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Fri 18th April – Tokyo (Ginza)

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DW:

We arrived in the proverbial land of the rising sun as the real one was rising. I could tell Caitlin was worried as the sun was behind some clouds and she was getting flashbacks to South East Asian smog.

That ended up not being a problem (CR Edit: it is smoggy) and we soldiered on for our first adventurous day in Japan. I targetted local here (for sleepy reasons), so we walked to Ginza and explored that area.

  • What exactly is AIRism?
  • What does the emperor get up to in his palace these days?
  • How do they get those eggs so creamy?

We got no photos of it, but Caitlin picked maybe the best meal of the trip out of the gate. The first course was Fugu (blowfish) and sea snail and it only got better from there.

CR:

Things I knew about Japan from YouTube Shorts:

  • Japanese people distrust those wearing sunglasses.
  • Shops open at 10am at the earliest.
  • The bird sounds played at train stations form sonorous directions for the visually impaired.

Things I learnt on my first day in Japan:

  • Smog in Tokyo.
  • Train seats, if you get one, are very plush.
  • There are no forks at restaurants.
  • Breakfast is not really a thing.
  • Japan is very quiet.

This is a holiday that we went on because we thought we might go with Declan’s parents. Declan started planning, and when his parents weren’t free, didn’t want to waste the day of planning he had already done. Preparation for this trip on my side included, and was limited to, watching a shit Godzilla movie (DW Edit: it was Shin Godzilla and is sick and required cultural context for girlfriends) re-watching Lost in Translation, sleeping through some Samurai movie called Ran, and letting the YouTube Short algorithm tell me where to buy matcha in Kyoto.

CR: A navigation master at work. I can sense Declan’s excitement to conquer Japan’s railway system on the first turn, which is so intense it borders on sexual and/or psychotic.
DW: Rest assured reader I have mastered the Tokyo metro. That navigation course Caitlin got me years ago was truly an investment for her.
DW: The plastic wrapping around my meal required disassembling and reassembling it entirely to extract it. But it hit the morning snack spot to perk Caitlin up.
CR: This was not a pleasing breakfast. I don’t really like mayo, which was an issue with every convenience store pre-made food product. I was perky because the plane didn’t crash.
CR: Perky.
CR: Shrine worship. I am not sure how I feel about the shrines in the middle of the Tomyot. In Thailand it was easier for an outsider to observe the spiritual link because there were monks praying, which is much more overt than the quick bow given by Japanese city slickers.
DW: Vending machines everywhere. I bought a yakult from one for a probiotic boost to keep me grooving.
DW: Nothing opens until 10am and most stuff waits until 11am. Caitlin’s excitement when we started walking past shops that we had been ambling about an hour before but were now finally open was electric. This was a beany bun thing with an intriguing texture.
CR: It was a rice flour ball with sweetened crushed red beans inside, akin to a mochi. It may in fact have been a mochi.
CR: The long wait after a red eye flight and before any shop in Tokyo opens (5am – 11am). We walked past this ‘Australian’ cafe and giggled who would go there in Tokyo. Half an hour later, delusionally exhausted with no other open shop around, we went there to rest. In a useless protest, I ordered a Japanese tea.
DW: This ramen place had a big line so must have been good. I was burping up garlicky goodness for hours after.
CR: Declan said “this is the best egg I ever did eat”.
CR: The tables at ramen are small and shared. So that you don’t see your American counterparts, who are eagerly ranking Mark Wahlberg movies, they have erected a cardboard sign at eye height. Wisdom was an added bonus.
CR: If you squint really hard you can make out the ashtrays on the tables. This is a cafe where you can smoke inside. Sadly, our time here reaffirms a social assumption, smoking is cool.
CR: Walking in Japan and walking in Vietnam are two very different experiences.
DW: If one more person asks if we are going to Tokyo to see the cherry blossoms I am going to lose it… 
CR: I am very tired at this stage and can barely keep my eyes open. Hotel check in opens soon…
CR: The imperial palace. According to Wikipedia the Emperor still lives here. But all I saw were a bunch of Westerners worn out, sitting on stoops, worried that 3pm was too early to go back to the hotel for a nap.

Categories:Japan 2025

Dek

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4 Responses

  1. Excellent content and photos. How are the hotels. Wasn’t aware that Japan doesn’t do breakfast.

  2. I’ve heard the fans, I’ll do hotel review in tomorrow’s post.
    Yes, Japan doesn’t seem to have any breakfast culture. I didn’t know that either.

  3. My favorite thing was the cardboard sign privacy. Am instigating that at 8 Amber to separate the diners. Looking forward to more perky cherry blossom photos despite what Declan says.

  4. I am loving the captions from his and her perspectives. Really makes me feel like we’re sitting in your lounge room with a photo recap and you’re both providing your opinions 🤩

    P.s. I’m so with you there @Caitlin on the mayo front. Those Japanese people like the condiment WAY too much.