Tokyo drift

Like all big cities, Tokyo has so much going on! It's all a bit overwhelming for a boy who grew up in rural Somerset. I mean, Frome did have its annual Cheese Show, but this place is something else.

We thought it might be a good idea just to wander, although "wandering" really entails getting swept along to wherever the 9.3 million inhabitants are going at the time. We started big with the "World's Busiest Pedestrian Crossing" in Shibuya, where all the traffic stops and a few thousand people cross the street at the same time (the irony being that 90% of those crossing are tourists).

From there we popped in on Meiji Jingu, a large Shinto shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken in a giant park. The Shinto religion has got the whole trinket game solved, with gift shops selling various charms and votive plaques on which to write your prayers. Every small ceremonial action, from tipping water to sprinkling incense, has a box for you to drop a coin in. It's less effort than Anglican cake sales, that's for sure.

The next day it was raining, so we decided to...see some more shrines! This time we took 3-yr-old Oscar, who was not completely impressed with the situation, and monsoon rains which have been notably light for the past two years reappeared with a vengeance. After a long day of drizzle, we were looking at a giant Buddha when the heavens fully opened and we decided to call it a day. The rain rains on the just and the unjust, after all.

Why did the tourists cross the road?

 To get to the Japanese arcade!

Some professionals.

Some amateurs.

Crossing the bridge to the temple.

Sacks of sake. The Emperor was big on trade and food, so there are some barrels of Burgundy wine opposite this display.

Approaching the temple gate.

Pete's holding tourist info in Japanese, which he claims are prayers that he's going to use to command us. So a healthy view of religion there.

Tokyo central station, mixing the old and the new.

 

Quick snack before heading into a bamboo forest the next day.

Feeling pretty Zen right now.

Another opportunity to offer coins.

In the forest! Hannah's highlight.

Enjoying some Japanese barbecue for lunch. It's Pete's favourite in Houston, so why not try the genuine article? (It was very similar to home, just a lot cleaner).

Heading up to a Buddha.

Yep! Big.

And you could go inside it! Ever wondered what the inside of a Buddha looks like? Here's your answer.

The menu at our sushi restaurant that night. What to choose...?