This was our first full day in Japan. After sleeping for nearly 12 hours, we woke up to go find coffee and breakfast. However, we didn't realize it was Marine Day - a holiday in Japan. Thus, lots of places were closed.
Thankfully, Starbucks was open! Yes, such an American brand and thing to do, but hey it was open and the menu definitely had a Japanese influence so it was not like a regular Starbucks. When you gotta eat, you gotta eat!
Following our brief meal, and being fully caffeinated, we decided to explore what was near us. So we hoped on the JR Yamonte Line and went two stops up to Shinjuku. At Shinjuku, we walked around the station - it's the world's busiest transit station!
We kept walking until we got to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. This building is the seat of power for the government of Tokyo, where the Governor keeps the city humming. It also has an observation deck on the top floor. While it was a holiday, thankfully the observation deck has a separate entrance and we went up to to enjoy the spectacular views.
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| Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building |
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| View from the TMGB |
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| Getting ready for the Olympics |
Sadly, we were unable to see Mt. Fuji. In the summer time, it is so humid and muggy it really just traps all of the air so there was a haze around Tokyo for most of our time there. Thus, you could not see Mt. Fuji.
On the bottom floor, they had a display of Olympic Items. Tokyo is hosting the 2020 Olympics, so we were looking at the display which included the Olympic flag passed to Tokyo from Rio. In fact, this flag has been passed from City to City since the Atlanta games. It also included the official ceremonial box the flag is kept in, and the olympic torches of Rio.
It gave me goosebumps to look at the flag, I have such a deep love for the Olympics and have always enjoyed them, and seeing the actual flag up close and in person was a true blessing.
Following our visit, we went back to Shinjuky station and walked into one of their vertical malls. What I love about Japan is that most "malls" are actually high rise buildings that have different shops stationed throughout each floor. You'll have floors dedicated to men, women, kids, electronics, house goods, and usually a food court. You just take the escalator up to the floor you are hoping to get to.
After a bit, we started walking the streets of Shinjuku. All was great until we were suddenly under attack by a giant monster! Run for your lives, it's Godzilla!!! My favorite thing about the Godzilla statue is that as you walk towards the monster, theme music is playing in the streets and steam and a strobe light go off in his mouth as if he were really attacking.
We decided to walk away from Godzilla and get some lunch - where we had revolving sushi! It was very delicious and nothing like the US. After we refilled and rested, we continued walking the streets of Shinjuku.
The sights of the street are just awesome. This town was really cool and filled with life. We then headed to where all the cool kids go to - Harajuku. The Harajuku district is known for being the center of teen pop culture.
Following the Harajuku district, we went to the Meiji Shrine. This shrine is dedicated to Emperor Meiji who unified Japan. It was beautiful and our first shrine. We wrote a prayer and placed it on the prayer tree.
After the Meiji Shrine we went back to Shibuya where we crossed the famous crosswalk - the Shibuya crossing!
It's a lot smaller than on TV. It wasn't as packed, and we definitely need to go back to see it at night but it was still awesome to see. Check it out below:
We looked up places to eat and found a place called "hacienda del cielo" yupps a Mexican place in Tokyo. What really attracted us there was that it had a rooftop patio.
We were able to eat, drink, and take in the awesome view of Tokyo. You could see Tokyo Tower pretty prominently and it was so beautiful.
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| View of Tokyo at night |
The next day, we take off and head to Hakone in the mountains!
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