Tokyo Day 4: Yanaka & Ueno

I woke up quite early this morning and felt surprisingly well considering the full-on day we had yesterday. I suppose being on buses for a lot of it helped conserve more energy. I decided I wanted to get out soon and have a good walk in the neighbourhood.

Instead of having a shower, I tried out the bath. It’s shorter in length than what I’d called a ‘standard sized’ tub, but really deep. I filled it all the way up and just basked for a long while – it was total bliss! I came out feeling squeaky clean and relaxed, with my muscles all warmed up and ready to go.

Caz wanted to lie in for longer, so I set out on my own. Sometimes I actually prefer to do walks on my own, because I walk with terrible purpose and often leave whoever I’m with in the dust (especially Caz, with her tiny short legs). It was another nice day in Tokyo, with the sun shining and a chilly wind. I had a few places I wanted to see, but I took my time and felt no rush.

The side-streets of Tokyo are filled with hidden gems. Gorgeous residential homes, shrines and cemeteries, plants and greenery, all hiding in plain sight. It’s an absolute joy to just wander through the streets and see what you can spot. I also met a woman walking her Shiba – I asked if I could pet him and she graciously accepted. The dog was enjoying the fuss and was so fluffy and soft! As you can imagine, after a short while of walking around (and meeting a dog), my mood was buoyed and I was feeling content.

The first place I wanted to visit was fairly nearby – Sōgen ‘Kappa-Dera’ Temple. Named for the Japanese folklore water demon Kappa, there are several statues of them dotted around the grounds. People often leave offerings of cucumber – a favourite food of the Kappa – at these statues, presumably to appease them and keep them from causing mischief.

The 17^th century temple buildings were pretty and traditional. I couldn’t get inside at this time (I think it was closed), but apparently one of the buildings contains a real mummified Kappa arm. I’m very interested to know when and how that was acquired.

Off to the side was a small cemetery. There are a lot of these smaller ones in the city, as well as sprawling necropolis parks. I suppose this is so people can be laid to rest in their local areas. Because most people in Japan are cremated after death, lots of graves can fit into a small area. The tombstones are usually narrow and sleek, and can contain several people’s remains.

If you know me at all, you’ll know that I love a good cemetery. So I had a quiet turn around this one. Some of the graves had flowers or recently-burned incense. Others had drinks offerings – cans of coffee and beer, cups of tea and water. I imagine these were the decedents’ favourite drinks in life. Perhaps their loved ones come and share a drink with them sometimes. Some graves had multiple drinks, which I took to mean that there was more than one person interred there. It was so beautiful, thoughtful and terribly sad in the graveyard.

I made my way vaguely towards Ueno, by way of higgledy-piggledy back streets. Walking kept my body temperature up enough to keep the worst of the cold away, and the sun still shone. Ueno is a really cool area, super modern and busy. I got roped into a cute bakery by the Lotte company, named ‘Wholesome’. They had lots of different bread with sweet and savoury fillings, and it was all really cute. I decided to get one to go – it took me forever to choose, but I eventually decided on a bread cube with a strawberry cream filling.

The walk over to Ueno Park got quite hilly, so I slowed my pace to conserve energy. I was thankful that I’d had the foresight to pack a water bottle before I left the hotel. This is seriously one of the most important pieces of advice I can offer when travelling – always, always have water on you. Even if you’re in a big city like Tokyo, where there are literally millions of vending machines.

As I was walking up the last hill before arriving at the park, I stood aside on the narrow pavement to allow an older couple to go by. They both smiled and bowed and the lady said, “Thank you!” in English, which was so sweet. I smiled and bowed back, and went on my way feeling warm and fuzzy.

I got to Ueno Park and almost walked my stupid self right into Shinobazu Pond. The dead lotus plants from the winter were standing densely in the water and disguised the pond, so it wasn’t entirely my fault. Apparently when the lotus bloom in the spring, they cover the whole pond in a lush sea of green leaves. I was sort of enjoying the barren feel of the pond while I was there, though. It was still beautiful, but in a different way.

I strolled along the bank of the pond, looking over the plants and water to the skyscrapers rising beyond. My eye was soon caught by a bright red temple sitting in the middle of the pond. Enraptured by the beautiful colours and traditional architecture, I crossed the stone bridge over the water to access the grounds.

This temple was named Shinobazu-no-ike Bentendo. It’s dedicated to the water goddess Benzaiten, hence why it’s situated in the middle of the pond. The main hall of the temple was originally built in the 17^th century, but was unfortunately destroyed during the Second World War. Luckily, the statue of Benzaiten survived the air raids and was enshrined in the restored building in 1958. The hall itself is bright vermillion and stunning. Outside is a large statue of a lute, said to be Benzaiten’s instrument of choice.

Out front, there was a large incense burner gently smoking. It’s believed that incense has healing qualities, so I stood next to the burner and fanned the fragrant smoke over myself.

There was a seating area overlooking the pond and it was mostly empty, so I sat there to eat my bread cube (which was bloody delicious by the way). A man stood nearby feeding a gaggle of chirping birds and a girl was sitting next to the water with a bento box. A few people wandered in to take a photo of the pond and look out at the city, and I was so at peace that I stayed here for a long while after I finished my snack.

My next stop was the University of Tokyo campus, which isn’t far from the west side of Ueno Park. I took a tree-lined path that cuts through Shinobazu Pond. It was a really pretty walkway, but there was no wind cover and there was a terrible chill coming from the wind and the water. I came out of the park and found myself right near the Tokyo University Hospital, which looked about how you’d expect. As I walked further into the campus though, my mind was blown. I was near the Hall of Seven Virtues, a martial arts dojo in a traditional-style building. It didn’t look at all like a university campus from this side – there were trees and hills, with little rocky paths through the area. I explored for a little while, clambering up the steep stone steps. I found a body of water called Sanshiro Pond and sat there for a while. I could hear some students horsing around on the other side of the pond, and a couple of people went by, but no one questioned me. I crossed a little wooden bridge and continued on my way. It was a really pretty place, and I couldn’t believe I was on a university campus in the middle of a capital city. It felt like I was out in some woods.

When I emerged from the trees, I found myself near a more conventional university building, which I later worked out was the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology. I was immediately taken in by the vaulted arches cutting through the building and imagined being a student there. I also liked the main auditorium building when I got to the long path leading up to it, then I cut through the arches of the Faculty of Law building.

This campus was absolutely huge, and I didn’t see nearly half of it, but I loved what I did see. It looks like such a nice atmosphere to study in, and almost made me wish I was a student again! On checking the time, I decided to start aiming for my next destination, which was only about a twelve minute walk away.

Instead of taking a really direct route, I just wended my way through the little residential streets in the vague direction I wanted to go in. It’s really relaxing to walk through empty, near-silent streets. Tokyo is massive and densely-populated but it’s surprisingly easy to find peace here.

Like a lot of people, I really want to visit the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto because of its beautiful vermilion Torii gates. During this trip, we had so much we wanted to see and do in Tokyo that a jolly on the Shinkansen to Kyoto wasn’t really possible. One day I will make that dream a reality, but for now I had read about a shrine in Tokyo with similar red gates, called Nezu Shrine. Supposedly almost two millennia old, Nezu is a Shinto shrine formally established in the 18^th century and the oldest place of worship in Tokyo.

It wasn’t hugely busy when I arrived, which was pleasantly surprising. The gateway to the grounds was also a pretty red-orange colour, as well as the Rōmon gate just inside and the main hall of the shrine. I was immediately enamoured with the place, and glad that I’d made the decision to see it.

I imagine the day was probably still cold at this point, but it felt a lot warmer at the shrine because there was less tree cover and not a lot of shade. I immediately went looking for the Torii gates because I wanted to walk through them. They are a fair bit smaller than the ones in Kyoto, and by ‘a fair bit’ I mean I had to duck to get under them. And I am only 5’5”. Everyone also had to go through them in single-file because they were narrow as well as short. It was almost like walking through a scale model of Fushimi Inari. This didn't take away from how pretty and exciting it still was, though.

After I’d had a little wander, I found a smaller out-of-the-way shrine building that was up a slope and a set of stairs. There was nobody around so I took this opportunity to sit on the steps, have some water and take in the sunshine for a while. I could occasionally hear the other people visiting the shrine, but everyone was keeping their voices at a respectably low volume, and the overall atmosphere at the shrine was easygoing and peaceful. It was one of those moments where you just sit and feel happy to be alive.

I confess that I didn’t research Nezu much before I visited. So when another tourist approached me and asked if I knew what animal was depicted in the statues around the grounds, I had no idea. He thought they might be weasels, I thought they looked more like dogs. Turns out they’re foxes, which are common in Inari shrines. All of the fox statues wore a red scarf around its neck, creating little pops of colour among the stone.

I worked out that I could walk to Akihabara from where I was, and texted Caz to get the Tsukuba Express and meet me there. We planned to go to Yanaka, also known as ‘Cat Town’, for obvious reasons. I got to Akiba station shortly before Caz so I sat on the platform and had a tiny bottle of grape Fanta. I love the smaller soda bottles you can get in the vending machines – I’d also had a tiny Coca-Cola earlier.

It was an easy ride on the Yamanote Line to Nippori Station, and then a short walk to Yanaka Cemetery. It’s massive, and like a park and a cemetery all at once – filled with trees and flowers, with little paved paths through the many graves. We didn’t have time to look at the whole area, as it’s about 25 acres and holds over 7000 graves! Instead, we explored the northwest corner of the park. It was wonderfully peaceful, the only sound being our footsteps and the Tohba boards clanking softly together in the breeze.

There were lots of cool gravestones that had an occasional red character amongst the black ones, which gave us real Fatal Frame vibes. We had a gentle wander through the graves, looking for the famed stray cats – unfortunately we didn’t see any, but maybe it was too chilly to bask on the graves as they usually do. It was so sunny, but still very cold.

The cold scuppered our other plan to have a good wander and look around Yanaka Ginza, the main shopping street of the area. It was a shame as the shops are all tiny and authentic, with lots of cat merchandise. We did stop at one place I’d read about though – Yanaka Shippoya. A traditional snack exclusive to this area of Tokyo is the cat-tail doughnut, a long doughnut with different fillings. Some are even stripy! We simply had to try one, and braved the cold to sit and eat them. Luckily they were delicious and made us happy, so it was worth freezing our butts off.

At this point we just wanted to be inside, so we took a cab over to Harajuku to visit a conveyor belt café that is also an all-you-can-eat dessert place. It’s called Café RonRon (‘ronron’ is apparently the French noise for a cat purring), and it’s so cute. The style of the place is pastel-coloured and vaguely French, as the name might suggest. I’ve noticed the Japanese have a real thing about France, to the point that there’s literally a syndrome almost exclusive to Japanese tourists who visit Paris and find it’s not as dreamy as they built it up to be. There were lots of French-themed places and food in Tokyo, as well as French slogans and themes on clothes and accessories.

Once you get in to the café, you’re invited to get a ticket at the machine. It’s 1800¥ for 40 minutes of all-you-can-eat, and the ticket displays your arrival time so you know when you will be finished. The price also includes a drink of your choice in a cute souvenir Café RonRon bottle! I chose pink lemonade and Caz had some apple juice. There’s also free lemon water provided if you don’t want to buy more drinks.

The food appears on a little conveyor belt on a big table in the middle, and everyone sits on stools at the table and picks the dishes as they come by. The desserts are miniature, delicate and adorable.

There was cheesecake, swiss rolls, macaroons, matcha tea-flavoured pudding, and so many other little treats. Towards the end of our 40 minutes, some savoury bits started to come out too – tiny burgers and little bits of battered potato on a stick with ketchup. I was really impressed by the girl sitting next to us. She was absolutely tiny, and yet she managed to eat more than us! I have no idea how she did it, but it was nice to see everyone enjoying themselves.

At this point we thought we might have made an error with visiting Café RonRon, as we had a dinner booking at Hard Rock Café. I decided that we simply had dessert before our main course, and we ran with that. Anyway, by the time we’d gotten out and back over to Ueno we were ready to eat dinner. Turns out, sugar really doesn’t keep you full for very long.

We got there early, so perched on some seats outside and warmed up (this Hard Rock is situated inside Ueno station, so the ‘outside’ chairs were still inside). One of the staff came out, a white European guy which was a novelty. He asked if we had a booking, and we told him we were about half an hour early. He found my booking and told us we could come on in straight away! We were seated and immediately both knocked bits of cutlery off the table and onto the floor, because we can’t go anywhere without embarrassing ourselves. We picked up our cutlery, but a really cute waitress came over immediately with replacements. The same cute waitress took our food orders when we were ready.

One of the waiters in the place was really fun. He came over to give us our drinks, and Caz happened to be talking about how she kept getting her hotel key out instead of her Suica card. She was staring at them in disbelief and exclaiming “They both feel the same!” and made the waiter fall about laughing. We later caught him smirking at us as he went by to another table, and made him laugh again when he saw us singing along to ‘Take On Me’ by A-Ha. I got to practice a bit of Japanese on him when I went to ask where the toilets were. He understood me, and I was so pleased with myself as I’m not exactly fluent.

I have to talk about the lady sitting at the table next to us. She was really put-together and had an air of elegance about her. We believe it was her first time at a Hard Rock because she was asking the waitress what she’d recommend on the menu (obviously they were talking in Japanese, but we got the gist of it). She opted for a big burger and, when she got it, she was glancing at us digging into our food. We pretended not to notice, as it was clear she was trying to work out the best way to eat it. She saw Caz cut hers in half, and did the same, and then watched the way I held the burger to keep the fillings in before she picked it up. It was so cute watching her figure it out. 

When she had finished and got up to leave, she turned to us with a little smile and bowed! She knew that we knew that she was getting tips from us. We bowed back in delight, and it was just such a lovely moment between strangers. It’s these kinds of moments I love most about travelling – tiny slices of community with people you’ll probably never see again, but will always cherish. I hope she had a good experience too, and went on to have a lovely evening.

The food was fine, the standard Hard Rock Café fare. Nothing to write home about, but good enough. We had a really nice time though. Good music was playing, and it was nice to be out of the cold and in a social atmosphere. Aside from our lovely lady, most of the other tables were full, and there was a lively work party going on in the corner. We had a fab time.

Braving the cold again, we walked over to Sango Street to find a little bar I’d read about named Mr Kanso. It's a chain of bars that began in Osaka, that also sells loads of random foodstuff in cans. It was so weird and whimsical that we had to see it. Unlike the flagship and other branches, this one is a little cosy pub, which I love. I knew it was on the third floor of its building, and was trying to look out for the sign on the ground floor that would alert us to its presence.

After about five minutes of Google Maps being no help (we’ve noticed that our Sushi WiFi doesn’t like being too near train stations and the signal can be weaker there) and walking under the railway tracks and back again, I spied a couple of men at a van who looked like construction workers. I figured they were local, and said something like “Sumimasen… *gesture* wa doko desu ka??” while showing them the address on my phone. It was a pretty broken question but they understood, luckily. One of them had a look at the address and said, “Kanso bar?” He walked me to the right building, then pointed at the sign I’d missed, asking if that was what I was looking for. It was so sweet and helpful, and I thanked him profusely. Honestly, I keep saying it, but everyone we’ve encountered has been so friendly and ready to help us out. We’ve been so welcomed and made to feel really comfortable.

When we walked into the bar, there were about five people in there. Two people at a table left not long after we arrived, and there were two men sitting at the bar, shooting the shit with the bartender. We were warmly welcomed, shown to a table and the menu. I wanted to try some umeshu, which is a sort of Japanese plum wine, so I opted for that. Caz was excited because she could smoke in the bar, something you can’t do in the UK since 2007. She doesn’t even smoke that regularly, she was just excited about the novelty of sitting inside with a cigarette.

I popped up to the bar to order. I managed to do it in Japanese, which was really well received. As he got the drinks, the barman asked where we were from and I told him. He said, “Wow, England!” and one of his mates sitting at the bar said, “Cricket!” I laughed and said, “Oh, no cricket for me thanks.” We all had a little laugh together and it was another of those lovely moments.

We spent a long time sitting in Mr Kanso. Umeshu is absolutely delicious. I’m definitely glad I tried it tonight. We had another drink afterwards, and Caz smoked another cigarette. It was so nice in there – it’s a really small place, but has such a local, homey atmosphere. Little authentic places like this are where I’m most at home. It was a good wind-down from the long day I’d had.

When we decided to leave, we had a good look at the shelves with the cans. The barman came over to explain the pricing of them, and to help us identify what was in some of them. We had a real giggle at some of the strange things. Caz lost it when she spotted canned bear meat. She already has a can of bear from Finland, brought back to her as a souvenir. So she bought it, just so she could say she now has a collection of canned bear. We were laughing so hard that the guys all started to laugh too. I think the barman was glad we enjoyed ourselves so much; he stood in the doorway when we left and gave us a deep, respectful bow. Such a lovely send-off!

Back at the hotel, I downloaded Tinder for a laugh and we had fun swiping indiscriminately on random Japanese guys and foreign tourists. I matched with a guy called Hiro and he’s delightfully nuts. We had a funny conversation with him before turning in.

I’m beat – I apparently walked 22,707 steps today and I’m aware I’ll probably regret it in the morning. It’s been a lovely day though, I managed to pack a lot in.