Saturday night saw the repeat of last years Hanami Party at Toshimaen. Toshimaen is one of the biggest theme parks in Japan although we were there for none of that carry-on. The easiest way to get to Toshimaen is on the Oedo Subway line, it’s about 18 minutes from Shinjuku.
There must have been a good 30 of us this year, all Friends from a local Sushi bar and predominantly the same crew i go to the Onsen trips with.
It started early in the evening and what a show they put on, 5000 yen for all you can eat and all you can drink for a good few hours, set in the greatly lit surroundings of Toshimaen.
After a good feed of Yakiniku and Nabe, along with my fair quota of beers it was off to Nerima for the second party of Karaoke and Whisky … plenty of both.
Next week, now the Cherry Blossom Season and related Hanami parties are finished and i’ve hung up my Snowboarding Boots for this winter, i will resume my journey on the JR Yamanote Line.
Next stop will be Hamamatsucho, another first for me so i’m looking forward to it. So far i know very little about Hamamatsucho so i’m open to suggestions on things to see and do while i’m out that way.
Sunday i took a trip out to Odaiba, 2 trains and about 40 minutes from home.
Odaiba (お台場) is a large artificial island in Tokyo, Japan, featuring many hypermodern and just plain strange looking buildings.
Odaiba was originally constructed in 1853 by the Tokugawa shogunate as a series of 6 fortresses in order to protect Tokyo from attack by sea, the primary threat being Commodore Matthew Perry’s Black Ships, which had arrived in the same year. Daiba in Japanese refers to the cannon batteries placed on the islands.
The area is now a very popular shopping and entertainment destination featuring attractions such as Decks Tokyo Beach, Aquacity Odaiba, Museum of Maritime Science, National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, Oedo Onsen Monogatari, Palette Town, Venus Fort, Sun Walk, Tokyo Big Site and the list goes on.
Odaiba is also home to many businesses including, the Fuji TV Building, Panasonic Centre, Telecom Centre, Mega Web.
I had originally intended heading to Odaiba for a look around then over to Tokyo Big Site to have a look at the Tokyo International Anime Show but after a slow start to the day and the weather turning bad i only managed to get a few hours around Odaiba in and taking a few photos was harder and harder as the day wore on.
Looking towards Rainbow Bridge which connects Tokyo to Odaiba.
I took the long way home from my travels this morning and took a stroll through Yoyogi Park. Yoyogi Park (代々木公園, Yoyogi kōen) is one of the largest parks in Tokyo, located adjacent to Harajuku Station and Meiji Shrine in Shibuya.
Even though it was barely lunch time the park was already filling quickly with punters enjoying their first weekend of Hanami Parties. Hanami (花見, Hanami lit. “flower viewing”) is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers, “flower” in this case almost always meaning cherry blossoms (桜 or 櫻, sakura?), or ume blossoms (梅, ume).
If you can look past the sea of blue tarpaulins it’s quiet a site to be seen. The Hanami parties are a great excuse to pull up some grass in the park and progressively get loaded on your favourite drop. After being restricted to indoor activety for much of winter, it’s a welcome change to get outside and enjoy Spring time in Japan.
It’s first in best dressed when it comes to getting a spot during the Hanami season. People gather in the park from the early hours on the weekend and no doubt during the week for those not working.
Often there’ll be a few designated individuals that will go early and mark the spot with their tarps and the others in their party will join later in the day.
