Sightseeing in Tokyo, Japan - 2nd August 2008

During my trip there, I had a day and an evening off, to look around the most populous city on earth. Sightseeing in Tokyo was able to get underway almost as soon as I stepped out of my hotel, which was located right in the centre of Shibuya. There, less than 5 minutes walk from my hotel room, is the famous Hachiko square and crossing - probably the one thing that people associate with Tokyo. If you have seen the image of a huge pedestrian crossing, with people walking in all directions, it is highly likely to be Hachiko in Shibuya. Almost like Piccadilly Circus or Times Square gone mad, it is one of those focal points of a major city, where people and consumerism are there in abundance.

Last time I was in Tokyo, I went to the free observation deck at the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building in Shinjuku. The views there cover the whole city, and really underline how massive Tokyo is. Remembering that, I went back for another look. It was much quieter this time, being a Saturday, so once you got away from Shinjuku Station (the busiest station in the world, and the place where men in white gloves push people onto the trains - although not today), there weren't too many people to fight your way through. The first view I got from the observation deck was this one - across to the east (ish), and a pretty decent one.

Unfortunately, that was as good as it really got. In pretty much every other direction, the sun was too prominent, creating a haze that meant you couldn't see too far in any direction. This picture, if you look closely, gives some indication of how far Tokyo spreads, but there are better ones here and here, from the last time I went up this particular building. So, a bit of a disappointment, and it meant that I avoided going up any more tall buildings for the rest of the day. After descending from the government building, I took in some of the shops in Shinjuku, searching for weird Japanese stuff - and I found plenty of strange things to buy. A walk around Kaubkicho (the red light district), even in daylight, was an eye opener, as people tried desperately to lure you into clubs and gambling parlours.

Moving on from Shinjuku, I also visited the areas of Roppongi and Ginza, as well as enjoying a stroll in Yoyogi Park. Ginza in particular was amazing - very high rents mean that this area is occupied by lots of very expensive shops - kind of the "Champs Elysees" of Tokyo. Also there is the Sony Building, which showcases all of their new toys to play with, across about 5 floors. You can spend a while in there, and I got to play with the robotic dog, which was cool.

So finally, the day ended up back in Shibuya, with a photo of the Hachiko crossing by night. A good day's sightseeing, and having been here twice, I really like Tokyo. The weather was rather oppressively hot and humid (especially when the outlets from building air conditioning units and kitchens fire steam at you as you walk down the street!), so it was quite tiring to do too much too quickly. Nevertheless, despite the weird things, Tokyo is a very welcoming city - I'd love to come back.