Tokyo: The World’s Largest City — Quiet, Clean, and Civilized

Maybe we knew it at some point. Maybe we just forgot. But, as we headed to Tokyo we didn’t realize we were flying to the largest city in the world. Tokyo’s 39 million people dwarfs New York’s 19 million. What was even more surprising was how quiet, clean and uncongested 39 million people could be.

We arrived at the Peninsula Hotel in Tokyo’s Ginza District a day before our official tour began. The Ginza district is the 5th Avenue of Tokyo sporting high-end shopping, great restaurants and glitzy hotels. It also, like most of the rest of Tokyo, has a 7-Eleven.

Our daughter Stephanie came to Japan during her semester abroad. She told us we had to see a 7-Eleven. It’s nothing like the ones at home she said. So, since the iconic convenience store was right across the street from our hotel, that was our first stop in Japan.

I will say it was impressive. Prepared foods, and not just microwave hot dogs. All the packaged foods you would expect and some you might not. Although I did not notice my beloved Oreo cookies, there certainly were many other selections. Drug store staples like Band-AIDS and Advil graced the shelves as did many drink choices. Since ATMs are less common in Japan, many people come here to get cash. Many places don’t accept credit cards so access to cash is important.

And, finally, there was, upstairs, a seating area that people use to eat. It did, however, look more like a crammed set of work cubicles than a restaurant. We chose to skip the food at 7-eleven and found a nice sushi restaurant.

Now by total coincidence, Lisa’s brother Bob was coming to Japan at the same time we were. We found out a few months ago that we would be near one another at the end of the trip so we arranged to get together then. What we didn’t know was that he and his wife Elizabeth would be there at the beginning. As it turned out, he checked into the same hotel, and ended up in a room on the same floor, two doors down from us. Sometimes our life feels like The Truman Show. This was one of those times.

Anyway, Bob and Elizabeth needed a snack and some water (it’s very hot and humid here) so they stopped by 7-Eleven. Unlike us, Bob chose to eat at the, um, dining area. Most Japanese people are relatively small. Bob is not. This made for an interesting spectacle.

The Imperial Palace

Japan has had an Emperor for thousands of years. He used to have his residence in Kyoto when that city was the capital. He and the capital moved to Tokyo in 1868. The Emperor used to be the sovereign ruler of Japan but, in 1945, after the war, he became a symbolic figurehead similar to the British royalty. The country is now a democracy, with the government being run by a Prime Minister and the Diet (legislature).

The Imperial Palace still houses the Emperor, his wife and daughter. The grounds are immense and lie right in the middle of Tokyo. It was said that in the 1980s when Japanese real estate was in a period of tremendous appreciation, that the value of the palace grounds was worth more than all of the real estate in California. Whew.

Lisa and I decided to wander over to the grounds on day one and then visited the Imperial Gardens the next day with our tour group. While you really can’t get much of a glimpse of the palace itself, the grounds are beautiful and you get a real perspective on the importance of the Imperial history of Japan.

Taiko Drumming

Taiko drumming is an ancient Japanese art that was used to motivate troops into battle. We weren’t looking for a fight, but, it’s also supposed to be good exercise and a lot of fun so the first stop with our Exclusive Resorts group was to a Taiko drumming studio.

As we entered we removed our shoes and were ushered into a room full of drums. Lisa and I took our position behind two good looking drums. The instructor was an experienced professional Taiko drummer and taught us some of the traditional rhythms used in the art. Apparently the Japanese also clap out many of these rhythms at baseball games as well. We’ll have to try that when we get home.

Anyway, he was a good teacher and our group were good students as we worked our way through the progressively more complicated drum sequences. It is, though, a bit embarrassing when everyone else is silent and you bang on your drum with gusto. Our instructor was quite forgiving so he didn’t chide me too much.

Our instructor spoke English very well and was very entertaining. He had an accent and phrasing very similar to my maternal grandmother. I miss her.

Once we finished our drumming session he did a demonstration of what real Taiko drumming sounded like. It was complex, intense, and very inspiring. I can see how warriors could be motivated to battle after listening to him.

A Michelin-Starred Lunch?

Next stop, the Tsukiji Fish Market. It was the center of Tokyo’s fish trade for centuries. A few years ago the government relocated the market to another part of town (Brett, our tour leader calls the new place “Soulless”). So, while the fish auction and major wholesale activity is gone, the market that grew up around that wholesale activity is still going strong. We wandered through the booths selling fish, produce, and other goods on our way to lunch.

We then walked to lunch. Michelin-starred chef Yoshida-san was there to teach us how to make sushi. Wait a minute. We’re making our lunch? I know he’s a good chef. I just hope he’s a good teacher.

Chef Yoshida showed us how to make sushi rice. He showed us how to cut the fish, form the rice, add the wasabi, and proportion everything properly. For sushi rolls he showed us how to make the rolls so they stayed together and looked good. Our team, Lisa, Kevin, Mary, and I dug right in and started preparing our lunch.

Typhoon #13

A typhoon is a tropical storm or hurricane that occurs in the Pacific Ocean. We woke up to one on Friday morning. It was the thirteenth typhoon to hit Japan in 2023. The winds weren’t too bad, but it did rain quite a bit. This changed our plans for the day somewhat but we are only here for a limited time so we pushed through and did what we could.

We got to our first stop and were going to walk through a neighborhood but no sooner did we get there than the wind picked up and scuttled our plans. The two guys who were there to help usher us around waited outside the bus. We invited them in but they wanted to ham it up in the storm. They really were pretty funny.

Somehow, Exclusive Resorts arranged for a special private prayer ceremony for us at Sensoji Temple, the oldest Buddhist Temple in Tokyo. It was deeply moving and we all got to participate. We couldn’t take cameras in so I have no photos. But, the experience is one we will not forget.

After we were done, we went back into the public area and shook long sticks out of a hole in a canister that had a number on it. We then opened a drawer that corresponded to that number and retrieved a fortune. Lisa shook out her lot, opened her drawer and got an “excellent fortune.” Riches, happiness, good luck, all the things.

I then shook out my number, opened my drawer and . . . Very Bad Fortune. Things don’t look so good for me. I had to ask Brett, our guide how Lisa could have a happy marriage and I have a bad one. Brett didn’t answer. He just ushered me over to this set of metal bars where you tie up bad fortunes. By doing so, you allow the winds to eventually blow away the bad fortune. I hope we have another typhoon soon.

The Tokyo SkyTree

Next stop, one of the tallest structures in the world. When it was completed in 2011, the Tokyo SkyTree, at 2080 feet, was the tallest structure on Earth. It has since been passed by two others, but, it is still way up there. We couldn’t wait to eat lunch up there and enjoy the view.

Uh, wait. There’s a typhoon coming through today. Well, at least we got lunch.

The Shinto Shrine

We then headed over to the Yanesen, an old section of Tokyo that survived the bombing during the war. Japan has two primary religions — Buddhism and Shintoism. We visited the Buddhist Temple in the morning. In the afternoon we visited one of Japan’s oldest Shinto Shrines, the Nezu Shrine founded in 1705.

It was beautiful. The Torii gates at the Shrine are said to remove a sin for every gate you walk through. Some of us decided we needed to make several rounds through the gates. Regardless, the Shrine was a sacred place that exuded great meaning. It was a special visit.

Our visit to Tokyo has been inspiring and educational. The people of Japan, the culture, the food, and the city are something to behold. There were no honking horns, traffic jams, trash on the ground, crime, or rude behavior. Pretty good for 39 million people all sharing a city together.

Our next stop is Kyoto. We’ll tell you about that in our next post.