Tokyo Wasn’t What I Expected

Day 14, Grand Asia 2017

Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017 – Yokohama/Tokyo

I pictured Tokyo as a city of bright neon lights, skyscrapers and millions of people densely packed into a small space. We didn’t see that Tokyo today. Our Tokyo was a city of dreary drizzle and millions of umbrellas. We wandered through a garden with only one bed of flowers, took a cruise down a rainy river, visited a temple site surrounded by hundreds of tourist vendor booths and ended with a stop at a 100 yen store and the opportunity to peruse the latest Toyota models.

Not quite what I expected, but an enjoyable day nonetheless. Perhaps it was a ploy to make sure I come back.

About 40 of us boarded a tour bus in a mist and made the drive to Tokyo from Yokohama in under an hour in the light Sunday morning traffic. Our first stop was at Hama-rikyu Gardens where the drizzle started falling from the skies. This once was the family garden of the Tokugawa Shogun and later a detached palace of the imperial family. Only a small area of flowers was blooming, and we skirted the edge along a muddy path to a boat dock along the river.

There we boarded a ferry for a cruise on the Sumida River. I hadn’t realized how many rivers and canals run through Tokyo. As the rain continued, we were glad the boat was enclosed. The raindrops collecting on the windows made it hard to see the 14 bridges we passed under. Many of the passengers passed the time eating from their bento boxes.

At the route’s end, we visited the Asakusa Sensoji Temple, but I could never hear much about its significance due to the heavy crowds. I can’t imagine how packed the area would be on a nice sunny day. As it was, we had to keep an eye out to avoid the tips of hundreds of umbrellas. Our guide gave us some free time and just generally pointed us along a busy alleyway, saying to meet up at the second red lantern. Much of our group was so concerned about not getting lost that they didn’t see much along the way. I consider it a small miracle that we all made it through the alleyways of booths to the meeting place.

I noticed a number of young women dressed in Japanese kimonos and obis, complete with makeup and hair decorations. Apparently this is a craze among some tourists, including Koreans and even some Caucasians. They rent the outfits, get dolled up and visit the sites, taking lots of photos of themselves along the way.

Next was our Japanese lunch. The restaurant had inadvertently seated another group at our tables, so we trudged to the third floor, removed our shoes and sat with our feet tucked below traditional low Japanese tables. I’m sure there were numerous knee and hip replacements among the group (one hip for me), and we wondered how we would get up after the meal. We did all manage to get to our feet, but only after eating a meal already set before us that no one described until near the end. Among the Japanese dishes were tempera, sashimi, egg custard, miso soup, fish cakes and pickled radishes. Plus other things I didn’t recognize. The less adventurous may have left hungry. (But after two weeks on a cruise ship, we had forgotten what hungry felt like.)

Next up was a visit to Tokyo Tower – a 60-year-old tower not unlike the Eiffel Tower in appearance. It isn’t the tallest tower in Tokyo, but on such an overcast day that was a good thing. We quickly rode the lifts up 150 meters – I never figured out what floor it was. I was pleasantly surprised by the views of Tokyo. And impressed by the uniforms of the women operating the lifts.

Our last stop was at Odaiba, a shopping area and the Toyota City Showcase. Most of us were just ready after a long wet day to head back to Yokohama. Our guide thought we should have been more excited about seeing Toyotas and the 100-Yen (Dollar) store.

We kept the stop short and got back to the ship in time for the evening’s entertainment of a local Japanese drum performance and a sake barrel ceremony. From what I heard, the sake portion was more like an advertisement. I had a quick dinner and got to bed early. Tomorrow I have a tour in the Yokohama area.