As my last post indicated, I’ve just spent the last week with my family travelling around Tokyo and hitting as many of the most popular tourist destinations that we could. Six days is really not enough and I think even one month would really be pushing it to fit in every single thing in. Of course, this just means I will just have to go back to Japan 🙂

Although the trip started off on a good note (we got moved to an earlier flight from Brisbane to Sydney) we were slightly put out by technical difficulties in Sydney resulted in an additional three hours delay on the tarmac on top of the eight or nine of flying. The flight itself was at least relatively painless and soon enough, we were arriving at Narita only a couple of hours behind schedule.

Day 1: Studio Ghibli and Shinjuku
Our first day was going to be cut short with the delay from Qantas and after checking into the hotel, we headed off to the Studio Ghibli Museum at Mitaka. Studio Ghibli produces amazing anime (Japanese animation) films that are spectacular, appealing for both children and adults alike. Fans would know of the more recent rereleases of versions dubbed in English by Disney including Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. The creativity and detail of each of their movies is even more so reflected in all aspects of this museum, from each doorway, doorknob, closet filled with intricate detail and with some really funky stop animations that I cannot give any justice to by describing it in my blog. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any pictures inside this place, so I felt compelled to buy the book which has pictures of the museum. I highly recommend putting this into your schedule if you get a chance. The official website can be found here.

With the day almost over and our bellies almost empty, we headed for Shinjuku. This area has the busiest train/subway station in Japan, with over 3 million people passing though its gates every day. It’s an amazing area with so much always happening and an entertaining place just walking around. The East side is the seedy area, filled with adult shops, pachinko (think Japanese slot machines but much more entertaining), restaurants and shops. The West side is apparently commercial and the rest is just generally busy. It’s an easy place to find a cheap but delicious meal and we ended up having the best tempura set I’ve ever had – the batter so light and crispy served with an excellent miso soup and various vegetables, pickles and dipping sauce. Unfortunately it was so good I forgot to take a picture! Traveller’s Tip(s): The bottom floor of most department stores has a food section that you can generally find inexpensive but good quality food to eat for dinner. We also visited the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building on this day (it’s the tallest free building that you can go up in and has a great view of the city)

Day 2: Edo Museum, Akihabara and Roppongi
Our second day saw for a relatively relaxed departure for the Edo (former name for Tokyo) Museum that not only gave us a great insight into the Japanese culture, but a great and visually stimulating appreciation for its history as well. Although many of its explanations are mainly in Japanese, there were enough English translations and amazing artefacts, paintings and objects that made the visit worth it.

Our next stop was Akihabara, with its famous district called Electric Town. In this area, floors, buildings, streets and blocks are completely devoted to all types of electrical goods and one can be sure to find anything that they really need (and even don’t need). The Japanese are well known for being technologically advanced and all of the latest gadgets and certainly the best range can be found here. I was surprised at prices as well as I thought they would be pretty expensive, but after seeing some of the newer Ixy/Ixus cameras, I came very close to upgrading my current camera. Some of the models were yet to come out of Australia, and a quick google just told me the prices were actually really competitive. Somehow I managed to resist the temptation so I’ve still got my year-and-a-half-old camera that is still taking great pictures. Traveller’s Tip: If you get tired walking around Electric Town, go find one of the floors with the massage chairs and have a good rest for twenty minutes or so. It’s really worth it!

With some time to spare for the evening, I wanted to head out to Roppongi. This area of Tokyo probably has the highest concentration of foreigners as well as (or maybe because of) the (seemingly) highest concentration of bars and clubs. With so many people and travellers about, expect no less for this area to be much seedier than the rest of Tokyo. This mix makes this place even more interesting for people watching, with the most outgoing makeup, hair and fasion sense of the Japanese coming out at night.