Every Life, Every Fun

Sunday. Sunny day.  Clear, but not cold.  It hit 17!  We started out at the national Science and Nature Museum, always a barometer for how a nation views its environment.  All the English placards in Latin.  Huh.

Japanese fun fact: Before the country adopted standard time, it used a clock which divided a day into two parts, dawn to dusk, dusk to dawn, and each segment was divided into six equal parts.  And below is a picture of what was a clock.

Mid-morning we took the metro to Asakusa then trekked over the river to the Origami Museum (which is in fact really a man who is incredibly devoted to origami and runs a private, free, museum in a store).  But it was, in fact, incredibly wow.  Not pictured: The stork, in origami, smaller than a matchstick tip.  Which was, of course, mounted on a needle next to a matchstick.  I loved this.  So much of Tokyo is hidden little treasures.

The sun was out in force, so we mixed up walking and transit, winding up at Tokyo Station where 40-carriage bullet trains rip through the central business district.  We had lunch in the expansive malls under the station then walked the perimeter of the Imperial Palace Gardens.  As this wasn’t our first Tokyo trip, we had no agenda, and no urge to hit every site possible.  So, about 10,000 steps later, we made our way back to the hotel, then headed out for dinner.  We struck out repeatedly, niche cafes, bars and restaurants all teeming, no seats without reservations, and ended up in a hotel restaurant for lack of foresight. 

 

Well, with confidence I can say Tokyo was a weather miracle middle of winter.  Early final night in prep for a travel day Monday.