Konnichiwa, Tokyo!

We’ve only been here for 24 hours and are already in love with this incredible city that 40 million people call home!  Yes, you read that correctly.  It’s hard to comprehend that number, but it’s also geographically huge – the size five Manhattans.  But before we dive into our day one highlights – a quick plug for Apple TV’s hit show Eugene Levy:  The Reluctant Traveler.  He has a fun episode about Tokyo, and the whole series is great.  Now let’s get to our previously scheduled programming!

The NYT published an article last week called 36 Hours in Tokyo.  Perfect timing! One of the restaurants they recommended, Unafuji, specializes in eel dishes and is right near our hotel. We were very lucky to get a table thanks to our good friends, Chris and Jennie, who are also here in Japan on vacation.

True story:  Michael and Chris went to high school together in Spain and were in a punk band called Activated Sludge. Also true, we had no idea what we were ordering but this eel was the best that any of us had ever eaten. We also ate eel liver - delish!

After dinner, we ate THESE! Strawberries are a sweet treat here in Tokyo and according to the Japan External Trade Organization, Japan supposedly has the "highest consumption ratio of raw strawberries in the world". Who knew?

Today, we saw the last of the cherry blossoms at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden and the first of the azaleas at the Nezujinja Shrine.

We also had an excellent sushi lunch at Tsukiji Nippon Fish Market and did the touristy, but “must do” Tokyo experience of walking through Shibuya Crossing.  You can check it out in real time here:  https://worldcams.tv/japan/tokyo/shibuya-crossing

Shibuya Crossing is known as Japan’s Times Square, and the crossing itself is known as the “Shibuya Scramble.”

We thought we’d close out this post with some good advice that we saw along the way today.  More soon from Tokyo!

Words to live by.