Japan Day 26 - Tokyo Our flight back to the western world wasn’t until late in the afternoon, and so Fletch and I decided to spend our final morning visiting Tokyo Skytree. We had been meaning to go, and I had been scanning the weather apps for the clearest day possible. Today was our lucky day. We checked out of the hotel and left our bags in the lobby, then rode the subway over to Japan’s tallest structure. The Skytree is new since my last visit to Japan, and definitely demands attention when you catch a glimpse for the first time.
Japan Day 25 - Tokyo Our last full day in Tokyo was spent more or less lazing around. We met up with my friend from high school again in the evening, and another mutual friend from college. Fletch and I requested okonomiyaki, the delectable cabbage pancakes, for our last dinner in Japan. I laid awake in bed that night reflecting on the place that Japan had become. An overwhelming sense of emptiness and loneliness had been growing somewhere deep inside of me ever since stopping in Tokyo. For cities so crowded, we had observed so little in the form of human interaction.
Japan Day 24 - Tokyo We trekked over to Harajuku for brunch. They had an Eggs ’n Things there (a Hawaiian chain we had discovered early in the trip) and we were both in the mood for American breakfast. Harajuku is an area in Tokyo known for its colorful street art and fashion scene. On the weekends, it is usually teaming with young people dressed up in cosplay and Lolita fashion (or so I remembered my high school Japanese teacher saying). Japan as a whole is a fairly conservative society. Women don’t typically show their shoulders, or any amount of chest. None
Japan Day 23 - Shibuya, Tokyo Our last four days in Tokyo were spent at a much slower pace, wandering around the city, exploring, and watching the fast-paced world turn around us. That is what Fletch and I have become good at over the years, planting ourselves in a spot and getting to know the neighborhood like locals. I notice the cultural nuances and he has the uncanny ability to never get lost. I pick up bits and pieces of the language, and he reads context and people’s intent, making language almost unnecessary. It makes for good wanderings. Now that we
Japan Day 22 (Part II) - Akihabara, Tokyo When our MariCar tour was over, Fletch and I were both feeling pretty hungry from all the adrenalin and excitement. Most of the restaurants in Akihabara were advertising either pasta dishes (the Italian type) or random fried foods. A few times we even passed by a massive dessert served inside an entire loaf of white bread. It was all novelty to look at, but none of it was screaming eat me! Finally we found a 24-hour seafood joint. I know what you’re thinking, 24-hour raw fish sounds a little sketchy, but it