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.

Takeshita Street, Harajuku

Takeshita Street, Harajuku

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.

Street Photography in Harajuku

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.

Hello Kitty, Shinjuku

Shinjuku

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
Japan Day 5
Japan Day 6
Japan Day 7
Japan Day 8

The weather today was overcast but not cold, no need for a jacket.

Tsukiji Fish Market

Not far from my hotel is Tsukiji Fish Market, I took the short walk down there and had a wander around it. There were hundreds of stall selling not just fish, but all sorts of other foods I’ve never even seen before. This is a great place for street photography (if only I was any good at it), I gave it a try anyway.

Tsukiji Fish Market

I stopped at a small restaurant and had my first taste of real Japanese food, I was sat down at a small counter in between two couples and given a cup of green tea. I can’t say I’m a fan of green tea to be honest, but I drank it anyway. I ordered a bowl of two types of Tuna, some other minced fish, egg and rice. It came with a bowl if Miso soup, which I’d tried to make cuppa soup style at home before I came, which was horrible. This soup was really nice though. The main dish was lovely, but it seems like an odd thing to be eating at 8.30 in the morning though.

Tsukiji Fish Market

Yoyogi

After this interesting, but tasty breakfast I got the train to Yoyogi to take a look at a shrine there. In retrospect it would have been quicker if I’d got off a stop earlier, but getting to the right place at all is quite a feat. I walked through the park and found the Meiji Shrine, a beautiful structure. As you would expect I took plenty of pictures, just like everyone else there. Up to this point this is the place that I’ve seen the most non Japanese people.

Meiji Shrine

Shinjuku

After this I walked to Harajuku station (the station I should have got off at earlier) and got the train to Shinjuku. I’ve heard this is the place to go for cameras and they weren’t wrong. I had a look around the various camera stores. One of them, Used Camera Box, a small room in a basement had so many cameras. Imagine Mr Cad’s in London, but smaller and more cameras. There was lots of great stuff on offer, but nothing that either I wanted or could afford or at least justify spending the money on. I had a look in Map Camera and got my hands on a Leica M10, wow that thing is heavy, much heavier than my M6. It’s a lovely camera though and something I’d love to buy if it wasn’t so expensive (maybe I can trade in all my cameras for 5% off one).

Shinjuku

At first I thought Shinjuku was quite a small area. Until walked to the other side of the station and found an even larger area, full of crazy looking shops and restaurants all lit up in bright colours. One of the restaurants I walked past was the Robot Restaurant, the most colourful, brightly lit place I’ve ever seen, it looked mental.

Robot Restaurant, Shinjuku

I spent a couple of hours walking around Shinjuku into the early evening. I’d asked on twitter about places I could go tomorrow and Asakusa was mentioned, it was supposed to be good for night photography. Instead of waiting for tomorrow I went this evening, I got on a train again to Asakusa.

Asakusa

I thought Shibuya and Shinjuku were good, but I loved Asakusa. As soon as you come out of the station there little streets lines with shops, cafes and restaurants, no matter which direction you go there is another side street with more to see. Then you come across Senso-ji Temple and five storey pagoda. This place was wonderful, it was dark by this time and the temple and shrine were lit up beautifully. I spent hours just walking around the crisscrossing streets shooting with both my Leica M6 and Ricoh GRII. At night the GRII is amazing, I can just point and shoot, without worrying about focussing or anything. I shot a lot of digital pictures today.

Senso-ji Temple

Five Story Pagoda

34000 steps today and just under 16 miles walked, my feet are killing me.

Japan Day 1
Japan Day 2
Japan Day 4
Japan Day 5
Japan Day 6
Japan Day 7
Japan Day 8