17. Tokyo

Although it was a rather wet and windy night, Tokyo seemed to have escaped the worst of the typhoon and the day dawned reasonably bright and dry. We had arranged to meet up with Hiromi, an old work colleague and friend who, being local, would be able to guide us easily around the vast city.

Firstly we headed for the Odaiba district, a futuristic looking set of buildings on the other side of the Sumida River. Although there is not a lot to do there as such, there are some great views of the Tokyo skyline. Then, on the way back across the river, we went over Rainbow Bridge, something that caused some amusement and black humour.

Next stop was Hama-rikyu gardens where as well as enjoying the peace and tranquility we could also stop for a Japanese speciality, bean paste cakes and green tea. The exquisitely decorated little cakes were brought to us as we sat cross legged and shoeless on the floor. 

By now the heat was building and it was lunchtime so we exited the gardens and continued on, eventually finding a small restaurant. Here we ordered soba noodles with a kind of pork and fish soup...it tasted better than it sounds and definitely gave us a chopstick challenge. Lots of slurping ensued, but that is the way things are done!

Hopping back onto the MRT we travelled a few stations to the Harajuku district and in particular to Takeshita Street, otherwise known as Fancy Street. It was absolutely packed, a 400 metre stretch of heaving humanity and evidently is the place to see, and be seen, especially if you are under 25. Thankfully we didn't stick out from the crowd too much, at least not as much as the ballerinas, the pink lolitas, those with multicoloured hair and those dressed as maids. Totally manic, but lots of fun.

At the end of the street we turned right and very soon were in Omotesando street. Although it was busy, it was totally different to Fancy Street, it being a wide boulevard lined with every high end outlet imaginable. Rather than shop for an Armani suit or Tiffany diamonds, we just stopped for iced coffee and refreshing smoothies. Interestingly, the name Omotesando means, loosely translated  "pilgrimage road to the shrine", but in these modern times is more a pilgrimage road to commercialism.

From there, Hiromi wanted to show us the university at which he studied and was just around the corner. After walking the packed streets it was lovely to have a few minutes of quiet again in the university grounds.

As a final stop we continued walking down to the famous Shibuya crossing. Again, it was jam packed with people but just such a great place to see and to watch for a few minutes. From Shibuya it was then just a short metro ride back to our hotel.

We said our goodbyes to Hiromi and returned to our room. It was now almost 7pm and time for the Sumidagawa fireworks display (which had been cancelled from the previous evening because of the typhoon) to begin. By a huge stroke of luck, we could see the display across the other side of the city from our room on the 18th floor. This is the biggest firework display in Tokyo's calendar, lasts an hour and a half, 30,000 fireworks are let off and the event attracts a crowd of 700,000, or this year, a crowd of 700,002.

Next day, Monday, was our last day in Tokyo and indeed our last day in Japan. We still had a couple of things that we wanted to do, not least continuing our quest of ascending to the top of the highest building in any given city. In the case of Tokyo, this was the Skytree, Japan's tallest structure. There are two observation decks, one at 350 metres above street level and one at 450 metres. Unfortunately the visibility wasn't great in terms of distance, but the view of the immediate city was impressive. Equally so was the view directly downwards through the glass floor.

For our afternoon stop we crossed the city to Tokyo Main Station, a tourist spot and an imposing building in its own right. From here it was a short walk to the grounds of the Imperial Palace but the main buildings are set back from the pathways and mostly hidden behind trees, so it is difficult get get a good look. Unlike the Queen at Buckingham Palace, the Emperor obviously likes his privacy.

So we have now visited three of our five countries (Japan, South Korea and Taiwan), and an early night is called for as we have to be ready at 5.30am for our transfer to the airport. Japan is such a fascinating place and the welcome and helpfulness of it's  people cannot be understated. It's also a country of contrasts. The Japanese cannot make a mistake, hence their need to be herded and guided everywhere (men standing around , 10 metres apart, directing traffic around nonexistent hazards). And yet many strive to be different, to stand out from the crowd, as we had witnessed in Takeshita street but as Hiromi explained, come Monday they will all be back on the morning commute, the salarymen in the dark trousers, white shirt and man at and the girls in the smart and stylish office wear.

Sayonara Japan, arigato gozaimasu until next time and after our flights tomorrow it will be g'day Australia.