Robot Claw – Page 268 – “Life In The So-Called Space Age”

Tokyo Three

January 16, 2019

Today we headed across town to the korean part of Tokyo where Bernard was near-overwhelmed by the multitude of K-Pop shops:

And left his mark on the local economy in a frenzied ninety minutes of shopping:

As if that weren’t enough we then – after a brief stop at the hotel to store the loot – headed over to Akihabara where I found out Gundam kits have become so big they now include handles:

That a Virtual Boy game is pushing a grand:

And that the ‘electric city’ still dazzles at night:

Bernard needed a rest so didn’t stay in Akiba too long, and I ran myself ragged looking for games and books and didn’t even enter an arcade!

No worries: we’ll return on Sunday 🙂

Tokyo Two

January 15, 2019

Today was Operation Two Towers, where we visited not one but two observation towers in the same day!

We started with the old one:

Built way back in ’58, this now-iconic structure is the second tallest in Japan. It wasn’t busy and half the viewing platform was closed (for 2+ years so far!) but nonetheless we enjoyed the view from the main deck which is ~150 m from the ground. We sent postcards from a postbox that has a custom postmark, but later found out we hadn’t put enough postage on so who can say if they will arrive :<

We then crossed the city – pausing briefly in Asakusa for a little tourist gawking in light rain – and then head to the now famous – and much newer – Skytree:

This is by far the highest structure in japan and the second highest on earth. It towers over the surrounding area and as we approached from the street we were dazzled by the height.

We ascended to the principle observatory at 350 m, then further still to the higher (and more expensive) one at a staggering 450 m. We were very literally above the clouds, as we were looking at the rain on parts of Tokyo from above.

And then… this happened:

It didn’t take long for word to spread and very quickly the entire gallery was on the same side snapping photos of the rainbow 🙂

Skytree is great. It’s almost certainly the premiere observation tower in the world and the views are extraordinary. If you visit Tokyo, be sure to go up and see for yourself!

Tomorrow it’s time to descend into mania once again and visit Akihabara…

Tokyo One

January 14, 2019

Yesterday was a travel day, and after long trips we both arrived safe and sound. Our hotel is well located and cozy with a great view of the station.

Today we went to Ikebukuro. We had plans to go to the planetarium but… plans change!

Shortly after we arrived we were ‘interviewed’ by four college students. It was the usual questions about foreigners in japan, slightly unusual because they were not high school kids and because they filmed it! They were impressed I was a Monster Hunter fan and astonished by my Puzzles and Dragons rank 🙂

We spent ages in game centers, and both won some interesting items. We also bought a load of stuff including countless amazing postcards. Now we need to get stamps!

Lunch was at the insane Macca’s in Sunshine 60. Today was a holiday (‘Coming of Age day’, and the reason post offices were closed) and I think half the global population was at Ikebukuro today! For the second time in my life I was actually sat by staff at Maccas!

We ended the day by going to Tokyo Dome after dark to see the lights. We also went on some rides and through the haunted house which was a lot of fun.

It was a very long and very full day, and just the start of what I expect will be a week of such days!