The Tale of Four Cities (Part 4), Tokyo

Funnily enough, the most memorable part of Tokyo for me wasn't the city itself; it was the journey to the city, via the world-renowned Shinkansen line. We bought tickets for the non-reserved seats, so that we could take any Shinkansen train bound for Tokyo from Kyoto. 

When the train came, I was incredibly excited to finally see the distinctive bullet nose appear from the distance. It was a surreal experience, finally meeting something you've only known from books and videos. I always imagined how cool it would be to be on the titular "bullet train", but reality blew all my expectations out of the water by a mile.

Passenger board the Shinkansen|Dokumentasi pribadi

The train just kept accelerating and accelerating, reaching such speeds that we blazed through towns and the countryside in minutes. A particularly surreal episode in the journey was when the landscape turned into a winter wonderland; snow covering everything I could see and beyond, with thick, black clouds turning day into dusk. 

It was a scene straight out of my wildest dreams, and it was real. It evoked an array of emotions within me that words simply fail to grasp, and holding on to those feelings, I tried my hardest to imprint that moment into my mind.

Suffice to say, I succeeded.

Taking pictures from Shinkansen CabinDokumentasi pribadi

Enamoured with the Shinkansen's speed and the ever-changing scenery, I only became aware that Tokyo was coming up when a snowy peak appeared amongst the other dull mountaintops.  It was the iconic peak that has appeared in so many books, movies, and games. It was the one, the only, Mt. Fuji. The peak remained a constant view all throughout the approach to Tokyo, right up until the mountain was right behind us.

After two and half hours of blistering speed and changing panoramas, we've finally reached the end destination of our Japan trip. We've arrived at Japan's capital itself; the city Tokyo. Once we were in the station, we sought out the tourist's information centre to ask if there were any prayer rooms available in the station. Thankfully, a prayer room was available in the station, though it's only opened when requested. We also asked for directions to the Imperial Palace, which turned out to be not that far, being located near to the Otemachi Station, which itself is only a ten-minute walk away from Tokyo Station.

Smooth traffic flow outside Otemachi Station|Dokumentasi pribadi

When we got to the Imperial Palace, we quickly discovered that the place was actually the Imperial Palace's East Garden, not the Imperial Palace itself. Since we only had so much time left before our flight home tomorrow, we decided to just enjoy the garden itself. Though I'm using the word "garden" here, it was by no means a small piece of land filled with a few flowers and such. Oh no, it has dozens of buildings, lakes, groves, and a comprehensive walkway that puts it squarely more into the "small park" category rather than a mere "garden", though I suppose the tastes of royalty are a tad different to my own plebeian tastes.

East Garden EntranceDokumentasi pribadi

True to the winter wonderland I witnessed earlier on the train, there were some snow on the garden, though these were refrozen snow, more akin to amorphous clumps of rock-hard ice rather than soft clumps of innocence and purity. 

We took some pictures and visited a local museum, where several royal gifts were displayed to the general public. We couldn't take any pictures there, so we simply enjoyed reading the interesting tidbits of history interspersed inside the object's description.

Halal cafe near Tokyo Hutte

Once our thirst for royal shrubbery was satiated, we headed towards our accommodations in the Oshiage area. We took the Hanzomon Line subway to Oshiage Station, which was located right underneath another of Tokyo's landmarks; the Tokyo Sky Tree. After some more walking, we reached the place, which was called Tokyo Hutte. 

View of Sky Tree from Tokyo Hutte|Dokumentasi pribadi

After checking in, putting down our bags, and cleaning up ourselves, we wasted no time and headed back out towards the Sky Tree, more specifically towards the Tokyo Solamachi mall complex at the base of the Sky Tree. We enjoyed ourselves on window shopping as well as actual shopping inside the mall, going from floor to floor in an effort to find souvenirs and such. 

Pokemon Center, Tokyo Solamachi|Dokumentasi pribadi

Once we were done with that, we headed towards a halal restaurant we found while exploring the mall called the Amara, which was a restaurant that specialized in serving Indian food. We returned to our accommodations once we were done, the day ahead filled with places to visit and things to do before our flight.

Dinner at Amara|Dokumentasi pribadi

The next day, we checked out of the Tokyo Hutte and took a train to Harajuku Station, where supposedly the latest in Japanese teenage fashion and culture are on full display. We went there to take some pics as well as possibly get some deals. On a particular street, we discovered to our delight, a store that sold halal food products, like instant ramen and snacks. 

Every time we snacked though, we had to store our trash into plastic bags, because finding a trash can in Japan is surprisingly hard. I'm not sure how the general public deal with this absence, but judging from how clean everything looks, I'd like to think they're dealing with it well enough.

Takeshita dori|Dokumentasi pribadi

Truth be told, going to Akihabara has been a secret desire of mine for quite some time, ever since I stumbled into the world of Japanese animation and comics, or "anime" and "manga", respectively. Its presence and reference in the various media I've consumed has given it a certain alluring appeal that I honestly didn't think I could get there until I was at least somewhat financially stable.

Akihabara area|Dokumentasi pribadi

But there I was, on the wide road-turned-shopping-avenue. I was in my element, and I wasted no time at all. I blitzed through the stores, hanging around those that dealt fiction in my most favourite of mediums: books. 

I scrutinized every book I saw, carefully calculating their raw worth to me as both prized possessions and imparter of knowledge and creativity. In the end, I chose two art books as my reward, with one being a thick, encyclopaedic style list of beautiful drawings and scenes, and the other being a small, more traditionally-styled art book.

Art book|Dokumentasi pribadi

And so, that was it. We left for the airport after visiting Akihabara, preparing ourselves for the long, long flight home to our tropical abodes. Each city I visited in Japan left a clear impression on me, and Tokyo did as well, even with my visit being as brief as it was. That impression was that of how helpful the people there were. Even though we didn't speak Japanese and they didn't speak Indonesian, they still tried their very best to help us in their own ways, even while under their own agendas and deadlines. It reminded me that for all of our "differences", in nationality, culture, language, seasons; we're not that different after all..

Sayonara Japan...