Tokyo - Part Two

We ended up back in Tokyo on the 28th, the last day of our trip. We arrived at Tokyo Station at 6 in the morning, on the night bus from Fukui. Our first mission was coffee and breakfast, which was actually a little bit difficult to find in the Tokyo Station area, which is more of a business district and doesn't have so many shops and restaurants. We ended up finding a coffee shop/bakery in the large Otemachi subway station. It was rather crowded already, and we had to wait for awhile to get a seat. Amusingly, there were several businessmen passed out at their tables, exhausted beyond the help of caffeine.

Ikebukuro

We had a look through our guidebook and decided to check out Ikebukuro. It was our first attempt at using the Tokyo Metro subway, but — although the subway system is very complex — it's actually not that difficult to figure out, and we were soon on our way. When we arrived, Ikebukuro's many shops were mostly still closed, so we headed toward Sunshine City, a gigantic mall.

Attached to the mall is the main landmark of the area, the Sunshine 60. At 240 meters tall, the Sunshine 60 is one of the tallest buildings in Tokyo, surpassed only by the Tokyo Tower (333m) and Tokyo City Hall, Tower I (243m). The view of Tokyo from the observation deck on the top floor is pretty stunning, stretching beyond the horizon in every direction.

Imperial Palace - Outer Garden

We headed back to Tokyo Station from Ikebukuro. Vaibhav took the Narita Express to the airport to catch his flight back to Vancouver. I had another 10 hours to kill, so I went to the Imperial Palace, just a few blocks from Tokyo Station. It was still closed when Vaibhav and I tried to check it out in the morning, so I came back after we parted ways at Tokyo Station.

The only part of the Imperial Palace that's open to the public is the Outer Garden on the east side. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and the expansive Outer Garden was full of both tourists and locals. Perhaps my favorite thing about the garden was the modern urban skyline visible beyond the traditional architecture and landscapes — an appropriate symbol of the contrasts that define Japan and its culture.

Minato-ku

After I left the Palace Garden, I headed back to the subway station in Otemachi and took a train to the Minato-ku area. The name means "harbor district", and is host to the kaigan (waterfront) area. The subway took me to Shinbashi Station, where I had to change to the recently-built (and private) Yurikamome train line. Since this train is separate from the Tokyo Metro system, I had to pay again to use it, but it was well worth it; along the way I was treated to some great views of the modern and beautiful buildings in this part of the city.

I spent some time around the waterfront, then went back to Shinjuku to meet Yukari again. We had dinner and coffee, hung out for awhile, and then I took some more photos while waiting for the bus to head back up to Yamagata.