John arrived from Kyoto last night, and we went out around Ikebukuro to celebrate the beginning of our shared trip. We ordered great sashimi from entirely Japanese menus, sipped whiskey from both Scotland and Japan, and played some Gundam robot fighting game terribly. We are off to an auspicious start.
Everyone is still a little jet lagged, so we woke up fairly early and decided to go to the fish market. The tuna auction starts at 5:30, which we knew we would miss, but we expected there would still be sights to see at 7:30. We arrived and weaved our way through the whizzing electric trucks, trying to avoid being run over and remembering to look left instead of right. As we entered the wholesalers market, we were stopped by a gruff police officer, who told us that it is closed until 9 for visitors, and that we should go eat some sushi to wait. Fine by us, we can take a hint.
We wandered the rows of stalls looking for a good sushi joint, and settled on one without a line (the guidebook’s recommendation on how to pick) but with a picture of Jeff Bezos and the crew from the new spider-man reboot (good enough endorsement for us). It was divine.
We entered the market at the stroke of 9, but needn’t have worried, as there was plenty of action left for the tourists. We passed rows upon rows of tuna, crab, shrimp, oysters, and other delicious looking wonders of the sea. Workers cut the morning’s tuna on bandsaws, straight down the spine, then into quarters and smaller. I’m sure whatever fell on the floor ends up in a can somewhere.
Then we saw whale meat, which was helpfully labeled “not for tourists” and is hunted “for research,” but the baleen steaks didn’t look that scientific to me. A little queasy from the sight and the settling sushi, we left the market and strolled to the Hamarikyu gardens.
Ubiquitous guide
A refuge and hunting ground for the shogun tokogawa in the 17th century, we experienced the well manicured gardens in the most Japanese way possible, with the technological intermediation of the “ubiquitous audioguide”. It was GPS enabled, so we could get a live map, and panoramic photos of the scenes where we were currently standing. Very helpful. The tea house was excellent, and we aided our digestion with a mobile wifi hotspot and directions to lunch.
We walked west to Tokyo Tower, which looks strikingly similar to the Eiffel Tower, but they are proud of noting is 60% lighter and has faster elevators. We ascended 150m in about 3 min with almost no sense of motion; very impressive. The views of the city are seemingly endless, but the highlight was the Christmas photoshoot. I agreed only on the stipulation that I be a reindeer, and must say I played my part well.
We had some hotwine back at the base, and then off to a four course tempura meal and a very busy shopping mall. Ruth found a jacket she rather liked, but they kicked us out of the store for taking photos before she could try on the matching shoes. I know what she’s getting for Christmas…
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