Sunday, July 14, 2013

Day 14: Tokyo Tour Sunday Afternoon from Hamamatsu bus terminal

Today we are taking a bus tour of Tokyo's famous sites.

¥5,000 (approx. $50 US per person for a group of 20 people which they consider a "small" group on the 100 person bus). The tour runs  1:40-5:40pm

Visit Key Tokyo Sites.
- Seaside top world trade center
- Imperial palace place formerly Edo Castle
- Nakamise Shopping district (famous shopping strip)
- Boat tour, includes bridges of Tokyo River and Tokyo Tower view
- Return to Tokyo Station

Then tonight we will take a taxi to Haraku neighborhood and trendy area.

See my post on Japan Shopping: 
Nakamise street in Asakusa is the best place in Tokyo to buy souvenirs. The street leads to Sensoji — Tokyo's oldest and most visited temple. 

Go to the Uniqlo U.T. Store in Harajuku. It is pretty much the best clothing store in the world. (great for tshirts) well I don't know about that because its rather pricey!!


At the start of the tour when we entered the bus they first handed out free advertisements, a cell phone cleaning cloth with a brochure inside. We see people on the street passing out napkins with brochures in plastic bags.

Then she read an advertisement from a local high end retailer store inviting us to visit them for typical Japan Summer Sweets. Then they jumped into the schedule for the day.

It's hot, really hot. 90 degrees feels like 100. But it's not humid like in Osaka.

We totally needed our sweat tags today! And my umbrella!!



After the Edo castle we are going to the Nakamise Street Shopping district and the Asakusa Shrine (including Buddhas statue, who reached enlightenment, and the  Bodhisattva Statue, who's on the process to enlightenment).  

Bathroom Break - Japanese Style

Bring your own napkins!!

We passed a famous kabuki theatre (where performances are only by men) and we are hitting the Tokyo expressway.

There's a campaign election July 21 so in all the major cities we have been hearing their advertisements and campaign promises. The actual politician is in the mini bus, covered in ads and there using a live megaphone (not a recorded message).

A fisherman found a figurine and he went to his master with it. The master built the shrine.

It's raining again as we leave Nakamise shopping area, torrential down pour!! Didn't Tokyo get the official announcement that the rainy season is over? 

Smart salesman busted out all his umbrellas. It's a small island, so these umbrellas, the clear ones, the long fancy ladies version and the small handelds are all the options - seen everywhere!! 


From JapanGuide.com about Tokyo's Sites & Population

Asakusa's main attraction is Sensoji, a very popular Buddhist temple, built in the 7th century. The temple is approached via the Nakamise, a shopping street that has been providing temple visitors with a variety of traditional, local snacks and tourist souvenirs for centuries.

Fast facts about Tokyo Prefecture versus Tokyo City

According to the 2010 Japanese census, the 23 wards that make up the city of Tokyo have a population of 8,949,447. 

The 23 wards made up the boundaries of the historic city of Tokyo, which was officially dissolved in 1943 when it merged with the prefecture. The Tokyo prefecture, into which Tokyo city was merged, was home to 13,047,446 people in 2010. But the story doesn’t end there – the Tokyo urban area extends beyond even the prefecture’s boundaries.

Happy Travels, and Happy to go home!



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