Saturday, May 2
We set off early this morning and headed for the Tjukiji Fish Market, the largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world. This is where very early morning tuna auctions are held, but it was too early for us and only the first 120 visitors are admitted! We arrived about 10am and the activity was still frantic with all sorts of delivery vehicles coming and going, as well as old traditional barrows, electric powered little trolleys and forklifts. The fish and seafood looked fantastic as wholesaler's were cutting it, trimming it and packing it for shipping all over Japan as well as the world. There were many types we couldn't identify or would want to eat, but the whole place was continually hosed down and kept clean, and it didn't smell fishy at all.
The tuna were huge, but now trimmed and ready for eatingThere were also thousands of tourists and local visitors roaming around the outer market area, which was more of a retail market as well as lots of restaurants, cafés and street stalls selling all kinds of food and drink, and the lanes and alleys were jam packed so you just had to go with the flow. By now it was approaching lunchtime and the more popular restaurants had long queues in front of them. After some tasty snacks we decided it was time to move on, so we headed for the Ginza.
This area is the upmarket shopping area in central Tokyo, but after staying in Shinjuku it seemed a bit tame and just like any downtown top end retail area. Again there were heaps of people on the streets and in the shops, all out enjoying another sunny Spring day. One famous landmark we visited was the Kabukiza Theatre which stages traditional Japanese plays, but unfortunately we didn't have time to see a performance.
Outside the Ginza Kabukiza Theatre
As we had a lot of things to see today that were in different parts of Tokyo we had purchased a one day subway ticket, so we used the various lines to get around to see them all. Our next stop was the Meiji Shrine, an important Shinto shrine which is dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and his wife the Empress Shoken. As a means of remembering them a forest of over 100,000 trees were planted after their deaths in 1912 and 1914 respectively, and the whole area incorporates a beautiful garden that they developed during their lives.
Today turned out to be a good one to visit here, as on a Saturday afternoon Shinto weddings are held here, this week commemorates the death of the Emperor and the Spring Grand Festival was being held. After seeing such beautiful gardens yesterday we decided to see some of the weddings and the music and dance show being performed not long after we arrived. Again there were lots of people here, and the walk through the forest to the shrine was very enjoyable after the hustle and bustle of the Ginza area.
The music and dance performances were again traditional so it was good to see, especially for the colourful costumes, but we needed someone to explain what was going on as it didn't mean a lot to us.
Traditional dance performed in front of the Shrine
We saw a couple of the stages of a wedding ceremony before the party moved into the Shrine for the rest of the ceremony, and later on we saw a wedding procession which looked like the formalities had been completed and they were leaving the Shrine area.
Wedding ceremony in progress
Wedding ceremony completed
Unfortunately tonight is our last night in Tokyo as we fly home tomorrow, but we will have part of the day to do a few more things before we leave as our flight isn't until 8:30pm. We have loved our first visit to Japan, and can recommend it as the people have been very polite and friendly, and we've found it easy to get around using public transport as well as walking!
Posted with Blogsy
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