Hubby had a follow up appointment recently with the specialist about his back, near Tokyo Tower and so we decided to make a day of it. It was nice to admire Tokyo Tower again but this time against the backdrop of a bight blue sky. We also took this as an opportunity to head back to Le Pain for some delicious breakfast.
Tokyo Bay with Tokyo SkyTree in the distance
Since it was a beautiful blue sky day we decided to walk towards Tokyo Bay to see if we could get on a cruise. Along the way we came across a glasses cleaning machine placed outside an opticians that passersby could use for free, and hubby did... twice ;o). Very cool, don't you think? You can see more in the video below.
As we wandered towards the bay we came across the Kyu Shiba Rikyu Garden near Hamamatsucho Station. Given that it was such a warm sunny day we paid the ¥150 (each) to enjoy this classic Japanese landscape garden.
The garden consists of a pond with turtles and koi carp fish, little man made hills, beautiful bamboo fencing and red maple trees.This little oasis is surrounded by tall office buildings in the middle of Tokyo, and there were several office workers having their lunch in the garden whilst enjoying the glorious weather.
Hubby and I love Japanese gardens. They are very tranquil places even when surrounded by the craziness of a 24hr city like Tokyo. We especially love the use of bamboo, which is an incredibly versatile and beautiful material, and water for it's calming effect. There was also a couple in traditional Japanese dress having their wedding photos taken which was really interesting to see :o).
As we left the garden, we took the escalators across the road to watch the Shinkansen (bullet) trains go by. Hubby and I never tire of watching these beauties that epitomise Japanese engineering. The bullet trains have a rather majestic aura, with their long sleek noses and even longer bodies.
We then followed the main road down to the bay which brought us to New Pier Takeshiba. From there we followed the monorail line, pass The Intercontinental Tokyo Bay hotel, to Hinode Pier. At the Hinode Terminal there was a counter for cruise company, Symphony Cruise, and so we inquired about availability for that afternoon.
Whilst none of the employees spoke enough English for us to communicate with them, the cruise company did have leaflets with both English and Japanese information about the different cruise options, routes, prices and times. With a bit of pointing and hand gesturing we are able to convey what we wanted :o). We opted for the afternoon cruise which was 50mins and cost ¥1,500 (each).
Rainbow Bridge
Daikanransha ferris wheel at Odaiba in the distance
The iconic Fuji TV building at Odaiba
The cruise was a lovely way to give our feet some rest and enjoy the sights of Tokyo. I'd definitely recommend it if you're ever in Tokyo as it's a great way to see some iconic structures. We could see both Tokyo Tower and Tokyo SkyTree, as well as iconic landmarks at Odaiba island. As it was quite a clear day we could even see planes coming into land, just above the water line in the distance, at Haneda airport.
The Tokyo Towers - Mid Tower & Sea Tower
A plane coming into land at Haneda Airport in the distance
Symphony Cruise also do a lunch, sunset and dinner cruise with a choice
of French, Italian or Japanese cuisine. These cruises are longer
(2-2.5hrs) and the cruise route goes further out than the
afternoon cruise that we did. Prices range from ¥5,000 - ¥20,000. The
Symphony Cruise website is in both Japanese and English and here is the link, in case you're interested :o).
I hope you enjoyed this blog post and video of our day out in Tokyo. I'm sorry that I'm a bit slow in getting my blog posts and videos up at the moment but things are pretty hectic with our move. Hopefully, when things settle down in a few weeks, I can get in to a routine again.
On Saturday Hubby had an early appointment in Tokyo and it turned out to be very close to Tokyo Tower so we decided to make a day of it. To get to Tokyo Tower we got on the Minato Mirai Line from near our home to Naka-meguro, and then changed onto the Hibiya Line to Kamiyacho station. From Kamiyacho station we took exit 1 and once we got to street level we turned left and followed the road up a slight hill. As we approached the traffic junction we could see Tokyo Tower to our left on top of a small hill.
By the time hubby finished from his appointment it was lunchtime and we'd not even had breakfast as we'd left home in such a rush. So we headed down the hill from Tokyo Tower to behind the Prince Hotel to a place called Le Pain for some lovely brunch. Along the way to Le Pain we noticed something that looked like a temple or shrine and so we went to explore once we'd refueled our bellies.
Sangedatsumon Gate as viewed from inside the temple grounds
Zojoji Temple is the head temple of the Jodo sect of Japanese Buddhism. The temple was built in 1393 and moved to this current location in 1598. Most of the buildings on the grounds are reconstructions except for the main entrance gate which dates from 1622, and has survived many earthquakes and fires. The main temple gate, known as Sangedatsumon, which means a gate (mon) for
getting delivered (gedatsu) from three (san) earthly states of mind -
greed, anger and stupidity, is very imposing and quite magnificent to look at. The Zojoji Temple and surrounding grounds are open all year round from
9-5pm and admission is free. You can watch our day out to Tokyo Tower
and the Zojoji Temple in the video below.
Daibonsho (Big Bell)
There is a giant bell within the temple grounds that was completed in 1673 and is renowned as one of the Big Three Bells of the Edo Period. The bell is tolled twice a day and weighs a whopping 15 tonnes. We spent quite a while walking around the temple grounds as there was quite a lot to see.
The main hall Daiden (Hondo)
Enshrined in the main hall, Daiden, are three images which are greatly revered by people who worship at Zojoji. There is a large main image of Amida Buddha with an
image of Great Teacher Shan-tao at its right and an image of Honen Shonin at its left. There was a Japanese wedding whilst we were there and the bridal party were having their wedding photos taken. They were happy for visitors to take photographs of them. Below is the bride in white with a female friend/relative in blue. It was really interesting to see what a traditional Japanese wedding dress looks like.
Within the temple grounds there was an area, kind of like a memorial garden, with lots of Jizo statues. Jizobosatusu is the protector of children, and people who have lost an unborn child can dedicate a statue of Jizo and decorate it with toys and baby clothes. At the time that we were there I recognised these as being Jizo statues, the protector of children, but it was only whilst I was researching for this blog post that I discovered that each statue represents an unborn child. It is very heartbreaking and sad.
Jizo statues of unborn children
After walking around Zojoji Temple we headed back up the hill towards Tokyo Tower. The small road that runs between the temple and the Prince Hotel is an ideal photo opportunity with Tokyo Tower in the back ground.
Tokyo Tower stands at a height of 333m and has not one but two observatories. The main observatory is up at 150m and is a two storey deck with a cafe on the lower floor, as well as a small performance stage known as Club 333. Whilst we were there we saw a female Japanese singer and a boy band perform. I've no idea as to how famous these singers are but the predominantly Japanese crowd seemed to love them and were bopping along, as you can see in the video above. A ticket to the main observatory costs ¥900. Whilst it wasn't a particularly clear day, the view over Tokyo was still impressive nonetheless. On a clear day you can even see Mount Fuji in the distance.
Tokyo Bay and Rainbow Bridge
Once at the main observatory you can then purchase a ticket to the special observatory which is 250m high for an additional ¥700, which we did. Tokyo Tower is open from 9am - 11pm and the tower lights up at sunset.
In hindsight, we should have gone up Tokyo Tower a couple of hours later than we did because whilst there, we decided that it would be cool to watch the sunset from the special observatory and watch the night lights come on. However, that meant that we had to hang around for quite a few hours.
The tall building is the Tokyo Skytree
In my opinion, the best time to go up Tokyo Tower would be an hour before sunset. This way you can see all of Tokyo in the daytime, and watch the sunset and night lights without having to spend hours hanging around like we did.
Currently, at the ground floor entrance to Tokyo Tower, there are 333 koinobori (carp streamers) adorning the entrance. This is in celebration of Children's Day which is on May 5th. On this day, it is tradition for people to display carp shaped streamers in their gardens as a wish for their boys to grow up healthy. This is based on the legend about a carp that swam up a waterfall and turned into a dragon. Families wish for their boys to grow up strong, just like this carp.
After several hours at Tokyo Tower we were well and truly ready for some dinner. As we were both feeling really tired, not surprising given that we'd been up since 5.30am, we decided to head back to Le Pain for a bite to eat. The food at Le Pain was just the kind of food hubby and I like to eat, it was healthy, light, fresh and tasty. We even picked up a couple of croissants to take home with us for breakfast the next day.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post and video about our day out sight seeing in Tokyo :o).
