Hanami, Yakitori, and Harajuku in Tokyo

The title pretty much says it all.

I'm one of those travelers that loves two things about a destination: 1. being emerged in the every day of a city, and 2. exploring the living traditions and history of a city.

If you like that sorta thing as well, you'll love this post.

Hanami.
Click here for all the best cherry blossom spots.

Hamani is a Japanese word for cherry blossom viewing.
When the cherry trees bloom they mark the start of spring and everyone goes out to celebrate by having picnics under their magical pink flower-laden branches.

Tokyo.

These views are epic.
And I'm of the mentality, why pay for something when I can have it for free.
Curtsy of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.
Skip the queue and the ticket price of other observation decks and go here.
Free 360 degree views of Tokyo.

Yakitori.

This can be compared to shish-kebabs, but a lot more Japanese.
You can get everything from chicken hearts, to pork skin, to tofu on a stick.
Look for little alleyways to shoot down, the best yakitori places will most likely be down these.
Find a place with a bar with a few bar stools around it, order a beer and a few things off the menu and relax.

The great thing about all 3 of these places is that they're all in Shinjuku and only a few minutes walk one from the other.

Harajuku.
Harajuku is known for fashion, shopping and fancy dress.
...But I wasn't very impressed.
There were a few people dressed up in cool outfits but the majority of it was so-so.
Unless you're into dressing up a lot, or love either all black or all child-ish clothes, there isn't much to do other than people watch.
The street is pretty short and there aren't many places to eat here either.

If you have a few days in Japan, this is a really fun way of spending a whole day without having to travel around too much.

Edo Tokyo Museum

What's the best thing to do on a rainy afternoon?
There are three options for me: 1. Go to a museum, 2. Go see a movie, or 3. Snuggle in bed with tea.

Considering I've been watching a different movie every night, and I didn't actually have a "bed" in Tokyo (only a couch very generously offered to me by a friend) I though a museum might be a nice change of pace.

The Edo Tokyo Museum looked nice from the website so we bundled up, grabbed an umbrella and headed out to brave the storm.
(Though I wish I had one of these babies to be carried around in during weather like this.)

The building looks reallllly cool form the outside.
Once you buy the tickets and get on a 3 story high escalator you realize that the building is for show and the museum is only on  2 floors of this building.

The museum itself wasn't my favorite.
It was interesting don't get me wrong, but for a non-Japanese speaker who has almost zero knowledge in Japanese history it was a little dry and hard to know what I was looking at.
(Most of the signs and descriptions are in Japanese.)

Luckily I had someone with me that can at least make out the titles of the description signs so I could kind of get by.

A cold day usually calls for some warm food.
A really cool thing about Japan is that you can order what you want out of a vending machine!!!
You just pick what you want, push a button, put in money and out prints a ticket.
You take the ticket directly to the chef and he rings a bell when your food is ready to be picked up.
Efficiency at its finest.

Yasukuni Shrine, Budokan and the First Cherry Blossom

I loved being in Tokyo.
After Singapore, it was a breathe of fresh air (literally) and I loved being able to walk all over the city.

One bright, sunny day we decided to go to the Yasukuni Shrine.
I was told soldiers from multiple countries are buried here from WWII, which created tension between Japan and the other countries because they felt their fallen should have been sent home to them.

There's a really nice park here too (which is even better during the cherry blossom festival).

From here we decided to walk to the Budokan arena, which was, fittingly, enormous.
This is where all the sumo matches happen during sumo season.
In the off season artists come to preform here.

And to our surprise, on the way back to the train we stumbled upon the first cherry blossom trees!!

The rest of the cherry blossoms still needed a few days of sun to warm up so in the mean time we had to find other things to do (and if you follow my Instagram you already know what those things are!).

Tsukiji Fish Market and an Izakaya

What do you do when a group of happy-go-lucky Japanese people get together?
You eat sushi, drink sake, and talk, a lot.
(Just my type of people.)

Tsukiji Fish Market is the best place to get sushi in Japan, if not in the world.
This is one of the biggest fish markets in the world, and if you can get there early enough (5am-ish) you can see and buy some tasty, different, very expensive types of fish.

If you're not looking to fork out a fortune or aren't in the mood to cook, just walk into any little restaurant and ask for the menu.

A few tips to look out for:
1. The restaurant's here don't look like much from the outside, but if there was anything to prove the "don't judge a book by it's cover" saying, this place is it.
2. If you don't know Japanese, you will most likely have to just close your eyes and choose as there probably will not be an English menu or speaker in the place.
3. No matter what you choose, it will be delicious.

Before we knew it lunch was over and we were on our way to dinner.
Dinner was at an izakaya, a traditional Japanese watering hole that also serves food.
Moments after sitting down the first bottle of sake arrived.

And not long after, the second bottle along with gyozo (Japanese dumplings) and everything else on the menu.

We sat and talked for hours, laughing, and telling stories until we realized the last train was on it's way and everyone had to part ways.