Tokyo, Japan – Highlights

March 2

This is in the “middle” of our trip, but our segment will end in Tokyo in 2 more weeks, so we will have 4 days to explore after the cruise ends.

shots from the balcony

Today we were joined by Jill & Chris and Cathi & Michael. Both couples are super nice and great tour mates. Our guide was Kenji. He was a nice older man, but he had a hard time remembering names of things and didn’t seem totally sure of the subway routes. We did have the misfortune of being here on the day of the Japan Marathon with at least 30,000 runners and we encountered a few blocked streets, but Kenji stopped and asked the people where to go to get around it. It really didn't cause us any issues.

On the upside we had a beautiful warm sunny day. We took the shuttle bus to the first subway stop and I lost count of the number of train changes to get to the Imperial Palace Plaza/double-bridge. The imperial family's residence and historic spot of Edo Castle. It is still used by the Emperor of Japan and his family. 

One of our least favorite things a guide can do is sit us down for 20 minutes or more and school us on history. Then race past all the things you want to see, experience and take photos. We have him again on our day trip to Kamakura at the end of our trip.

Our visit of the Palace was Kenji making us sit down on concrete blocks so he could give us the history of the past who know how many years. (about 25 minutes) We approached it and then went to the double bridge for photo ops and happened to catch the Changing of the Guard. Then, we leave without actually visiting inside the Palace & grounds. We'd rather have spent the time touring the Palace instead of a history lesson. The Tokugawa shogun ruled the country from 1603 to 1867 until the Imperial Family moved in following the Meiji Restoration. 

on the 6th floor of Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance building in Tokyo, the office of General MacArthur during the war, remains preserved to this day

changing of the guard

our first roadblock

We returned to the subway and proceeded to Meiji-Jingu shrine, a 100-year-old Shinto shrine. Kenji saw that there was a wedding party that would soon come out of the temple, and we waited to see it and get photos. He was pleased that we enjoyed seeing that. 

the sign on the food truck says "it's not good to eat inside the shrine"

it was like walking through a peaceful park through the 3 sets of Tori gates

paper lanterns

wine

sweeping the path

the wedding party leaving the shrine

Next up was lunch which was really good. We both dived right into the food and forgot the "before" photos. Greg had the chicken & rice, and I had beef and onions & rice. Kenji bought some wonderful warm saki for a toast before our meals. Everyone in the group enjoyed trying various Japanese dishes.

it must have been good - I had Gyu-don (rice bowl with beef and onion) & Greg had Sumibi-uakitori-don (rice bowl with grilled chicken)

Back on the subway for our next stop to see Shibuya Crossing and Hachiko statue.

marathon runner showing us her medal

on the floor of the station

Every evening, Akita dog Hachikō would go to Shibuya Station to greet his companion. It's a practice he kept up every day for 10 years after the professor's death, and until his own. This small bronze statue in front of Shibuya Station (outside the eponymous Hachikō exit) was put up in honor of the dog's unwavering loyalty. (Hachikō was buried alongside the professor.)

Shibuya Crossing is the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing, with as many as 3,000 people crossing at a time. Since it was a Sunday, it wasn’t at its busiest but still quite impressive. We walked around the area for a while and then went up to a “free” viewing area of the crossing.

the most popular spot to watch the Scramble (and they charge a fee to have the window seats)

Greg and Kenji ahead of me

smoking room

we went up to a "free" viewing area of the Scramble

Next up was the Asakusa Sensoji Kannon Buddhist Temple - The oldest temple in Tokyo and traditional shopping street. Unfortunately, he just flew by all the shops. Again, telling us about the temple and then rushing back to the train station. Lots of great photo ops if we could have toured instead of hearing about it and being shown photos and then ignoring what is actually there. When we have him for just the 2 of us for Kamakura we will need to change the pace.

ceiling

sign on a restaurant

Our last stop was Kiyosumi Garden which is a traditional Japanese stroll garden. By subtle hints in path construction and placement the visitor is led on a walk around the lake. Water-worn boulders were brought in from all over Japan, to give the garden its character; hills and dry waterfalls were constructed with them and two sequences of them form stepping-stones cross small inlets of the lake, which almost completely fills the garden. There are three big islands and a teahouse on the pond.

When crossing the pond using the steppingstones one can view the fish in the pond. It teems with carp, turtles, and waterfowl. Its location near the river and the bay attracts a large number of birds. There are over 4000 trees in this constricted space. Japanese Black pine are the dominant trees. Purple azaleas, Hydrangea, Iris and Taiwan cherry provide seasonal color. We did see a few plum and apricot trees in bloom. Kenji got us all back to the ship, and we bid him farewell. He is a kind and gentle man, and he was doing his best to show us everything. He stood there watching us until we got on the ship. 

Back on the ship we saw lots of new faces as many got off and many got on. Many of the waitstaff also were new. So, dinner took a bit longer tonight. We sat with a couple from England, and they were quite interesting to talk with. They have only been on 2 cruises as he hates the sea, and she hates to fly. They have done a lot of land trips, many to Africa as they prefer the bush. Guess she consents to fly more than he will cruise....

me in front of the mural in the port (rubbing it in that it's not cherry blossom season)

We didn’t go to the show as it was the same story of HAL that we saw in the last segment. We watched 2 sets of the band in the Rolling Stone. They are really good, and it was the Soul and Get down on it sets

Tomorrow is a sea day.

Imperial Palace 10 Species 3 New

Carrion Crow, Eastern Buzzard, Eastern Spot-billed Duck, Eurasian Coot, Eurasian Wigeon, Falcated Duck, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Mute Swan, Northern Shoveler

Kiyosumi Park 6 Species 1 New

Brown-eared Bulbul, Common Pochard, Eastern Spot-billed Duck, Eurasian Coot, Gray Heron, Large-billed Crow

March 3 Sea Day

Today was another Meet & Greet to meet a few couples that just joined the cruise that would join us on tours. The seas were rocky, and it wasn't well attended. 

We did go to Bingo (Greg won one and split it with another person for $63) and some lectures and caught the last part of the Future Cruise presentation. We went last segment and were excited that HAL was going to operate a Grand Africa cruise in 2027 on the Volendam. We had put down the $100 pp hold to be notified as soon as it is released. I did wonder if it counted for the perks as if booked on the ship and he did address that in his talk. Putting the hold down will be just like we booked onboard with the extra perks. (not sure what they all are) When we made the deposit he asked (a bit tentatively) if we were familiar with the extra-large downs on Grand Adventures and the timing of payments. When we said we had been on 4 world cruises he relaxed. We did say they were all on Princess. (same parent corporation) 

It was a "Dressy" night. 

The evening show was supposed to be Humanity by the dancers, but about 10 minutes in they canceled it due to the rough seas. 

Tomorrow, we visit (Aburatsu) Miyazaki, Japan.