Tokyo, Japan - March 10

shopping

5 degrees, overcast

As we were the on our own today we decided to sleep in a bit, eat a late breakfast and head out around 11.

beer headquarters, Tokyo Sky Tree

Our goal for the morning and afternoon was to get me a Japanese chef’s knife and to visit Ashai Beer Headquarters. This meant taking the subway or metro, we’re still not quite sure what the difference is. I know there is a difference, just don’t know what that is. The Japanese metro has a bunch of different lines (13 I think.) The station for the line we wanted was less than a 5 minute walk from the hotel and we were able to stay on just one line the whole way. We got a day’s pass (10.00) which turned out to be a great decision. The Tokyo subway/metro has different fares depending on how far you go, having a day pass simplified things immensely.

We first found the knife shops. I knew there was an area with kitchen wares of all kinds and that there were a bunch of knife stores there. We found one with that had a guy who spoke English and bought a knife.

not a bad view

Next we were off to the Ashai Beer Headquarters. This isn’t a brewery or a tour of any kind. It’s basically an observation deck at the top of a building where you can have a beer.

After a bit of a rest back at the hotel we headed back out to do a bit of shopping and check out Tokyo’s red light district. Mission accomplished for both. The red light district didn’t seem to be as hopping as I think it could be, probably a bit due to the cold (it was toque weather.)

By the time we got near to the hotel we were beat, but ravenous. A pizza and wine was dinner and then bed.