Day 49 – Tokyo

Today was our first day exploring Tokyo. We slept in, so by the time we were able to get ready and leave the hostel, it was close to midday. We decided to walk towards the tourist information centre near Tokyo Station, where the staff member was very friendly and gave us maps and suggestions on how to spend our time in Tokyo.

Imperial Palace

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Nijubashi Bridge

We listened to the first suggestion and walked towards the Imperial Palace. The first stop was Nijubashi Bridge, which is the bridge towards the actual Imperial Palace’s Main Gate. The photos above are actually showing two bridges, the one of the left is Nijubashi Bridge, which is the Main Gate Iron Bridge. The arch on the right is a Stone Bridge.

From the Nijubashi Bridge, we walked towards the Ote-mon Gate, which is the entrance to the East Garden, which is open to the public (except Mondays and Fridays).

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Imperial Palace East Garden

The Gardens are very large and have a wide variety of areas. There are walls which are from the Edo Period (when Shoguns ruled Japan) which are constructed with massive stones throughout the garden which I really liked.

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Hibiya Park

After the gardens we made our way to Hibiya Park, which is close by to the Imperial Palace. The park has a nice fountain, and some strange/modern sculptures.

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Shibuya Crossing

Commonly called the busiest crossing in the world, we sorted walked past it without realising. It was busy, like crazy busy, but we just assumed it was typical for Tokyo.

After realising we were at the world famous intersection we stayed a while to watch the organised chaos. A nice attraction to see.

Nissan Crossing

Right next to Shibuya Crossing, is Nissan’s flagship showroom, known as Nissan Crossing. Here they occupy 2 floors with only 4 cars, but the bottom level has a classic right next to a concept car.

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The second level is where I couldn’t stop smiling. There was a GT-R and a Gran Turismo Vision 2020 concept car which looked amazing.

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The levels above, have a overpriced coffee shop and a Sony showroom.

Ginza Six

Talking about overpriced, the Ginza area is full of international designer brands. Not one for shopping, we didn’t visit the shops, but the vibe around the area was very cool.

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We went inside a shopping complex (apparently the first in Tokyo where you didn’t have to take your shoes off) called Ginza Six. Ginza Six is once more full of designer brands (I think…I didn’t really look or know the brands).

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We took the elevator to the top level which contains a large open space that has been converted into a garden, which would be pretty cool to relax in and which had great views of the city.

Odaiba

From the Ginza area we walked around a bit and ended up near Shimbashi Station. From here we caught a train to Odaiba. The train ride was cool as we did a massive loop to get onto the Rainbow Bridge.

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At Odaiba we were surprised to see a Statue of Liberty! There was also nice views of the city across the harbour. From the vantage points, you can see the Tokyo Tower and the Rainbow Bridge.

As it was well past midnight at this stage, we ended up catching the train all the way back home to our tiny sleeping quarters.