Well on my last quick post I said I wouldn’t have much time to post today due to our tour of Tokyo. Well I guess I jinxed myself by saying that, as our scheduled 10am tour by Viator was a “no-show” this morning. I figured something was wrong as we waited in front of our hotel with no tour van in site, as the customary Japanese custom of being there 10 minutes early had been violated. Steve (DOS) said previously, in Japan, if you’re on time, you’re late!
Well, now it’s 11:04 am am DOS has already made a couple calls to Viator to figure out what’s wrong. They saw our reservation, but it was some kind of “computer glitch” with the reservation. Interpreted by me to mean: “your reservation fell thru the cracks, and someone dropped the communication ball”. They offered to switch the tour day, but as it’s a beautiful Saturday here, and we have other things planned most days, that’s not an viable option, so they’re sending someone else here around noon. Not optimum losing a couple hours, but better than nothing. It’s really surprising with Viator however, as they have been very reliable in the past, and we have a couple other tours on this Japan trip booked thru them.
Now sitting in the Concierge Club Lounge as the maid is cleaning our room here at the Hyatt Regency Tokyo. We had breakfast here earlier, and now just relaxing for another hour or so. Here are a couple pics of the nearly empty lounge at this hour, and some from our view here on the 9th floor of the Hyatt, located in the Shinjuku region of Tokyo. This area of Shinjuku is the hotel district, with the Hyatt, Hilton, and other luxury hotels close by. The lounge is divided up into several mini sections, which provides for a more cozy and private feel, while still provided a lot of space.
Finally . . . Now 12:30pm and our tour started.
Now I’m writing and posting the rest of this blog of Tokyo Tour photos a day later. Our driver/guide turned out to be terrific, and we didn’t let this pre-booking experience reflect badly on him; it was totally not his fault and we feel bad he was pushed into a difficult last minute booking issue. He pushed out full day 9 hour tour back to 12:45pm start time until 9:45pm, although we actually ended at 10:15pm. It was quite a long day, but we covered a lot of ground in a whirlwind tour of Tokyo! While we could have toured on our own via subway or train, the huge stations seemed a bit busy and confusing to navigate, even with the Google Translator or map app. Plus, he saved us so much time taking us directly to places he suggested, and walked with us to the sites giving us additional insight into what we were seeing.
The Hyatt Regency does provide a complimentary bus to the nearby Shinjuku Station though, should you wish to navigate the busy streets and stations of Tokyo on your own.
Tokyo is so enormous, it’s really quite overwhelming to the novice Tokyo travelers such as us. Each neighborhood has its own “vibe” to it. The city is generally very clean and safe, although surprisingly we did see a very few homeless people in our travels. Despite the huge and close proximity to each other of the crowds, we never felt unsafe, especially from petty theft like the rampant pickpocketing and scams in Barcelona, Italy, Paris, or NY or fill-in-the blank city.
While Steve DOS, i.e. “Captain Steve” flew to Tokyo during his last 12 or 13 year of working prior to retirement in 2018, he said Tokyo had not only changed, (in his last few years he stayed out by Narita Airport without taking the 60 – 90 minute ride into the city, as he opted for a shorter 20 hour layover,) so Tokyo Central felt new to him as well. Many things are now App-Based, such as ordering meals, or even reservation times and payment at some Disney restaurants, so having a WiFi E-Sim for your smart phone is a necessity these days, not to mention for help translating the language.
Sensō-ji (Asakusa KANNON TEMPLE Gallery
Sensō-ji is the oldest Buddhist Temple in Tokyo, with the site dating back to 645 AD, although much of it was destroyed during WW 2, and has been rebuilt. This is a Temple vs a Shrine, with the difference among other things, is the Temples have a large salmon gate.
Key Differences to Temples vs Shrines: (Information from Google AI search).
- Entrance: Shrines have a torii gate (usually red/wood). Temples have a large, house-like sanmon gate.
- Worship Style: At shrines, you bow twice, clap twice, and pray. At temples, you quietly join hands (no clapping).
- Symbols: Shrines often have komainu (lion-dog) statues. Temples feature incense burners, pagodas, and Buddha statues.
- Naming: Shrine names end in -jinja, -jingu, or -taisha (e.g., Meiji Jingu). Temple names often end in -dera or -ji (e.g.,
We first parked a few blocks from The Temple, and walked towards it, with a few stops along the way for photos, including this one of us with the Tokyo Skytree Tower way in the distance behind us. The Skytree is the tallest structure in Japan at 2080 feet (634 meters). We did not go to the Skytree as it required reservations and time was cut short today, and although not nearly as high as the Skytree, we are planning to go up the 45 story Government Building to their observation deck across from our hotel during our stay.
You can see from the photos in this gallery of posts just how crowded this Temple complex is, especially the closer we got to it. There is quite a walk leading to the entrance, with vendor stands; really like an outdoor marketplace, aligning the pathway, along with art exhibits and displays.
At one point it was so crowded I felt like we were in the middle of Times Square on New Year’s Eve! We didn’t feel unsafe or fear of getting pickpockets; just at least for me a bit claustrophobic. When we finally got up to the main Temple area, the crowds spread out, and it was much for comfortable seeing the Temple up close, the fountain with Holy Water, the large 5 Star Pagoda there, and the two Buddhas sitting in a garden-like setting.
TOKYO TOWER:
Next on the tour was a trip to the Tokyo Tower, which looked like a replica of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, although this one was partially painted red. There was a large an lively festival going on at the base of the tower with music, games, food, drinks, and lots of tourists and locals alike enjoying themselves. Like the SkyTree Tower, we did not ascend to the top of the Tokyo Tower, mainly due to time, but we’ve both been to the original Eiffel Tower in Paris, as well as many other towers worldwide, so we didn’t feel like we missed out. We were so close to the tower however, literally at the base, that the photos have a different perspective had we been further away.
THE TOKYO IMPERIAL PALACE:
Well, first of all we didn’t go to the Imperial Palace, but technically you could say “we went by it”! Actually as it was close to 4pm when the Palace closes, and even walking the vastness of the acres of gardens, we obviously didn’t have time to tour it. Our guide did drive us around the blocks of the few miles it covers and we saw the gardens, and people strolling, biking, and picnicking on the grounds. You could easily spend a day there as it is so large, but even so I don’t think I would want to do so. Just being up close to the grounds was enough for us, but here are a few photos of the Palace Grounds.
If you do plan to go, plan ahead using a link to the official site, and be careful to note the days it’s open, or days no tours are offered. It will require much walking and steps, so be prepared for a long walk! If you do go, please leave a comment and let us know if you enjoyed it: did it take more or less time, the amount of walking (I’m conscious about this since my knee replacement a year ago, although it’s much better now except for lots of stairs), and any other restrictions; i.e. is photography, bottled water allowed indoors etc.
SHIBUYA CROSSING!
After the drive by of the Tokyo Presidential Palace, it was starting to get darker outside; not night, by early evening and the Tokyo younger crowds were coming out in force for a night on the town. Especially in Shibuya, where we drove by to see the Tokyo famous Shibuya Crossing, we were hoping to get a good photo from a elevated vantage point. We had hoped to get out of the car and walk across the famous crossing, but at least on the busy Saturday night (Holiday) period, it was so busy I was freaking out just watching it from the car! The lines to cross were literally jam-packed with people all the way down the street! Insane, and definitely not for someone such as me that has mild claustrophobia! We had hoped to take a photo of the Shibuya Crossing from above at the crossing such as this one from Go Tokyo The Official Travel Guide website, which says up to 1,000 people may be crossing at any one time. I think we easily saw that many people and more just queuing up just to cross! But again it was Saturday night on a holiday weekend.
The short video I took below was a mini pre-Shibuya Crossing; that is a crossing in the Shibuya area, but still a couple blocks from the big and famous crossing.
I guess in the Tik Tok and YouTube age, the younger generation flock here for a video or to be seen, but it definitely was not our cup of tea. I’m glad we drove by there, but I’m even more glad we did not get out to try to walk thru the crosswalk (after waiting for who knows how long to cross the street), or even try to get into the infamous Starbucks on the corner that overlooks the madness of the crossing. Still we could say we drove by Shibuya Crossing! Here are a few other photos and short videos I made while driving around the Shibuya area, taken around 5pm on a Holiday weekend Saturday night.
Odiaba Section of Tokyo: See the State of Liberty and a Golden-Gate like Bridge! Aqua City!
After driving around Shibuya Crossing and a few mini Shibuya Crossings close by, our driver headed out thru the traffic and headed to the Odaiba section of Tokyo, which was night and day away from Shibuya Crossing as far as crowds go. Our driver nicked name this area the Ocean City, which has a nice indoor mall with several restaurants as well as stores and is set amidst the park area just back from the Statue of Liberty.
We had a nice walk around the Odaiba section of Tokyo, which consisted of a man-made beach and waterfront, overlooking Central Tokyo from a distance, yet a world away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. Our guide had told us there was a replica of the Golden Gate Bridge and Statue of Liberty there, but I assumed it was a small model of each in a museum. The Statue of Liberty was outdoors overlooking the river, and was actually a huge (albeit smaller, 1/7th in size) version of The Statue of Liberty, while the Rainbow bridge (which resembles the Golden Gate Bridge, but is not painted red) serves as vital a highway, carrying thousands of cars a day across it’s span.
The Rainbow bridge is actually an important transportation point, and we went across it a couple days later on, during our trip to Disney Seas park. The Statue of Liberty was a stand-a-lone monument located along the man-made beach and waterside park by the Aqua Marina. We walked around the area for a while, as it was just starting to get dark. Several people were sitting on the beach, but it was getting quite chilly and a bit windy as the sun was setting. There were several ferry boats that leave from here to various parts of the city or for short cruise excursions as well.
We wandered up towards the mall area, which was a leisurely walk along thru the Odaiba Marine Park, hopping to find a good restaurant for dinner.
We had dinner in the mall area, and treated our driver/guide with us as well. The restaurant was a Hawaiian-themed restaurant with locations in London, New York and Tokyo the menu said. As we hadn’t had lunch due to the late start of our tour, we were starved and were ready for anything to eat, and this was a perfect choice for us!
After our leisurely dinner of burgers and brewskis (the brewski was for me at least, not the driver or DOS), we made our way back to the hotel, with one final stop near the Keisei Ueno Station. Although it was 9:45pm by this time and a full day, we walked around the area to a nearby park, admiring the lights and hustle of the area, and even saw a couple beautiful Cherry Blossom trees in the park.
After our brief, but nice stop there, we headed back to the hotel, admiring the lights and nightlife energy of the city, arriving around 10:15pm. It was a long, but wonderful day of touring some of the sites of Tokyo! While we didn’t even skim the surface of what Tokyo has to offer, the various neighborhoods we visited gave us a quick essence of the culture and enormity of this world’s 3rd largest city.
