Beautiful, Exhausting First Day in Tokyo

Katie and Katya in the East Garden

We arrived at Haneda Airport at 5 a.m. Tokyo time.  Fortunately, we slept and ate well on the 12 hour flight from Los Angeles.  We navigated the mass transit system itself well, but the stations, with their maze-like structures and multiple exits, were more challenging and we wandered around in circles at Tokyo station, went to the wrong hotel, finally made it to the right place (the Metro Manunouchi Hotel, just a block away), and left our baggage.  We first went to the East Garden of the Imperial Palace grounds, which are meticulously manicured.

Lilies in Ninomaru Pond

The highlight was the Ninomaru area, where the huge irises are at the peak of their blooming season, a vast array of purple and white.

Koi in Ninamaru Pond

We took the Metro to Shinjuku, where we wandered the colorful pedestrian streets lined with restaurants and shops, with salespeople outside the storefronts seeking the attention of passers-by.  Our main goal was the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Buildings and their observation towers.  After finding ourselves in the wrong high-rise structure, we finally found the right skyscrapers, rode the elevator to the top and enjoyed the panoramic view.  As is typical, Mt. Fuji was shrouded in clouds.

Bonsai display at Meiji Jingu Shrine

By this time, Katya was limping along, having chosen to wear sandals with flat soles and two-inch heels for our exploration of the city.  She bore up quite well, though.  We found a udon shop on the way back to Shinjuku station, where we could not slurp nearly as well as the locals.  Our next and last stop was Harajuku.  The streets were packed with young people in all styles of clothing.  We did not venture into the throngs of teenagers on the pedestrian shopping street but made our way to the forested Meiji Jingu Shrine, entering through one of the large, cedar torii gates.  The grounds there was were much more crowded than the East Garden.  We read about Emperor Meiji and the changes he made to Japanese government and culture as we strolled along the wide lanes toward the main shrine.  After rinsing our hands and mouth, we entered and the gate and viewed the inner shrine.  On display along one side of the courtyard were beautiful examples of flowering bonsai.  I have never seen anything like them.

The JR line took us back to our hotel, where we arrived shortly after 3:00, ready to collapse.  We all felt better after showers and rest, but it is going to be a very early night.  That's good, because we plan to be at the Fish Market at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning.  -- Sherri