30 September 2026
Alarm went off at 8:30. Not everybody slept well, jetlag is still a thing. But we have tickets booked for the Tokyo SkyTree this morning at 10:30, so better to get up and out.
Morning check on the balcony. The weather is still gray, but only 1 out of 10 people outside have an umbrella out. In Japanese terms that means there’s one or two drops of rain and that’s so dangerous that you need the umbrella. Also the temperature is a little better and less humid.
First, order breakfast at Beck’s Coffee Shop. Not so filling: a slice of buttered toast with some blueberry cream cheese and a black tea with lemon. But that can be fixed later. Up to the yellow JR line to Kinshicho, where we have to find the Hanzomon line to Oshiage Station, SkyTree, which is only 1 stop.
Entrance to SkyTree through the shopping mall. We enter just before our booked entry time, and after friendly, service-oriented staff do a quick scan of our tickets and an even quicker scan of our bags with a flashlight (seems like people need important jobs), we stand in front of the elevators up to the first platform at 350 meters. 600 meters per minute, which you did not feel. Unfortunately the view is very limited due to the weather, but you get a good view down on the city (which I could now professionally analyze, but I will not :D).
Japanese people like their little cartoon characters. They are everywhere and they like to take pictures with them. But we have the tickets all the way up to 451.2 meters. Just another elevator up there, a walkway that inclines to the highest point (and a lot of these cartoon characters again), and we also have a glass floor where we stand and look 450 meters down. What we see in Japan is not only that they are very service-oriented and try to please you, they also don’t try to rip you off. There’s a photo option you can do with their camera, but they also take pictures with your mobile phone for free. They even applaud after the picture is taken. So you get the free mobile pictures and then the option to buy the other one. We didn’t want the extra 8 €(the ticket was 19 € per person, booked beforehand on the Klook app) and they weren’t annoyed, just said thank you and have a great day.
Down to the ground floor again, fill our books with more commemorative stamps (by the way, you can buy the book on Amazon :D). Outside they have tents with blue-and-white flags, Oktoberfest. Help… I am stuck in a Japanese nightmare. From the speakers comes Udo Jürgens’ “Ich war noch niemals in New York” and you get some laughing people when you start singing along. They even offer Bavarian beer, at Oktoberfest prices. But it’s much too early for beer.
A snack after a not-too-big breakfast is a good idea, and the shopping mall has a food court. All Japanese and Thai stuff. Most too much for a snack. Tim feels adventurous and goes for 8 takoyaki (dough balls filled with octopus), no thank you! (It got mixed reviews from him.) I do the sweet path, with half a banana dipped in white chocolate sauce and an iced black tea (which is real black tea with ice). Large portions, and all fresh food.
Through the basement (which is missing the one important sign to keep you on track to the metro) and then one stop to Asakusa station. Here you’re in the very touristy spot. After getting the stamp at the information center, we walk through the Kaminarimon gate onto the street leading up to the Senso-ji temple. A lot of school classes, tourists who’ve opted to rent a kimono and walk around like real tourists, people offering rickshaw rides, and a lot of stuff you can buy at all the shops and stands.
Walking around the area a little, and I want to get my next goshuin, which is sacred calligraphy and stamps. I still hope they bless me with good stuff and not some nasty wish; I just don’t know what’s written there. One costs 500 yen and this one is like a machine: queue, deliver book, pay, wait for your number to get the finished book back. But it looks nice and is special.
It started raining again. Not as bad as yesterday, but I could live without it. Next stop is my fault, since I wanted to buy a Japanese knife. After some walking to and up/down Kappabashi Shopping Street (only selling cooking equipment), I find the shop I found online. KAMA-ASA knife shop. There’s too much to look at and prices from low to high. I decided on a universal chef’s knife (Gyuto) with a 21cm blade and a very light Japanese Wa-handle. Since I only cook occasionally, a 19,000 yen (116 €) knife with mixed steel is enough for me. No need to go all in and save some money. I get a very good laugh from the staff when they ask if I want it engraved and I pull out my prepared KUMAGO (in Kanji), which is the literal meaning of my name, “Bear Strong”. They hadn’t seen anybody so well prepared (I had printed everything out and had a detailed shopping list from Claude :D). We had to wait half an hour (they manually hammer the letters into the blade) and take it in nice gift wrap, along with a good deal of maintenance information.
More walking to Inaricho station and a train to Ueno Park. We have now opted out of buying the three-day metro pass, since we use lines that aren’t included a lot, and it doesn’t cost a fortune to use the Suica card and pay for every trip.
Up a few (more) stairs and then an Italian restaurant where we sit outside and order an Aperol Spritz and share a small pizza, with very moderate prices. On the neighbouring table, some older Japanese people sat down, and a man asked us where we were from and seemed like he wanted to impress the ladies with his language skills (which were good for an older Japanese man). They had a high school reunion and were all 83 years old (Tim was nice and guessed between 40 and 50, which made the women blush behind their hands after translation). He also knew a German word he always uses when playing golf and missing: “Scheisse.” A universally known word around the world, it seems. Walking around, to another temple, and one more goshuin.
Down some stairs to get a stamp at Shinobazu no Ike Bentendo, but it’s only available around New Year. Back up to the main park again, and the information center has two stamps.
I also get a geocache at the National Museum of Western Art before we go back to the train station. The light rain is annoying, but the humidity is lower today. Akihabara station is our stop to find some food. This (Akihabara Electric Town) is really full of tourists, and they try to get you inside restaurants. Not what we want. But a chance to sit down a little in a downstairs darts-and-sports bar called Rhythm. Two drinks later we want to try the next station, which is Asakusabashi. Taking the metro during rush hour means standing in line on the platform. Everybody nice and orderly, but then pressing into the car until you cannot move. We learned, and have our backpacks on the front. To get out you just have to say “Sumimasen” (excuse me), and you will get out.
Less tourists, and after some turns into back alleys we find an izakaya restaurant. There are many Japanese people there, all ages (we’re on the younger side). Ordering via QR code and Google Translate (only interrupted by the boss shouting when someone enters and all the staff answering), we chose different dishes. Chicken and rice for me, Tim got sashimi and BBQ mackerel (charcoal grill) and some sesame noodles. They do a plate-sharing thing here and we share a lot of what we get. Trying to get better with using chopsticks. The sesame noodles are superb. You get a small tofu starter with sesame oil (which we had to pay for, but it was quite cheap). I even tried some sashimi for the first time thanks to Tim’s “you have to.” Not a favorite of mine, and no catastrophe either.
Great atmosphere, totally different from yesterday, where it was more silent, upper-class. Now down to earth. 6,666 yen (exactly), which is about 37 € for lots of food and drinks. Cheap. Now back to the hotel, and we chose walking, even while feeling our feet. Step count below.
Hotel means sitting, a nice warm shower, and evening relaxation. Let’s hope the jetlag is less tonight and we sleep better. Tomorrow is a quieter day planned outside Tokyo.
