The vast amount of walking in the city is both surprising and terrifying. To give you some perspective, in three days in Tokyo we walked almost thirty miles of city streets, parks, and subways. The thing most people don’t know about Tokyo (those who’ve never visited I mean), is that you’re going to walk through subway stations all of the time. I mean all of the time. The sprawling Shibuya Station is under construction and finding one’s way through the maze of improvised hallways is so challenging. Combine that with phrases like “it’s only about a mile” from students eager to find the Nintendo Store or the Starbucks Reserve or that cool small shop. Those miles add up to a load of possibilities and very sore feet.
On this particular day, we made our way to Shinjuku Gyoen, a National park and garden that covers a wide swath of the area. Once you’re through the gates, the garden stretches in many directions. We chose to find the Japanese Garden and a few searched for an Anime spot made famous in a series.
The ponds and shrines that dot the landscape also include lawns and placez for people to sunbathe or play games. On this day, people were everywhere and we walked from site to site in this beautiful area. If you’re in Tokyo and are looking for a respite from the din of the city, this is one place to be.
While many of us stayed in the garden for hours. Another group headed to see a nearby stadium. That group walked for miles to find their location and quickly left that for another. Our group has some very defined individuals who are on a mission. We can accommodate those changes on the fly and it’s great to see people exploring the city and finding their place.
By the late afternoon, we were spent with the heat pushing 90 F degrees and the humidity close to 100%. We found respite in eateries in the area, and many spent their time in Ginza.
Ginza is a shopping mecca filled with all of the specialty brands that people love to talk about. Gucci, Balenciaga, and all of the “exclusive” brands that appear to be pretty much everywhere.
Some of us found our way to the Japanese specialty store like Muji, and others were content to look around at the expensive car dealerships, the crowds of people, and the crazy sense of human energy spread out over a very small physical space.
We made it back to the place we’re staying in Asakusa by about 11:00PM. We walked over 10 miles and were pretty tired from all we had seen and heard.
Tomorrow is an adventure in Shibuya! Get ready!
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