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We woke up Tuesday morning at about 530am. After showering we got dressed to head to the famous Tsukiji Fish Market. We boarded the Chiyoda Line subway and then transferred to the Hibiya Line to Tsukiji. A short 10 minute walk later we were in the insanity of this very busy Market We arrived at 6:30am, the auctions had just ended. All the vendors were moving their auction winnings from the auction blocks to their cramped stalls throughout the market. The rows of Tuna was a site to see.
In addition restaurateurs were combing the market for the deals of the day. Every kind of fish imaginable was there. You have to be careful when browsing the market. motorized carts are zipping around everywhere! Now it is about 7:00 in the morning, and we are hungry. Where do you go for breakfast after walking through the world's busiest fish market? Why for Sushi of course! We went to a small sushi bar recommended in Frommer's Tokyo Guidebook, called Sushi Dai. The sushi was the best we had ever had in our lives. The tuna, shrimp, and squid just melted in your mouth. It was wonderful. It also turned out to be our most expensive meal for our entire trip to Japan at $100, and they do not take credit cards. I am just glad that our first meal was this this expensive and it did NOT set a pattern for the rest of our meals!! Well we are now tired! We decided to head back to the hotel for a nap. We took the O-Edo and Namboku subway lines back to our hotel. We were there by 8:00am. We woke back up at around 9:30. It was time to get our JR Passes. We boarded a Marunouchi Line subway train for Tokyo Station. At this huge JR train station we turned in our vouchers for JR Passes. These turned very useful for the rest of our journeys in Japan. After getting the passes we headed to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. At Tokyo Station we boarded the Yamanote Line train and transferred to the Sobu Line to Ryogoku.
The Edo-Tokyo Museum shows the history of Tokyo from the Shogun era to near present day. Edo is the original name for Tokyo, it became Tokyo during the Meiji Restoration in the late 1800's after the capitol was moved here from Kyoto. The museum is a very wonderful museum filled with 3-D model dioramas on how the streets looked through the ages. The models, when looked at through provided binoculars, looked almost lifelike! We obtained the services of a FREE English speaking guide who personally walked us through the entire museum. She was just wonderful. Her English was immaculate. We learned so much in those 90 minutes!!
After the tour we went to a small cafe on the top floor for a light lunch of sandwiches. From the seating area you have a nice view of Tokyo. When finished we walked back through some exhibits and the gift shop before leaving the museum. We boarded an O-Edo Line subway train, and transferred to a Tozai train to go to the Tokyo Subway Museum. Before we entered the subway museum we made a quick phone call back home to let Emily know that we arrived safely and to set up a special phone call time for Day 5!
Mark of course is the instigator to go to the subway museum. It is a small museum, but in its interior it has two full size subway cars. The first is a Ginza Line car that dates to the opening of Tokyo's first subway in 1927. The second car if a Marunouchi Line car that dates to the second Tokyo subway line that opened in the 1950's. There are other models and displays to visit in the museum. One of the highlights of the museum are the subway simulators. Mark and Richard both took the controls of the full-size mock-up simulator that was "running" on the Tozai Line. Museum personnel helped with the "safe" operation of the trains! It was now time to leave. We went to the Tokyo International Forum in Yurakucho to find the Japan and Tokyo Tourist centers, but we couldn't find them. Frommer's was wrong. Found our later they moved to the other side of the JR train station. Ah well..
We boarded a Mita Line subway to head to the Tokyo Dome. The Yumuri Giants was playing the Yakult Swallows in a hometown rivalry baseball game. Mark wet to the ticket window and asked for 3 tickets, which they gave him. The tickets did not give any seat numbers, just section #. We thought they were general admission tickets. We get to the designated section and are told they a STANDING seats! Well our feet didn't like that.
We decided to sit in seats just in front of our section. We were in the visitors team section in left field bleachers. We were behind the flag waving, trumpets blaring cheering section. It was a crazy place to be. Every time the visiting team, the Swallows, got a run in all the people pulled out small umbrellas and danced with them. It was totally insane! We did eat at the game. We had Pizza Hut pizzas and Coke to drink. We didn't get any Beer. The beer vendors in the stands are young, small Japanese women. They have a small keg strapped to their backs. They hold the tap and pour the $8 beers fresh for their customers. By the fourth inning our section became very full. The second time we moved our seats, the ushers figured out that we did not have seat tickets. We politely moved out into the standing section for one more inning before we decided we were tired and headed back towards the hotel. We took the Mita and Chiyoda lines back, but stopped at the AM-PM to grab some drinks and munchies before hitting the beds at the hotel. We walked about 8 miles today and we were tired! |
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