We were relieved to see that there were screens in the carriages, with maps and information in both Japanese and English. The journey was fast and efficient. As we passed through stations, I noticed that those waiting all waited in an orderly queue under the signs for the carriages; not milling around as one sees everywhere else.
It takes about an hour to get from Haneda airport to Shinjuko, the area of Tokyo were we were staying. Shinjuko station is enormous and we now know that it is the busiest station in the world, handling 3.6 million people each day. Its subway system is enormous, think Kings Cross and multiple by six. A taxi delivered us to our hotel and we were happy to discover that taxis are not expensive.
First impressions were that buildings are very tall and the city is busy. We went out to find some food at more or less the first restaurant round the corner before sleeping - we had some jet lag to deal with. Our street still had Christmas or Chinese New Year decorations. They were being taken down when we left to go to Kyoto.
The next morning we went down to breakfast, not knowing what to expect. We had eaten Japanese breakfasts in Te Anau where our landlady was Japanese. These were enormous, delicious and varied, so were were not at all sure what to expect. We had a range of options to suit the diversity of nationalities and, of course, the staff spoke some English.
We chose the Shinjuko area because it is well situated for sights - we were aware that it was close to the red light district, and the shantytown area of minuscule bars and night clubs. At first we had just seen a busy shopping area, but going out of the back door of our hotel, we walked along old passage ways and narrow streets that had survived the building. Some streets are just used as shortcuts, but form an area that comes alive at night. Passing the hotel was this tree lined footpath which seemed to be completely unique in this built up area.
Within the shantytown, the narrow streets are used as an extension to the house, aircon units are parked either in front of or behind the house in the very narrow gap between the backs of houses. We noticed that there is always a gap between buildings in Tokyo, maybe to do with earthquakes.
Elsewhere, the washing machines live outside.
This bar, closed in the day, can take at maximum 8 people.
It charges for entry and was full (three people and barmaid) in the evening.
After the immediate area, we went to find the local park, Shinjuko Gyoen National Gardens. We were surprised and delighted to see that the cherry blossom was just starting to flower. In the park, the cherry trees were surrounded by photographers trying to get photos not of flowers, but of birds. John concentrated on the birds and Pat on the flowers.
A big surprise was the colour of the grass, which is a sandy colour. We assume that this is because the grass hasn't started to grow yet and saw no signs of green, but it does seem to be hardwearing and everyone was walking on the grass.
Although it was a busy city around it, the park is remarkably peaceful and beautifully laid out in the local style. The enormous park also contains English and French style gardens.
Complete with hungry fish
It soon became clear that the first flowering trees that we came across wasn't the only ones and that there trees more advanced and teaming with chattering nectar feeding birds.
We stopped for a traditional cup of green tea in a tea house.
This building was a gift from Japanese people in Taiwan.
It has wonderful views across the lake. One man had been standing still on the veranda for so long that I thought that he was a statue!
Our next stop was to be the Tokyo Metropolitan Government buildings from which one can get a good view over the city. On the way we passed this more traditional building.
The Government building has two towers where lifts to the 45th floor await; we entered via this courtyard
Views from the top of the area around Shinjuko Station.
After the views from both towers, we set off for the shopping area, which is around the station and took some time to find, simply because the station is so large and getting from one side of the tracks to the other is difficult for the uninitiated.
We had appreciated that there are multiple entries to the station, but not how incredibly large the underground system is. We set off walking underground and saw exits to a University. The passage way is wide enough that a large area is fenced off where what we guess is to be a second moving pavement installed. As we walked further along, we came across shops, so that there is a whole part of the tunnel system which is itself, a shopping centre.
The difficulty is, where to get out! Eventually, we found a likely place and arrived close to the little lane that we had walked along earlier in the day.
In the evening, we ate in a busy restaurant below our hotel where we selected dishes from a photo book! Later we walked around the small streets again, taking a few photos. Ladies on the night were seen holding up sheets of paper with their price!
No comments:
Post a Comment