We were starting to find our feet in Tokyo a little by day three. It’s a huge city and everything moves at pace, but somehow it feels measured.
People explain things once and well, they answer our questions efficiently and help us quickly when we need it. Often taking the time to walk with us when we’re lost, or guide us through something we don’t know how to do. Everyone is polite and patient (outwardly at least!), even when we’re faffing about with new meal ordering systems or ways of paying. It sometimes feels so quick that you wonder how it happened. My natural speed it definitely a bit slower, but strangely I don’t feel rushed!
We started with a visit to the National Museum to check out some beautiful kimonos, samurai outfits and, my favourite, some incredibly precise calligraphy.
From there we went to lunch at a tiny restaurant on Hoppy Street, famous for a beer named after it. We narrowly missed having a very wobbly Leo for the afternoon… hoppy is very low alcohol at 0.8%, so we said Leo could try some. It arrived with half a glass of ice and clear liquid. Turns out the liquid was not water, but a local distilled spirit named “sho-chu”. Fortunately it was me who took the first big sip!
We found the Senso-ji temple not far away. It is the oldest temple in Tokyo, which houses the hidden statue of the Kannon, representing the figure that is the mercy of all Buddhas. The story goes that statue was hidden in 645 and hasn’t been seen since, even the chief priests of the temple don’t get to see it.
The temple itself is striking, and busy - our first experience of proper tourist crowds since arriving. Apparently 30 million people visit each year. That’s around 82,000 a day on average. I think many of them come just after lunch. We had a quick look around, took a few photos, wandered down the shopping street along with everyone else, then escaped to a quieter spot - a train to the Team Labs Planets interactive art installation.
This was easily the highlight of our day. You wander barefoot through dimly lit rooms that provoke your senses. Our favourites were a hill with water running down it and light bubbles in the surface underfoot; clambering over what look like rocks, but are soft so it feels a bit like a foam pit covered by sheets; walking through knee deep water with cherry blossom petals and playful koi beamed onto the surface of the water; and a space with a mirrored floor and ceiling with thousands of light strings dripping from above. When you get to the end there are a couple of ‘outdoor’ installations, then you can go round again if you like. We liked! It’s hard to do it justice in words… if you’re in Tokyo it’s definitely worth a visit to experience it for yourself.
That evening we were a bit late heading out for dinner, and we’re starving, so picked a restaurant at random. As we descended the stairs, the bottles of Veuve Cliquot and other assorted fine wines alerted us to our arrival in a closer-to-fine-dining-than-we’re-accustomed-to situation. Given hunger levels, we went ahead. Once we’d figured out the menu (or thought we had until the waiter gave us a strange look), the kids had fun cooking delicious cuts of beef on our in-table gas stove. Cook your own BBQ is ‘yakiniku’ in Japanese. We even had fresh wasabi and a grater at the table. It’s so tasty grated straight onto your plate - we might be ruined for the packaged version! A great meal was had and it wasn’t too ruinously expensive in the end.
The National Museum
Lunch on Hoppy Street
Sensoji Temple
Amazing Team Lab Planets
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