April 23, last full day in Tokyo

We did a lot of walking today, although things were slightly marred by a continuous drizzly rain. We started by visiting the Tsukiji fish market. Some Brits we bumped into in Shanghai said that it is an amazing place to go, but nowadays tourists are only allowed to watch proceedings from a designated area. Most of the auctioning had finished by the time we got there, but the products are on view in countless stalls and shops in the local streets and alleyways. This is reputedly one of the best places in the world to eat really fresh sushi and sashimi, but it was a bit early for us! Nevertheless, crowds had already gathered around the stalls and small restaurants that border the market, as you can see...

Upon leaving the market, we spotted a police box. You see these all over the place, and the interesting bit for us was the collection of "Wanted" or "Missing" posters on the noticeboard.

We then walked around the corner to Hama Palace Garden. We wanted to catch a boat for a cruise along the Sumida River, but before reaching the jetty we saw two sets of couples in formal attire having photographs taken. We didn't have a guide with us to explain, but we know from similar experiences in Vietnam that couples who plan to get married often have photographs taken two or three weeks ahead of the wedding day, and we believe that this is what we were seeing here. The brides were dressed in brilliantly coloured outfits, whereas on their wedding day they wear plain white (see the blog post for April 21). The grooms that we saw today were wearing the same kit as on their wedding day.

The river cruise was a relaxing 45 minutes, although with rainwater pouring down the windows there was no opportunity to take photos. At the end of the cruise we disembarked at a place called Asakusa and we managed to establish that this weird building on the opposite bank of the river is the Asahi Brewery...

We crossed the road adjacent to the jetty and spotted an interesting-looking alleyway. Unable to resist, we wandered down it and soon found ourselves faccing the Kaminarimon Gate (Thunder Gate) which leads to an interesting street of shop houses, at the far end of which is the shrine of Senso-Ji.

One end of the double row of shop houses beyond the Thunder Gate.

We enjoyed wandering around in Asakusa - quite a few of the narrow streets are covered, which was a great help! After a rest back at the hotel, we returned to Asakusa in the evening and enjoyed supper in a traditional Japanese restaurant. It was in a wooden building, and we were the only non-Japanese people in there. The locals were mostly squatting down on tatami mats, but we were shown to a small table. Good choice!

Tomorrow morning we are on the 10am bullet train to Kyoto, armed with advice from Kelvyn, and so begins our last four days in Asia before heading to the States.

Jenny's bit: A dull and rainy old day in Tokyo and I have a cold.  The bad news is that its rude to blow your nose in public.  The good news is that its ok to sniff. Jx