Day 3: West Tokyo; something old, something new

Friday February 25th, 2011 by Celine Vincent

Encouraged by our first glimpses of Tokyo, everyone was awake and up in time to further explore this fantastic city, despite the jet lag many participants probably still experienced. Perhaps the great weather played a part, because the sun never stopped shining and we hit temperatures over 20 degrees Celsius.

We started off with a walk to Ueno Station, where we took the train to Shinjuku. Trains in Japan are an experience on their own: not only do they stop within centimeters of the markings on the platform and people do not push to get on them, but there is always a next train after a few minutes and delays are measured in seconds! Add to that a working Suica Card (very similar to our OV-chip kaart), and I know whom I would recommend as an example for the NS.

In Shinjuku, we headed to the Metropolitan Government Building in the skyscraper district. These 243 meter tall twin towers are the highest in the neighbourhood, although we first could not see them because of the other skyscrapers blocking our sight. More important to us, they offered an amazing view of Tokyo from their observation decks. Everyone was impressed by the sheer vastness of the city, which just went on as far as the eye reached. Then there was some free time to stroll around in the shopping district. Rumor has it that a few participants already tried the new Nintendo 3DS.

After our visit to Shinjuku, we continued to Harajuku. Here we visited the impressive Yoyogi Park and Meiji Shrine within. The park offered a moment of calmness after the busy Shinjuku district. Only the skyscapers that sometimes showed behind the trees were proof that we still were in Tokyo. The shrine itself showed us a different, more traditional part of Japanese culture. This Shinto shrine and torii’s leading up to it impressed by their simple beauty. Unfortunately, the olympic stadium which we intended to visit was under construction, but that did not stop anyone from exploring Harajuku further. Here, the shopping district inspired some of the female participants to follow local fashion and buy some dresses to blend into the young people engaging in cosplay.

Our last stop of the day was Shibuya, a district packed with shops, restaurants and clubs, and therefore the perfect place to conclude our visit to West Tokyo. Ofcourse we could not venture into Shibuya without first visiting Hachiko, a statue of a dog. The story is that this loyal dog came to Shibuya Station to wait for his master every day, and continued to do so even after his master had passed away. Next, the participants were free to eat and spend the evening exploring.

Tomorrow the committee expects everybody up before sunrise to visit the famous fishmarket, so let’s hope everybody makes it to their beds before the last metro from Shibuya.