Tokyo – Old Town

50 minutes doing the full length of the Ginza line to the other side of town at rush hour is very interesting and crowded! A very organised double queue of people getting on in some places, they pack them in, though no agrivation from those that can’t squeeze in, they know the next is only a minute away.

I had thought that the vertical writing that reads from right to left was only for older more traditional styles, however books and e-readers still use it. Yes the page numbering does go from what we would call the back to the front.

Senso-ji is the oldest temple in Tokyo. It is the temple of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (Sho Kanzeon Bosatsu), who embodies the mercy of all Buddhas.

Good news!

If you draw a bad news one you tie it to a rod there and they burn them.

This temple had the biggest incense burner that you could smell from a long way!

Always make sure you purify yourself before you pay your respect.

You can get matcha anything here. We didn’t fancy the beer though!

Perhaps a coffee instead, yes that is coffee foam!

Hoppy street where all the locals eat, not far from the temple.

For lunch a fried sandwich at Age 3. Mine is creme brule, and Mark’s is beef. Interesting to see they were alcohol and pork free!

The Sky Tower and the Asahi headquarters with the golden turd. Yes of course we sampled the goods at the top of the building. Another great view over the city.

Time for a little swanning around in Ueno Park.

The SkyTree is the world’s tallest tower at 634 metres and the third tallest structure behind Merdeka 118 679m and Burj Khalifa 830m. The two floors are at 350m and 450m, and of course, a glass floor.

An evening in Akihabara. Dinner was at Tsukada Nojo chosen by a good Google rating and reviews. An izakaya restaurant based on chicken farming. Very busy with local “Tokyo salarymen”. Absolutely great food, possibly the best so far, and so reasonably priced. £38 for probably too many shared dishes, puddings, a shochu (a sweet potato distilled spirit) highball and a whisky soda highball. The bamboo shoots were absolutely lovely!

They showed us their speciality dishes in the menu, and I thought it odd that they had dessert listed before the mains. A little while later I realised…… not when a book reads the other direction!

In order to find this restaurant we used the Google location, the floor number Google had said and the phone number to confirm against a poster that we were getting in the right lift!

Akihabara is home to electric city, lots of gaming stores.

Pachinko is a pinball game that is very popular here. We went in a gaming room and had a go. From what we could tell you turn a dial for the strength of the ball release and once you hit the sweet spot you keep it there, so basically it is one hand holding a dial at the same place. Not sure I get the attraction.

Gambling is actually illegal in Japan, therefore you can’t win cash. You get a receipt for the balls you have. This can then be exchanged for “special prizes” (gold/silver tokens), which can be sold for cash at a separate, nearby vendor. The lottery is fine and betting on certain sports.

A light libation at Bar Legacy back in our own neighbourhood. The best cocktails, one a cheesecake and the other rum and raisin. Such a lovely place, tiny, and not much English speaking!