I rode the Tozai line two stops west to Otemachi Station and then walked past Tokyo Station to the Imperial Palace. I didn't go in - I just walked about half of the perimeter, which totals up to maybe three quarters of a mile. Took lots of pictures, saw lots of things I recognized, then walked all the way back to the hotel. It's probably a 2.5 mile walk back, and I suppose I added another half a mile by going off the main road and checking out a bunch of side streets. There was a lot to see. I'll tell you all about it in the picture captions.
I got back to the hotel at about 11:30 to upload my pictures (all 77 of them) to the laptop, do a little bit of editing, and get them ready for addition to this page. Got a bite of lunch, then headed toward Kameido Tenjin Shrine.
I knew about Kameido Tenjin because of a few woodblock prints depicting the "Moon Bridge" on the shrine grounds. Take a look here and here to see two examples. It's too early for the wisteria to be in bloom, but the place is still beautiful.
This time, I rode to Otemachi Station and switched to the Hanzomon line to get to Kinshicho Station. From there, I relied on the kindness of strangers to get me to the shrine. After I got off the subway, I started asking around to find out where I was going. A nice young lady who spoke great English happened to be going in that direction. She got me to within about 6 blocks of the shrine, and I took it from there. I'd say it was about a mile and a half walk. I spent about an hour walking around the shrine. It only covers 3 or 4 acres, but everywhere you turn you'll find something interesting. Then comes the real adventure - trying to find my way back to the station. I walked down the middle of Meiji-dori ("dori" means "street"), which is closed to traffic on Sundays. This is an "entertainment district," which means arcades, pachinko parlors, restaurants (including the first McDonald's I've seen here), and other assorted businesses with big colorful signs outside. So down the street I go, and go, and go.... Until I was 100% lost. I asked a couple of people how to get back to the station, but I didn't get great directions (as far as I know). I finally broke down and got a taxi. Five minutes and 660 yen later, I was in the immediate area. It still took me about 15 minutes to find the station. I came back to the hotel, went to a local restaurant for dinner (minced raw tuna and rice) and stumbled back to my room. I feel like I could sleep for two days.
The only lowlights so far concern my feet. I wore the a pair of Bass "docksider" type shoes that are very comfortable, but not for walking five or six miles in a day. The worst thing happened before I even left my room in the morning. The bathroom in my room is a six-inch step up from the rest of the floor. I almost stepped up enough on my way in to take a shower. Caught my "ring" toe and just plain bashed it good. It can't be broken, because I was able to walk on it all day. But it sure does look ugly - a little bit swollen, and a lot black-and-blue. I've got 11 more days of heavy walking ahead of me, so I'll be putting a bit of energy into ignoring it.
All in all, I feel like I did pretty good on my own. A lot of "sumimasen" ("pardon me") and "...wa doku desu ka?" ("Where is...?") and "domo arigato" ("thank you very much"). And more than a few embarrassed shrugs, the international sign for "I don't even know how to say 'I don't speak your language' in your language." The fact is, if I have a decent map (which I didn't) I can get around. The subway is a breeze. I feel confident in my ability to get to any subway station in the city. After that, it's still a crapshoot. Luckily, I'll be traveling with Rieko tomorrow (don't know where yet). If we go to Asakusa to see Senso-ji Temple, or to the Imperial Palace, I'll make a stop at the major tourist center adjacent to each of them. Maybe I'll be able to find an English-language map that's smaller than an encyclopedia.
You'll notice a departure from the page arrangement I'd promised. Since I have so many pictures to post, they'll go below this text, rather than on the right-hand side. This will keep the page from being a mile long on picture-heavy days. I took 107 pictures today! I whittled that down to the 61 that are posted here. Once I get them done, I'll fall asleep pretty easily!
I know I'm not going to keep up this pace every day I'm here - that would be a good recipe for turning a vacation into work. But I feel like I got off to a great start. If even half of my days are this successful, I'll be more than happy.
Enjoy the pictures!
