A slow start to the day as we prepared to return to Tokyo and attempted to fit our luggage back in our bags/managable piles. To avoid the crowded buses we ubered to the station and purchased our shinkasen tickets as we arrived. Sadly no view of Fuji-San on this leg of our journey AND we didn't have enough time to purchase train snacks. A very sad state of affairs! Once back in Tokyo (in less time than it takes to get from Newcastle to Sydney) we had an easy transfer to our hotel, and while it was too early to check in we were able to leave our luggage while we had a late lunch.
In the afternoon we took a long walk through Ginza to see the famous Ghibli clock. Unfortunately our schedule didn't align with the clock and it wasn't due to do it's thing for over an hour. Google it.
We decided to go shopping instead and visited a Y100 shop for a look before heading to Don Quiotje for a spot of duty free. Next up a toy shop where Matt purchased some models and a JiJi stuffed toy for me. We looked in the windows of some fancy shops we couldn't afford to enter (and restaurants ditto) and walked until we found an unpretentious Izakaya which according to it's sign, had been operating in the same spot since the 1950s. It was also to be our first real culture shock.
As usual, we went with the chef's choice and selected mixed sushi and mixed things on sticks to be washed down with beer and/or saki.
Well one of these things does not match the menu. With the help of google translate we asked the chef what the red meat was. Honestly, I was expecting them to say horsemeat (bad enough) but no, she showed us a picture of a whale! It was difficut to convey why we considered it not a food item due to overfishing, near extinction status, and the international ban on whaling for profit and the bullshit status of Japan's "scientific cull" but we did politely leave it aside. Other than that it was a great evening, and we did enjoy eating in places which were primarily popular with locals not tourists. Nothing wrong with being a tourist, that's what we are. It's just interesting to see a slice of life.
As we left the restaurant we saw a small shrine to Inari and then as we neared our hotel the Tsukiji Hongan-ji Temple was lit up and looking very impressive.
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