, made for some really pretty photos.

The park itself was of course immaculately kept, and made for a really peaceful area, amid the giant of a city.

I hung out here for a while, just taking in my last evening in Tokyo and enjoying the skyline.

—– Day 15 —–

Didn’t do a whole lot my last day, mostly hung out in Tokyo Station doing some window shopping, as my flight left mid afternoon and I had to take the Narita Express back to the airport, about a 1 hour ride. Bittersweet but I couldn’t have wished for a more exciting adventure through Japan!