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To the next great adventure.

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Goodbye from Tokyo

The last day was about the future.

We went to the Miraikan (“future museum”), the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. It’s a must-see in Tokyo, in my opinion. There were excellent exhibits about space travel, computers, unexplained scientific phenomenon, new ideas in preserving and caring for our planet, and robots! M and I met Asimo, one of Honda’s robots, and we were impressed. It can walk, it can talk, it can jump, it can balance, it is incredible. My favorite thing of all though was perhaps one of the simplest. An enormous globe, made of tiny screens, hangs from the ceiling in the multi-story atrium. Beneath are couches to lie on and stare in wonder as the world “rotates” above your head. Day, night, shipping routes, temperatures… The map is constantly in flux. It’s hypnotic. I could have spent an entire day staring up at that big, beautiful planet, just as I happily spent an entire year exploring it.

From Miraikan M and I strolled to Palette Town, which fans of Pokémon will be sad to learn does not, it seems, have a place for adopting your own Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle. Sorry. There was, however, a beautiful rainbow-colored Ferris Wheel, and a shopping mall designed to remind one of Italian streets, complete with painted ceilings and false doors. It was strange, but it felt very appropriate for Japan.

Sadly, this was where reality hit me. That this was the end of my shaking my head and smiling at another country’s curiosities. That in twelve hours’ time I was flying to my home country. That this incredible, impossible, imperfectly perfect year was coming to a close.

We left Palette Town right on time to notice a beautiful sunset was beginning and wasted no time finding a great vantage point. We stood there for ages, watching sky catch fire and shadows slide over the city. Good-bye to you too, Tokyo.

M and I are both back in Canada now, home but just steps away from the next adventure. Words truly fail me when I try to wrap up what we went through, to encompass every experience, every moment in a few phrases. We lived highs and lows like we never had before, we were tested and taught, we faced fears and lived dreams. Every single day there was a new challenge, every day there was a new thrill.

I could go on, but I already feel I’m not doing it justice. But you, dear reader, who have stuck with us this past year, from Saigon to Tokyo the very long way, I think you will understand. This blog is our explanation, our treasure trove of memories, our biggest souvenir. M and I thank you for your support, especially our friends, for welcoming us home as if no time had passed, and our families, who I’m sure suffered more than a few frantic moments questioning the odds of our survival (sorry about that).

Now, how to conclude? As I said, M and I are already in the middle of plans for the coming months and dreams for the coming years. It’s a great big beautiful world, and it’s calling to us.

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Sunset in Tokyo

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Tokyo’s Rainbow Bridge stands white in front of nature’s sunset colors

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Tokyo’s Palette Town Ferris Wheel

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Welcome to Harajuku Street

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Tokyo Tower frames the full moon

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Reflections of Tokyo Tower

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Tokyo Tower

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Kusunoki Masashige, a celebrated samurai from the 14th-century who was said to epitomize loyalty, courage, and devotion to the emperor

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Shadow of a statue at the Tokyo National Museum

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Tokyo

We arrived in Tokyo one dark and drizzly night. The following day, the adventure of the final city began. We opened with a classic stop: the national museum. I always enjoy seeing how a country portrays their own history and the highlights of their civilization, and once again I was not disappointed. Japan has amassed a beautiful collection of their own art over the centuries, and I was especially impressed with the modern pieces they included at the end of the exhibit.

The Tokyo National Museum sits in Uneo Park, a beautiful city park that was well-used on that sunny Saturday. There was an exhibit of flowering bonsai, stalls selling crafts, food carts, musicians, a baseball diamond, a lake, and more. After some exploring, M and I returned to our accommodation to rest up. You see, we had big plans for the evening.

Tokyo’s nightlife is famous the world over, and we were not going to miss out. It’s a good thing we had a small nap, because we didn’t sleep again until well past sun up. Not willing to take the last train home from downtown (things were just getting interesting!), we ended up at a small café bar some time in the early hours of the morning, drinking, dancing, and chatting with locals who were also waiting out the hours between the last and first trains. As the sky began to light up, we joined the throngs of young people spilling onto the streets. It looked like classic Tokyo rush hour as I imagined it – except everyone was under the age of thirty and it was a Sunday morning!

Unsurprisingly, M and I did not get too much done the rest of that day. However, we did have a walk to and around the Tokyo Skytree. M amused me with the story of that building, which was slated to be the tallest tower in the world (second tallest structure) when it was conceived. At the same time, the Chinese were building the Canton Tower which was supposed to reach the same height. “Unfortunately”, the Japanese fell behind on construction relative to the Chinese, and so Canton Tower finished first and won the honors – until the Japanese added a few more metres to their plans! So, today Tokyo Skytree is the tallest tower in the world by 34 metres, and the Chinese are not impressed.

That evening I had a long-overdue gift for M, his birthday present. We went to the Robot Restaurant, which I can tell you nothing about without spoiling the shock and awe that is that experience. However, I can recommend it. As M said, it’s that classic, crazy sort of thing you expect from Japan. Give it a shot.

The following day M and I strolled yet another district of Tokyo (did I mention yet how enormous this city is?). We ended up near the Imperial Palace, though since it is still a royal residence we were not allowed closer than across the moat. Still, pretty! It also gave us an interesting view of some of the towers of Tokyo, which aside from the Skytree look surprisingly dated and uninteresting. My supposition is that since Japan hasn’t had great economic growth in decades, there hasn’t been great demand for new towers.

Later we explored Sony’s headquarters, where one can test out the latest gizmos and gadgets – kind of. I do enjoy corporate history, but I was left wanting in terms of a truly high-tech, the-future-is-here feel, which I had expected from a company like Sony. We ended the night beneath Tokyo Tower, which comes from a time when Japan was more of a copy-cat than an innovator (see pictures). Copy or not, it is beautiful, and my camera and I (and M!) enjoyed it.

Our penultimate day was spent strolling the city again. We took in the strange sights of Harajuku Street, and the sunset views of the Tokyo Metropolitan Building. Then we headed to an old, exclusive bar area just to see what that means in Japan. Tiny bars, hardly room for a dozen people, stand shoulder to shoulder in a series of alleyways that brings you to another time. Almost everything is exclusively in Japanese, and if you’re not a regular you are not welcome (or will be charged exorbitantly for it). It was pretty neat to see, but, of course, not for us. We returned to a quiet bar we’d been at on Saturday, which served great craft beers in a cool atmosphere. I’m pleased to say that it felt just like any other of our great nights out.

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Tsumago, one of the historic Japanese towns on the King’s Road

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A study of contrasts with Japanese maples of the Kiso Valley

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Water trough in the Kiso Valley

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Old mill on the King’s Road in the Kiso Valley

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An old message board on the King’s Road outside Magome, in the Kiso Valley