Skip to main content

Theresa O’Connor / Treasa Ní Chonchúir

One night in 東京 (Tōkyō)

Part of our

From Narita we took the 成田（Narita）エクスプレス（Express） to 東京駅（Tokyo Station） and walked to our hotel just a couple of blocks away. After getting settled in, we wandered across the 日本橋（Nihombashi）, along the Imperial Palace’s moat in 丸の内（Marunouchi）, and enjoyed a simple dinner of hot pot and soba noodles at Garb to finish the evening.

A city skyline at dusk. In front of the skyline is a body of water. To the right of the water is a white building with a black roof, done in traditional Japanese architecture.

The next day, after breakfast in our hotel, we did some sightseeing in Tokyo while waiting for our train. We visited 築地場外市場（Tsukiji Outer Market）, where Eryn and EJ each got some strawberry treats. We also wandered the grounds at 築地（Tsukiji）本願寺（Honganji） a bit.

A woman and a girl pose in front of a food stand selling various strawberry-themed treats. Each holds a treat from the stand.
Japanese streamers shaped like fish hang from girders painted International Orange.
In the middle of a city block, a strange, curvy building is center frame. The building almost appears to be alive; lots of plants are incorporated into the design.
Stacked between two sections of a gravestone is a stone carving of a frog.

We also went up Tokyo Tower to take in its view of the city.

A large, orange and white tower sticks majestically into a gray sky.
Two feet wearing green sneakers stick into a window in the floor of a room. Through the window, the orange lower section of Tokyo Tower is visible, as is the street below.

We had lunch at 餃子（jiǎozi）百珍（bǎizhēn）一味（yīwèi）玲玲（línglíng） in Tokyo Station, then caught のぞみ（Nozomi） 73 to 京都駅（Kyoto Station）. This was EJ’s first 新幹線（Shinkansen） ride, but her second on high-speed rail. (She got to ride the TGV in 2018.)

Two women and a girl sit next to each other on a train. The two women are smiling at the camera. The child is giving the camera some side-eye.
のぞみ 73
Two women and a girl sit next to each other on a train. The two women are smiling at the camera. The child is giving the camera some RBF. The woman in the center has a large yellow bag.
ひかり 535