On this trip I flew from San Jose to Bangkok and met up with Tooh. We went to Tokyo for a 5 day holiday. We flew from Bangkok Suvarnahumi airport to Tokyo Henada airport and stayed at the Marriott Courtyard Ginza hotel. This was a great base for our journey. It was a very short walk to the subway which we used to to go everywhere we wanted to go.
The first day we toured the Ginza area. We saw many wonderful small markets and found the Kabuki Ginza theater. It's too bad we didn't arrange for tickets in advance as we had planned other excursions and weren't able to get tickets to fit our schedule.
The last activity our first day was viewing Tokyo city at dusk from the Tokyo Skytree tower. The Tokyo Skytree is Tokyo's primary broadcasting tower with a superb observation deck and is the tallest Tokyo structure. Tokyo Skytree has taken over broadcast and communication from the older orange Tokyo Tower as the Tokyo Tower is now surrounded by buildings. The Tokyo Skytree observation deck views are stunning. We were fortunate to visit during clear weather before, during, and after sunset. We clearly saw Mount Fuji rising over Tokyo.
The next day we visited Hibiya Park near the Imperial Palace and saw what we could of the Imperial Palace. Hibiya Park is impressive as a 16 hectare (40 acre) public park bordering the southern moat of the Imperial Palace. Hibiya park is Japan's first public Western-style park. On the day we went we saw a grand flower exposition, The various flowers and arrangements helped brighten a cloudy brisk day. We saw the Imperial Palace East Gardens, but to see the palace requires prior registration. Tours are limited to certain days and the number of people per day is set at 500. We couldn't arrange to see the palace during our visit.
The next day we made a day trip to Kamakura about 1 hour by train from Tokyo. Kamakura is a seaside Japanese city. The political center of medieval Japan, modern-day Kamakura is a prominent resort town with dozens of Buddhist Zen temples and Shinto shrines. Its most recognizable landmark is The Great Buddha of Kamakura which stands on the grounds of Kotokuin Temple.
Departing the train we were greeted by many rickshaws so we took a rickshaw tour. We had a great time viewing the sights ending up at the Great Buddha of Kamakura. The bronze Buddha statue was cast in 1252 and originally located inside a large temple hall. The temple buildings were destroyed multiple times by typhoons and a tsunami in the 14th and 15th centuries. So, since the late 15th century, the Buddha has been standing in the open air.
The next day we went on a group tour to Mount Fuji and Hakone area, including a boat ride on Lake Ashinoko and visiting thermal hot springs . It was an overcast day so we didn't see the top of Mount Fuji on the way. While we were on the mountain top the clouds partially broke to give us fleeting valley views. After lunch we made our way to Hakone and the hot springs.
Our final day was used to visit many Japanese shrine areas - the Ueno Shrine and the Asakusa Shrine. The Asakusa Shrine was photogenic in bright orange.
Alas, we had to go back to Bangkok. We promised to return to discover more!
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