We left Osaka and headed to the capital, Tokyo for 6 days, here is what we found and what we thought of it (all of it, prepare for a long post)…
The train from Osaka to Tokyo – Shinkansen – This was one of those ‘you need to do’ whilst in Japan – traveling at nearly 300kph and it being dead smooth. This was a mission to buy tickets because we had luggage – we were supposed to leave on the 12pm train but ended up having to wait for the 14.30 train because “luggage” The suggestion from the ticket office was just to leave the Suitcases and rucksacks behind – which was obviously not happening! So we had to wait, we opted for sitting on the floor and in Bob’s case dying of hunger and in Ash’s case going to find a Bento box another ‘you have to do’
One of the other things that you have to do on a Shinkansen is spot Mount Fuji – according to Bob it looks just like every other mountain and not like the photos plus is not that big nor impressive. Ash however thinks it’s amazing and from the distance from the train to the mountain – that’s a big mountain!
We got to Tokyo Station and then spent over an hour trying to get out of the goddamn place! No one helped, we couldn’t escape we went up a million stairs, down the same stairs, round and round- there was no such thing as food for Bob but she did spot a bubble tea place – with ALMOND MILK!!!!!! YAYYYYYYYY!
Eventually we found another flight of stairs which lead to the surface and started searching for the tube line – we ended up following another set of tourists and finally finding the line we were looking for – we walked another 3km in this attempt in the station not even outside. Eventually we got the tube to one of the three stations that all have the same or similar names and got off – then lugged our suitcases up a million flights of stairs (there is no way Korea has more stairs)
We walked 10 minutes through the back streets and eventually found our apartment which was better than we expected had a nice view of the city and was pretty good. There was a washing machine, A bath though small, Cooking area – if there was ever anything to eat and plates with cutlery!
We unpacked and then set out at about 6pm to find food – remembering that Japan has no food after 4pm – Ash found a Vegetarian option that was local -Nui Hostel which was an international backpacking hostel with a bar and kitchen. There was food!!!!!!!!!!! Real food, edible food, Falafal and hummus and not to forget the best thing of probably the whole of Japan for Bob – A litre Mojito!!!!! It was sooooooo gooooodddddd!
1st Day
Akihabara is the electronics and arcade district of Tokyo – we walked from the apartment through the back streets – that are dead quiet – and then hit the main road, which is massively busy and walked towards the arcades. Stopping briefly in an artisan market – which we can’t remember the name of – as we didn’t even plan to go there.
Eventually we came out on the main road north of the district – we saw some of the anime statues shops – with the hopes of finding – Akame, Genshin Impact, Vincent Valentine of Final Fantasy, 002 from Darling of the Franxx or maybe Calcifer – what we ended up finding was – Attack on Titan, Dragon Ball Z, Naruto and One Piece. We did find some really cool – but random – figures so we compared loads of shops and intended to go back later in the week.
We wandered around the Arcades, Ash wandered around trying to find an alleyway which he had written into his books – he found it, along with other stuff that we will come to later.
Bob – Very reminiscent of Trocadero
After all of the hectic crowds – Bob requested nature so we headed through the business district then the Ski shop district!?! Then ended up in the Kokyo Gaien National Gardens – where we experienced yet more rules and no nature apart from Koi fish. So still no nature – At. All! We were ushered around, you are not allowed to take photos, talk, breath, laugh, sing, listen to music literally anything and everything! So we left and headed north to into Kita-no-maru park which didn’t have anything in it apart from a vending machine – so we walked right through the park and headed to the train.
Ash had promised an Olive Young* – which was the smallest counter in a really expensive shop that was priced up x10. We headed back around to Shinjuku to go see the closest thing to nature – A big 3d projection of a animated cat that meows and jumps and is generally cute.
We continued on with Bob craving anything Korean and eventually – after a lot of walking – found Little Korea, where we did find Korean Beauty products and Korean Food (see food post coming soon) Then we headed back, traipsing along rundown streets and following Google Maps to get to a station we could use, we must have walked for half an hour but eventually we got to a train line and crossed the city, We still had to get off the train at Inaricho and get a bus and here we found the Red Light District, bars and ‘Females’ walking the streets holding signs saying ‘Marry me for ¥1,000,000′ ¥1,000 for 3 hours’ or the like we just headed back to the apartment to pass out after a long day.
Day2
Teamlab Borderless is a immersive Art installation experience, massive rooms filled with projected images where you walk and get lost in a world of imagination.
Yeah right, sure it is! Let’s start at the train station, it’s about 15 minutes uphill walk from the building the Borderless is in, then when you get to the building there are no signs for the exhibition, you are just meant ‘To Know’ where to go. We followed comments on the instagram post from other lost attendants and after descending down four floors through offices and shopping malls, we eventually found the entrance and were shoved to the side to allow a corporate group access before us.
Eventually we got in and found 100’s maybe 1,000’s of people in the space all, traipsing along the corridors, filling up the giant rooms and of course taking millions of selfies, in one room we sat on the raised floor and were ushered away because we just sat, we weren’t taking selfies and that is not the rule! We walked the halls seeing rooms of flowers that even smelt of the roses or sunflowers, Bob ran from the room of Lilies! And we searched the corridors for secret doors to secret rooms, there are no maps and the rooms change over time, some rooms are odd shapes, they change height, getting smaller as they go through, others are pitch black or flash vivid projections like being in a computer game and it could be invigorating if there weren’t so many security shoving you through stopping you from lingering or people and so many Selfie Spots! In the end we left without much comment on the place, TeamLab Planets is the other version of the experience and is much smaller, but you apparently get to walk through water and rooms full of flowers, but it’s further away and more money and with the amount of people you could expect, it wouldn’t be as fun as it should be!
The highlight of our afternoon in the Art Experience was drawing and colouring our JellyFish, which we scanned and a moment later it started to swim around the massive room with all the rest of the different animated sea creatures, drawn, coloured and released by all the other people who queued for 15 minutes to colour inside the lines of a pre-made shape Turtle, Fish, Octopus or Shrimp!
We left and sought out food before the next section of our day. After walking through more business sections of the capital we found a French Restaurant and tried to get a beer, clearly we weren’t the desired clientele for the waiter, who didn’t want us in his establishment and when we only ordered Fries and a beer, he got the hump and sulked. We ate the mhhh chips and drank horrible beers and left, heading for Shibuya and the famous Crossing.
There are many locations to see the world’s busiest and most chaotic crossing, most tour guides and websites tell you to go to Starbucks or the Cocktail bar around the crossing, there is a viewing platform in Hikarie Sky on the 11th floor or the like, but one Instagram post told us of a better view. Head to WeWork in the 10th floor and go up one floor to the 11th, get a coffee and sit by the window and get a clear, unblocked view of the mayhem far below.
This photo is a good example of the two of us – Ash is looking at the left photo and Bob only saw the right which was a poster on the far left.
The view is quite impressive – if you like cityscapes, which Ash does and Bob hates – you can see the crossings all seven of them crisscrossing the junction, the neon signs the projected images and the illuminated elevators all filled with the hundreds of people walking – very slowly – back and forward across the road just to say they had crossed Scramble Crossing – it is the worst named attraction, no one scrambles, they all walk so incredibly slowly.
Bob – found it to be exactly like Piccadilly circus.
We wanted to be the exception took to the street for one cross at a normal/fast pace before getting annoyed at Pigeon Steppers and headed of to search tirelessly for food that Bob could possibly eat!
We did go to see the Hachiko statue which we were excited to see – but once again we were massively disappointed – it’s been worn down by many people stroking it over time – it barely looks like a dog anymore and there is a massive queue just to take a …. you guessed it – a selfie!
Day 3
Having suffered two days of Cities, Bob needed greenery and nature, we had planned on taking the train out of the city and heading North to Zao Fox Village which was one of the only things Bob wanted to do in Japan. To spend the day with hundreds of foxes, but Japanese efficiency got in the way again and our plan went out the window when we realised the train to Sendai only stopped near the village once a day 3 days a week – so you could there but never leave! Or we could go and then get a bus for 2 hours to Sendai to get the train back, but given the train north went at 11.30am and took 90 minutes and then you take a bus to the village – which takes 20-30mins to get to the village. Then the last train back from Sendai was at 4pm, (with the 2 hour bus journey to the city) it would have given us about 20 minutes with the foxes!
So instead we headed to the biggest park in the city we could find that wasn’t the grounds of a palace or temple, because of the restrictions they impose. Shinjuku Gyoen is an open green space with no big buildings and no, well with nothing else. Basically the list at the entrance says it all, you have to pay to go in ¥150pp not a lot but still and then you are pointed at this list of What you CANNOT DO.
Just read this list…
This was the point that Ash joined Bob’s views on the negative side of Japan for certain. This is ridiculous, you cannot talk, walk in groups of more than 6, no photos except of course in the designated Selfie Stations, no sitting, standing, laying, singing, playing instruments, listening to instruments or music, no playing radios or stereos, no balls, no kites, no running except on the running track (which is a 100m loop) and no running with more than 4 people (So Parkrun would never work in Tokyo), no touching flowers or grass and NO ANIMALS, as in no feeding, touching, waving at, talking to or even looking at any animals seen in the park, any animals seen inside the park must be reported and killed immediately and the place is dead silent, you do not hear a bird chirp – for fear of it’s life! – you do not see people moving, they sit at the edge of open fields, the only part of the park where people seemed more relaxed was in the grounds of Starbuck coffee Shop, a section of grass around the restaurant where people can drink their drinks is a little bit (just a little bit) more relaxed and we even saw 3 guys throwing a frisbee, before a warden told them to stop!
Bob- It was very much like Regents Park but with no nature and more rules and patrolling wardens.
The coffee shop was the best part of the day – and this is Ash saying yay to Starbucks, you know this is wrong! While ordering two Frappacino’s (safe drinks for Bob) the Barista was beautiful and Ash was in awe of the prettiest female he had seen in the city, then the 2nd attendant spotted Ash’s New Jeans T-Shirt and cried out in pretty good English ‘Ahh You Bunny!’ Ash was bewildered at first, then looked at her pointing at his chest (she was also remarkable pretty – clearly this is the place for the pretty people in Tokyo!) But she kept pointing and saying ‘You like New Jeans?” It turned out she was a massive fan of the KPop group too and a conversation of Bias’s and going to the Fan Meet was had, before she was prompted to get back to work and before the drinks melted! We walked around the park some more, mostly trying to spot an Eagle that landed atop a massive tree to the north of the park and Bob’s Radar bleeped. We didn’t spot it again and Bob was sadder and more depressed than ever. We left in search of food, apparently there was a Vegan Restaurant in Harajuku. So we set off walking through the back streets once more. But Bob’s shoes took this time to fall apart and get the soles of her feet massive blisters, so she was hobbling again.
We finally made it to Harajuku on the Thursday evening and it seemed ok, a little busy, but no worse than anywhere else, but given Bob’s feet and her sadness – she gave up all concept of happiness and bought sliders which she had always vowed not to do. After giving up with fashion we went in search of the food instead of walking the famous street and we planned to go back at the weekend so we could find some famed locals, but more of that in a bit. We found the Vegan Restaurant in the typical third floor location, with no signs except a sticker over the elevator button! (See food post for that)
Day 4
Friday was a wet and rainy Day in Tokyo, the skies opened and the deluge started before we woke and continued through the day, this is a known occurrence in the city and the country, just a sudden monsoon like rain, but we didn’t let it stop us. We had wanted to rent Kimono’s for the day like we rented Hanbok’s in Seoul, but given the restrictions, the times and the cost we decided against it, instead we headed up away from our apartment with the magic umbrella we had bought in Kyoto and headed into Asuksa and Lily’s Antique Kimono for the best day – ironic, given the weather.
Lily’s is one of two (the other being in Gion in Kyoto, where tourists are no longer allowed) so we followed the signs clearly pointing to the little shop and entered, we had passed a couple of other Kimono shops and they looked rather dull and official, but Lily’s looks like something out of Japan’s Colonial past, a mix of retro and traditional, Kimono and Yukata hanged on mannequins and there are posters and mirrors, umbrellas and all sorts filling the front, we entered and immediately were welcomed by happy faces and cheerful greetings in Japanese and English. Three women sat on the floor eating their lunch, but instantly were up and attending to us. Their English was good and they were interested in us, asking a ton of questions about our bags, tattoos and where we were from. Ash really wanted to buy a Yukata – having made one himself a few years back, but not the standard of the traditional variety available in the shop. The ground floor was lined and jammed packed with so many beautiful gowns, of every colour, pattern and style, that we quickly lost an hour just trying on this one and that one, we were lead upstairs to more, mostly the men’s section, but Bob sought out her own preferences and slowly but surely we narrowed down the choices and ended up with one Yukata each and an undershirt for Bob’s Mum.
The price was pretty good too, Ash’s was a grey twill with a silk lining painting of Cranes and water and Bob’s is a solid purple with grey lining with paintings .
Given we weren’t sure what we were looking for, how much the Yukata were and the rest, we came out happy with our selection and having spent nearly two hours in the shop, having had fun and made short term friends with the staff (who we saw later in the weekend and who remembered us and even hugged Bob upon spotting her!)
Bob – Probably one of the only highlights of the Japan side of the trip – Lily was lovely!
We tucked under the brolly and headed off to our next destination – a tattoo parlour, but unfortunately the studio was unable to help us as they had too many restrictions and reasons not to do our tattoos of choice (surprise, surprise)plus they would charge the same amount as a weeks stay – so we left and traipsed through the rain to try to find coffee and then food. We didn’t find coffee – it was after 4pm so everywhere was shut and we ended up at Ueno Train Station, where the confusing train lines enter a new dimension of stupid. The old station has coloured lines to follow to each coloured train line, except (and you are supposed to just know this) the Blue line goes to the Green Yamamoto Line, The Brown line to the Blue train Line and the Blue line got to the Ticket machines!
Eventually after waaaaaay too long we got on a train and headed over to Iriya Station, then followed Google Maps through another convoluted route, down alley’s back roads, along service roads and eventually down a residential street to find a tiny restaurant that sold Vegan Gyoza – of course they didn’t sell alcohol and given how soaked we were we just opted for vegan hot chocolate and the made our choice of the Gyoza. Bob went for the selection option, which allowed for a choice of 2 of each of the dumplings, but given taste and allergies Ash didn’t get the option of the selection and had to pick three he could eat and we waited a long time, sat in the plastic coated entryway feeling very cold and tired. When the food arrived they looked good, all different colours and some tasted ok, but overall the taste was not good going down or coming back up a few minutes later. The next thing on our agenda was another part of Ash’s research for his book.
Maiddreamin’ – Is a massive chain of themed restaurants in most major cities in Japan – where the staff are dressed as french maids and preform – sing, dance and entertain and are generally ‘cute’
In research Ash had found a small cafe rather than the 3 story ones across the road and wanted to see what it was like for real – inside. We took the elevator to the 2nd floor and walked out into a landry/porn shop where there was even a gimp. We quickly reversed and went down a floor – the bright pink and white formica tables and chairs welcomed us along with Mahi and the other maids at the entrance. They showed us to a table, asking which one of the packages did we want to buy they basically are – 1 drink for an hour, drink as much as you want in 2 hours and then there’s food and extras (Like photos etc) We opted for a single drink because we weren’t sure what we were getting ourselves into.
When Ash has seen people go to the cafes on youtube and the like – it must have been weekends or something as when we were there it was just 3 really odd men who were giving off the creepy vibe – paying them for Polaroids by the dozen.
For Bob this just felt really uncomfortable and as nice as the Ladies were I felt somewhat like we were paying for ‘adult entertainment’ that was over sexualized/fetish. Like everything in Japan It was also a really sad to see some musical talent wasted in a weird seedy/pervy bar where men were just there to see some maids.
For Ash – I had an idea of what this was like but being that this location was the littlest/quietest one it probably wasn’t the best one to start with. The girls are clearly talented and can sing/dance and entertain but were struggling with the little clientele that there was. It was a bit uncomfortable – I explained why we were visiting and they seemed excited about being written about.
Having experienced it we quickly left and headed back.
Day 5 Harajuku –
Having popped by on Thursday evening – Bob immediately said it is Camden – 100% Camden, with less nature and no water. Same shops, same people and everything even down to the Chavvy gangstas that drug deal.
Ash – There was nothing amazing or iconic about Harajuku fashion, fashionistas, the punks and the gothic lolitas were absent and have been apparently for 10 years.
Walking through the arch at Takeshita Dori you descend into hell – this is Camden on Ketamine as said above – it is packed with tourists, shopkeepers bullying you to buy crap and there is nothing unique or special.
We did find Gachapon shops – where you can pay coins to get a pokeball alike thing which contains games, toys, figures etc depending on what one select. Bob searched relentlessly for Enhypen and found them but only got Jay and Sunghoon!!!!!!!! Ash was looking for LeSserafim and got two but they weren’t bias – we ended up with a bag full of balls as gifts for friends back home.
Bob had looked around and found a pair of platform trainers with cute little bows and strawberries on and even in size 3! So had to buy!
The moral of the story is don’t go to Harajuku on a Saturday! This was the worst day for it!
The only reason we did go on a Saturday was Ash has followed Tokyo Fashion on Instagram for many years and has wanted to meet him for a long time – so we wandered around searching for this man for ages.
Eventually we found a group of meandering posers who were all queuing around this Loud american guy who didn’t even have a camera, Ash got his attention and introduced himself, making the mistake of saying he used to work for the Nikkei (Japanese FT doing Fashion shoots) this set the loud American on a rant trying to brag about he was better and louder, he didn’t take our photos and just talked for over an hour. In the end we got away from him and realised we had missed all chances of food in the good places. (And unfollowed Tokyo Fashion on Instagram!) however during this hour and a half of Ash talking –
Bob sat opposite the Tommy Hilfiger shop staring at the Poster of Stray Kids – so there was the highlight of the day for her (you see how low the bar is here)
We eventually found a Mexican Food place that was still open – see review next week – spoiler there was food!
Then we had the stupid idea to go to a bar as Ash said we needed to go to one at some point – there was literally no where open apart from the Half Moon Rock Bar in the street itself – which was a narrow staircase up to a tiny room that was mostly for locals even though it said foreigners welcome. They weren’t unwelcoming they just shoved us in the corner and left us with our drinks – they placed a small snack which Ash took a chance with but Bob didn’t dare it was immediately regretted. We stayed to finish the drink and headed back.
We ended up going back to Akihabara and took the opportunity to go and spend too much money on the arcade machines – we wanted to play some of the games but clearly Saturday was pro night. So instead we attempted the claw machine failed over 100 times and eventually just went and bought the figures we wanted.
Day 6
Our Last day was a mad rush to buy presents and souvenirs for everyone back home before the shops shut we wandered back and forth eventually heading for Asuksa. This was the area we were avoiding as according to all the tour guides and youtube channels it’s a horrible place filled with over consumerism and apparently is nothing like Japan.
Since everything up until this point was the complete opposite of what we had been reading or told we decided ‘screw it’ and went anyway!
This is without fail was the best neighbourhood the reviews are wrong it’s more Japanese and more traditional than anything we saw the whole Japan trip.
We shopped around, found some traditional toys, some funky tattooed vendors who sold little local tattoo artists designs and prints on T-shirts. Friendly locals and literally families enjoying their Sunday afternoons in traditional dress being with 90% other natives and only 10% tourists.
Some more Gachapon – Where Bob finally got her Enhypen bias! with a group of Chinese girls all eagerly waiting for who I got. We even found Conveyor Belt Sushi with Vegetarian options!!!!
We sadly didn’t have enough time there as everything shut at 4pm – so we wandered back to hotel to pack. Once packed, cleared and ready to leave we went to Nui’s for a liter Beer.
Then the massive trek to the Airport where we saw San from Ateez and the entire group of NCT Wish who were all on the same plane heading for Korea for our 10 hour layover. We landed in Incheon airport where Bob was almost kissing the floor! Finally able to grab a coffee from Starbucks without having to question pain or intolerances, then we sat and watched planes. We fell asleep on the banana shaped cushions, looked for food, wandered around, Bob was happy and sad we had to leave – we went to the lounge to try and sleep.
Then we moved to the gate to board the plane – then on to our 16 hours on a Plane to return to London!
We were moved to the extra leg room – emergency exit space here Bob watched 5 movies including Dog Days which she had been waiting to watch for 2 years and two TV Shows and fell asleep intermittently. We also watched a bloody awful Nicolas Cage movie but Bob fell asleep in the first 30 mins (it was crap) Ash kept trying – (he thought something would eventually happen – it didn’t and it didn’t get better)
Eventually we arrived back in London at 7pm and then spent an hour on the tube but I guess one thing has to be said – Bob did finally realize how green London is in comparison and how many birds, nature, squirrels, dogs, cats and even ants!- so maybe London isn’t her most hated place in the world.
For Ash having wanted to go for way to long there was a few parts of the Japan side that was good but a lot more annoying things but he is still trying to only see the positives.
And that was it, all of our adventures in Tokyo and of course the other cities – Osaka, Kyoto, Seoul, Jeju and Busan – it seems so long ago now, but we hope you enjoyed our review and our take on the popular destinations and we will be back with one last post on the food and drink of Tokyo next week (that’ll be a short post!).
*Ash didn’t promise anything, Bob was convinced there was an Olive Young and Ash tried to find it!
*In hindsight Bob should have stayed in Seoul as the Japan she thought she was going to actually turns out to be China.
Climbing Moss 