After a 14-hour nonstop flight on Delta from Atlanta, we landed in Tokyo in the late afternoon on Friday, December 16th. The city was far more than I’d expected – the food, cleanliness, transportation system, helpful people were all fantastic. The architecture, gardens and temples were things I knew I’d love but found I loved even more than anticipated. Of our three days and three nights in the largest city in the world, here are some highlights I experienced.Ok, ok. This is not unique architecture. But it is a photo of our hotel room, which I think is important to share. We purchased a bundle for this trip with air, rail pass and 9 nights in hotels included for $2,000 per person. A great deal, for sure. The hotels reflected this low price point. While clean, they were all incredibly small. We went a week without running water in our accommodations in Fairbanks, Alaska and we slept in a hut with mosquito net in rural Cambodia on our honeymoon so I think we are safe in saying our expectations are not out of line. But NO ONE wants to sleep agains the wall. Thank you to my wonderful husband for doing that for 4 nights until we wised up and started asking for twin beds.
Friday night we went out to for dinner in Memory Alley for yakitori and then for drinks in Golden Gai (covered in the post on food and drink in Tokyo). Saturday morning we were up and out early for a tour of the Imperial Palace grounds. The subway is spotless and everyone is very mindful of others – no pushing or shoving, people wait their turn in lines, and are quiet on the trains. Ahhhhh. An introvert’s paradise, to be sure.
The Imperial Palace tour was all in Japanese so Sean and I each downloaded an app so we could learn about all the places within the complex. 
Part of the Tokyo skyline from the Imperial Palace grounds. I love the reflection in the water.
After lunch at Ramen Street in Tokyo Station, we headed over to Shimbashi – the neighborhood where we were having our omakase sushi dinner.
Hamarikyu Garden was nearby so we walked over there and hung out under big trees to cover us from the rain. We also had green tea in a traditional tea house on the lake where we sat on mats on the floor. Very peaceful and relaxing.
On Sunday Sean had booked us on an architecture tour and it was awesome. We started off by going to the top of a mall and getting nice views of the skyline.
We were mostly in the Harijuku area and the buildings were all so unique. We learned that the average life span for a building in Tokyo is less than 30 years – house in particular are simply torn down and re-built with modern amenities, as opposed to remodeling. Buying a house there is like buying a car here – it depreciates rather than appreciates over time. CRAZY concept to wrap my head around!!
This was the entrance to the mall – so incredibly unique and fun!
Amazing art installation in a complex built by a famous Japanese architect that focuses on lines that come to a point.
After the tour, we had pineapple cakes in a building that looked like a treehouse and lunch in a food truck park before witnessing the madness of the Shibuya Scramble crossing, where 7 crossroads come together and thousands of people cross at each light change. We participated in it and then found higher ground to watch from above.
We then took a break and got on a rail line that circles the city above ground so we could sit for a bit and still see some sights. We found a temple shrine at an upcoming stop and got off to check it out. So peaceful.
Back at the hotel, we got ready for dinner at an Izakaya nearby. The buildings all around the restaurant were very cool, especially the one in the photo below.
If you’re interested in architecture, Tokyo is a must! I don’t know much about it and I’m sure I didn’t describe everything appropriately from our tour but I was in awe of all that I saw. Amazing city!
