Three o’clock in the morning and crowds of bleary-eyed foreigners queue in the dark for a visitor’s ticket to the 5am auction at the Tsukiji fish market.We might have joined them, but we figured that a): We wouldn’t have a clue what was going on and might inadvertently snag a 500lb bluefin tuna for more than the $1.76 million US dollars paid last year, and b): the fish would still be fresh when the market opens to lay-a-beds and the hoi-polloi at nine...
We have never previously seen such a plethora of piscatorial provisions…
Everything from minute minnows to colossal crustaceans and even deadly blowfish…
But by ten o’clock we are all fished out so we give the sashimi joints a miss. Actually we would happily eat raw fish for breakfast, as is customary for market-goers, but it is the weekend and the restaurant line-ups are so long we would be lucky to get in before lunch.
Eleven am and we stop by the official headquarters of Pokemon, the inexplicably successful Japanese game/toy/movie fad cleverly marketed by Nintendo. There are line-ups here too, but we manage to get out with enough money left for some noodles and rice at 12.
By one o’clock we head across the city to the science museum where we run into a park full of youngsters dressed as characters from manga comics…
Goodness knows who these girls are pretending to be, but we rush on. We have a two o’clock appointment with Asimo the robot …
Asimo is getting on a bit now, he’s 14 to be precise, but he still wows us with his moves. And then to the nearby beach for an ice-cream at 3pm. before taking an afternoon cruise on the River Sumida offering fabulous views of the city…
Just as the sun is setting at five the Skytree, the second tallest structure in the world, soars into the sky the above us…
And its image turns golden in the fading light…
At 7 we finally get to eat the fabulous sushi, sashimi and tempura…
By nine we fall asleep after another hard day’s sightseeing, thanks to our wonderful local guide Yoshie, knowing that we have to get up early and do it all again tomorrow…Phew!
This featured blog entry was written by Hawkson from the blog Blissful Adventures.
Read comments or Subscribe
Tokyo is a city packed with amazing activities. Youcouldtravel.com has even more great ideas for you on things to do in Tokyo.
If you're looking for somewhere to stay when visiting Tokyo, a good place to start is Travellerspoint's Tokyo accommodation map
