Tokyo 東京

My final morning in Kyoto dawned grey, cold, and rainy, and it was time to say goodbye. Shortly, I was back on the bullet train speeding at 285 km/h towards Tokyo Station.

We checked in to the small but comfortable business hotel, and headed out to take on Tokyo.

welcome to Tokyo

At Tokyo Station, I finally found two of the things which I had set as goals for myself before arriving in Japan: Tokyo Banana and KitKat.

These two things are uniquely Japanese.

special Japanese snacks

Tokyo Banana is a Japanese snack-cake, and it's the sort of special gift that people in Thailand generally bring back from their travels to Tokyo. I've received them from students who have traveled to Japan, and I knew that it was a special thing to look for.

The KitKat story is kind of an interesting one. You see, in Japanese, the phrase "kitto katsu" means "surely win". It's an expression of good luck. KitKat has monopolized on this, and released dozens of specialty KitKat candy bars that are found exclusively in Japan. Some of the flavors are seasonal, some are only limited-release, and others are found only in certain regions or cities. I made it my goal to try as many flavors as I could while I was there. In total I sampled: matcha green tea (kind of normal, coming from Asia), crème brûlée (which you actually have to bake and toast!), rum raisin (my favorite), ume (Japanese plum), ginger (my other favorite), and wasabi (not so bad! It really tasted like white chocolate).

My friend Ryan and I even made our way to the world's first and only KitKat store, located in one of Tokyo's big malls. We found some designer flavors there that were sold nowhere else in the world! Those were kind of expensive though. It was about $12 USD for a small box of 4 KitKat bars!

the KitKat store

Wanting to save money but still get a feel of Tokyo in 48 hours, I searched in advance for a list of cool free things to see in the city. The first place we went was Shibuya Crossing, the busiest intersection in the world. During rush hour, over 1000 pedestrians cross the street in each cycle! We were there on a Sunday, but could still get a taste of how busy and crazy Tokyo could be.

Shibuya District

By then it was getting on to evening. After sushi in Shibuya District, we went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Lots of people go to Tokyo and head up to the top of Tokyo Tower for a night view of the city. The government building's free 45th-floor observation deck was a good alternative. Looking out, it was city as wide as the eye could see. Tokyo metropolitan area has a population of 39 million people. To put that into perspective, Bangkok's metropolitan area population is about 10 million and NYC metropolitan area has a population of around 20 million!

It was to be another early start the next (and final) full day in Japan. We boarded the Tokyo Metro to the Tsukiji Fish Market. This is the site of the world's biggest daily tuna auction. The tuna sold at the market sometimes can go into the millions of dollars, and recently, the most expensive fish in the world (a 222 kg bluefin tuna) sold for $1.8 million USD. This is also the site of the world's freshest sushi.

It's very much a working market, and any visitors have to scramble out of the way of crazy pallet-driving fishermen and dock workers. The surprising thing was, that despite the rows and rows of raw fish for sale, the market didn't smell fishy at all (quite unlike some markets I've been to in Thailand). I wonder if this has anything to do with cold-water fish vs. the warm-water fish swimming the Gulf of Thailand.

There was some very delicious octopus on sale.

And lots of other fish. Some of it was quite expensive. This market prides itself on having the highest-quality fish in the world.

Next, we headed on to the Meiji Imperial Shrine, where the deified souls of Emeror Meiji and his consort, Empress Shoken, are enshrined; according to Japanese Shinto custom, their bodies are interred elsewhere.

Emperor Meiji is known as the man who modernized Japan. Every year, Sake distilleries from all across the country donate barrels of rice wine to be presented at the shrine. They are displayed along a wall just outside.

It was very cold and rainy, but still the shrine complex was quiet, serene, and reverent. We were lucky enough to glimpse a traditional Shinto wedding procession as they passed beneath Tori gates of 1500 year-old Taiwanese cyprus trees.

It really wasn't enough time to be satisfied with Japan. In fact, this quick look at a really interesting country has made me really want to go back. I hope to get another railpass someday and try to explore more parts of Japan, and experience more of what it has to offer.