The mega day began with a breakfast James got from the downstairs combini while I was still asleep. Today the weather was clear, which was really nice after a soggy and humid day yesterday. We could even see Mt Fuji faintly through the fog from our hotel window which was pretty awesome.
Our first task (after washing our clothes in the bathtub and hanging them in every conceivable location all over the bathroom) was to try to get James a new rail pass. We promptly made our way to the Shinjuku rail office, where James presented his pitiful pass. After some conferring, the girl behind the counter told James the sad news that for reasons unknown (to us) the pass could not be replaced (we are talking about a cardboard pass the size of a small greeting card, nothing fancy) but that James could continue to use his mangled pass for the duration of its validity. Needless to say, although grateful it was not void, James was not pleased, as he now has to present this a4 piece of paper with his pass taped to it at each station gate, and it is more than a little embarassing. However it could be worse (much, much worse) and so looking on the bright side of things we began our sightseeing day by catching the subway to Ginza, where the Toho movie offices are and the statue of Godzilla.
After about 30 minutes we found the statue, which was actually only about 3 feet tall, set up on a stone pillar in a nondescript plaza between two buildings. James was thrilled, and we took many many shots, while Japanese people went past on their daily business probably wondering what our excitement was about.
We then caught the subway back to Yoyogi-koen, which is the large park at the back of Harajuku. We wandered through the park, which is a nice green space, with many trees but unfortunately (for them) many homeless sleeping rough also. Arriving at Harajuku, we cruised the streets checking out the cool shops. We went to LaForet, which is a big designer department store and checked out the Gothic Lolita stores on the bottom level, and also of course visited Kiddyland, the 5 floor toy store. We had lunch at Wendy’s, an American burger chain (we have now tried MosBurger, Lotteria and Wendy’s, the main burger joints apart from McDonalds, and MosBurger is easily the best, Lotteria the worst). On the way back we noticed a really, really long queue, and believe it or not it was people lining up to go into a new clothing store called H&M. It must be really, really good, because the queue snaked two blocks along and then almost one block around the corner – needless to say we didn’t go there!!!
After this we caught the train back to Shinjuku, dropped off our purchases back at the hotel and headed out again, to explore Shinjuku. Shinjuku has been described as all of Tokyo combined in one suburb – it has it all – upmarket department stores, funky fashion districts, ‘pink’ areas (the dodgy area of town where the ‘hostess’ bars are – in Japan they use the word pink where westerners use blue), temples etc. We made a stop at the Kinokuniya bookstore, and purchased several volumes each on their ‘foreign’ i.e. english books level – again marvelling at how cheap books are in Japan. I bought a really pretty handkerchief from Innocent World, a Gothic Lolita store (for those reading this wondering what Gothic Lolita is, click HERE for a link to a wikipedia article) – it was about all I could afford – Gothic lolita stuff is so amazingly detailed it is understandably very expensive (and besides even if I was young enough to pull off the look, there is no way I am tiny enough to fit into those dresses!!!!!).
As we wandered along we spotted a sushi-train restaurant down some stairs, and so we headed down for some dinner. The sushi conveyor belt was double deckered, and the store smelt like fresh fish. It was very plain, and obviously was mainly for the locals. You took a mug from a shelf and a green tea teabag, and pressed it against a tap set into the bench you sat at, and boiling water came out to make your tea. The sushi was AWESOME. It was soooo fresh and yummy, and cheap – each plate cost 105 yen, so our whole meal came to a little under $20, and believe me we ate heaps!!!!
Feeling very satisfied, we ascended to the street, and wandered further into Shinjuku, passing through the ‘dodgy’ district with its flashing lights and big signs advertising ‘entertainment’, before we came across a temple that was packed with people. We had noticed people carrying these strange looking bamboo ‘things’ along the street, and as we entered the temple area, we realised why. There was a festival going on which we later found out back at the hotel is known as Tori No Ichi, or Rake Fair. The decorated bamboo ‘things’ were actually rakes, which symbolise bringing in the good luck and money, and this explains why business men seemed to be holding the largest ones. There were stalls selling food, rakes, displays of drumming and literally thousands of people everywhere jammed into a small square, and the sound of clapping, as each time a rake is sold the seller and buyer apparently clap pieces of wood together in some harmonious pattern.
James didn’t really like the crowds, but I found it really exciting, and snapped away as many photos as I could (without losing sight of James amongst all of the people!!).
After this we headed back towards the station. I sampled a yummy green tea frozen yoghurt, we looked through the Bic Camera store in one of the Department stores and then dragged our weary selves back to the hotel. We stopped and asked the guest relations desk about the festival, and after looking it up the man at the desk explained it to us, and then gave us some paper cranes which were on display. As we wandered away, he came running over to us, and gave us this awesome ball, made of origami, with a bell inside, and we were thrilled at the kind gesture.
Tomorrow we need to be at the station at 8am to go to Hakone, so I will sign off to get some sleep!!
