Day 3- Continue Exploring Tokyo, move hotels/home base
Day 3:
やっと晴れた！
It’s Saturday morning, and the weather outside is glorious. We’re talking shorts and t-shirt kinda day. And, we’re ready to do some shopping and explore the city. Get ready because it was definitely a whiplash of peace and anxiety.
I love looking for off the path places, trying to go where the locals are. It doesn’t always have to be touristy. And we started off by jumping on the train and going up a few stops to the Toyosu Market area.
Essentially, It’s been the main fish market for decades, where fisherman bring in their catch and send it out to markets and restaurants in greater Tokyo. We caught the tail end as the fish had already been sorted and distributed.
No biggie, as the market was connected to 2 other buildings, specifically the Senkyaku Banrai. It was a four floor building, with coffee shops, food stalls, desserts, teas, and a the top floor an onsen (hot mineral bath)
. In the middle of the building, overlooking the courtyard, an old lighthouse.
We had some ramen, bao and chicken skewers. So good.
Before heading north, we walked over to the Statue of Liberty, a mini replica. Sge was built in the late 90s as a tribute the relationship between Japan and France. Tokyo Lady Liberty overlooks the center of Tokyo, at the foot of the Rainbow Bridge.
Now to head to the northern part of the City, getting off at the Ueno transit station. The good? A secret Hard Rock in the station and I was able to get merch.
The bad….well, we went from a beautiful market to an incredibly overcrowded neighborhood, the Ameyoko Shopping Street. Think of markets in Turkey, India or Mexico. It was beyond dense, hot, and overflowing with humanity.
You could barely move thru the alleyways which were filled with stalls full of merchandise and everything you could possibly think of to eat.
Stress and anxiety thru the roof. It didn’t take long to realize we needed to go. We walked over to Ueno Park, under some Torii gates, looking for the Metropolitan Art Museum.
There was a public market also going on in the middle of the park, a tulip festival, and of course the Tokyo Zoo is located here. And, the weather was gorgeous, now in the low 70s, so half of Tokyo was here.
The Museum was a good escape from the crowds, allowing us to re-center ourselves. Japan has a long, rich history, and we were able to see pieces of art and artifacts hundreds of years old.
As we strolled around the museum complex, we happened upon a spot the provided a tea experience.
The full deal, take of your shoes out front, sit on the floor, very quiet inside. I even had a seasonal Sakura Cherry Blossom cream soda. It was delicious!
We gathered our belongings as we had a reservation that was rapidly approaching at the Skytree. But, we needed to eat, so we walked thru the Ameyoko again, and got lucky as we found a Kobe Wagyu beef spot called Yakiniku Yansando. It’s similar to Korean BBQ where you cook it yourself, but the beef was incredible. Now that we had full bellies, back in the train, with a quick stop in Asakusa.
The reason? The Kaminari-mon Torii gate is one of the entrances to the Senso-ji temple.
Touristy and overcrowded, also, the time of day, and a nice warm day, brought out hoards of people from all over the world. It was a cluster trying to move even a few feet. While beautiful to look at, just too crowded for us. And, people weren’t rude or pushy, just too damn crowded.
Our next stop, just across the Sumida river, the 3rd tallest structure in the world, the Tokyo Skytree.
Opened in 2012, it stands over 2,000 feet. I had booked us tickets for sunset, and with the clear day, hoped to see Mt Fuji. Alas, no sighting today. We took the elevator to the top, ears popping with the dizzying speed and height. While up there, you could see as far as the sun touches, and the wind, well the wind definitely caused the building to sway. Again, we were able to see the sun set over the City, and she lit up magically.
But, still no Fuji sighting.
Dan decided to head back to the hotel, as he wanted to rest for our next and final day in Tokyo, I decided to trek back to Asakusa, to see the Senso-ji temple. I got lucky as the crowds had thinned out. It was gorgeously lit up, and, looking back you could also see the Skytree in all its glory.
As I got back to the hotel, I decided to grab a quick to go bite to eat along with some snacks from 7/11. We haven’t truly experienced the 7/11 craze that it is here. We’ll hit them up before we leave.
But today, well, it was peaceful and chaotic, tranquil and stressful, but really, that’s what this City of 40 million is about. And the people, the kindest and most polite you’ll ever meet.
Step count is 23,664 and 10.54 miles.
Love, love, love Tokyo.
#toyosumarket#asakusa#uenopark#sensojitemple#kaminarimon#rainbowbridge#statueofliberty#museumofart#ameyoko#skytree#tokyo#japan #Asia2025
