April 22 2012, second full day in Tokyo

We had a relatively quiet day today, starting with a two-stop metro ride up to Ueno and a stroll through the park. Sadly, even though we started this trip two weeks earlier than originally planned in order to try to catch the blossom in Japan, we seem to have just missed it. However, we found some examples of it hanging on for us in Ueno Park.

On the north-west side of Ueno Park is an area called Yanaka, where you can still catch a glimpse of what Tokyo used to look like before the 1923 earthquake and (later) American bombers almost flattened the place. The problem for Tokyo was that a very large proportion of the houses here were wooden, so once the bombs fell, fires spread quickly and ruined what the bombs had missed. However, Yanaka was largely spared, and you can still find examples of wooden houses here.

Examples of original wooden houses in Yanaka.

On the north-western edge of Yanaka is a cemetery, and we noticed that many of the graves had stainless steel racks built into them where people place wooden planks about six feet long and three or four inches wide, carrying Japanese script. Not quite sure why, but presumably they are messages directed either at the departed person or the Gods.



Examples of the wooden planks in Yanaka Cemetery.

Near the cemetery we found a charming little coffee shop, and I mean little. I had to crouch to get in and we were invited to sit on tiny chairs around a low table. The coffee was presented beautifully, however!

We then took another metro ride, this time to the downtown shopping district of Ginza, where the major department stores are located. You would be tempted to compare this area with Knightsbridge, until you see the prices, then you would realise that Knightsbridge is nothing but a cheap street market compared to this! I spotted a shirt in the Wako store (a sort of up-market Harrods) and quite liked it. It was linen, white with pale grey stripes, quite nice....£232! You could buy three Ralph Lauren shirts for that and have enough money left over for a modest supper for two! Needless to say, we made our excuses and left!

In the evening we had intended to go back to the observatory where Joe had taken us yesterday. He said that to see Tokyo at night from up there is quite something. The trouble was that by the time we were ready to go out, it had started raining and the mist had closed in, so we abandoned the idea and had a very pleasant supper (a mixture of Japanese and Korean cuisine) in a restaurant near the hotel.

Jenny's bit: I noticed that when we walked into the Wako store nobody approached us, I have heard that locals dress up to go there so, obviously, we didn't pass muster! Jx