Sunway - before & beyond

Day: 5

Location: Shinkansen – Tokyo to Nagano (Hakuba)

Saturday. Visited Shinjuku Gardens in the morning, these were looking barren and would probably be spectacular in spring or summer with cherry blossoms and roses.
We found a café for lunch that would be equally at home in Degraves Street as it was in Tokyo.
Before dark we made it to Meiji Jingu – a shrine to Emperor Meiji who was responsible for westernisation and technological development in Japan in the 19^th century as well as renaming Edo City - Tokyo - the new capital of the country. Although the shrine is for the past Emperor it seemed there was some religious element to it as there appeared to be monks and people paid their respects; throwing coins and notes onto steps and into large collection chests.

Sunday. It came in threes: Tokyo fish market was closed after a 6.30 get-up to catch it (haha) at its most chaotic, while being warned about long queues at SkyTree (world's second tallest building) we didn't anticipate being given a ticket in order to come back five hours later and then arriving 10 minutes too late to pre-purchase Sumo tickets for the following day.

We had however, stumbled upon preparations for an ice-carving tournament at Meiji Jingu Shrine the night before and went back to see them after second breakfast at the closed fish market.

The morning light was caught beautifully in the ice as they melted. This one we think was voted second however achieved number one in the people's (Eddie and my) choice award.

We discovered the local onsen in Asakusa that evening before going back to the SkyTree which was very relaxing and soothing after all the walking we had done that day. The main bath temperature was just above 40°C with a cold bath at 18°C outside. The ‘electric bath’ that was a feature of the main bath was a little disconcerting. I suppose it has some kind of sensational therapeutic benefit but I couldn't work out what it was exactly after giving it a go. We left, warm to the core in the cool Tokyo night.

SkyTree
Viewing Tokyo from 350m above the street gave us perspective on the scale of the city. It is based around the Imperial Palace and nearby business and financial district with a few high-rises. From there it sprawls outward in every direction. At night there is no end to the streets lined with apartment blocks, convenience stores and subway entrances. Lights twinkle, flash and beam in sections separated by Tokyo bay and two rivers, the Sumida and the Arakawa that slice through the city.
Getting lost on the way home lead to a juice box of saké from 7/11 - as you do.

Monday. It snowed on Monday. Serious, in-your-face, ground-covering snow all day which made it an easy decision to stay at the sumos all day rather than go to Disney Land as well.

Lunch fit for a large man in a nappy:

As we race between Tokyo and Nagano at 260km/h today I'm looking forward to my first time snowboarding and hoping for powder - to cushion my fall more than anything as well as my skills being transferrable from other types of boards!

Finally, having left Tokyo there is one last thing that must be noted. No need to read any further if you're not interested in a small rant.

You've been warned - how could the set up of the MYKI ticketing system have been done so catastrophically? Even when you disregard the cost blowout and significant delays the Pasmo/Suica system used in Tokyo puts MYKI to complete shame. Where MYKI causes huge bottle-necks at turnstiles due to the precision that it takes to touch them on and off, Pasmo effectively has you gliding through through the gates. On the gates, these operate within the legal framework of a presumption of innocence i.e. the gate remains open until you try to do something wrong such as walk through without a ticket or you don't have enough money on your card for the fare. The benefit of this is the time it doesn't take to open the gates and close them again before the next person can scan their card.
In summary I am astounded at how the technology used for the system could be so inept considering that one that functions so incredibly well had been brought in here in Japan one year before.