Tokyo First 2 Days: Cherry Blossoms and More

 I was thinking that the start of my trip would be too late to see cherry blossoms in Tokyo when I arrived. However, perhaps because of cooler weather, the blossoms were still in full bloom. 

I arrived in the evening of the 5th. Everything went quite smoothly: the flight was early, I picked up my pocket wifi from the counter at the airport,  bought an IC card for the trains and busses, and made my way to the hotel. I had dinner at a little restaurant across the street from the hotel. There were a couple of Japanese women talking about the blossoms and where to go, and I was able to join the conversation in Japanese. 

I woke up very early due to jet lag, and after a bath and breakfast at the hotel, I took the subway to Ueno Park. I had read that this was a popular place for blossoms  and the people from the night before warned me it would be crowded, so I figured it would be good to get there early.  Entering the park from the south end, there is a large pond with a cherry tree-lined path across it.

At the other end is a shrine and a temple and a row of stalls selling food for the festival. Across the main road that runs along the east side of the park is a large cherry tree-lined path. 

Off to the sides of this thoroughfare were other smaller temples, and a grove of cheery trees with tarps on the ground and people picnicing. By the time I left a couple of hours later the whole place was packed with people.

I took the train to Kitanomaru, at the north end of the Imperial Palace grounds. The large moat around the place grounds are lined with blossoms in many places, and there is a long blossom-lined path all the way done the west side. 

I continued walking back to my hotel, stopping for dinner on the way. That was a lot of walking. So, another bath at the hotel. Then to Roppngi to check out a craft beer place, called Ant N Bee, that found the last time I was here in 2014. It was still there, and the craft beer from various parts of Japan is very good. 

The next day, my second full day in Tokyo, I woke up early again. I started the day exploring the area of my hotel, called Akasaka. Nearby is the Hie shrine, which was mostly rebuilt after the war but dates back to the Tokugawa Shogunate. 

It is on the top of a hill and you reach it by a long and wide staircase whose entrance is marked by a large concrete tori gate. On the other side I went down through a row of small orange tori gates.

After leaving the shrine I walked towards the Akasaka subway station. Across the street is an interesting shopping area just off the main street, that has a Harry Potter themed store and restaurant, next to a theatre that seems to have a long-running play based on Harry Potter. 

I kept walking north and found the Toyokawa Inari temple complex. It is a small area on a corner but is quite dense with little shrines in addition to the main temple. They had a table set up for pouring tea over a small statue of the Buddha, in celebration of the Buddha's birthday. 

I went into the temple, sat down, and soon  some monks entered to do a ceremony. I recognized some of the elements from Zen. 

Next I took the subway to Yoyogi Park and walked around. It is another place for cherry blossoms and there were a lot of people picnicing.

Next to Yoyogi Park is the Harajuku shopping area for kids and youth. The main street is Takeshita street, which had the fun sign over the entrance. Can you find me?

It's a really fun, quirky street with anime shops, dog cafe, candy shops, etc.

I took the subway back to Akasaka and had dinner. After searching online I found there was a craft beer place in the area, Carbon Brews. It was a couple of blocks further north, and in getting there I found a few blocks that are full of restaurants and bars. Kind of a small nightlife area. Carbon Brews had different Japanese craft beers and some from Hong Kong as well. 

After a beer I headed back to the hotel and crashed.