Japan - Land of the Rising Sun: Day 3

The best laid plans often go awry and so they did last night. We were desperately tired and stayed awake until 11pm in the hope that we would get a good nights sleep and get on top of the 8 hours jet lag. It wasn't to be, I woke first at 1:50and then again at 2:30. At 3:30 I decided to read my book in the hope that that would send me off. It didn't and himself woke at 4:30 and by 5:00 we were enjoying a nice cup of tea. By 7am we were having breakfast on the 40th floor but it was too dull to be able to see Mt Fuji, fingers crossed we get a glimpse tomorrow.

This is the view from our breakfast table

After we'd finished breakfast we went walkabout in the hotel gardens, which as you can imagine are beautifully kept.

The pond

A quiet spot

The waterfall

It really was annoying that we were up so early as we didn't need to meet our group until 9:30. Tomorrow morning we set off at 8:00 and we'll probably not be ready to wake when the alarm goes off!!

We had a full day tour of Tokyo today. Number 1 on our itinerary today was the Tsukiji fish market which moved to its current location after the 1923 earthquake. It's now on the move again to make way for the 2020 Olympics.

We only explored the outside of the market where there was an enormous amount of dried fish sold as well as oysters. There was also lots of stuff to sample and himself took full advantage.

Food sampling

Expensive veg £3.50 for a cauliflower and it was tiny

The electrical wiring isn't what it is at home

Next was the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace which unfortunately we didn't see as they were closed. Normally they are closed on a Monday but as yesterday was a public holiday they were open and closed today instead.

We did view the front entrance to the palace but didn't see the palace itself as it was hidden by trees. Not like Buck House on show to the world.

The arched entrance bridge

The iron bridge from the entrance to the palace

Next stop was lunch in a restaurant serving Yakitori dishes (meat cooked on skewers) and which was made famous after appearing in the film Kill Bill, which incidentally means absolutely nothing to me. The food was good though, apart from the miso soup.

After lunch we went to the Shinto Meiji Shrine which is the most important shrine in Japan for Japanese people. Over a three day period at New Year, 3 million people from all over Japan queue for hours in freezing temperatures in order to make an offering and say a prayer. Before they can do this they have to be cleansed by first taking a bamboo ladle and pouring water on their left hand, they then transfer the ladle to their left hand and cleanse the right hand before swapping hands again and pouring water into the left hand and using it to rinse out the mouth before spitting it out. Only after this ritual are you considered cleansed and can then make an offering at the shrine by throwing in your coin, bowing twice, clapping twice and bowing once more. You are then free to say a prayer, which you'll be pleased to know I did. It's certainly a lot easier to light a candle.

Shinto gate