We got up very very early this morning (5:00) so we could check out the Tokyo Fish Market. It was just a short walk to get there and we were glad that we went, since it was very interesting to see some of the HUGE fish and other weird sea creatures, some of which we couldn’t identify. The fish were so fresh that a lot of them twitched on the tabletops while waiting to be filleted. It didn’t stink nearly as bad as I thought it would, but the aisles were very narrow and there were so many workers milling around that you had to be careful not to fall in any of the fish bins (talk about a bad start to your day).

After checking out the market, we stopped in one of the nearby restaurants so we could have (very fresh) sushi for breakfast. We each ordered a different sushi “set” (that’s what they call combos in Japan) and were both very pleased with what we ordered. The chef spoke very good English and delighted in watching us eat each piece, sometimes giving us an explanation about what we were eating. He used a lot of wasabi, which made each piece perfectly spicy.

After breakfast, we returned to our hotel to nap since we had to get up so early to catch the fish market. After getting some rest, we got up again and headed to Akihabara, stopping at the train station for some “fast food”, which consisted of what we think was beef (I don’t want to know what it was if it wasn’t beef) and rice, with a side of miso soup. Visiting Japan is like being a kid again, where you have to watch and imitate those around you so that you know what you’re supposed to do. We had fun watching all of the businessmen in their suits as they hurriedly threw their rice everywhere and slurped their soup and tried our best to mimic their behavior so that we could fit in (or at least make an attempt).

Akihabara is the erectronic district of Tokyo, where there are a myriad of erectronic stores, pachinko parlors, and arcades. We checked out various electronic stores, looking for a battery charger for my camera since I, unfortunately, left mine in the hotel room in Kyoto. My camera is a Polaroid that takes a Kodak battery.. neither of which are Japanese brands, so we came out unsuccessful on every attempt.  Nevertheless, we enjoyed checking out the Japanese erectronics, which are surprisingly more expensive here than in the U.S. 

We also checked out a Pachinko parlor and snuck a few photographs before being caught (no photograhps allowed). We also had fun in the arcade, but arcades in Japan also seem more expensive than in the U.S. so we limited our game playing to just a few games. I got to play a video game that seems to be pretty popular with the Japanese (children) that involves traditional Japanese drums. I was a prodigy, if I do say so myself, and the rest of the customers at the arcade all watched me with envy (or perhaps they watched me because I was an adult water buffalo playing a Japanese children’s game). 

By this time, it started to drizzle outside, so we made our way to the train station to head to Shibuya. We got off the train at what we thought was the Shibuya station, but we got confused and ended up getting off at the Shinjuku station. Luckily, we were planning to sightsee in Shinjuku tomorrow anyway, so we just rearranged and did it today instead of Shibuya. The major attraction in Shinjuku was the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, which has a (free) observatory on the 45th floor. Despite the clouds, we were able to get a pretty good view of Tokyo, so it was time well spent. 

We had been planning to go to Tokyo Disney Sea (Disney World in Japan), but because of the rain, we decided to pass. Instead, we took the train back to Ginza to go check out the Sony showroom, inspecting floor after floor of Sony technorogy.

We decided to eat dinner before returning to the hotel to call it a night. Charles had talked about dinerss where you use a machine to purchase tickets that you use to order your food (this is great for when you don’t speak Japanese). We happened to pass one in Ginza, so we stopped in to give it a try. There was no plastic food here, either… but there were pictures AND an English menu, so we were pretty stoked. We bought our tickets and handed them to the lady and the meal turned out to be tasty and very affordable (even if the Sake had a little too much bite). 

We’re now back in our cozy hotel room where we plan to rest for the remainder of the evening so that we will be ready for a full day tomorrow.