Family Trip 2003 to Japan
DAY 5: Tokyo/Yokohama Tour

Ginza subway crossing a street

Today was a big walking day. It started with Richard and Mark leaving the hotel at 6:30am to do some railfanning, and allow Cyn to get some rest.. We took the Chiyoda line to the Hibiya to Ueno Station. It was raining pretty steadily this morning. We walked to the Ginza line subway yards near Ueno. The unique feature is that the Ginza line subway trains must cross a street at grade to go from the subway to the small yards here. We waited around for a train to make a morning pull-out to enter rush-hour service. While waiting a homeless man asked us to purchase him a drink and later he asked if we had a phone card. This is a very different approach then the panhandlers in the States which just ask for money.

Nippori View

Finally a train pulled forward, the gates went down and the train crossed the street. We are now off to go back to Ueno Station. We boarded a Yamanote Line train to Nippori. At Nippori is a road overpass which has a view of all the Tohoku rail lines that funnel into Ueno Station, as well the Keisei railway, and finally this is where the Tohoku, Joetsu & Nagano Shinkansen train come to the surface. It would be a great photo/video location, but it was raining into the camera.

Pushers at the ready on a Yamanote train at Shinjuku

I then asked Richard if he wanted to experience a Tokyo Rush Hour. It was nearing 8:00am. He said yes. We boarded the very front car on a counter-clockwise Yamanote Line train towards Ikebukuro and Shinjuku. The train remained relatively empty. Then we rounded the curve into Ikebukuro. The platform was packed with uniformed "pusher" guards lining the platform at each door location on the train. We were instant sardines when the door opened. The train remained full as we neared Shinjuku. Again at Shinjuku the platforms were packed with pushers lined up. As the train slowed to a stop, somebody in our car must have lost their balance as all of a sudden there was a push in the train and Richard and I were being crushed against the end wall at the Drivers Compartment. Richard said "COOL". We pushed our way out of the train.

Times Square in Shinjuku?

We then walked around Shinjuku station, the world's busiest train station. Workers in suits were everywhere like Lemmings going to work. My favorite train watching location was under construction, but it looks like a park is being built that should retain a great place to watch trains! Shinjuku has changed a lot over the years, there are a lot more tall buildings around. Time is nearing 9:00am so we head back to the hotel using the Shinjuku Yurakucho and Namboku subway lines.

Yokohama Silk Museum

At 10am all three of us leave to head to Yokohama. We take the Ginza Line to Shimbashi. There we boarded a JR Tokaido Line train for Yokohama. We sat in a Green Car for the short 20 minute journey. At Yokohama we transfer to the Yokohama Subway. We took that to Kannai station which is basically downtown Yokohama. It was a 15 minute walk in the rain to the Yokohama Silk Museum. This a great museum which explains the history of silk, the silk worms and how it is woven into fabrics. They had great displays of various silk garments. Cyn really enjoyed this museum!

Now it is lunch time. We found a nice Scandinavian restaurant where we had a wonderful lunch! Now the rain has finally stopped for our walk back to the subway. The architecture in Yokohama is unique. It is very Western, with oriental twists. Yokohama was virtually destroyed during WWII, and was rebuilt by the US military. We took a Tokaido Line train back to Tokyo Station. 

We are the people in by the left phone booth. This photo from Japan was taken from Oregon!!

At Tokyo we transferred to a Chuo Line train to Ochanomizu. Why here? Well the Jimbocho book district is nearby, but the real reason involved the Internet. There is a user controlled webcam that overlooks this train station and the river next to it. The camera also shows phone booths next to the station entrance. We went to the phone booths and called Emily at home in Oregon. After a few snafus she was able to control the camera and aim it at us at the phone booths. She took an image capture of us standing there. The resolution is not great but we know it is us. How cool is that, having you photo taken in Japan from a computer in Salem, Oregon!!!

After the photo shoot, we walked towards Jimbocho. We passed through the music district first. In Jimbocho we went to the Shosen Grande Bookstore. This bookstore offered two sections for us. A huge train section on the 5 or 6th floor for Mark, and a huge Anime section in the basement for Richard. Finding the Anime section was hard. Richard was unable to find it on any floor. He did not want to go into the basement as there were posters of women without any clothes on the way down the stairs, he was afraid it was the porn section. I figured that this is probably where the Anime section was. I checked it out, and yes there was the porn section, but tucked in a small room was a large Anime Section. Richard had a field day checking it out. Richard was confused by all the older women also coming downstairs, we later figured out the cooking section was also in the basement. What a combo, kids Anime, Adult Porn and Cookbooks, something for everyone?

While Richard was looking at the Anime, Cyn was bored and thirsty. I took her across the street. We were going to go to Starbucks, but she wanted a cold soda instead, so we went to McDonalds. We were surprised to find that they had a very large soda for sale in a milk type carton, probably around a 32 ounces. I could tell that the counter help were laughing at the fact that we ordered two drinks with no meals. The Japanese do not drink that much soda.

Shibuya at night

Once the bookstore purchases were complete, we took Cyn back to the hotel. Richard and I went back out to the electronics district of Akihabara.  We went into software and anime shops. It is now getting late and dinner time is approaching. We went back to the hotel to pick up Cyn and go to dinner. Frommer's recommended an all you can eat (in 2 hours) Shabu-Shabu in the Harajuku area. We popped on the subway and found the place. It was loud, but the food was great and fun. It was also very inexpensive, a true find! It is now really late, but we had one more stop to see. We went one stop on the Yamanote line to Shibuya. Shibuya crossing is a very busy and fun people watching spot. It also has a lot of neon and huge TV screens.

Well we are all tired now. Cyn has walked over 9 miles, Mark & Richard  closer to 13 miles. We also had to pack for we leave Tokyo in the morning.

Continue to Day 6

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Page last edited on: 03/25/17