After a 13 hour flight from Toronto to Tokyo it was nice to finally arrive! We took the Narita Express Train from the airport to the Shinagawa Station in Tokyo which took about one hour and was extremely convenient. However, it was quite the challenge to get to our hotel from the station due to both the language barrier and the fact that we had 7 bags of camera & scuba equipment. Although our hotel was only 350m from the train station, it took us over 1/2 an hour to navigate through the very crowded station and a busy street. We took these two pictures the following day during the quiet time so it doesn’t illustrate how busy it was!
Today we explored the area around the Shinagawa Prince Hotel where we are staying. Our first impressions of Tokyo is how miniature many things are including our hotel room. The door is only 6′ tall and the table, desk & chairs are all small compared to Canada. On some of the side streets where we walked the houses are very narrow and parking space is at a premium. Many of the cars & trucks are tiny. In fact, we’re not sure how this driver even gets in and out of his truck!
Nestled in the neighbourhood was the Tozenji Temple which is a Buddhist Temple and was built in the 1800’s. These photos show part of the temple grounds. From our perspective, it was unique to see something historic adjacent to modern buildings.
Tomorrow we are doing a full day bus tour of Tokyo, including the Meiji Shrine and the Imperial Palace where the Emperor & Empress reside.
OUT THE DOOR TO EXPLORE 