From Kyoto, we took the bullet train to Tokyo. My son, of course slept the whole time and has no recollection of the experience – such is traveling with a 4 year old! The cost of the trip was 17,600 Yen per person, or approximately $160 USD. My husband, who spent a summer in Switzerland in college, said the Japanese train system was much like Switzerland – clean as a whistle and punctual. The train ride was smooth, fast, and an hassle free way to travel from Kyoto to Tokyo for the last leg of our journey – 4 nights in Tokyo.
Where we stayed:
Hyatt Regency Tokyo (Shinjuku)
Our 4 nights in Tokyo were spent at the Hyatt Regency Tokyo in Shinjuku. We booked our room using points and requested a slightly larger room than the standard offering. Imagine our surprise when we entered our room and found the nicest hotel room we have stayed in to date! We also received a lovely welcome treat from the hotel and were delighted to learn that our room came with access to the Regency Club, so we had free breakfast and drinks and hors d’oevres before dinner. As if that wasn’t enough, on clear mornings, we could see Mount Fuji from the club room!
The hotel also has other amenities we did not get a chance to take advantage of, namely, the pool and the spa. From these photos, however, I sure wish we had snuck in a trip to the pool. The following three photos are from the hotel’s website:
The absolutely stunning lobby. Not visible in this photo, but there were small storefronts on the outer edges of the lobby, so you could purchase macarons on your way up to your room in the afternoon (and we did this on more than one occasion)!
What we did:
Our hotel was conveniently located in Shinjuku. Although many of the travel sites we read said it was a business area, it ended up being centrally located to quite a bit of shopping and entertainment.
Located just a few blocks away from the hotel was Kabukicho, the entertainment and red light district. Unfortunately for us, it was the first place we wandered to upon arrival in Tokyo and did not leave a great impression on us. We had a difficult time finding restaurants to dine in and were turned away from a number of restaurants when they spotted our son. We also tried to go to the massive arcade they had, but were told no kids after 6pm. In hindsight, I suppose we should have done better research and perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that they did not let us in because who knows what we would have found behind the doors, but it was a jarring experience and unpleasant introduction to Tokyo.
Nevertheless, we ended up returning to Kabukicho a few times during our time in Tokyo and it was there that my son discovered video games!
Our hotel was located right in the Shinjuku Skyscraper District, and so we got to see first-hand the sheer number of people who flood into Tokyo every day to work. Our first morning there, I ventured out in search of a laundromat so that our clothes could finally get a good wash. While I was out, my husband and my son went to a park, so that my son could stretch his legs and get some energy out, and they also went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and took the elevator up to the observatory (admission free). The weather was not great, so reports on the view were less than stellar.
Speaking of playgrounds, we absolutely loved the playgrounds in Tokyo. While there weren’t a lot of children in Tokyo, we did find at least two playgrounds with fantastic climbing equipment. My son, a natural born climber, loved hiking up the equipment and it was a great opportunity for him to release some energy. Tokyo actually is very similar to San Francisco in that you see very little children in the city. One afternoon, while at the playground, we did see a crowd of school children who had obviously just gotten out of school; but we never saw kids in any of the shopping districts or areas that we were visiting – not even the parks where the cherry blossoms were. We definitely got the sense that the children typically lived outside the city center or played a more “back seat” type role in their parents lives than they do in the US, so that is definitely something to consider when planning a trip to Japan.
Cherry blossom season begins in January in southern Japan in Okinawa and moves north, peaking in March/April in Kyoto and Tokyo. When we planned our trip, we hoped to hit the cherry blossom trees in peak bloom, but living in DC, we knew there was no guarantee, so we crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.
Happily for us, we hit the season in full throttle and basically chased the blooms from Kyoto to Tokyo. By the time we reached Tokyo, the cherry trees were in full bloom, and we were fortunate that our hotel was located within walking distance to the Shinjiku Green Park (admission 200 Yen, or ~$2). We absolutely loved walking around the gardens and visited at least twice during our stay.
Hakuhinkan Toy Shop in Ginza
We did quite a bit of people watching and window shopping in Tokyo, and Ginza did not disappoint. For a good portion of the afternoon, the main street is closed to traffic, so pedestrians can walk freely and the roads can accommodate the heavy foot traffic. One of our stops was the Hakuhinkan Toy Park in Ginza – a massive multi story toy shop. While there, we discovered and indoor motorized race track, which my son got a kick out of. The store was also fully stocked in Frozen dresses, and I was sad that I didn’t have the foresight to purchase a suitcase full of dresses to bring home! Based on the level of Frozen-insanity going on in the US at the time, I could have financed a good portion of our trip that way!
After dragging our son through quite a number of department stores, we decided to spend a morning at the Ueno Zoo so he could stretch his legs and enjoy being a kid! The zoo was a perfectly fine way to spend a few hours, but it was nothing to write home about.
A short walking distance from the zoo is Ueno Park, which we were delighted to discover was in full swing due to the annual cherry blossom festival. There are a number of museums and temples in the area, but we were happy to experience the park, which was hopping in activity. The pathways were lined with people and there was a street food festival going on as well. We spent a few hours just walking around and sampling the different food offerings, while also taking in some of the sights. Curiously, we were one of the very few tourists there – we saw some tourists, but others were there in large groups with pets, blankets, friends… It was clear that the Japanese enjoy spending time outdoors enjoying nature!
My son had a blast the day we went to Ueno for the Zoo and Park. Getting a break from the constant walking, train riding, and window shopping was good for him, and it gave him an opportunity to just be a kid. He even took part in some of the food sampling and the Park also had carnival like rides for little kids. All in all, it was probably the most kid-friendly and kid-centric activity we did while in Tokyo!
One of the more random things we stumbled across in Tokyo was Kappabashi, Tokyo’s fake food mecca. Nearly every restaurant in Japan displays fake food, or sampuru, to provide a quick visual of what the restaurant has to offer. Until we stumbled across Kappabashi, we frequently wondered where the fake food came from and how one goes about acquiring the fake food displays for a restaurant.
Our questions were quickly answered in Kappabashi, where we encountered blocks and blocks of shops containing every single imaginable kitchen/dining item you could imagine.
If you happen to find yourself in the area, definitely wander through and take a look. We ended up coming home with some items which we still use today!
Continue to Part VI – What We Ate
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