Two days in Tokyo
For a second time i could spend a little time to visit Tokyo, for two days. The occasion to see new places and to see again places that i liked. However in this big capital, in two days you don’t have the time to see many things. My hostel was located in Kamata, in south of Tokyo, near haneda airport. But with the great subway network and the yamanote line, numerous areas are easily and quickly accessible.
I went to Shibuya again. Shibuya is probably one of the best place embodying the modern Japan. In fact when you get out from Shibuya station you arrive on a big crossroad.
The place has a very big magnetism that never we find in other big city. Everything is surrounded by high-rise buildings adorned with futuristic giant video screens. The pictures that you can imagine sometimes or just that you can have as a stereotype about modern Japan is definitely pictured in Sibuya.
The big crossroad in Shibuya is the crossroad with the most people crossing on this everyday and every minutes. It is totally full but people are successful to to cross without ever colliding. At the night this the place for the youth of Tokyo to go out in Trendy bar, restaurant, manga store, game centers, shopping center. Brief everything for a entertainment area, living 24h/24h. This is here that we can see the fashion culture of Japan.
This is here that i could experiment the Dragon Ball cafe, the Lipton cafe. When we are in this place it is extremely difficult after to imagine to live in a quiet place. I walked and do shopping in Center Gai, the pedestrian zone in the heart of Shibuya.
This is more an other modern world, that we can compare a little sometimes in movies with vision of the future.
I experiment the place during the evening but i saw this last time during the day.
More information here about Sibuya
The tommorow i could experiment Odaiba area, joining from Shinagawa station to Tokyo teleport station. It was a big contrast with Shibuya because the place was quiet, outside of the crowd from the center. This is a large artificial Island from Tokyo bay, built for defensive purpose. It is today a large place for entertainment with commercial and shopping center, garden, and leisure area. It is linked to Tokyo by the rainbow bridge.
I stayed there an half day and I could see the giant fairy wheel with 120 meters high. I saw the giant Gundam Robot of 20 meters high in front of the shoopoing center. I walked many time in the area and in the seaside park with a great Tokyo’s waterfront view, on the rainbow bridge and the big buildings. This also a place which deserves to be visited during the evening or the night thanks to the beautiful nightly illumination. Read more about Odaiba on my other article.
More information here about Odaiba
I return by the thrain to the center of Tokyo to reach Akihabara. Akihabara is an electric and crazy area in Tokyo, it is called as the ‘geek area’ because everything there is about manga, videogames, movies and other digital shop. As Shibuya we can see many giant video screens on the main street and crossroad. It is a fun area and it is difficult with all this colored shops with goodies, pictures, books about manga and movies to not have the smile walking on this place. It is like the city had created a virtual paradise around dutside of the world. We can see shops with big bazar about computers, phones and others accessories. We can see shops with all the vintage game console from nintendo and sega and we can play in the big videogames center. We can see big shops with manga book as far as the eyes can see. Also we can find maid cafe, cafe where waitresses are dressed as in mangabook with short dresses, with a strange relationship with the customers. It is totally friendly and bizar concept.
Brief very fun and strange place to see, only in Japan.
More information here about Akihabara
I reaturned to my place, stopping first to see Tokyo station, and staying a little in the surrounding of Shinagawa.