Tokyo

On a humid day, the temperature was 31 degrees. After breakfast at the hotel, I walked to the Tourist Information Office in Asakusa for a 90 minute walking tour with a guide and a couple from Montreal after taking photos from the rooftop floor of the Office. The tour was mainly around the Senji Shrine. Afterwards, I walked across the bridge over the Sumida River and to the yellow Asahi Super Dry Hall. I took photos and had a light lunch plus an Asahi beer on the 22nd floor. Then I walked to the freestanding Skytree Tower and, after lots of queuing, ascended to the top level at 450m to take photos of a hazy Tokyo. There was a glass deck to stand on and look down.
I walked back to the hotel through the Senji Shrine and the nearby entertainment district.
It was noticeable that the Japanese respect the traffic lights even when there is no traffic. Birdsong plays when the lights turn green.
There were few cycle lanes in Japan with cycles being ridden on the pavements.
Back at the hotel, I moved room and started sharing with James Kennedy, a 25-year-old from near Hamilton, North Island, NZ. He had been travelling around SE Asia for a month with Contiki.
On a number of early-evenings over the following week, we watched on TV one of the largest sumo wrestling tournaments in Tokyo.
There were 10 at the group meeting for the first leg of the Intrepid trip entitled Ultimate Japan; James and myself; Alison and David from Edinburgh; Jason and Tracey from Pacifico, San Francisco; Donna from Victoria, Australia; Leona and her daughter, Eleanor, from Australia, and Lay (or Lai) from Toronto. Seiji was the Japanese leader. We went for a sushi dinner followed by a walk to the floodlit Senji Shrine with the floodlit Skytree Tower in the distance.Read more