Japan Vacation: Tokyo Day 1

     On August 5, 2012, I headed to Japan for my week long summer vacation. Most of my college friends could tell you how I've wanted to go to Japan for a LONG time. I was always fascinated by the country with its technology, manga/anime, and so forth. I also took Japanese classes for 3 semesters while in college. That only increased my interest in the country, along with my desire to travel overall since it was around that time that I started forming my first friendships with international students. Even though I landed in Osaka, the first city that I actually explored was Japan's most popular city: Tokyo!
     The first "city" that I visited within Tokyo-Tokyo is so big with districts within it so different that they are referred to as cities-was Asakusa. I headed over to the Nakamise market to see what I could find.

The market is huge, vearing off in many directions that have paths filled with small stores. There is a ton of Japanese souvenirs to look at. I looked over small items like keychains, food, drinks, samurai swords, clothes, and wall decorations. There was one souvenir that I knew I wanted in particular before I came to Japan: A samurai sword umbrella. A real samurai sword would be nice, but there is no way I could legally carry it or get it through the airport. Therefore, the umbrella was as close as I was getting. After asking numerous people and searching all over the district, I finally found it!

Behind the market is what the Asakusa district is most famous for, the Senso-ji Temple. It is a temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. I walked inside and saw the display to the bodhisattva, along with many people who would line up and pray before the temple. Photos were not allowed inside, so here is one close to the entrance: 

     Later that day, I headed to the Tokyo Tower with a fellow backpacker from France named Willy that I met at my hostel. This time a Buddhist temple, the Zojo-ji Temple, was the entrance to the main attraction (albeit you walk around the temple).

The tower offered two observatories, one higher than the other, with each offering a citywide view of Tokyo. Willy and I decided to take the lower view (as it was cheaper, lol.). The view of the city was very nice, and we had good timing in that we came near sunset. Because of this, we saw a daytime citywide view and a nighttime citywide view. For those without good timing like us, they offered the following:

     After leaving the tower, Willy and I met up with a friend named Tomoya. We graduated college together last year, both being business students. He took us to a Japanese restaurant, where we had some good food.  We talked about differences in culture between our countries, and how things were going in our lives. I'm glad I had the chance to meet up with him.

     That was most of what I did during my first day in Tokyo. Next day in the following post!