Tokyo Tales of Travel
Welcome back to Tokyo Tales! We left last time after arriving in my hotel and being dumbfounded by the politeness of the reception staff and the beauty of the hotel lobby.
After check in I was directed to the hotel lifts. If you ever decide to use the Hyatt Regency in Tokyo, the lifts aren’t as obvious as you would think. There’s a very good reason for this which we’ll come on too. For direction if you look at the check in desk the lifts are behind the pillar to your right hand side. They’re completely hidden and after sitting in the lobby with a coffee there was more than 1 person struggling to find them.
Lifts from the hotel balcony. The reception desk is behind this large pillar.
The lifts in question are specifically designed so you can see outside the hotel from the lifts and the people outside can see the lights of the lifts. This gives you a beautiful view of the Tokyo skyline!
The lift is the circular object towards the top of the picture
Tokyo is known to have really small hotel rooms. A major reason for picking this hotel is because the hotel didn’t have small rooms and I was able to use my suitcases with ease.
This room was perfect for 1 or a couple. The bed was lovely to relax in after a hard day walking around. The view from the room wasn’t the best, but it’s still Tokyo!
The Hyatt also has a wonderful bar facility. The Barman (yes, there was only Barman and not woman, the woman were Hostess’s) are so precise and stirred my gin and tonic clockwise half way round the glass from 3pm to 9pm if looking at a clock face. The bar has a lovely dark wood counter and seating for groups along the back wall with solo seaters being sat at the bar.
The hotel is perfectly situated for public transport as well as a major free attraction.
After exploring the hotel for the first evening and the little shopping centre below, I headed off to bed and slept really well with a TV accompaniment of Japanese Ant and Dec.
Japense Ant and Dec
The first full day was spent exploring the area called Shinjuku. Shinjuku is very much a tourist area and famous for having the largest train station where 3 million people go through on a daily basis.
The first full day was Sunday the 2nd of July and hit 44 degrees or 111. It was as hot as anywhere I’ve ever known and will be continuing theme for the rest of the Japanese journey.
The walk from the Hyatt to the Main Street of Shinjuku was about 25 minutes and was an assault on the senses. In between the heat and having adult women dressed up as school children it was an interesting walk. I’ve since been reliably informed that this is a very famous pop group.
Hotel Gracery is the area that tourists and Japanese will aim for. Here you will see the world famous fire breathing head of Godzilla. Godzilla breaths fire every hour on the hour and I highly recommend the little cafe below for a drink and being in the right spot for the show. I am still convinced the Godzilla breathing fire actually cooled the place down!
The streets surrounding here and like nowhere else on earth. They are a rabbit warren of shops and arcades. I easily spent a good couple of hours wondering round. A word of caution here, there are very typical western peeves here trying to chat to young Japanese ladies. These individuals will not leave these people alone, as I’m not a Japanese local I was spared the onslaught, but it is worth bearing this in mind.
From Godzilla I went to the world’s busiest train station where I got hopelessly lost. I wanted to purchase a Suica card and couldn’t have this understood by the staff. Entirely fine as my Japanese isn’t just limited it’s non existent. The Suica card (Super Urban Intelligent CArd) is a top up card that can be used for all of the Greater Tokyo metro (but not the Bullet Train) and all of the vending machines across the country. Think of a better more useful London Oyster Card.
To get a Suica card these will need to be purchased from any JR (Japan Rail) East train station and cost 500 yen for a down payment and then a further top up required. These cards need to be purchased per person and it it’s worth having your name engraved on it incase it goes missing. If it does, you’re able to prove that it’s yours when it’s handed in. After hunting through Shinjuku train station for an hour I finally managed to find a vending machine which sold them and went ahead with purchase. There are other versions of the Suica card, but this covers the whole Tokyo area. Some countries you can download the Suica on your phone, but in the UK as of July 2023 you weren’t able to do this. After trying in August 2024 on an IPhone via the Wallet function you can! No more hunting for a specific vending machine thank goodness.
From here I went to the famous Sensoji food market and temple located in Asakusa district. This temple is Buddhist temple and the oldest established temple in Japan. The temple is dedicated to Bodhisattava of Compassion and despite the temple being the oldest and most established it is actually a new build after it was destroyed by fire bombs in March 1945 during WW2. The temple and main hall were rebuild from 1951-1958 and is now one of the most famous religious sites in the world where 30 million people visit annually. On the day I went I think I visited with 29 million of them!
The opening to the temple is dominated by the Thunder Gate which leads you down in to the Market and further in to the Treasure House Gate at the main temple. The shops of the market contain many traditional shops all catering towards tourists of both Japanese, foreign visitors and religious pilgrims. In this market you’re able to consult the oracle for a small 100 yen fee and get either a “good” or “bad” fortune. Obviously the Bodhisattava of Compassion wasn’t feeling particularly companionate towards me that day as I got a bad fortune.
The main temple at the end of the street market is one of the most beautiful you will ever see. Before entering the temple you must wash away your sins with smoke from incense. I only had 4 days in Tokyo so could only get rid of a percentage of mine, but was allowed in none the less. You then need to bow and clap in a specific order (demonstrated in the temple) and can stand in front of the shrine for as long as you like.
After a 25,000 step day by 7 o’clock I needed to sit back down with a g+t and my dinner which is exactly what I did. Due to the heat and despite all the walking I really wasn’t hungry so it was a 7/11 express dinner for one. I still think of 7/11 egg sandwiches!
One more full day in Tokyo to go and a trip on public transport for less than a tenth the cost of a taxi.
Take care, thank you for reading my ramblings, and looking forward to seeing your travel.