We are back in Tokyo for two nights before catching our flight home, this time staying at a hotel across the street from the massive 133 acre Ueno Park. Called the &Here https://andherehotels.jp/tokyoueno/en/, a weird name for a hotel, it’s modern, with amenities such as a cafe and an onsen. But the big draw is its proximity to Ueno train station, where we disembark from Kawazana. The hotel is also close, within walking distance, to the station for trains heading to Narita airport.
The Ueno neighbourhood is not as busy nor as neon as Shinjuku, where we stayed our first time here. Partly because the park is an oasis of green in an otherwise concrete jungle.
It’s our last night together as a foursome as Seonag & Geoff head back to Toronto a day before we leave. There’s a British pub called Hub (it’s a chain) just down the street from our hotel and it is where we gather for the “last supper”. Despite the not great on-line reviews, we have very good fish & chips. Geoff gets his coveted glass of Guiness, Seonag a glass of Scotch whiskey, a quaffable glass of white wine for me. Craig sticks to his routine of non-alcohol beer. We say goodbye, grateful for their good company and tech skills.
The Tokyo National Museum is within walking distance of our hotel, just across the park. We spend the better part of our one day here inside the museum. Or should I say museums. There are four large buildings, all from different architectural eras. The exhibits are many and impressive. AI estimates the museum has over 120,000 artifacts and pieces of art, with around 3,000 on display at any one time.
Hoping to have one last night out in Tokyo we go in search of a restaurant. It’s Friday night and we haven’t made reservations. The better looking restaurants are full. Those that aren’t look dodgy. So it’s another 7-11 dinner back in our hotel room, where we lament our disappointment in the food part of our trip.
Notwithstanding the food, it has been a memorable and enjoyable journey. Japan, for me, was an itch I needed to scratch. I’d heard from so many fellow travellers that Japan was their favourite travel destination. And as I began to research the country I realized that it is safe & clean. With a low crime rate and drinkable tap water, Japan seemed a perfect fit for us.
We loved so much about Japan. Number one would be the people. So, so lovely and gracious. The cultural uniqueness. So many people said of Japan “it’s hard to describe, it’s just so different”. The scenery, so green & lush, so much water and forest. The efficiency of services, the trains, the airports, the hotels. The conveniences. Bathrooms, information desks, “you-are-here maps” everywhere. The convenience stores. 7-11, Lawsons, Family Mart everywhere. The freaking cleanliness. The artisanship. The onsens. Never thought I’d enjoy communal bathing, but it was definitely a highlight.
As with any trip, there were a few wrinkles in an otherwise smooth journey. Number one being the lack of vegetables in our daily diet. I would not be surprised if we arrive home with a number of vitamin deficiency diseases. Beri-beri, pellagra, scurvy and rickets come to mind.
The language was another challenge. In the month here I acquired a vocabulary of about 10 words. That’s a shockingly low number given that I carried a small phrase book with me and I made an effort to learn as much as I could. The written characters are so complex that even Japanese children, who grow up speaking and hearing the language, take until adulthood to learn the 92 basic characters.
I used the word “sugoi” a lot. Nice and short and easy to pronounce, it means “great” or “amazing”. I often wondered if it had another meaning as I got a lot of laughs from the locals whenever I used it.
Because we’ve not travelled much in recent years we were not prepared for the degree to which technical computer skills are now required. So much is done on-line. Buying tickets, checking into hotels, buying groceries, ordering food, getting a taxi, etc, etc. And while we’re not sure that all the automation saves time, doesn’t matter, we realize we’ve gotta up our tech game.
The Tokyo subway boggled our minds. The number of lines, the complexity of purchasing tickets, the difficulty figuring out which train was going which direction. More than a few times we got on the wrong train. For our first few days here we rode for free, unable to figure out how to pay. We joke – but it’s no joke – that without Seonag & Geoff we’d have never made it out of Narita airport.
They’d be proud of the way we make our way to Shibuya our last morning in Tokyo. Our flight home leaves at 6PM so we have a few hours to kill between checking out of the hotel and heading to the airport. A forty minute ride on the Ginza line dumps us at Shibuya station. A bit of confused wandering around gets us to the entrance to the Shibuya Sky observation deck. We’re a bit shocked at the $30 ticket price, but its a gloriously sunny, blue sky morning and we are optimistic about seeing Mt Fuji. Alas, we don’t. It’s shrouded in thick cloud. But, the large outdoor deck, 230 meters above the street, with it’s couches and hammocks and 360 degree views, is truly worth the price of admission.
The time spent on the deck is a fitting way to end our time in Tokyo. A few hours later we board a train for Narita airport and say Sayonara to a sugoi city, a sugoi country, a sugoi adventure.
