A Day in Tokyo

As a first time traveller to Tokyo, I wasn’t 100% sure what to expect and wow was I blown away!

Ideally, a city like this needs several days to explore but even if you are short of time or perhaps on a stopover, it’s amazing how much you can do. We only had a day here but managed to pack a lot in!

My initial preconception of Tokyo was bright neon lights and lots of large department stores. Shinjuku where we stayed was exactly like this; it’s one of the city’s main entertainment districts. Our hotel, Hotel Gracery had a unique giant Godzilla on the front of it which let out a load roar frequently during the day.

For half of the day we took a big red bus tour around Tokyo. There are lots of different districts to explore here, all with their own unique feel and things to see and do. I spotted the soaring Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Skytree during this great tour.

We departed our tour bus at Asakusa, a district which feels very old school and authentic with lots of little local souvenir shops and stalls.  We headed for a visit to the Sensoji Buddhist temple, Tokyo’s oldest temple.

We were amazed by the sights, smells and noises that surrounded us here. There was an area where visitors could cleanse themselves with water before they entered the temple and an incense earthenware pot called a Jokoro where visitors cover themselves in smoke, which is believed to have healing effects.

A really interesting part of this temple is a section where you can draw your written fortune, Ominous. The premise is that you shake a silver box and select a stick with a number on, and then find the wooden draw with that number on and take a sheet of paper with your fortune on. If you get a good fortune you take it home and if it is not so good then you hang it on a line and don’t take the bad luck with you. My fortune was middle luck and said that I should not seek any new employment… Obviously a bad fortune for my boss!

After strolling through the beautiful grounds of the temple and surveying the cute shops in a little arcade, we decided to have our first proper Japanese meal and were very excited to choose a bustling local restaurant. There was an English menu and I thoroughly enjoyed my beef skewer and pork dish. My travel companion was less excited by the arrival of her cabbage and miso; expecting the imminent arrival of some cabbage and miso soup, she was rather surprised to receive half a raw cabbage with a spoonful of miso on the side. The octopus balls that followed were also an acquired taste.

Japanese people love animals but the crowded living conditions consisting mainly of apartments, means that it’s often difficult for them to have pets. This led to the popularity of cat cafes and there are now over 150 of them in Japan. Being a crazy cat lover, I had to visit one (or two on the whole trip). Swapping my shoes for slippers at the door, something you get very used to in Japan, we ventured into cat heaven - several rooms full of all sorts of different breeds of cats. Now if you don’t like cats, then I doubt that you would even consider this activity but for any cat fan, it’s a must!

The only downside of my visit was that the cats did not seem that bothered that we were there and didn’t really want to be petted. One of the huge Maine Coon cats even decided to do a big number 2 on the couch beside me just to express his contempt… But I didn’t let this put me off and carried on smiling that stupid smile that all cat lovers get when around any cat!

Well it was a whistle stop visit to Tokyo and there really is so much more to see and do but you must visit here (even if you don’t like cats!!)

You can fly direct to Tokyo with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.