Rambling in Japan and Cruising Across the Pacific 2005

Tokyo - Tuesday

We awoke to sunshine again - thank goodness that weather forecast that I posted before we left home was wrong. We tried the hotel buffet breakfast which was a mixture of Japanese delicacies which was my choice and American favourites - Fernie's choice. I had some fermented soybeans, Japanese pickles and cold grilled salmon. Fernie had sausage and eggs (boring). 945 yen which was a pretty good price.

We were on the subway at 7:35 am on the way to Tsukiji, squashed in tightly with the hundreds of clones - businessmen in navy suits. Fernie had no place to hold on and when the train lurched, he went flying. What was really funny is that all down the car, men were reading their folded-in-half newspapers, legs only inches apart and not holding on and they had no problem staying in one spot while the train jerked about. I'm sure the people around Fernie were thinking 'stupid tourist' but they gave no sign of disapproval or of even noticing him. Half of them were plugged in to their Ipods, those against walls seemed to be sleeping standing up and some of them leaned their forehead on the glass doors with eyes closed - all was very quiet other than the rumble of the train and my giggling after seeing Fernie stumble much like Basil Fawlty.

One change of subway line and we were at Tsukiji in no time. We couldn't believe the traffic of funny little motorized pallet carts, push carts and scooters around the vast market. They even had traffic police with white gloves organizing the chaos. The speed of the vehicles and their ability to zig and zag made it a hilarious spectacle that seemed to be perfectly choreographed. We, however, not being part of the dance, stumbled, jumped and slid clumsily - narrowly missing disaster as we entered the slimy floored market. A male bastion, testosterone surging as we watched the cleavers haul huge tuna and fling them as if they were a feather. Shellfish of all kinds - huge scallops, oysters, clams and many I didn't recognize, fish of all sizes, tuna, swordfish, halibut, squid, octopus and then incongruously what appeared to be huge hunks of beef. I pointed and gestured with shrugs and the fish merchant pointed above to a picture of a whale. There was a pile of yellowish blubber beside it - that should have given me a clue. What was amazing, as we stood there, blood flowing at our feet, there was no fishy odour - it was all so fresh! Some of the huge tuna were frozen solid, obviously flash frozen in the fishing boats as soon as they're caught.

Surrounding the market were stalls selling produce, knives and other utensils, dried seafood and fresh fish. An occasional noodle kiosk with 3 or 4 seats were particularly popular with the market workers on their break. It's really hard to express the excitement that we felt by being part of the scene for one morning - an unforgettable experience. Also, our appetites were sharpened and I absolutely had to have sushi for lunch.

Ginza is only a short walk away and we wandered up past the kabuki theatre and encountered the first department store, Mitsukoshi. We went in and decided to start from the bottom and found two levels of food floors, reminiscent of Harrods in London, who have a small kiosk in Mitsukoshi's food area. The bento boxes, exotic salads and other delights, all with calories noted, tantalized our taste buds even more but there was nowhere to sit - it was purely takeout and anyway when I looked at my watch it was only 10:30am. After a bit of general browsing at jewelry and kimonos, we ambled up to one of the most photographed and busiest corners in the world - the Ginza-yon-chome crossing. Adding to the number of photos taken there, I tried to capture it's immensity but needed a much wider angle lens to do it justice. The Sony Building is at this corner and there's a showroom of all their latest electronic gadgets and everything is hands on with of course the obligatory store at the end. I fell madly in love with AIBO, a little robotic dog who responded to me so sweetly. I found myself tickling him behind his ears. He'd pick up a bone, chase a ball and wag his tail but the best was the way he expressed affection by his movements. However 198,000 yen - approx $2000 US - stopped me from adopting him.

It was almost noon when we left there and we were really hungry so we went back to Mitsukoshi and tried the restaurant on the 8th floor. The patrons were mostly well-dressed elderly ladies out for a day of shopping and lunch. I had a wonderful sushi bento tray, green tea, 3 pieces nigiri, 3 maki, some pickled vegetables, hot radish, soup, cold buckwheat noodles and honeydew melon. A chilled bottle of sake and some rice crackers completed the repast. Fernie's meal was pretty exotic too but no sushi and he had beer instead of sake.

After lunch and a quick peek at a couple more department stores - Wako, Hankyu and Seibu, we took a short walk over to the Imperial Palace gardens. The palace itself is off limits as the royal family reside there and they only open it to the public twice a year.

Having the JR railpasses was really handy in Tokyo as the JR Yamanote Line runs all around the city - so from Tokyo Station, we travelled up to Akihabara, the discount electronic centre known as 'Electric City'. The shops are all around the station and under the tracks, so we didn't have to walk far which was good as our feet were starting to ache. The prices are not at all good - much better at home - but we didn't intend to purchase anything anyway.

Back on the Yamanote train to Ueno. Ueno Park, right beside the station holds the Tokyo Zoo and museums galore, which I would visit on a rainy day if we had the time. The cherry trees are huge and beautifully shaped but the blossoming just finished. Mimes and other buskers attracted crowds throughout the park. At the south end of the park, to the east under the railroad tracks is the Ameyoko market. 'Ame' comes from two sources - the first meaning candy and that was what was sold originally; secondly, post WWII American black market goods were sold. Yoko means alley. Supposedly bargain goods can be found but we thought it a high priced bazaar.

Feet pounding, legs aching - 4:30pm. We;d been out for nine hours and it was time for a siesta (is there a Japanese word for that?) The JR from Ueno to Shibuya took about half an hour and we transferred to the subway for two stops back to our hotel area. An hour and a half revived us and we walked south to Roppongi, an area of nightclubs, gentlemen's clubs, western restaurants and youth. Colourful, noisy and the Tokyo Tower beautifully lit up at the end of the street, but we couldn't find a cheap enough Japanese restaurant, other than a sushi bar and F did not want sushi.

We came all the way back to Akasaka to the 'Charcoal Grill' a yakitori cafe which was a change of pace. Five skewers each, a salad of chives and dried shrimp, a partially boiled egg in cold broth that you just chugged down like an oyster, sake for me and the end of a perfect day.

posted by O'Leary @ 10:30 PM