Tokyo Trip Part II

Yokohama waterfront area

Continued from Tokyo Trip Part I.

Day 5

Yokohama is a port city south of Tokyo. We decided to break up our visit to Tokyo with a day-trip. How did we decide where to visit? In part it was because of a song called Yokohama by the artist Buckethead.

 

Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan, with various things to do there. Our first stop was walking around Yamashita Park, which is by Yokohama Port. If this place sounds familiar, it might be because it has been in the news recently. Yokohama Port is where the cruise ship Diamond Princess was quarantined. While we were there, the U.S. was working on bringing American citizens and permanent residents aboard the ship back home as more passengers kept testing positive for COVID-19. A couple of days later the quarantine was ended and a week-long disembarkation process began.

Guardian of Water Statue in Yamashita Park

Walking around the waterfront, though, you wouldn't guess anything was out of the ordinary in Yokohama. Yamashita Park has a nice grass field, where people were sitting and enjoying time outside with family. We also saw the "Little Girl With Red Shoes On" statue. I was not aware of the significance before visiting, but the statue is from a Japanese nursery rhyme called Akai Kutsu (赤い靴, lit. "Red Shoes") written in 1922. We also saw the "Guardian of Water" statue, which was a gift from San Diego! We were surprised to learn that San Diego is a sister city of Yokohama.

  

From Yamashita Park it was a four-minute walk to the largest Chinatown (横浜中華街, Yokohama Chūkagai) in Japan. Yokohama Port was one of the first ports to open to foreign trade when Japan was leaving behind its policy of national isolation in the 19th century, and this led to the rise of Chinese traders living in the city. Today some Chinese residents still live in the area. Chinatown is now popular for its delicious Chinese cuisine, which is available at restaurants and food stands.

Day 6

We had to change our plans this day because the forecast called for rain for most of the day. We started by passing through Ueno Park (上野公園, Ueno Kōen). Apart from being a large outdoor recreation area, the park is also home to quite a few museums. We spent most of the day visiting Tokyo National Museum, one of the oldest and largest museums in Japan. The museum is massive and covers everything from prehistoric Japanese culture to Japanese art from the last couple centuries. Afterwards, we spent the late afternoon further exploring Ueno Park. The park also has a lot of sakura (cherry blossom) trees that many people visit in late March for hanami viewing. We were there too early in the year to see any cherry blossoms, but the weather provided a rainy, foggy atmosphere that was beautiful to experience.

  

Day 7

       

Meiji Shrine (明治神宮, Meiji Jingū) is dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, the first royal rulers to hold real power in Japan after the country experienced centuries of military control under various shogunates. The shrine was first built in 1920, 8 years after Emperor Meiji passed away. It was destroyed during World War II and has been rebuilt since then. Emperor Meiji ascended to the throne in 1867. He led Japan during the Meiji Period, a period when Japan modernized very quickly and adopted many Western inventions and practices in order to compete more effectively with other developed powers. Emperor Meiji led Japan until his death in 1912. The shrine is surrounded by an incredible forest that has about 100,000 trees. It seemed surreal that not far from where we stood was a busy city full of skyscrapers.

We walked ten minutes from the shrine to Yoyogi Park (代々木公園, Yoyogi Kōen), another of the city's most well-known green spaces. There were a few trees blossoming, bringing families out to enjoy the view and set up photo shoots with their little ones. It's especially busy on Sundays, when a lot of cosplayers and people with different hobbies head out to the park. Unfortunately, since it had been raining on Sunday (Day 6 of our trip), we had to wait until Monday to visit.
  

South Korean messaging app KakaoTalk Friends

                                    

Takeshitadori in Harajuku

        

I never thought I'd ever actually visit Harajuku, but on this trip that changed. Harajuku is a neighborhood known for its stores, cosplaying shops, street fashion and youth culture. I first heard of Harajuku when I was in middle school because of Gwen Stefani's song "Harajuku Girls" from her album "Love. Angel. Music. Baby." We spent a while taking in the area's energetic atmosphere, but I could have spent even more time shopping because of its wide range of cute shops!

Day 8

On our final day in Tokyo we visited Tokyo Tower. Tokyo Tower was built in 1958. There is a main deck and top deck that tourists can visit. Because the top deck is pretty expensive to visit, Blake and I only went up to the main deck. The main deck had some windows on the floor you could look through. The first one caught me off guard as I wasn't expecting it. My startled scream got a a couple of laughs from the other visitors.

                                                  

  

The tower is modeled after another famous landmark: Paris's Eiffel Tower. It used to be Japan's tallest structure until the Tokyo Skytree became the tallest in 2010. Despite not being the tallest structure in Japan, Tokyo Tower is taller than the Eiffel Tower and remains one of the country's most famous landmarks. Inside the tower are various restaurants and souvenir shops. After eating lunch in the tower we caught the Shinkansen back to Himeji, ending our eight-day trip to Tokyo. We loved Tokyo; there's so much to see and we know that we could easily fill another eight-day trip to the city with more new sights and experiences. After eight days, though, we were also ready to get some rest.