Tokyo, 27.04.24

Tokyo: now we are talking Japanese! Officially the capital of Japan it is also one of the most populated cities in the world with 14 million residents and including neighbouring prefectures over 40 million people! These numbers alone make for a major tourist attraction! 

We took the Limited Express Train Azusa from Matsumoto 12.10 to Tokyo Shinjuku Station arriving at 15.03. Not shinkansen but still reasonably fast and right into the middle of things. Shinjuku is the busiest railway station in the world being used by more than 3.5 million people daily! It is mind boggling. There are 53 platforms mostly underground, shopping arcades, restaurants and corridors for ever. There are over 200 exits! Which one to choose? 

Two private railway companies service the station plus JR East, Tokyo Metro and Tokyo Toei Subway. Luckily, I had done some extensive research beforehand and had a good idea. Staying within the station was paramount and then looking for the Yamanote Line, platform 15, direction Otsuka, station number 12. To make things easier I left Christine at a prominent spot. The main thing being not to lose each other for I doubted that Christine would have found her way anywhere really. She did not even know the name of the hotel!

Then I went in search of platform 15. Amazing. So many people and it did not help that it was just about rush hour. But I found the platform after all in reasonable time, went back to get Christine and we were on the way to Otsuka where our hotel was located. 

Yamanote Line

The reason for booking a room in Otsuka was one of convenience as it was close to transport and much cheaper than in central Tokyo. It was a good choice. Otsuka Station is much less crowded and the hotel was very close just across a small square. It was called Omo5 and part of the Hoshino Resorts Group. It was a surprise. A real fun hotel. Reception on the second floor and our room on the seventh. The room was very different. It was double story with a lounge underneath a suspended floor with two beds and a steep stair going up to it. Not much headspace up there and not much headspace in the lounge as well. A lot of bending and taking care to not bang the head too much. The bathroom was fine with a bath and a shower and a toilet. The shower being the space between the bath and the door which when closed was completely sealed. 

Bedroom

At this point a word about Japanese toilets needs to be said. They are of the high-tech variety with buttons on the side to activate a warm water jet to clean your bottom, some even had a drier as well and one I came across opened the lid automatically when entering the bathroom and then closed again! Of course the toilet seat is heated! And these toilets are all over Japan even in the public toilets in railway stations. Why are these not readily available in New Zealand?!

We found out that all Omo hotels offer an activity for free for their guests. Tonight it was a walk around the neighbourhood and a delightful young lady took us through the backstreets and pointed out nice restaurants and shops and a lovely temple plus a view down the railway line to Tokyo Tower. 

Tokyo Tower in distance from Otsuka

A bit later we went out again in search of food and found a ramen noodle bar. Christine was keen on trying the noodle soup again. We sat at the bar and wanted to order but they pointed to a machine behind us with pictures meaning we had to choose a dish and then put the money into the slot to get a ticket and hand it over to the staff behind the counter. Two beers as well please! The Udon noodle soup was fine even though I am not too much a fan of Udon noodles. The stock they used was excellent and I managed to slurp the bowl empty. 

Ramen Soup