Christmas Lights at Seibuen Amusement Park

On Christmas day, after opening our presents, playing with all of our new toys, and eating our Christmas dinner at the conveyer belt sushi restaurant, Hamazushi, we went to ride some rides and see the lights at Seibuen Amusement Park!  Seeing thousands of Christmas lights and making ourselves sick riding the teacups and the swings was the perfect way to end our holiday!  Our friends, the Okudas, met up with us and we really had a blast.  It was freezing, but so much fun!

GPS Coordinates for Seibuen:  35.768868, 139.442848

National Museum of Nature and Science

Right after we got back from Okinawa, it was Labor Day, so we decided to take advantage of Peter's day off and go back to Ueno Park to check out the National Museum of Nature and Science.  It was a fun outing--the museum is quite large and has some really amazing artifacts.  But, what I loved most about the whole place were the layouts and the design of the exhibits.  They were so modern and bright; it felt very fresh--I loved it!

There is so much to see and do at Ueno Park!  Check out my other posts about Ueno Park here and here.

GPS Coordinates:  35.716703, 139.776324

Mt. Takao

Another fun day trip about a half an hour from base is Mt. Takao.  The top of Takao can be reached by hiking, chair lift, or cable car.  Because we went with friends and between all of us we had 8 kids under 6, we decided that the cable car was our best option!  And, I'm glad we took the cable car--that mountain is STEEP!  These pictures don't quite capture the sheer angle of the mountain, but it was crazy watching the mountain straight up in front of us as we rode up!

The view, even just halfway up the mountain, is gorgeous!

Once you get off the cable car about halfway up the mountain, there's another 45 minutes or so of hiking to reach the top of the mountain.  As you walk along the path, you'll pass the Monkey Park (which, unfortunately we did not have time to visit--so next time, for sure!) and the Yakouin Temple. This temple was beautifully painted with bright colors and adorned with giant masks and intricate wood carvings.  

There are also a bunch of stone carvings, statues, and wooden planks with names on them lining the paths and decorating the mountainside.  It really makes for a beautiful and interesting hike!  

After passing through the buildings of the Yakouin Temple, the cement and dirt paths turn into wooden planks that lead to the top of the mountain.  

 

And, not much further is the top with incredible views of Mt. Fuji on one side and of Tokyo on the other.  It's really an unbelievable viewpoint.

We arrived right as the sun was setting, so it's hard to see Mt. Fuji in these pictures, but it's there just to the left of the setting sun.  Although it was hard to get the lighting right, the scenery and views were stunning in real life!

GPS Coordinates for the Takaosanguchi Station where we parked: 35.632707, 139.269795

GPS Coordinates for the Kiyotaki Station where you catch the cable car: 35.631201, 139.266695

Exploring Akihabara

My cousin, Ali and her husband, Scott, came to Tokyo last week and we had fun showing them some of our favorite spots, plus checking out some new places!  Scott really wanted to shop around Akihabara, the electronics and manga district of Tokyo, and this is something that we'd been wanting to do since we got here as well, so it worked out perfectly!  Akihabara is full of stores selling video games and gaming systems, all kinds of figurines, hard-to-find toys, comic books, and electronics.  It's pretty much a nerd's dream come true.  So Peter and Scott were in heaven :)

We had fun checking out the stores and then hitting up the huge, multi-floor, electronics store, Yodobashi.  This picture cracks me.  There was a Japanese man taking a little snooze on this couch in the store.  Both Will and Clara were tired from all of our walking, and this was the only place to sit, so they just cozied right up to the sleeping man!  So funny.  

GPS Coordinates for Akihabara Station:  35.698619, 139.773075

Meiji Shrine

We've been to the beautiful Meiji Shrine 2 or 3 times since living here, but I just realized that I've never posted about it!  Meiji Shrine is truly a sanctuary in the heart of Shibuya.  Entering the grounds, it's hard to believe that you've just walked off a busy Tokyo street!  

The entrance is marked by a giant torii gate and once you pass through, you continue along a long, wide path through a beautiful forest.  

It's amazing how peaceful and serene the grounds are, since literally just outside the entrance is the Harajuku train station, which is always bustling and noisy!  Halfway along the path on the way towards the shrine is another giant torii gate.  This is one of my all-time favorites.  It stands so tall and majestically, and I love the natural wood.

Upon approaching the shrine, there's a fountain of holy water to cleanse your hands, and then there are three or four other buildings in addition to the main shrine.

And, if you visit Meiji Shrine on a Sunday afternoon (especially in nice weather), you're likely to see a wedding procession!  We've been lucky enough to see weddings two times that we've visited!  Seeing the brides in their traditional bridal clothing is fascinating!  And so beautiful!  

To get to Meiji Shrine, go to the Harajuku train station, and the entrance to the shrine grounds are just across the bridge when you get out of the station!  (Cross the bridge and go right; Yoyogi Park is to your left!)  GPS Coordinates:  35.676633, 139.699347

Shopping on Kappabashi Street

Peter had the Monday after the 4th of July off, so we decided to drag ourselves out into the rain and check out Kappabashi, the kitchen district of Tokyo!  I was a little apprehensive about taking our kids shopping for dishes (breakable!) on a super rainy day (wet and miserable!), but in the end, I was really glad we went!  Most of the sidewalks on Kappabashi Street are actually covered with awnings, so we stayed dry and we didn't even break anything!!!  

We went right after the US Women's soccer team won the World Cup (they played Japan!), which is why we're all decked out in our USA (and Japan; Will was rooting for both teams) gear.

Kappabashi Street is awesome.  I'm sure all big cities have a kitchen district, or a restaurant supply area, but never have I heard of them being a tourist attraction, or even relevant for everyday people.  I think that's why Tokyo's kitchen district is so unique and fun.  While they sell everything from wholesale plastic take-out containers to shop flags and signs, to industrial sized snow cone machines, they also have aprons and dishes and chopsticks and more knives than you can imagine!  They have things that can be used in your kitchen at home, as well as all kinds of items that can be sent home as souvenirs. 

Our favorite shops by far, though, were the fake display food shops!!!  Everywhere you go here in Japan, restaurants advertise what they serve by displaying dishes of fake food in their windows.  At first I found it really strange and unappetizing, but now I love it!  It makes choosing a restaurant so much easier!  Anyway, it was really fun to peruse the stores that sell all of this fake food.  We went in thinking we'd buy a bunch of fake food that the kids could play with, but once we got in the stores and saw that a bowl of katsu curry was about $50 we quickly changed our minds!  So, we settled on a few magnets and keychains instead: Will chose a squid, I picked a sushi handroll for my car, and then we got shrimp sushi, onigiri, and gyoza magnets as well.

The stores had some other really fun things as well; I finally got a big lucky cat that I'd been wanting since we moved here and Peter found a really cool half apron that a lot of the restaurant owners in small mom and pop shops wear.  And then of course, mostly because Peter can't resist Japanese dishes, we came home with 5 big soup bowls and matching dipping dishes.  So, even though it ended up being an expensive day, it was definitely fun!

GPS Coordinates for Kappabashi Street: 35.710596, 139.788272