Everyone told me to go see the Tsukiji Fish Market. Everything I heard or read about it made it sound like a bustling, exciting place where you could see every kind of fish and, probably, get incredible pictures. Everyone told me that if I wanted to see the Tsukiji Fish Market, I needed to wake up at 4 a.m. and get there by at least 6 to see the good stuff.
SCREW you, everybody.
I did wake up at 4. I was out of the ryokan by 4:30, and arrived at the train station shortly afterwards, only to discover that the trains weren’t running yet. So, after waiting around for a while, I was at last on my way. I was exhausted, but delighted by the prospect of seeing human-sized tuna. And when I arrived at the Tsukiji market, do you know what I discovered?
I discovered it wasn’t open to the public. Not until 9:00.
Of course, I didn’t discover that right away. I discovered it after wandering aimlessly around the vicinity of the market, getting horribly lost, and finally abandoning hope and buying a sushi breakfast.
On the bright side: the sushi was the best sushi I’ve ever had, I DID get some pretty cool pictures, and when I got back to the ryokan the boys were still asleep, so I went back to bed for another three hours.
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| Super Tuna |
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| Creepy red fish |
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| A 4a.m. roller coaster |
In conclusion, if you are planning to visit Tokyo in the near future, DEFINITELY go see Tsukiji. DEFINITELY DON’T wake up at 4 a.m. to do it.
Later that day—you know, at the time of day when REAL PEOPLE exist—we headed to Ueno Park to see the sights. I wasn’t totally sold on the plan, because nobody had been able to tell me what was so great about Ueno Park, but almost immediately I got the answer. Observe:
Things happening in that video: old Japanese ladies in absurd outfits are dancing to Latin music. One of the musicians—who are, incidentally, awesome—is playing two instruments at once. And one of my friends puts his hand awkwardly in front of my camera.
Things you may have missed: the guy in the yellow shirt, yellow tiger-print knee socks, a pleather newsboy cap and STUDDED PLEATHER SHORT SHORTS. What a winner!
When we’d had our fill of…all…that… we continued on through the park and ended up at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. I was pretty stoked because last semester I took a Japanese art history class, so I actually recognized some of the works and artists featured in the museum.
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| Like this bronze sculpture by Vincenzo Ragusa (who is, surprise surprise, not Japanese) |
Oh man, this post is getting long. We had a busy day.
After the museum, we took a train with no driver (OMG) to an island called Odaiba, where there happened to be a Mexican festival happening. We all had fun taking pictures in Odaiba, because you get a really good view of the city, and the sun was just setting when we were there.
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| I hope you like lights cuz lights are coming your way |
That big red tower in that picture is Tokyo Tower. Its design is based on the Eiffel Tower, but is several meters taller (which is a bit douchey, in my opinion). And speaking of Tokyo Tower…
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| It's really hard to get the whole thing in a photo |
…that’s where we ended our evening. You can get a pretty impressive view of Tokyo from up there. Check it out:
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| Everywhere you go in Japan looks like something out of Bladerunner at night |
Whew! What a busy day. And now, our parting gift:
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| They just keep rocket launchers, y'know, around... |
"Everywhere you go in Japan looks like something out of Bladerunner at night."
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