More craziness in Tokyo

May 23, 2009

It was nice to get away to some quiet towns in the mountains for a few days, but now we were ready to face the crowds of Tokyo again. We started off the morning with some shopping in Ginza at Uniqlo. We also played with some of the new gadgets in the Sony Building. My favorite was a camera that allowed you to take panoramic pictures just by panning the camera over the desired area, rather than taking multiple pictures.

Then we went to the East Imperial Garden and caught a glimpse of the Imperial Palace.

The rest of the day was sensory overload, beginning with Shibuya. Shibuya Station and the surrounding area seemed even more crowded than Tokyo Station. Also, you don’t see as many businesspeople in suits anymore, but all different types of fashion. When we first exited the station, the area didn’t seem as lively as I expected it to be – Shibuya is supposed to be a huge shopping area. After turning a few corners, we found ourselves right in the middle of all the excitement – shoppers walking everywhere, people yelling out advertisements for their stores in the streets (even two ladies dressed up in kimonos playing drums), and tons of lights and signs. To get back to the train station, we had to cross the main intersection in front of the station. There were gigantic herds of people at each corner, and when the cars stopped, literally thousands of people filled the intersection.

Next stop was Harajuku, where I saw even crazier clothing and hairstyles. I enjoyed walking through the crowds and people watching. We also went to a huge 100 yen store, where they sell pretty much anything you can think of (for about one dollar).

Once the sun started to set, we went to Shinjuku to try and get a view of Tokyo from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Unfortunately it was pretty overcast, so we couldn’t see any mountains in the background – just building after building after building.

Back at the house, we packed up and said goodbye to everyone, then we were on our way to Hiroshima by an overnight train. Unfortunately, we were misdirected and boarded a bullet train instead of our slower overnight train. We were able to get off at a later stop and catch our original train, but we had to wait 2 hours at the station. Turns out our overnight train beds were super uncomfortable too – pretty much just a hard, narrow cubicle for you to sleep in, with a little blanket. After another transfer, we finally arrived in Hiroshima.