4. Tokyo, part 2

As expected, the day dawned with leaden skies giving rise to persistent rain and a thick mist. But not to worry, we had arranged to meet with our friends Hiromi and Monica, who, as Tokyo residents, had offered to be our city guides for the day.

Our first stop was the Askusa shrine, Tokyo's most sacred and spectacular temple and a place that the Japanese say every visitor to the city must see. Yes, it was also a tourist trap, but the various stalls, combined with statues, the five story pagoda, chanting monks and the air heavy with burning insence all combined to give a unique atmosphere.

Close to the shrine was a view across the Sumida River and the relatively new Tokyo Sky Tree. I use the word view in a rather loose sense as everything above the first few floors of the Sky Tree was completely immersed in cloud and mist.

Moving on we stopped in the very beautiful Rikugien Gardens for some peace and tranquility from the bustling city and also for some green macha tea and bean paste cakes. Both were excellent! 

The rain was becoming ever more incessant and rather than continue getting extremely damp, we headed for lunch. This consisted of a four course Japanese dinner including mushrooms, tempura vegetables, small portions of fish and pork and a large portion of noodles. Quite what my stomach was saying to my brain and vice versa, I dare think, but in any event it was a great experience to share some typical Japanese food and catch up on old times with good friends.

Once refreshed we headed down to the iconic Shibuya Crossing. This is an intersection of several busy roads and where thousands of people exit the subways and railway station before crossing the streets  in a mass of humanity. We bought some coffees from a cafe overlooking the crossing and watched in awe.

The next stop was another of Tokyo's iconic sights, the twin towers of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government offices. We took the lift up to the observatory on the 45th floor, but the mist and low clouds meant that we could barely see the next building, never mind spectacular city views. We will just have to come back another time!

Alongside the Government offices is the Shinjuku commercial district containing many large and small neon lit stores, bars and restaurants and even a life size model of Godzilla peering out from behind one of the taller buildings. We wandered around for a short while before joining the city's clerks, shop assistants, managers and salarymen on the beginning of their commute homewards.

At this point we said arigato and sayonara to Hiromi. Without his help we would not have seen half as much as we did and having a local who could translate for us and guide us was absolutely invaluable.

Our last stop for the day was at one of Tokyo's increasingly popular cat cafes. Some 14 different breeds of cats of all shapes, colours and sizes were in the cafe looking their cutest as we, and several locals tried in vain to take pictures.

And so ended another very wet day, but also another very interesting and exciting one, and one which had given us just a very small taste of what the huge city of Tokyo has to offer.