Imperial Palace

Plenty more walking was on the cards again for today. I set out at 8am for the Imperial Palace behind Tokyo Station. I only really got as far as the front gate, well the Nijubashi Bridge. Like Buckingham Palace it’s still a royal residence, so the only way to get any further is with a tour. I took a few photos of the bridge and walked back to Tokyo Station.

Harajuku

I got the train to Harajuku, where I’d read there’s a shopping street where all the trendy young people go. This is obviously the perfect place for me (just in case it’s not clear, this was sarcasm). I found Takeshita Street, a single long road packed with shops and people, you could barely move. This is a great spot for street photography. I walked up and down the street a couple of times.

Shibuya

Harajuku is quite close to Shibuya so I walked back there to a bar that I had been to yesterday that I knew wasn’t too busy. I had a dish of fried sea bass and shrimp in a skewer and a beer for lunch. I don’t drink beer only on very rare occasions back home, I’m not a big fan of it, but I quite like the Japanese beer and have been having a couple a day.

After lunch I had a walk around Shibuya to see if there was anything I missed yesterday. Every little back street in Tokyo can lead you to a whole new area you’ve not seen before, it’s fantastic. Having spent some time in Shibuya I walked back to Harajuku to see Takeshita Street at a different time of day. I walked up and down the street a few more times, attempting to do street photography with the Ricoh GRII. I’m not sure I was particularly successful. I do love street photography, but I don’t think I’m brave enough to get close enough for good street shots.

Shinjuku

It was getting close to evening and I fancied the bright lights of Shinjuku for my evenings photography, so I walked from Harajuku to Shinjuku which took about 20 minutes. I walked and shot around here for a while stopping for another beer too.

When it was time to go back to the hotel I got on the Yamanote line train to Shimbashi, unfortunately I got on the train going in the wrong direction. I didn’t notice for about 3 stops, but luckily the Yamanote line is circular and would still get me to where I wanted to go, just a bit slower than expected.

When I got back to the hotel, my feet were killing me. Over the past 4 days I’ve walked about 60 miles. The hotel has a foot bath, so I soaked my feet in there for awhile. I think it definitely helped.

That was my last full day in Tokyo, tomorrow I go to Kyoto. Today’s step count is 34660, roughly 16 miles.

Japan Day 1
Japan Day 2
Japan Day 3
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Japan Day 6
Japan Day 7
Japan Day 8