Planes, Trains, and Convenience Stores

 April 18, 2023

Our first mission of the day was to visit Bic Camera, a gigantic electronics store. Ken wanted to look at digital cameras with a lot of zoom power. The one he uses now is getting old. We had a lovely walk on the way over. The weather was so nice. Even in the heart of Tokyo there was a lot of green.

We found ourselves walking along the Ginza for part of the way. We saw a lot of very high-end shops, but we were not interested. There is so much here in Tokyo that is deeply interesting, but the Ginza is not what we came to see.

This is more like it. The most adorable little police substation ever. It says “Ginza 1 Chome Police Box” over the entrance. The address system in Japan divides municipalities into districts, called chome. Ginza is a district of Chuo, which is a special “ward” in Tokyo. This may not be the clearest explanation, but anything more is beyond the scope of this blog.

Always look up, but always look down, too. There may be something interesting or beautiful on the sidewalk.

We didn’t find a camera to buy, but it was fun browsing through everything from cell phone cases to Kit-Kats.

Then we walked over to Tokyo Station to see if we could print out some of our tickets and to try to reserve seats for a trip to Nikko later on. We also wanted to buy some IC cards for Libby and Eric, who will be arriving later today. In the daylight it was easier to find our way around.

We accomplished the missions, and then we wandered around aimlessly inside the station looking for a place to eat a better-late-than-never lunch, and then we picked one for no particular reason. I think we were overwhelmed by the choices. It was a Japanese-style spaghetti restaurant. The food there doesn’t taste like Italian food, but it is very tasty, and very satisfying.

At this point, we received a text notifying us that Libby and Eric’s flight had landed. We headed back to the hotel to meet them. They cleared immigration and customs very quickly, and before we knew it, they were here.

They felt like walking after that long flight, so we decided to give them a welcome-to-Tokyo tour of Tokyo Station. But first, we stopped at the 7-Eleven on the ground floor of our hotel. There is a 7-Eleven on almost every block here. They are fun and interesting, but also very convenient and practical. They are such a good introduction to Japanese culture. 

7-Eleven is not a grocery store, but they sell an amazing variety of foods, especially prepared food, packaged in single servings. They sell hot and cold drinks, in to-go cups, or in bottles or cans. They sell strawberry sandwiches, made today. They sell rice balls (onigiri) and bento boxes, cakes and cookies, yogurt, juice, and jello with fruit in it. They have ATM machines that accept American credit and debit cards and give you a fair exchange rate. They will load money onto an IC card for you. They will provide other useful services.

After looking at many of the interesting things at Tokyo Station, we decided we would go to Ramen Street for dinner. It’s not a real street, it’s more like an alley, but it’s not a real alley. It’s an area inside the station that contains 8 or 10 ramen restaurants, cheek by jowl, as it were.

Q: How do you eat ramen without splattering yourself?

A: Some restaurants offer disposable bibs. They are very long and will cover your lap as well as your chest.

Today’s color is brick red, like the amazing, fascinating, vibrant Tokyo Station.