Heart-to-Art: Woody Adventures #3

After visiting Hong Kong for a week, my family and I flew over to Japan. We met up with my uncles and my cousin at Haneda airport in Tokyo. Instead of taking public transportation, my family decided to rent a van for the eight of us to road trip around Japan.

Week one route.
Week one route.

Tokyo

Tokyo Station
Of course, our first location was Tokyo, and we explored the city for a few days before moving on. Our first stop was Tokyo Station, basically a train station, a hotel, and a bunch of restaurants all in one place. From the outside, Tokyo Station is just another long brick building. Inside it’s a wide open space with branching paths to the subway, and on the second floor you can look down at the commuters down below, or enter the hotel (which is what Woody wanted to do).

Outside of the station.
Outside of the station.
View of the interior.
View of the interior.
Model of the station.
Model of the station.

Asakusa
After Tokyo Station, my family and I visited our first temple in Japan! Asakusa is a popular tourist area in Tokyo, home to Sensoji Temple. At the entrance is Kaminarimon, or “Thunder Gate” in Japanese, a large gate with two guardian deities on both sides. On the inside, the pathway up to the temple is lined with little vendors and shops that sell a variety of sweet desserts and more! One popular treat is soft cream, which is basically soft serve ice cream.

<em>Kaminarimon</em>, the entrance to Sensoji Temple.
Kaminarimon, the entrance to Sensoji Temple.
Woody loves soft cream!
Woody loves soft cream!

Nearby is the Sumida River, where you can sit and relax and enjoy clear blue skies and nice weather. Across the river, you can see the Asahi headquarters marked by the “golden turd” that sits on top of the building.

View of "Asahi Golden Turd" across the Sumida River.
View of “Asahi Golden Turd” across the Sumida River.

Tokyo Skytree
From Asakusa, we took the train across the river to Tokyo Skytree in Sumida. Tokyo Skytree is the tallest tower in the world at 2,080 feet. In order to get to the top, you have to take one of four elevators– each of which is designed and decorated to look like one of the four seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter). The top observation deck has three floors with a cafe, souvenir shop and more. When we went, it was packed with elementary and middle school students on a school field trip– but that’s okay because the view was nice!

View of Tokyo from the top of Skytree.
View of Tokyo from the top of Skytree.

Tsukiji Market
Tsukiji Market is a large market in Tokyo that sells a variety of food items like fish, packaged snacks, and vegetables. There are also a lot of vendors nearby that sell delicious street food like sweet egg omelettes on a stick. Of course, since we visited a fish market, we had to eat sushi. So we went to a specialized sushi restaurant nearby; the restaurant only offered four courses that all come with miso soup, salad, and steamed egg.

Woody enjoying delicious sushi served with miso soup.
Woody enjoying delicious sushi served with miso soup.

Mitaka
We headed to Mitaka for one reason: to visit the Ghibli Museum! I love Studio Ghibli movies, so I was super excited to see the museum. The inside was amazing, the museum itself is just as magical as any of Miyazaki’s movies.

The Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo.
The Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo.
The big robot from Castle in the Sky.
The big robot from Castle in the Sky.
Woody meets big, fluffy Totoro!
Woody meets big, fluffy Totoro!

 

Yokohama

Cup Noodle Museum
The Cup Noodle Museum includes a large exhibit and workshops to make your own cup noodles and chicken ramen. For the cup of noodles, my family and I each made our own. First, we had to buy the cup from a vending machine. Then, we decorated our cups with markers; I drew cute characters like Ponyo on mine!

Woody picking up our finished cup noodles!
Woody picking up our finished cup noodles!
Cup noodle encased in puffy packaging.
Cup noodle encased in puffy packaging.

The chicken ramen workshop is inside a special kitchen. Employees passed out cute chicken bandanas and aprons while we decorated our chicken ramen packages. After that, we made chicken ramen from scratch and watched the employees fry them until they were hard and ready to package!

The instant noodle room.
The instant noodle room.

One exhibit room was full of all the types of instant noodles—it was stacked all the way to the ceiling! Woody was very impressed.

Stacks and stacks of different types of instant noodles!
Stacks and stacks of different types of instant noodles!

The Mall
This mall wasn’t special in particular, but it was nice to relax and eat good food!

Up the escalator with my cousin Takuya.
Up the escalator with my cousin Takuya.
My delicious, colorful lunch in Yokohama.
My delicious, colorful lunch in Yokohama.
Vending machine found in the parking lot.
Vending machine found in the parking lot.

Kamakura

Kamakura Komachi-dori
Our main destination in Kamakura was Komachi-dori, a long street lined with restaurants, shops, and more! There we ate the local specialty raw shirasu, also known as Japanese Anchovy Whitebait. Woody also discovered an official Studio Ghibli store!

Woody meets Totoro again!
Woody meets Totoro again!

Stay tuned for more adventures in Japan with Woody!