Tokyo!
After our 4 month tour of Europe it was time to dramatically mix things up and we would be doing so in Asia, first stop Tokyo!
We flew from Rome to Frankfort, had a couple hour layover and departed in the evening for Japan. We landed in Tokyo the following afternoon, took two trains form the airport, and eventually made our way to our apartment in the action packed neighborhood of Shibuya, home to the busiest people crossing intersection in the world! The “Shibuya Crossing”. The sheer volume of people in the streets, insane lights glowing from every building, and incredible smells of food were like nothing we had experienced anywhere.
No country we have come across on our travels has had such a fascinating culture as Japan... and we have never felt safer or met people that treated us with more respect. During our 17 days of travel Japan made it's way into our “Top 5 Favorite Places” we have been anywhere in the world list. We explored the onsens (hot springs) in the countryside of Yudanaka, walked the ancient streets of old world Takayama, visited the temples of Kyoto and worked at sunrise on a soybean farm in the village of Asuka. However it all started with the flash of Tokyo, below are some of our favorite memories from our 5 nights exploring the vibrant city.
Hitting the streets of Shibuya...
A visit to the Meiji Jingu shrine, dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken...
A day exploring the neighborhood of Shinjuku...
and local seafood markets...
We were very fortunate to meet up with some locals who did an incredible job showing us the lay of the land. Rory and Susan Walsh, our awesome friends that visited in South Africa on their honeymoon, hooked us up with Sus's brother Joel and wife Mariko, who live in Tokyo. Such a great night out with delicious food, cold beer, sake lessons, and karaoke. Thanks so much Joel and Mariko!!!
The following day a liiiittle hungover we slept in, ate fried rice and noodles for lunch and then ate some sushi for dinner, that's about it hah... but the day after that we went out exploring again! We woke up early for the Tsukiji Fish Market, the largest wholesale fish market in the world!
Our final visit in Tokyo was to an incredible art installation, the interactive "Crystal Universe" created by teamLab...
Such a fun and action packed 5 nights in Tokyo, off to explore the countryside for the next 12 days to get a different perspective of Japan and it's distinct culture!
Beautiful country, Meiji shrine brought back memory. Thank you both for sharing your incredible journey with us all. I am happy and a little envious. Enjoy your voyage,
Thanks so much Uncle John!! We will have to share stories of Japan when we return in December!
So excited to read this! Let’s do it again – all together this time!!!
100%!!!!!
Yes I loved Japan! Great country. Seems like you guys are still going strong, are you past the half way point in your trip in terms of time yet?? Lovely to see your travels and if you still have Kyoto in your path make sure you go to 日の出 (the sign is only in Japanese) but it means Sunrise, I think. The best curry noodles on the planet.
We are currently 8 months in and still going strong! 🙂 So glad you are still following along. We are swimming in Japanese noodles they are so good! haha. We hope all is well in Tayport!