Fun in Tokyo (Or: Shrines, parks and cemeteries)

I have almost forgotten how warm Tokyo was, after a particularly windy day today (17C/60F with wind gusts up to 80kph/43mph). Though there was only one moment walking home where I felt I was walking backwards rather than forwards due to the wind.

Here are some more photos from the recent Tokyo trip. First off, the night we did the Sumida river walk. It was definitely one of the highlights for me. It was pretty, the weather was a bit cooler, etc.

You can watch a six minute time lapse of the area turning from day to night on YouTube. Before we walked along the river (and crossed over it), we went to the Asahi beer hall for dinner. In the photo above, that is the building on the left with the yellow “ball”. If you watch the linked video, it’s the black building with the flame/torch on top. (Yes, I know, it looks like something else.) The taller building to the left in the video is the Asahi headquarters. The beer and food was good there, but it was easily beaten by Yona Yona Beer Works in Shinjuku, which I will probably share photos of in a later post.

After the river walk, we walked to Senso-ji temple. Marco and Roger have of course been there before but never at night. It was gorgeous.

All of the stores that lead up to the temple were closed because we visited at night, but that was fine. It was nice to walk around when it was quieter. Unfortunately that did mean Roger and Marco did not get their melon pan ice cream this trip (Google Maps link to Asakusa Kagetu) because the store is only open during the day.

The next day we visited Atago shrine which is well known for its “stairs to success”.

Respect to the couple who went up the middle of the stairs, not by the railing. However, Marco explained that the edges of the stairs were quite worn down since everyone went there, so the middle was actually the easier. Marco and Roger previously went up these steps in January, but this time we were smart and took the elevator up and down to get to the shrine at the top. (Shoutout to the Japanese couple who saw us when we were at the top, peering over the edge. They warned us in their best English that there was an elevator we could use instead.)

The shrine also has a beautiful koi pond:

That afternoon we walked near the Imperial Palace and briefly into the Hibiya park, where I snapped a lovely photo of a fountain (and mini rainbow).

Another photo of the park:

After this we made our way to Tokyo station to find the elusive ramen hall, which isn’t so much elusive as it is finding the right station entrance. We did find it thanks to the tips in this YouTube video from Japan by food. Which was a good thing because we ate at Oreshiki Jun. They had teriyaki chashu ramen which Roger loved.

The next day we went to Yanaka Ginza, including the cemetery:

I liked the photo above due to the simple pink flowers.

I will post more photos later (one more post, I think).