I have stayed in Tokyo for three days total – but not in a row. First two days I spent exploring the streets, national Tokyo museum, some local temples and the Tokyo Tower (by the way, there are two towers – the old, and the new. I think I have been to the new one). Then I went to Nagano to visit the Nikko Toshogu Temple, and returned back to spend a night in Tokyo to rest, and head to Jigokudani the next day. This was the only route possible – although Nikko and the Hell Valley do look not that far away from each other, they are separated by mountains – and there is LITERALLY no way through them. Only around.

There are two parts in Tokyo – just as in any other big city. There is a tourist, “show off” area, where all the busy life, restaurants, shops, museums and downtown life is. Then there is a rural part – which is much sweeter, calmer, and really gives out the true Japanese vibe. Guess which part was my favourite, lol 🙂

My first day was all about the popular tourist destinations – one of them was the National Tokyo Museum. It has been the best museum I have ever seen – and my big secret is that I am a nerd somewhere deep down. So museums were not something I do once in a lifetime. The museum is BIG. It consists of the four main complexes, and the main building requires around 4-5 hours to walk. The alley that leads to the main complex had a long row of fountains, with street performers (one guy had a monkey demonstrate tricks to the tourist, then walk around and sniff everybody).

The collections are gathered from middle East and Asia, featuring Egyptian mummies, Mesopotamian vases, Japanese samurai clothing, Chinese drawings, Indian god statues, etc. A separate thanks to the engineers and interior designers – the spacious architectural layout made the expositions stand out, highlighted on the black background and emphasized by spotlights. Each floor (there were 6, I think) featured a different era and culture. A separate building was dedicated to Japanese culture.

I also went to a Kanda Shrine from the Edo period. The Edo period in Japan is something like our European Barocco – lots of bright colors and rich decor in architecture, clothing, and other decor. There was a small museum by the shrine as well – the entrance was 850 yen for a small two-storey exposition featuring dolls dressed as per the Edo fashion, big doll carriages and temples. I believe up north of Tokyo they also have the Edo Village – a place where for 15000 yen you get dressed up in traditional kimono, your make up is done, you ride around in carriages attending tea ceremonies and outdoor festivals as if you are a true Japanese lady of the 1600s. This is my go-to if I ever return to Japan (fingers crossed).

Next – and what I thought was my final destination for the day – was the above mentioned Tokyo tower:

There is nothing more fun than being a young girl wandering around an unknown city at night all alone (rest assured, Japan is the SAFEST country in the world). So, as I was slowly making my way to the hotel, I bumped into another temple complex – although the nearby shopping street was closed, and you could not come inside the temple, it was still very… majestic. I never saw lanterns that big throughout my whole trip in Japan. Lots of tourists were taking pictures and wandering around.

I was almost dead when I arrived at my hotel, and my last brain cells gave up and died when I tried to figure out the automatic check in process. Fortunately, it was designed for stupid people like me and had an English option.

Oh did I mention it was not a regular hotel? Bet I did not, haha. Whoopsie.

It was a CAPSULE hotel. To save up on space and residence costs, Japan and Korea hotels came up with a genius idea of offering their guests a stay in a capsule, with separate common areas for studying, eating, showering. Each guest is provided a plastic card which takes them to their floor (separate for women and men), opens their locker and common areas. Towels, pajamas, clean blankets, toothbrush and other necessities are provided. The capsule contains an outlet and a switch to turn on/off the light. There are people who love capsules and the weirdos who do not (no offense). I really loved it. It was so cozy, so quiet, and warm, and my ancestor instincts were tricked into thinking I finally found a safe cave to sleep in.

Next day was kind of fun. My phone charging connector got severely clogged up (as I realized way after) and despite trying to clean it toothpick, hair dryer, toothbrush, changing charging cords, it would not start charging. Meanwhile I had 60% on my battery, and was totally dependent on my phone which had contacts, translator and Google Maps.

I ended up buying a cordless charger, which I plugged into my separate power block. I put my phone onto the charger and the rest of the trip travelled like this. Very inconvenient – definitely do not recommend as part of the solo travelling experience.

I visited a Shiba Toshogu park, where one of the Emperors used to reside and die (?), but was not really impressed. There was a traditional style hotel next to it, and the shrine did not differ much from it. Yet I really loved the contrast between the traditional style buildings and skyscrapers. I visited a couple of other temples, but by this time they all seemed same to me (please forgive me my dear Japanese friends).

On the next day, I set out to Nikko.

When I returned back to Tokyo from Nikko, I really wanted to visit the Ghibli museum. Yes, you got it right – Studio Ghibli had its own outdoor museum with big statues of their characters. Can you imagine my disappointment when I realized you need to book 2-3 months in advance!

Well, that brought me down. As it turned out later, it was absolutely unnecessary 🙂

First, I came across a Harry Potter Village. The Hogwarts music was playing, the atmosphere was very “wizarding”, and overall even if I did not read Harry Potter – it was still very engaging experience that got you into the mood. Funny enough, they had a Harry Potter store that you could not enter unless purchased a pass in advance – no logic in the wizarding world.

Next, I went to the cat temple – the waiving cats are believed to bring joy, health, money, etc. Certainly someone was a big fan:

Finally, because I am stubborn – I still went to the Ghibli museum hoping to see something at least above the fence. Nah.

Instead, I walked around a beautiful park. There were boats to rent and have a calming sail at the local lake – and yet again, I was late. As I came by, the last boat rowed away and I waived good bye to my little dream which was peacefully sailing away. Not every day is your day, right?