Day 5 and the torrential rain had taken a break and the sun was out for the day, after taking some more pictures from the hotel window we headed to Tokyo station again.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| More pictures from the hotel room window |
This time we took the Maronouchi exit. From this side the station is totally different, based on Amsterdam Centraal station as it was in 1914.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Tokyo station as seen from the Maronouchi entrance |
It was in Maronouchi that we found our first real Engrish in the form of some posters on the wall of a building which made absolutely no sense. I guess I shouldn't laugh too much as I couldn't even begin to guess what the correct translations would be.
The Imperial Palace is set in a huge garden which is literally 5 minutes from the skyscrapers of the big business district. The juxtaposition between the busy highrise Tokyo and the calm peaceful gardens is amazing.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Maronouchi and the edge of the park around the Imperial Palace |
 |
 |
 |
| Fountains around the Palace |
 |
 |
 |
| Skyscrapers meet the park |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The moat around the palace and some buildings |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The entrance to the palace and more shots around the gardens |
 |
 |
| A gate which I can't remember the name of. |
 |
| Some kind of evil Japanese insect. |
 |
 |
More shots of the green
Tokyo vs the highrise Tokyo. |
After seeing the Imperial Palace and gardens, we headed up to the National Diet Building where Japan's government resides. Right next to the diet building was a small park where a man was practising the bagpipes, it was so surreal, being in Tokyo and hearing the tones of the pipes.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The National Diet building and a clock in a nearby park. |
From the diet building we walked down towards Roppongi, a very westernised area of Tokyo which is one of the main nightspots for American's resident in Tokyo. Thankfully is was mid afternoon so wasn't as horrible as we've heard it was. On the way we spotted a sign for Dr. Nakamats inovation instute, Dr. Nakamats hold the world record for having the most patents, while some are pretty silly inventions others are more important e.g. the floppy disk.
From Roppongi we headed to the Tokyo Tower, based on the Eiffel tower, but at 333m is 13m higher, for a small fee you can go up to an observation deck and see Tokyo from way up in the air. I went a bit overboard and took a lot of photos...
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Views from the first observation level of the Tokyo Tower. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
And more views from the second,
higher observation level of the Tokyo Tower. |
As well as being the tallest self supporting iron tower in the world, the Tokyo Tower also has a strange shopping arcade in the lower floors, including some amusements as you might find in Blackpool. There was a stall were you could throw Shurikens at a board and some strange government home safety display which was done using holograms. It was exactly like in Star Wars...
We then headed back to Roppongi and to an internet cafe. In Tokyo they have these internet & manga places where you rent a small booth for an hour or so and get a computer with the internet, access to a Manga library, a TV and Playstation 2. It was totally bizarre.
 |
 |
| Random Roppongi photos. |
From Roppongi we walked all the way to Shibuya where we caught the train back round to Shinjuku. On the way back I picked up a pain au curry, perhaps the best Japanese French pastry product ever.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Curry Pastry & Night shots from the hotel. |
|
