Skytree of Tokyo
The Skytree of Tokyo
After a very restful night, the Tokyo Skytree is on the agenda today. After a first-class breakfast in the lounge at Conrad Tokyo – again served by extremely friendly people – we make our way to the next subway. Train station to fight again against the machines from which we just want to buy a normal day ticket.
For once, there are no friendly and helpful railway employees around the machines who could help us buy the tickets. But luckily we are even more stubborn than the machine and in the end it spits out the four tickets that entitle us to unlimited travel on all public transport without a seat reservation for a period of 24 hours.
We are slowly beginning to understand the system according to which the various railway lines are organized. However, it is always complicated to find your way around the different levels. Of course, it is also important to start in the right direction.
The stops have numbers that you can use to orientate yourself.
So we take the Asakusa Line from Shimbashi Station and go straight to Oshiaga Station, from where it’s just a few steps to the Tokyo Skytree.
Thanks to Wikipedia we know the following in brief:
The Tokyo Skytree is a 634 meter high television and radio broadcasting tower in the Japanese capital Tokyo. It opened on May 22, 2012. It is the tallest television tower and the third tallest structure in the world after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the PNB 118 in Kuala Lumpur.
Around the actual tower there is a gigantic shopping center, the “Plaza”. You can buy almost anything your heart desires here on several floors. There are grocery stores, sweets, all kinds of electronics, fashion stores and also souvenirs and a thousand other things that no one actually needs.
We are drawn to a shop that sells Japanese knives. This seems to be a science in itself. Of course, we are mainly talking about kitchen knives here and therefore all knives have their own purpose for meat, vegetables and so on. But there are also universal knives that are suitable for almost everything.
The devices also differ in the steel used, if they are not even made of carbon. We learn that the steel with the designation VG10 is probably the best. Another feature is the method of production. Some blades are made from a single block, while others are made from steel folded several times.
And there are also huge differences, from damask knives with five layers to ultra-expensive knives that consist of more than 80 layers and even have different colors.
As I said, this is a science in itself. So we put off making a decision for a while, especially since the nice saleswoman recommended that we drive to a street where one knife shop is lined up after another. It is “Kappabashi Street, 3 Chome-18-2 Matsugaya, Taito City” – simple!
But today our main goal is the Tokyo Skytree. After fighting our way through the colorful and sometimes flashy shopping world, we finally come to the foot of the actual tower via a small square where an ice skating arena is set up.
It’s no longer surprising that we have to keep changing levels here to finally get to the ticket counter. Of course it’s a machine. After all, there is a uniformed man standing nearby who assigns ticket buyers to a machine. Pretty much everything is regulated in Tokyo!
This also applies to getting into the express lifts: there are four of them and women busily buzzing around regulate the flow of visitors and distribute them among the four lifts. These, on the other hand, are a blast: the route up is covered at a speed of 600 meters per minute!
Of course, the viewing platform isn’t exactly deserted either. Several school classes and guided tour groups compete for the best seats at the windows. But you’re not aggressive and at some point we found the best places in all directions. And the views are magnificent! As grandiose as the city itself; The sea of houses is almost incalculable and extends to the horizon or is limited by the sea.
We read somewhere that around 35 million people live in the greater Tokyo area, an incredibly large number!
Again we are directed up escalators and around a confusing number of corners to an elevator that arrives somewhere in one of the lower levels of the Tokyo Skytree. No idea where we came from or where we need to go to get back to the starting point. The ice rink would be a good landmark. But we only finally find them again after many changes of direction and levels.
Now we want to take in a little bit of a Tokyo streetscape. What is striking are the girls who advertise here, some of them quite dubious. The clothes seem to have come straight out of a manga. In any case, their clothing is not really adapted to the weather, which is another reason that these ladies actually stand out!
Finding the train station isn’t any easier. But of course we overcome this hurdle and find ourselves back in our luxury hostel an hour later, where extreme couching is now the order of the day.
At half past seven we ordered four seats in the hotel’s Teppanyaki restaurant. To make a long story short: it’s fantastic! From the appetizers to the Wagyu beef fillet to the dessert, every detail is impeccable and of excellent taste! Wow!
It’s actually hard to top a culinary experience like this. I still want to “go one better” and drink a whiskey in the hotel bar, but after studying the prices for a glass I decide not to. I’d rather enjoy the great bed in our room and read a little more until I finally fall asleep, full of remarkable experiences, with a “good night” on my lips!
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