The Kimchi Chronicles

Japan, Day 3: Central Tokyo & Odaiba

Posted on 1/29/2010 at 11:18:45 AM

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Today I met up with Gordon in the afternoon and we decided to take a river cruise down the Sumida river into Central Tokyo. The cruise is another form of transportation instead of the subway and it makes for much better scenery. We were in for great weather again, sunny with temperatures in the high 50’s (F). The trip took about half an hour, and we got to see lots of neat structures along the river coast.

Once we got to our destination, we walked around Ginza for a while. Ginza can be compared to the Rodeo drive of Tokyo. You could tell it was a much more uppity and expensive area, but it was nice to walk around and window shop. After some dinner, we then took the train to Odaiba, a man-made island in Tokyo Bay. There are a lot of neat things to see there and we took a ride on the ferris wheel to see some views of the city from the top.

The Tsukiji fish market is located in Central Tokyo along the Sumida River, and I had heard great things about it. The only thing is that the best hours to see the hustle and bustle are from 3am to 6am. So, Gordon and I agreed to stay out all night and go to Tsukiji around 3. We found an internet cafe nearby and rested there for a few hours before heading out again. Unfortunately, once we got there, we noticed the market was a lot emptier than we had anticipated. Apparently, they close about 5 days a month, and we just happened to visit on one of the days they were closed. I was pretty bummed about it, because Tsukiji was highly recommended by the locals and all Tokyo books that I’ve read, but I guess that just means I’ll have to come back again. But now, time to rest. One more day of exploring tomorrow!