Toky-Oh my God this pace is amazing!!
Well, we finally made it Japan.
Landing after a lovely 9 hour flight from Brisbane, we quickly boarded our bus to take us on to Shinjuku.
Day 0
No surprise to anyone, we immediately got lost after the map told us to go under the station to cross the city… we popped up back on the same side! Once Big boss saved us and we got our bearings we walked through the party district of Tokyo on a Saturday night, and it absolutely did not disappoint! The bright neon lights and the huge billboards lit up the streets making it feel as though the sun was still up. The diverse range of people out and about filled the streets with a fashion show set to the music coming from the endless amount of clubs and bars. We enjoyed a lovely first night meal of sushi and Sapporo beer, then called it a night.
Day 1
We were up bright and early wander the streets of Shinjuku… only to realise that nothing opens before 10am and even getting a coffee was a task. Once we finally fuelled up for the day we made it to Shinjuku Gyoen Botanical Gardens.
A tranquil place where you travel though forrest, rose gardens, cherry blossoms and traditional Japanese Bonsai gardens. We spent half the day walking and exploring here, before we went on a Shrine and Temple trek!! Our tour guide, explorer Big Boss, took us to temples that I’m pretty sure some of the locals still don’t know about!! They were amazing, and I still struggle to fathom that they ALL were older than Australia!! On our return to Shinjuku we happen to stumble on a yearly parade and celebration that brings the 7 areas of Shinjuku together at a Shrine to celebrate the year to come. This was an incredible street stall and market set up at the Shrine, with the conclusion of the parade happening to round out the night.
Day 2
Day 2 saw a 4am start so we could make it to Toyosu market, the biggest fish auction in the world, where in the space of 30 minutes millions of dollars was spent on Tuna. It was incredible!!
We spent the rest of the day exploring Ginza. We ticked off a Big Boss list item by going to Itoya, an 8 story stationary shop which had a line out the front waiting for it to open, followed by a Hot Pot Ramen lunch (which was delicious!) then the Aquarium Art Gallery.
We then braved the subway system for the first time to head beck to Shinjuku.
Day 3
This was my favourite day in Tokyo! We braved the subway again and headed to Asakusa to start the day with some delicious Japanese fluffy pancakes, yum!!
We then went to the Senso Ji Shrine and Oh my gosh was this incredible!! We wandered and found the biggest street market I have ever seen, that lead us to a handmade paper shop. Here we mat the grandson of a Japanese National Treasure, who had continued carrying on his grandfathers work: hand crafting paper that can last up to 100n years old!!
After spending a small fortune here, we then headed to a sushi making class where we became sushi masters making some Nigiri and Maki sushi before enjoying our hard work over some sake!
We made a quick stop off at a hedgehog cafe, meeting 2 very adventurous hedgehogs, who despite their tiny little faces have incredibly sharp teeth… just ask the Big Boss! We finished our day with some drinks at Golden Gai in Brian’s Bar and then some Udon noodle for dinner!
Day 4
For our last day in Tokyo we headed out on a day tour to Mt Fuji. After a late start leaving Tokyo (not our fault) we headed to a beautiful public Onsen overlooking the mountain. Unfortunately the clouds were low and we could’t see a thing! The onsen though was magic!! It was a traditional Onsen where women and men are separated to bath in full rudey nudey private! It was delightful!
After a quick stop at Oshino Hakkai, a world heritage listed site, for lunch we headed back on the bus to try and see the mountain. As luck would have it, the clouds parted, the sun came out and the white cap of this incredible sight was in full view.
After lots of photos we headed back to Tokyo for a bar pub crawl which finished with a traditional pizza and steak and fries at an Italian restaurant before heading home to pack for out bullet train adventure to Osaka the next day.