The Shinjuku Station area.
Day two of our trip to Tokyo, and I was keen to get moving early and to achieve as many items of my itinerary as I could throughout this day (remembering to stop for free drinks at the entrance of our hotel; the City Hotel N.U.T.S!). We set off at a reasonably early time, mindful of the fact that both Yas and Angie would be climbing Mt. Fuji that evening (!), while Rainer and I would be enjoying ourselves within Tokyo.
A gorilla?
Can't say I'm a fan of this! (Groan)
Can't say I'm a fan of this! (Groan)
The previous day had been quite busy, and we weren't quite fully rested by the time we set off, but we pushed through.
Shibuya Crossing. Busy as always.
Yaseen split up from us early, as he was heading off to meet a former Kagawa JET named Jordan who he had become good friends with. They would be having lunch together. Meanwhile; Angie, Rainer and myself made our way over to Shibuya, where we would be meeting some old friends.
Lunch with Michihiro and Yutaka
Rainer and I reunite with Yutaka and Michihiro.
Long-time readers of this blog will remember that Rainer and I popped over to Tohoku last March to do some volunteering in the areas worst hit by the infamous tsunami in 2011. While we were there, we were lucky enough to meet two great guys from Akihabara in Tokyo, who we became friends with and invited us to a very pleasant evening in Akihabara.
Knowing that we would be coming back to Tokyo, I got in touch with both Yutaka and Michihiro, who Rainer and I hadn't seen since the previous year. Both were in the midst of intense studying as they finished off their university courses (which would be over very shortly) and dissertations, but they managed to spare just a little bit of time in order to have lunch with us and be introduced to Angie.
We met the pair at Shibuya station, where the cafe they had in mind was. We went over to a small place which was perfectly concealed downstairs and below the street level; the kind which would be completely overlooked by the casual passer-by. We spent the next couple of hours catching up while enjoying free salad and Okinawan-style dishes. I wish I could remember the name of where we went, or even how to get there, but I'm afraid I wouldn't have a clue!
We also had a chance to meet Yutaka's sister, who was absolutely lovely and a very interesting girl. She lived abroad in England for a while, and had flawless English ability. Very impressive.
The Gundam in the cafe.
The whole team.
Shibuya Crossing: a busy place.
After lunch, our trio (Angie, Rainer and I) decided to spend a little time at the area around Shibuya station before we caught up with Yas and Jordan. Naturally, the first port of call was to check out Shibuya Crossing.
The last time I had been here was with Richard Kinsella almost exactly one year prior. This time I was able to see the area during the day-time, and it was just as busy - if not even busier - that the last time.
A musician plays electric guitar on top a mini-van with loudspeakers. Very "Japan".
I made a point of looking for the famous Hachiko statue, which I had missed on my previous visit. Hachiko is a famous dog with a story very similar to that of Greyfriars Bobby in Edinburgh. Hachiko supposedly retuned to Shibuya station - where he would normally meet his owner every day - for years after his owner died.
Hachiko.
The whole area was full of life, but it seemed unlikely to be due to the political rallying. There were so many youths around - many of whom were wearing rather eccentric clothing and hairstyles - and I could only guess they were here for some other event in the area that day.
Then again, perhaps this is just how it always is there at Shibuya Station?
Mascot madman. He must be cooking in there.
A local celebrity walks through the crowds.
This guy constantly walks around wearing a school girl's uniform.
We made our way across the street. I was ready for a Starbucks (my second in as many days), but it wasn't to be, as we were planning to have coffee with Yas and Jordan when we reunited with them. To kill time, we decided to check out the shop directly below the Starbucks, looking at all the DVDs and CDs on display.
Busy.
Game of Thrones in Japan!
Japanese DVD stands with nifty 3D displays.
I don't know what this is. I'm not sure I want to know.
The man's wearing pants on his face, for starters.
Eventually we heard from Yas and Jordan, who were making their way back to Shinjuku station. We turned about-foot and made our way over.
Shinjuku and Starbucks
We arrived very quickly back in Shinjuku, though Yas and Jordan didn't arrive at the same time. Their journey took a fair bit longer than ours, so we found ourselves having to wait around for a little bit.
Hanging about.
I managed to sneak in a wee play session of Pikmin 3 on the Wii U.
Luckily, the group eventually reunited. It was nice to see Jordan again, who had previously been a Kagawa ALT in Marugame before moving to Tokyo. Jordan, who lived near Shinjuku, had a place in mind for us to visit for coffee - something a little different from Starbucks, at least.
Coffee trek.
Things continue getting political.
Unfortunately, this being Tokyo in the middle of the day-time, the cafe we went to in Shinjuku Station was completely maxed out. Not unexpected. We were told our waiting time would be at least another hour, so we decided to just pack it in and go elsewhere. Initially, we had decided to avoid Starbucks, but as we wandered through the streets looking for an alternative we eventually stumbled upon another one, where - again - we couldn't initially get seated.
We decided to bite the bullet and get coffee here, hanging around until seats became available. I was feeling quite sorry for Angie and Yas by this point, as the two of them would be climbing Mt. Fuji later on that evening. I gave Angie my seat, finding myself having to sit on the floor, but luckily a member of staff took pity on me and brought an extra chair out.
Still busy.
Jordan relaxes at Starbucks.
Angie rests her feet.
Rainer and I were feeling fairly restless at this point, as we had a whole checklist of ideas for places to visit, yet the day was starting to get away from us. I was keen for us to head to Ueno Kouen, but the mountain climbers wanted to rest up prior to the big climb.
...Rainer?
Rainer decided to check out one of the local arcades. I decided to follow him (leaving just a little after he left), but I'm sure in the crowds that we must have ended up in different arcades, because we couldn't see each other in the one I went to. Either that or we continually walked past one another. I gave up and went back to the coffee shop, where we decided to go our separate ways for the evening. I finally tracked down Rainer and the two of us decided to make our way to Kagarazaka.
Kagurazaka
Kagurazaka is an interesting part of Tokyo, often known by the title 'Little Paris'. It had been on my "hit list" for quite some time, so Rainer and I took the opportunity to finally explore this part of the city for the evening.
We arrived in Kagurazaka approaching the late-afternoon. The train station by a river wasn't near any particularly busy streets, and at first we wondered if we'd gotten off at the wrong stop (albeit a much quieter and more peaceful one). We followed the signs to where the main street appeared to be, stopping for a brief detour into a manga store and a conbini.
We found what appeared to be the main street that ran through the area. Following it along, we were struck how nothing in the area appeared to be particularly French in nature. Despite being 'Little Paris', and supposedly having a large French immigrant community, there were no caucasians in sight. It appeared to be just another suburban area of Tokyo, with the exception of a patisserie facing the main road. Perhaps we just weren't in the right place, but it must be said that our first impression was a little underwhelming.
However, the streets had beautiful paper lanterns dangling overhead, which created a lovely Japanese feel. We also discovered a nice little temple where students were practicing their drumming drills, presumably for an imminent festival, along with the other decorations. I popped into a small sweets shop and found some lovely jars of sweets to give as presents to people, and decided to stock up in preparation of my imminent trip to Scotland again next month.
Whilst I was in the shop, I asked the woman who served me where the local French restaurants would be. We were pointed in the direction of a lovely little place only five minutes from where we were. We headed round there, and opted to eat there for the evening - although the restaurant was currently closed at the time of our arrival. We wandered further up the street, looking for evidence of French residency. Overall, we found very little.
No matter. The area was wonderfully peaceful and a great relief from the flooded streets of Shinjuku and Shibuya earlier in the day. Rainer and I were honestly just pleased by how quiet this area was. As the night came in, we wandered back down the slope we had climbed to the restaurant, settling down for a taste for France.
We found what appeared to be the main street that ran through the area. Following it along, we were struck how nothing in the area appeared to be particularly French in nature. Despite being 'Little Paris', and supposedly having a large French immigrant community, there were no caucasians in sight. It appeared to be just another suburban area of Tokyo, with the exception of a patisserie facing the main road. Perhaps we just weren't in the right place, but it must be said that our first impression was a little underwhelming.
A patisserie: getting closer to French things?
However, the streets had beautiful paper lanterns dangling overhead, which created a lovely Japanese feel. We also discovered a nice little temple where students were practicing their drumming drills, presumably for an imminent festival, along with the other decorations. I popped into a small sweets shop and found some lovely jars of sweets to give as presents to people, and decided to stock up in preparation of my imminent trip to Scotland again next month.
Whilst I was in the shop, I asked the woman who served me where the local French restaurants would be. We were pointed in the direction of a lovely little place only five minutes from where we were. We headed round there, and opted to eat there for the evening - although the restaurant was currently closed at the time of our arrival. We wandered further up the street, looking for evidence of French residency. Overall, we found very little.
A "Natural" Lawson?
French stuff this way?
No matter. The area was wonderfully peaceful and a great relief from the flooded streets of Shinjuku and Shibuya earlier in the day. Rainer and I were honestly just pleased by how quiet this area was. As the night came in, we wandered back down the slope we had climbed to the restaurant, settling down for a taste for France.
At last! A French restaurant!
After a day where we had been on our feet almost constantly, and had spent a fair amount of hanging around, it felt great to be able to finally just sit and enjoy drinking wine and fine food. And, at last, here was some evidence of the French presence we had been searching for in Kagurazaka.
The waiters were indeed authentically French (at last!), which gave me an opportunity to try out a little bit of my French skills that I'd acquired in high school. Sadly, it was left waning somewhat. "Je ne comprends pas". I'd known for a while that a lot of my French language skills had fused with my Japanese, and here were the results. Not pretty. It made me feel a fair bit of motivation to revise a little French again, so my old skills didn't completely go to waste.
Hats off to the waiters as well, who spent the evening persuading us to buy more and more expensive alcoholic concoctions. We were feeling fairly intoxciated by the time we left! Nevermind; the food was sublime.
Back to the Hotel
Lanterns in Kagurazaka by evening.
Feeling fairly intoxicated by this point, Rainer and I left the restaurant and began our journey back to Shinjuku and our hotel. We had a little bit to travel, but we were feeling merry enough.
At this point, the lanterns hanging on the streets above us had lit. The tranquil evening was even quieter than our wander around the streets before dinner. The atmosphere was peaceful and very other-worldly, and it was lovely just to wander lazily up to the train station while admiring the scene.
Of course, eventually we had to make our way back onto the subway. Which we did. Back in Shinjuku, it was a fair walk to our hotel, but we carried on merrily.
That evening we both conked out feeling pretty exhausted from all of the walking we had done. The tragic thing, of course, was that Angie and Yas would just be starting their ascent up Mt.Fuji! As we passed out on their beds, they would already be on their way up. Poor guys. I certainly didn't envy them.
A Tokyo subway map. Good luck navigating this.
Overall, a much more mixed and tiring day than our first in Tokyo. There had been a number of highlights and some great places to visit, but there had also been a fair amount of hanging around which had slowed down our journey somewhat. No matter; we still had two days left to have fun, which was exactly what we intended to do.
