On Sunday 18th December Will headed back to Singapore, and I headed off on a day trip to Hakone. Both of us activated our 14-day Japan Rail (JR) passes on that day, which would see us through for the remainder of our time in Japan. The JR passes are awesome, they allow you unlimited travel on pretty much the whole JR network across the whole country, with only a few trains off-limits. They can only be purchased outside of Japan, so you need to be a bit organised. They weren't cheap, but neither are the Japanese trains! If you are doing a fair amount of travelling it works out much more cost effective than buying individual train tickets. Plus there was the convenience factor... No more trying to figure out which ticket to purchase and how much it cost, with the JR pass you just flashed it at the guard at the manned gate as you walked past.
This was to be my first trip on the famous Shinkansen (Japanese bullet trains). Now these are super sexy trains! Have a look
here for an idea of what it feels like when one whooshes through the station you're waiting at, 15 carriages literally passes by in a few seconds.
I had a brilliant day out in Hakone. Once I arrived at Hakone-Yumoto station I bought a 'Hakone Freepass' which gave me access to travel and sights in the region. I started by taking a little local train to Gora station. From here it was a cable car to Sounzan station. My next mode of travel was the Hakone Ropeway which was a gondola which took us over an active volcano.
From the ropeway I got my first glimpse of Mt Fuji which was very exciting!
Next up was a cruise on Lake Ashi.
After cruising the length of the lake we stopped at a cute little village called Hakonemachi-ko where I got more peeks at Fuji-san when the cloud cleared.
After a wander around and lunch in a restaurant overlooking the lake, I boarded the boat again and travelled a short distance further east to Motohakone-ko for more good views of the mountain.
From here, it was a bus back to the train station, then a train back to Tokyo.
The next couple of days were spent exploring more of Tokyo. I had read about Kappabashi Street which sells everything needed in the restaurant trade (apart from fresh food) so had a great time exploring that. I'm fascinated by the plastic/wax food like above that lots of restaurants use in their window displays. There were shops on the street that specialised in selling the plastic models. Some of them were so realistic!
If I had the luggage space there was loads of stuff I could have bought...
I walked past this woman drumming up business for an owl cafe where you can go in and meet all sorts of different birds and animals. I didn't have time to go in, but, after disinfecting my hand I was allowed to touch this beautiful owl...
This place below took my fancy... It goes to show, no matter how little land you have, it's always possible to have a garden!
I then spent some time just wandering the streets.
I ended up at the Tokyo Skytree at dusk. It is the second tallest structure in the world (after the Burj Khalifa) but I decided not to go up to the top.
The next morning I was up nice and early to trek across town to the Tsukiji Fish Market, the largest wholesale fish market in the world. The tuna auction wasn't running due to the time of the year, but even if it had been, I doubt I would have been dedicated enough to arrive at the necessary 3-4am or so to grab one of the 120 daily spots. Especially when I can get to see what happens
here. The inner market opened at 9am so I had a much more civilised start to the day instead...
The market was fascinating. I was very conscious of not getting in anybody's way, and also had to work hard not to get run over by the 3-wheeled carts that zip along the aisles.
The knife skills of the people handling the huge tuna were insane! Here are some more pics.
I spent the afternoon exploring Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden which is a huge 143 acre park just a short walk from our accommodation. There was some more glorious late autumn colour to enjoy.
The gardens close at 5pm and I was there right to the end. By the time I made my way back to our apartment Will had returned from his very successful trip back to Singapore. This was our last night in Shinjuku as the next day we were off to Nagano.
