Tokyo’s urban sprawl appears almost endless when viewed from the Metropolitan Government Offices except for one oasis of green in the south. The forest here is home to the Meiji Shrine (明治神宮) which is dedicated to the first Emperor of modern Japan and it was here that I went on my first afternoon in Japan.
After arriving in Tokyo my first port of call was the area where I would be staying; Shibuya (渋谷) in the southwest on the city on the Yamanote line. If you’ve ever watched a travel documentary about Tokyo before then you will have undoubtedly seen the iconic “scramble crossing” directly outside the station with its enormous video screens and neon advertisements.
Arriving at Haneda airport on a slightly overcast Wednesday morning was not the most auspicious way to enter Japan for the first time but even in my severely sleep-deprived state there was still a sense of excitement in the air. I had made it. Finally after literally years of false starts I was in Tokyo and ready to lap up the experience.
It had turned into a bit of a running joke that every time I planned to visit Japan in the past few years I have somehow been diverted to China or Korea – but no longer – after many false starts I’ve finally booked a return flight to Tokyo for 1 week at the end of the month (Sept 29 – Oct 6)!
I’m back from Shanghai with lots of posts on the way (super busy city with some amazing architecture) but just stumbled across these wonderful re-imagining’s of Seoul, Tokyo and New York‘s subway systems by Korean designer Zero per Zero which also doubles as a calendar somehow (via JeanSnow). I love this stuff. Check out what happens when you mouse over the cute logo on their site also (0 / 0). I have got to buy one of these for my apartment but not sure whether to go for the Seoul or Tokyo designs. Hope they ship to China!