Day 7

 . . . . . . . . Ready, Set, Goooooooo


Saturday and it's Scott's birthday!!!  Though he is a little upset at being made to turn 4? eight hours before he should have done!!!  


So, as it's a special day, we're going SHOPPING!!!  Today's itinerary includes:

• Shibuya
• Yasukuni Shrine
• Imperial Palace and Garden
• Marunouchi and Ginza

To get to Shibuya, we needed to go through Tokyo Station.  Now, we thought Shinjuku was bad . . .  phew - it's nothing compared to Tokyo.  Its not the amount of people this time, it's the size of the Station and the amount of Trains that go through the Station.  Approximately 3,000 trains a day run through Tokyo and finding the one you need is a nightmare!!!  It's just as well Scott is a master map reader and knows his left from his right.  If I was left alone in Tokyo Station, I would never find my way home.


It can take hours to get from one platform to another.  Tokyo Station is also the home of the Shinkansen (Bullet Train), so we would be back here on Sunday to get the Bullet train to Kyoto.


So, we found the right line and the right train and made our way to Shibuya.  Shibuya is a VERY  busy shopping area and is full of fashionable young people (god only knows what we were doing there!)


First things first . . .  outside of the station (if you go out of the right exit) there is a statue of Hachiko.  Hachiko was a dog who waited for his master outside the station every day, but one day, his master died at work and didn't come home.  Hachiko continued to wait for his master from 1923 to 1935.  He became quite the celebrity in Japan and the statue was erected in his honour.  It's now a very popular meeting place for the young 'uns.  


There was a lot of elbowing to get this picture . . . 

The real Hachiko has been stuffed and now lives in the National Science Museum - nice eh?!?!!


Next, one of the biggies for the trip to Shibuya . . . .  the Shibuya crossing.  Hopefully you all know about this but if you don't, it's a huge traffic crossing.  When the little green man comes on, all hell is let loose and everyone crosses the road at the same time.  I have wanted to see this for ages, but I wanted to be sitting in the Starbucks overlooking the crossing with a cuppa and my camera.  Nothing else would do . . . . I have planned this for a very long time and nothing was going to get in my way . .  woman on a mission!


We got to Starbucks, but then needed to get a seat in the window . . . . and of course they were all full.  I noticed, however, that one girl was packing up to leave, so I casually hovvered behind her while Scott went for the coffee.


Just as she was getting up and American with a huge camera was going to jump into her seat . . . .  HA - he'd never met a Mackem on a mission . . .  . My bum was in that seat before he could move - SCORE!!


So, here I am in Starbucks window looking at the Shibuya crossing feeling all wonderful and smug . . . .  photo time . . . 

 Ready

 Steady

Go go go go!!!

It's great to watch!  Oh yes and you may have noticed from the photos, everyone has brollies up . . .  . 'cos it bloody rained again today (hands up all those that said 'oh yeah, go in May it'll be much nicer'!!!)


I sat and watched this for ages.  Oh and a cute bus came past as well . . . 

I was trying to justify the fact that I had been in my seat for a whil now and really should have moved!  In Starbucks here, they will only sell you a tall (ie small) coffee to make sure you don't stay too long!!!  It's amazing how long a small cup of coffee can last.


Anyway - we needed to move on, so off into Shibuya to check out the shops!

 Shops

 Shops

And more shops!

Despite being told that the neons wouldn't be on due to energy conservation, all the lights and big TV's seemed to be one, and it made a wonderful sight.  The Japanese adverts are quite funny and they love Avril Lavigne . . .  she is everywhere!  They are advertising her upcoming concert.


A quick trip into Tokyu Hands (a department type store) for a look around and I could have spent a fortune on paper and pens and kawaii (cute) things!  In the end I bought a few packs of origami paper (the proper stuff) and a new origami book.  


So, out of the shop and continue deeper into Shibuya through Center Gai.  This is a loooong street that is centered on youth entertainment (once again - why are we here???). The street is full of shops, pachinko palours, karaoke bars and restaurants aimed directly at high school and college kids.


There are a lot of different fashions going on, socks and high heeled shoes seems to be the popular one, but everyone has their own style and does their own thing which makes it all the more interesting to people watch.  Anything goes . . . .  oh and we have seen countless schoolgirls and boys in their sailor uniforms -very Kawaii!!!


I have noticed over the past few days, that Scott gets a lot of funny looks and stares, especially from giggly school girls and babies!  Babies just stare at him!!  Not too sure what it is about him . . .  it might be that tourists are a b it of a rare sight lately and they are just not used to us.

The sign on this shop . . .  Condonmania is 'give safe sex a chance' and I think we should all give safe sex a chance!!!!!


I wanted to go into Shibuya 109, but I think Scott was losing the will to live by this point and Shibuya 109 is a huge department store that is full of screaming school girlies shopping . . . .  hmmm, maybe he had a point!

So, back on the train and off to the Yasukuni Shrine.  This is an interesting but controversial shrine.  This is where all Japanese soldiers that have been killed at war since the Meiji Restoration are buried here.  There are about 2.5 million soldiers ashes here.  Their ashes have been brought here regardless of the families' wishes.  The controversy comes from the fact that there are also the ashes of eight Class A war criminals buried here.  So this shrine does not sit well with some Japanese.

Next to the shrine is the Yushukan, which is a museum dedicated to the war dead.  There is a huge display of planes, guns and photos and even an actual locomotive from the Thai-Burma Railway (Some remaining soldiers collectd together to rescue the locomotive and donated it to the museum).  It was very interesting if not a little morbid (but I'm sure Dad would have loved this).

So, out of there and into the Imperial Palace Garden.  The Emperor and his family actually live here in the Palace, hence we were not allowed to go into the Palace.  The garden is huge and to make sure no-one is left hanging around when the garden closes, we are counted in and out!!!


The original stone keep is still there in the garden, which is now just a big stone wall . . .  but it is BIG!

OK, so now it is absolutely pee'ing down and we are getting soaked (though we both had our trusty pac-a-mac's with us today whoo hoo).


The garden is huge and took a while to get through it all.  In the middle we noticed a huge queue (which sent shivers down Scott's spine and words of 'whatever it is we are NOT queuing'!!) but we realised it was a concert for a pop star called 'Deen'.  Lots of giggling girlies . . . . moving on very quickly!!!!!

Deen - the pop star

Now we are in Marunouchi.  This is the business district and is full of Bank HQ's.  Just a quick walk through this then onto Ginza . . . .  high end shopping here.  However, my feet were really starting to hurt (we had walked at least 400 miles today), and we are incredibly close to a Metro Station so we are going to leave Ginza and come back later next week so we can take it in better.  I suppose others with a bit more staying power would have kept going, but I am shattered (a happy shattered tho'!!)


Anyway - we need to get back to the Bunker early tonight as we need to pack some stuff.  Tomorrow we are off to Kyoto and Hiroshima for a few days . .  . and getting the Bullet Train at 07:33 (at the immense Tokyo Station) so we need to be up and out . . . . . . .  .


(Oh and I also wanted to see if I could get the F1 Qualifying on the Bunker telly (it's the Turkish GP this weekend) . . .  we tried - I couldn't, so had to watch is via live text stream  from the BBC web site . . . .  surprisingly enough, that's not very exciting!!)


Anyway - hopefully I'll see some real life Geisha ladies the next couple of days . . . . (fingers crossed)