Japan: Day #2

September 22, 2008 Monday

Our room at the New Sanno is wonderful. It has many helpful amenities but because it is a hotel for U.S. military personnel, there is an armed guard at the entrance which always makes me stop to look as I pass by the entrance.


With the 1 day, 5 hours difference, we woke yesterday at 1:00 AM. It didn’t matter that we were tired, we were up and ready at 4:00 AM. Therefore, Art decided to switch our plans and we took the train and trek to Tsukiji Market to see all the seafood being brought in to be auctioned and distributed around Japan.


The cacophony of sounds with the little delivery carts around us scooting through narrow aisles wet with bloody fish water was quite an experience.


After taking tons of photos, we stopped at a little counter and stool restaurant booth. It was the first time I’ve ever had fresh sashimi (raw fish) and ikura (ikura) for breakfast over a bowl of rice with miso soup. I’m not a fan of sashimi but it WAS delicious.


We returned to the hotel, took a tiny nap and were ready to meet my uncle who is a retired High Court Judge at 10:00. He led us to Meiji Jingu on more trains as well as the Harajiku which is Japan’s version of New York’s Fashion district.


We watched a bride and groom having their photo taken in the Meiji Jingu temple courtyard.

Our next stop was to my uncle and aunt’s beautiful home to relax and wait for the arrival of our friend in Tokyo who came to pick us up in his VW.

He took us to a very fancy Japanese restaurant where he had rented a room for all of us and his large extended family. I gulped to realize that he must have spent too much on this luxurious meal. The meal consisted of course upon course of exquisite delicacies, delicious and beautiful to gaze at.