(Day 3) Almost Dead at the Fish Market

What a day ahead – I didn’t know it at the point when I opened my eyes at 4:20 AM. This wasn’t due to jet-lag, no, it was because the Tsukiji Fish Market opens at 5:30 and we wanted to be there. All the tour books I had read recommended it as a “must-see” so I must see it. It was on this particular morning as well that I saw another sight rarely seen in Tokyo – a nearly-empty train.



We arrived in Tsukiji via Tokyo Metro at 6:00 AM. Armed only with my Tokyo Atlas and spotting a few street signs, we managed to find our way toward the fishy-smelling corner of Tsukiji.









Looking at the above picture, doesn’t it look like a place tourists shouldn’t be? Well, you are right! I’m not sure exactly how it happened, but I think we walked into where I thought was the Central fish market and got horrendously lost in a parking lot full of small barrel trucks trying to drive us over. We then ended up in some smaller market followed by a larger market followed by more barrel trucks trying to drive us over. It was so insanely hectic that I started covering my face with my umbrella since I was so confused and had no idea where to go. On more than one occasion in this hectic place I felt death warming over as the trucks sped by me, occasionally brushing my bag and leaving me wide-eyed. Why didn’t the tour guides inform me of this? Tasukete! Eventually we made our way outside and found another entrance to the market – this one had a visitor’s guide. It turns out that we had just wandered our way through the part that was not open to the public and the part that was open had already closed. At least it was interesting.







We never did get to see the live auction because we were so lost in the section where we shouldn’t have been. Boo.

Feeling safer and having already conquered death by 7:00 AM, we decided on a more peaceful destination next, that of the very famous Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa.







The shops down Nakamise Dori leading towards the temple were still all closed up since it was so early, but that didn’t deter school groups and the occasional salaryman stopping for a prayer on his way to work.






Just in case you were wondering.




The deity being prayed to.

I attempted (and failed, by my standards) a panoramic shot. Please clicky-click for a larger view.



Since we are in the mode of traditional things, I will take this opportunity to show you another traditional thing (I did mention this in my previous Japan blog, but I will take the time to show you one more time…)


The Japanese Squatter Toilet. I’ve heard Japanese people mention that they think squatter toilets are more hygienic that traditional toilets with seats. I just can’t get used to the breezy-ness when using them. Also, there is no flushing sound button to cover up any unwanted noises. I’ll stick with my tried-and-true western-style.


A lovely fountain-thingy at the temple.


Street off Nakamise.

Before heading to our next stop on our adventure (and it was only 8:30 AM…geeze), we stopped at Family Mart and I bought my first “Japanese Meal”.


Oh sniff sniff. I ate this meal almost daily last time I was in Japan. Maybe not actual Japanese food, but it was more Japanese to me than any other.

Our next stop was Nihombashi where the Nihombashi (literally “Japan Bridge”) resides (of course it does.)



A very interesting piece of history, actually. Here’s Wikipedia’s take on the bridge: “The Nihonbashi bridge first became famous during the 1600s, when it was the eastern terminus of the Nakasendō and the Tōkaidō, roads which ran between Edo and Kyoto. During this time, it was known as Edobashi, or "Edo Bridge." In the Meiji era, the wooden bridge was replaced by a larger stone bridge, which still stands today. It is the point from which Japanese people measure distances: highway signs that report the distance to Tokyo actually state the number of kilometers to Nihonbashi. Shortly before the 1964 Summer Olympics, an expressway was built over the Nihonbashi bridge, obscuring the classic view of Mount Fuji from the bridge. In recent years, local citizens have petitioned the government to move this expressway underground. This plan was supported by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi but opposed by Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara. If implemented, the construction costs are expected to total ¥500 billion (about US$4+ billion).” Sweet.

Our next formal stop was the Imperial Palace, so we decided to walk from Nihombashi through the financial district of Marunouchi to the Palace.






I love this little guy. His arm would wave up and down as if to warn me of something. I’m not sure what.

We arrived at the Palace at 9:40 AM, in time for our 10 AM tour. Seriously, how can two foreigners get so much done in one morning? Simple answer…maybe I’m not foreign anymore! Ha ha.



The tour was a large group of people, mostly Japanese. We got our English audio guides and the tour started at 10:15 AM.





There were yelling guys constantly trying to herd us like sheep and to keep us moving. It would seem as though the Japanese people get extremely flustered should something begin to appear out of sorts.



The Imperial Palace was not that old, or impressive.


Not at all what you were expecting, right? Well, this is it. After briefly staring in disbelief, we continued our tour, covering other buildings that I thought should be the Palace.






The lotus pond, filled with leaves and no lotuses.

After the tour, we decided that our day was not yet complete (and since it was only noon), we would head to the lovely seaside town, Odaiba, on this not-so-lovely drizzly day. So to Tokyo Station we headed.





We took the train to Shimbashi where we switched to the Yurikamome, monorail. And once again, the Simpsons monorail song I sang. It was a dreary, yet fun ride.


Can you spot Tokyo Tower?


The Rainbow Bridge where the monorail snakes through.


We’ve arrived!

Due the weather (and the fact it was a Tuesday), Odaiba was very empty. I attempted again for a panorama and kind of came away with something interesting…please clicky again to enlarge.



We were hungry again (surprise!) so we headed inside Aqua City shopping mall and hit up an American fave on the restaurant floor, Sizzler. Since we were feeling cheap (not to mention that we had several meals already that day), we decided against the full buffet and selected the partial – two plates for two trips to the buffet. We were up to the challenge.








Enjoying the view.

I spotted the cutest little sign in the washroom:


Aww…what does it mean?

Odaiba has a few shopping malls and we perused each one. After Aqua City, we headed into Decks because I heard about their “Little Hong Kong” floor and was interested in seeing more of Asia today (as if I hadn’t seen enough).






Gow-jong hoi re la! (Catonese for “It’s time to party!”)

Then it was off to the Palette Town area of Odaiba which is where the final segment of adventure for our day took place.



We headed into Mega Web, the Toyota showroom and gawked at the fancy new colours and I reclined in a Velfire. What’s that, you ask? Look it up. We then took a ride in a self-driving car! Okay, maybe the excitement isn’t there if you remember reading about it on my last trip in Japan, but it was still very fun this time around.




This is what the car looked like. As you can see, the guy is staring out the window since he doesn’t need to pay attention to driving.

Since it was Mother’s first trip to Odaiba (or anywhere else even remotely similar), we decided that it would be best to take a ride on the giant ferris wheel and create, as they call it, “16 minutes memories”.





Up we went. The first sight I saw that made me a little sad was this:


Subaru is a singer in a popular band I like, called Kanjani 8. He was having a solo concert that night and I couldn’t go because of the huge rigmarole his management company (the ‘Johnny’ of ‘Johnny’s Theatre’) likes to create for people to get in. I gave it up somewhat willingly though, as I was holding my hopes that I would be able to attend my ultra-favoritest group’s concert, NEWS…but, more on that another day. Back to the lovely nightline of Tokyo.



16 minutes goes by so quickly. Next we got caught up in the gaggle of females heading to the Subaru concert inside the Family Mart as I was purchasing onigiri. The excitement was palpable. Boo.

Venus Fort was our last stop for the day and the third mall in Odaiba. It is supposed to resemble a street in Venice and it is quite lovely indeed.











We then wandered and sat for a while. We didn’t buy anything but then I went and bought another onigiri and steamed bun in honour of my dear friend Jean. We then took the Yurikamome back to Shimbashi and the Yamanote line train back to Ikebukuro. We stopped again(!) at Family Mart and am pm before arriving back at our hotel at around 9:00 PM.

These days are going by too fast for me.

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