Day 25 - Tokyo (Ueno, Nippori, Harajuku and the Tokyo Tower)

This morning we had a plan to split up from the get-go, with Sky, Josh and Kyle heading out to Harajuku Station for the second day in a row, so that Josh could finally get his tattoo done by Three Tides Tattoo Shop. Whilst Maureen was going to spend the day doing Maureen stuff...that's kitchenware and fabric shopping. I was the designated Pack Mule in support of Maureen's shopping endeavours.

Leaving the apartment.

We all firstly had breakfast in Okachimachi before splitting up; the boys off to the station, and Maureen and I walking towards Ueno.

The first item on Maureen's shopping itinerary was kitchenware, and there is no place better than the Kappabashi Street.  Kappabashi Street is midway between Ueno and Asakusa (home of the Tokyo Skytree). We elected to walk which took us around a half-hour, passing through Ueno suburbia, just the vista of the various streets during our walk was very interesting.

Artwork in front of Ueno Station.

A nice surprise sighting of the Tokyo Skytree whilst walking through the streets of Ueno.

Yasakiinari Shrine.

Some blur motion.

Once we arrived at Kappabashi Street, we were greeted by the sight of shop-after-shop selling kitchenware. I don't know how it works from a marketing perspective, when all of your competitors are colocated with you; however, it does seem to work. Interestingly, today was all about balance for Maureen as she needed to balance her love for kitchenware, with her love for fabric as both needed to be done on the one day, so time was of the essence. We browsed through shop after shop picking up little things here and there and she was most excited when she discovered a cast iron (think - heavy), Takoyaki pan, so she could make her own Takoyaki (Octopus Balls).

Maureen in the thick of Asian Crockery.

These are the flying Lady Kappas and are a feature all over Kappabashi Street.

There's even a light pole fitted with them. 

With maximum shopping weight achieved, we headed back towards Ueno Station and caught the train to Nippori, just two stops up the loop track.

A Panda Bus?

Trying some motion blur photos.

Waiting for a train at Ueno Station.

Nippori is also called Fabric, or Textile Town, it's obviously a Mecca for people like Maureen. 

Welcome to Nippori Fabric Town.

The fabric stores are predominantly located along a single street to the east of the station and go for around a kilometre on both sides of the road. 

Maureen is in her element.

Checking the stuff.

The name of the most dominant fabric chain on the street is;...wait for it...'Tomato'...yeah, me neither. 

The 'Tomato' fabric store?

We traipsed up and down the street, me with a heavy Takoyaki Pan in my back-pack that was gradually being compressed by the inclusion of plastic bags filled with fabric. Maureen was focussed on fabric, whilst I was focussed on wifi signals and catching Pokemon. But we got through it.

Once we completed Maureen's shopping, we contacted the boys and arranged to meet at the base of the Tokyo Tower. 

All went well with Joshua's tattoo, though he was a bit sore.

Josh's Koi Fish tattoo.

It took Maureen and I around 45 minutes, including around 20 minutes on the train to Hamamatsuchō Station and the rest walking the two kilometres to the Tokyo Tower.

The beautiful Joshoin Temple amongst the skyscrapers.

The Zojoji Temple Sangedatsumon Gate dates way back to 1622 and has survived earthquakes, fires and wars since that time.

The Zojoji Temple which we passed on our walk to the Tokyo Tower. Originally built in 1393 and moved to its present location in 1598. It was severely damaged requiring reconstruction after WWII.

Dai-Bon-Sho (Sacred Bell).

Almost there, and a cool helicopter.

The Tokyo Tower was built in 1958 but unfortunately has collapsed at least five times...because of Godzilla. Nonetheless, it remains the second tallest structure in Japan after the Tokyo Skytree standing at 332 metres. It was inspired by the Eiffel Tower and is painted in orange and white to comply with International air safety regulations. The main observation deck is 250 metres above ground, whilst the smaller top deck is 250 metres above ground. 

The Tokyo Tower looks impressive from every angle. A beautiful structure.

Whilst walking through the surrounding neighbourhood trying to get some nice angles of the Tokyo Tower, I came across this grassy building. It's called the Hasegawa Green Building.

We only went to the main observation deck. At the time we were there the sun was setting, which was around 1630hrs. So we were able to get some nice photos to the west. Half of the main deck is closed off to the public, the exact opposite side that was closed off when we visited last year.

You can see the beautiful Zojoji Temple Gardens in the foreground.

A beautiful sunset over Tokyo.

Looking straight down through a viewing window in the floor.

When we completed our visit, we descended down the tower and walked back towards Hamamatsuchō Station and stopping along the way to eat at a Japanese Curry Restaurant. 

The Tokyo Tower is lit up as we leave. 

Walking back through the beautiful Zojoji Temple grounds

Afterwards, we caught the train back home, ending another day here in Japan.