Sushi, cherry blossoms and all things Japanese

Tokyo - 16/04/10 -18/04/10

It must have been one of the coldest and most miserable days weather-wise that we encountered so far. 5 degrees, rain and wind - freezing arctic conditions. So, last night we stayed inside to stay warm and enjoyed a Kushikatsu meal in Kuchinobo, a 1950's Japanese style shish-kebab restaurant where you are served, Kushikatsu, tiny deep fried nuggets. They serve Kushikatsu oakamze (one at a time) and we also had Obuzuke, rice over roasted green tea - very tasty!

Luckily the weather was better today. Sunny and slightly warmer, so we went exploring. We didn't quite get up early enough to see the Tsukiji fish-market in full swing (actually there was nothing much going on by the time we got there), but we still had some fantastically fresh sushi in one of the many little restaurants. We then navigated the underground system to Asakusa, a district in Tokyo famous for it's Senso-ji - a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon . On our walk we also discovered a crazy Japanese Pachinko gambling den with people transfixed to their screens and tiny metal balls making hypnotic cathsching noises at high speeds. After a leisurely stroll we reached Ueno Park, which still had a few cherry blossom trees in bloom. Not far for the park is Yanaka, one of the oldest and preserved areas of Tokyo. The low-rise, chilled nature of this area is very charming and a great rest-bite from high-rise, hectic Hong Kong.
We also walked past the oldest and finest papershop in Tokyo (photo)

On Yanaka Ginza street (video), a narrow shopping street with retro atmosphere full of small shops, cafe's and traditional crafts stores, we stopped for some coffee and cake. People are very friendly and we even made a friend, Mr B.B., who had written a book about old Tokyo



On Day 2 we continued our explorations and visited the site of the Imperial Palace & Yoyogi Park - really disappointed not to see any dancing Elvises!, but we got to see a Japanese Wedding pair instead. We also wondered through Shibuya, the teenage fashion district.