Tokyo Highlights

Last Updated: September 25, 2020

Over the last few days I’ve revisited a few districts, Shibuya and Akihabara, and had a great time catching up with my sister. Being in Tokyo for a week has been an amazing experience. Here are a few of my favorite things about Tokyo:

• Akihabara was much more fun the second time around. My brother-in-law watches some anime and collects Transformers, so he was kind of like having a tour guide. We checked out several hobby/toy shops and went to one of the capsule machine shops. I spent way to much yen for trinkets. So much fun. And we went to another arcade and got sticker pictures taken. Hilarious!
• Ginza for dinner and a Kabuki play (which was so boring I almost fell asleep and we only went for 1 act).
• Harajuku for people watching and socks shopping.
• Meji Shrine, a forest in the city.
• Tokyo Metro Government Office Tower for views of the city.
• Sony Building for cool gadgets.
• Tempura restaurant in Shinjuku area where we saw live eel being murdered in front of us. I was glad I was done eating. The chef held up an eel, smacked it, pinned it’s head, chopped the head off, slit it down the middle, skinned the inner meat out, rinsed it, dipped in batter and threw it in the frier. Oh geez. Now that’s fresh seafood.
• Ghibli Museum in Mitakato was a magical place.
• Tsukiji Fish Market, the largest fish market in the world. This place is so busy.
• Shopping in Shibuya.
• American actor advertisements. This was very “Lost In Translation.” Tommy Lee Jones and Cameron Diaz do a lot of advertising in Japan.

I’ve loved my time in Japan, especially Tokyo, but I’m ready to move on (and to get some sun)! I’m flying to Cairns, Australia this evening, (I’m also saving an expensive night of lodging in Tokyo by sleeping on the plane). Goodbye, Japan!