The weather has been quite rainy, so we’ve  mostly remained indoors enjoying the services of the hotel and relaxing.

Today started out in similarly dreary fashion, but turned around, meaning our days diverged:

Together:
Lovely coffee at Timuny.

Marthese
Onsen in the morning, followed by a massage. Then reading, and contemplating returning to the onsen.

Elias
Wandering around Hokoneyumoto on foot, finding a few shrines and temples, and looking for the old Tokaido Rd that used to connect old Edo with Kyoto, not realising I’d been walking on it for over an hour.

Returned to hotel full of beans, changed a sweat drenched shirt, and hopped on a scenic bus up the mountain towards Moto-Hakone to try to catch a glimpse of Mt Fuji across the river. No luck, foggy mist obscuring the majority of the lake, let alone the mountains towering above it.

Popped over to a shrine, grabbed a Bratwurst.

Then found the part of the Tokaido Rd I’d been looking for, an old cobblestone path built in the early 1600s, with tall cedars planted along the path to shade travelers on their long trek through Edo. Hiked along here for 2km, taking in the beautiful forest sounds and digging the eerie vibe of the creeping fog. Declined to walk the entire 9km home (it was still pretty muddy and slippery, and looked like it might rain again) and jumped on a bus back to the hotel.

Together
Tonight we dine on French food again and toast to our awesome trip.

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Well the blogging has slowed down and so have we. We’re staying in Hakone, a town known for its natural hot spring onsens and proximity to Mt Fuji related expeditions. We’re staying at Fujiya Yumoto, a hotel established in the late 1800s which has its own onsite onsens.

We’re doing very little, and enjoying it. The rough notes:

– Onsen & massage (more Tez than me so far)
– Lots of reading
– Found a great, rustic cafe called Timuny that I can’t wait to go back to.
– Ate at a surprisingly good French Restaurant which is part of the hotel.
– I accidentally ate the entire ocean at a sushi restaurant.

Gosh, that’s probably about it. Some major wind-down after Tokyo, getting ready to come home.

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A lot of the interesting and weird details from the trip are missing from my blog posts, plus a few travellers tips we’ve learnt, so thought I would collate them here while on a train to Hakone.

Cleanliness and Politeness

For a city of 13+ million, Tokyo is remarkably clean. Almost impossibly so. Add to this the politeness and friendliness of pretty much every Japanese person we met, and it rates as one of the most pleasant cities I’ve ever visited.

Outstanding Transport

If we ever had to wait more than 3 minutes for a train or subway somewhere within the city, we were shocked. While Tokyo is a bit of a maze of multiple train lines and separate transport providers, they are all extremely well signposted and insanely efficient. Having said that, Google Maps’ transport suggestions helped us navigate the train and metro lines with much more ease.

Portable Wifi came with our apartment

Our accommodation was in a highly convenient spot in Shibuya, quiet but central, but the highlight might have just been that it came with a portable wifi hotspot we could take with us, meaning we were never without internet. This made travelling infinitely easier, and made last minute decisions achievable. I’ll be seeking out this sort of service wherever I travel from now on, would be totally worth the cost.

Begetarian?

As we’ve noted elsewhere in the blog, finding decent vegetarian food could be a bit of a struggle. We got better at it as the trip went on, relying on the Happy Cow app that helps vegetarian and vegan travellers find places to eat. Having an apartment where Marthese could make her own meals a few times also really helped.

Burger Quest

When I visited Japan back in 2009, my quest was to try every burger joint this country had to offer. I tried to do the same this trip, but lost momentum. Either the burgers have lost their shine, or I’m getting older and mildly more health conscious. I wish neither were true.

The International Credit Card Blues

There are a few problems with credit cards and ATMs here. While most places accept Credit Cards, we found that only specific cards would work in certain places. Everyone mostly swipes, so if your credit card strip is a bit worn, you’ll have problems. Thankfully we had 3 credit cards between us so could usually get at least one of them to work.
So we thought maybe the best strategy would be to carry more cash around. Well good luck with that, you foreign scum. The majority of ATMs do not accept Visa cards issued outside of Japan nor Maestro cards. Specific ones do (Post Office ones I believe) and a handful of bank ones, but they are hard to find outside of major centres. Shimokitazawa had no international ATMs and shops that were often too small to accept credit cards. Not a great combination.

Finding friends on my 3DS

StreetPass is a facility on your Nintendo 3DS that adds strangers to your device as you pass them, if they have their own 3DS active, and you can have limited interactions and play small mini-games with their profiles. I’ve had a 3DS for around 5 years, and in that time in Australia and travels around Europe, I met around 80 people. In less than 10 days in Japan, I’ve met another 90!! Carrying around my 3DS in my backpack then checking to see how many friends I’d met in a day (10 is unfortunately the maximum) was one of my trip highlights. I’m a huge child.

We saw a man walking with a monkey

Yes. A man walking his monkey down the street in busy Shibuya. This was the same day we saw a man riding his bike around with 6 poodles in the front trolley. JAPAN!

The Japanese do advertising correctly

On out first day in Tokyo we went to the cinema to kill some time. We were laughing at the insane animated advertisements that screened before the film, already totally in love with the culture. There is a real emphasis on cartoonish characters to communicate ideas and advertise products here, and between the huge billboards and posters adorning all manner of transport, the bombardment is ceaseless yet never overbearing. Except sometimes in Shibuya, where a women’s voice seemed to emanate from every corner, telling us something mysterious.

Hard to believe today will be our last full day in Tokyo.

We headed over to Yoyogi Park again to catch some markets. It was tricky to find, we stumbled on some weird J-Pop single launch by accident, and nearly gave up. Thankfully we persevered and found the markets as they were full of Marthese’s People (vegetarians), and Tez got to eat a vegetarian Bento box while watching some kids sing and dance on stage. The markets were OK, but to be honest we do them much better Down Under. The absence of cool kids and cosplayers in Yoyogi Park was a bit of a letdown, musn’t be the season for them.

We popped into the insanely busy Harajuku shopping strip for a chocolate sundae, but left soon after, just too many people. Instead we headed back to Shibuya and spent the afternoon checking out Loft and Tokyu Hands department stores.

More friendly Japanese people today, including a cashier who laughed at our choice of mug (featuring a French Bulldog called Emma) and some friendly young women who let us share their table in a busy cafe. I will definitely miss the pleasantness and politeness of Japanese people.

What I won’t miss is the inconsistency of which credit cards work in which stores, and the scarcity of ATMs that accept international cards. A bad combination for tourists looking to spend all their money. Best to be organised and get cash out when you can.

Hoping for a quiet afternoon.

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The Edo-Tokyo Museum hit exactly the spot Marthese and I were most interested in – tracking the development of Edo from the 1600s under the Tokugawa Shogunate, becoming Tokyo in 1886, and its development into the city it is today. With artefacts, models, and recreated buildings and rooms, the museum is an excellent representation of a City and a culture’s evolution over 400 years, with a notable focus on day-to-day living.

The next mission of the day was to visit one of Tokyo’s infamous pet cafes. To our delight, there is a rabbit cafe in Shimokitazawa, our favourite suburb. Usagi no Ehon was one of the stranger cafes I’ve ever visited. Very pink, with children’s books lined up along the walls and gentle nursery-rhymes playing in the background. Oh, and of course there are rabbits. For a small hourly fee and a one drink minimum (non-alcoholic) you get to hang out with some pretty cute rabbits, feed them and try to pat them (they were often shy). Quite a pleasant afternoon really.

Up a long street we actually found a place that served vegan ramen using the “Happy Cow” app. Marthese had a curry dish and I had a surprisingly delicious Ramen. Full of warm goodness, we wandered back to the Petit Garden where we were drinking a few nights ago and spent some time relaxing there. I may have had too much sake. That may be why this blog post is coming in late.

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Marthese is much smarter than I am. When she’s tired, she has relaxing days to recuperate. I hit the streets like an over-excited dog and wear myself into the ground.

My attempt to book a last minute ticket to the Ghibli Museum was a failure, so instead I wandered around Shibuya with 2 missions – music and geekdom. I spent around an hour listening to different J-Pop artists in Tower Records, browsed several vinyl record stores (including HMV), and perused weird Anime books, toys and collectibles at Animate, Village Vanguard and Mandrake.

I somehow managed to spend no money in any of these stores. I would like to be publicly recognised and celebrated for my accomplishment.

Our pledge to not over-exert ourselves this holiday failed today. We return home exhausted, but happy. I’m quite sure I’ve pulled a muscle in my left leg but I’ll wait for our quiet time in Hakone before I let it take serious rest.

Ueno was our morning stop, where we checked out the fairly average markets (we were definitely spoilt by Shimokitazawa yesterday) then wandered around the Edo period shrine in Ueno Park. A short walk East took us to the Tokyo National Museum where we got our fill of Japanese art & culture, mostly from the Edo period, before deciding we weren’t in the mood for anymore museums, and we jumped on a train to Shinjuku.

Shinjuku-Gyoen (garden) was a beautiful respite as we strolled through the lovely park which is surrounded by bustle and skyscrapers. We followed this by a short walk through Shinjuku and a highly successful shop at “creative” department store Tokyu Hands.

Our accommodation comes with a portable wifi device, which has made navigating this complex city infinitely more manageable.  I highly recommend future visitors rent one. Despite this, we still struggled to locate our dinner venue, with Google Maps getting very confused as we moved from dense street to street. The final destination was worth it, a Turkish restaurant with lots of good vegetarian options.

Our last stop was the super nerdy 8-Bit Cafe, a small hidden venue up some dodgy stairs that we would have never known existed if not for some earlier Googling. The cafe is literally stuffed full of 80s and 90s nerd nostalgia – Famicons, Dreamcasts, Manga, Neo Geos, VHS tapes – and had a bunch of SNES and Gameboy Advance/Colour games you could play all night. Obviously, I was in some sort of heaven, and Marthese was the greatest for indulging my nerdy wonderment for as long as she did.

Marthese stuck with her Santory Whiskey and Ginger Beer that has served her well this trip, while I drank lots of Sake and a weird bourbon concoction. The poor quality of this blog post is due to this. Gnight, love you all.

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Today I spared Marthese my pilgrimage to Akihabara, the nexus point of all Japanese nerd and tech culture, and ventured there on my own. The “Electric Town” district is full of 8 story buildings with unique technology, gaming and anime stores on each level. Obviously, I had a ball. Yotsuba & Danboard was a highlight, with toys and collectibles from many Japanese games I enjoyed (Danganrompa, Persona, Metal Gear Solid) as well as an entire level featuring Star Wars, Marvel and DC collectibles.

But the main attraction, my Mecca, was Super Potato. Hidden away up some dodgy stairs is 3 levels of retro gaming paradise. Floor to roof games from every console era you reminder, not to mention stacks of old Famicons, Sega-CDs and Virtual Boys you can pickup for quite reasonable prices! I held myself back from maxing out my credit card and settled on a few trinkets for some folks back home. Walked out of that building with a huge, nostalgic grin on my face. Even though Super Potato is an active store, it inadvertently doubles as one of the best museums of gaming in the world.

In stark contrast, Shimokitazawa is a hipster’s paradise, littered with second hand clothes stores and funky bars. This is where Marthese and I spent our afternoon, and it was the respite from the city we never knew we needed. While the South side of the tracks is quite bustling, the North side is calm and cool, where Marthese actually enjoyed shopping (she’s not often a fan) and even I found some t-shirts to buy. A lovely dinner at “Rainbow” was followed by a few drinks at Petit Garden, a gorgeous little bar with an almost fairytale cabin theme. Marthese and I drank Santory Whiskey and Ginger Ale while imagining a potential future where we lived in Shimokitazawa. An incredible afternoon.

Tonight, we don’t want to ever leave Japan.

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Today’s feature attraction is Nikko, a World Heritage listed area of old shrines, temples and tall cedar trees around 2.5 hours out of Tokyo.

We found ourselves with some time to kill in Asakusa before our train transfer, so wandered around for a little while. We walked up to the rather ugly Asahi building (a huge structure with a larger golden poo sitting atop it) and checked out a charming row of stalls that led to the entrance of a significant Buddhist temple.

We got to Nikko at around lunch time and headed for Gyoshentei, another shozi ryori joint we found in the lonely planet. Neither of us had expected it to be the trip highlight that it was!

Gyoshentei was like stepping into a  romanticised version of Japan’s past – with a sparse dining room overlooking a striking garden with bonzai trees on show, and softly spoken hostesses in immaculate kimonos providing outstanding service. Marthese had yet another vegetarian feast, claiming it was even better than yesterday, and I had the most impressive “bento” I’ve ever had. We could’ve stayed there all day!

We eventually made our way up through the gorgeous tall trees to Tosho-Gu, a shrine and resting place for one of Japan’s earliest and most significant shoguns. After exploring a while, the sound of drums was met with the crack of thunder, and a downpour began. Clutching our umbrellas we headed back to the train station for the long ride home.

The station yielded yet another delicious treat – a scallop with tofu skin filled with red bean that is CRAZY DELICIOUS and a Nikko specialty.

A further exploration of Asakusa’s cute shops were in order before returning to Shibuya where Marthese joined me for Burger Quest at MOS Burger (her rice burger was pretty average) and we finished the day off with a quiet drink at an Irish pub.

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One of the first things Marthese booked on our trip was a cooking class in Tokyo. Shame she forgot all about it.

We decided against a day trip out of town this morning, and we were getting ready to head out to explore Tokyo when Marthese suddenly noticed a circle on her map – the cooking class! Thankfully we realised we had over an hour to get there (our calendar entry was on Sydney time, an hour earlier) so we grabbed our coffees, walked through Roppongi and made it to the Akasaka Teran just on time.

Just as well, the cooking course was a treat. Traditional “Shokin Ryori” style, which is a very very old vegetarian Buddhist cuisine. Our teacher, Masami, showed us how to make Asparagus and Snow Peas with Sesame Dressing (definitely the highlight) and Parched Tofu and Vegetables. We used some ingredients neither of us were familiar with, and I cooked up tofu for the first time.

We then took our meals, along with some edamame-style beans and miso soup Masami had prepared, and ate them in the small temple beside the kitchen. Masami’s husband owned the temple, and apparently it gets quite busy on weekends. The food was delicious, and while Masami’s English was quite broken, she made extensive efforts to stay engaged with us and was an absolutely outstanding host.

Following our veggie feast we walked around Roppongi, the white-touristy end of town, and headed up to the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower to catch an awesome view of the city and the Star Wars Visions exhibition. Lucky me 🙂 The exhibition featured lots of new artwork inspired by the Star Wars series done in dozens of different styles, lots of scale replicas of ships and locations from Star Wars,  and some amazing props and costumes from the films, including most of the original main cast costumes, lightsabers, and blasters. SO COOL. Sadly, pictures were not allowed in the exhibition.

To cross another burger off my list, and to counteract the health benefits of my long morning walk and nutritious vegetarian lunch, I smashed a Wendy’s burger while Marthese shopped at Zara. Neither are particularly Japanese things, but they seem to do it better here 🙂

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