We mostly spent our final day in Japan experiencing modern Tokyo culture. This was a bit like our first day in Tokyo as we wandered a few different neighborhoods seeing what we could see.

Ikebukuro

We started our day in the busy shopping district of Ikebukuro. This is the home of Sunshine City, the first Japanesee example of a “city within a city”. This concept has become a staple of modern Tokyo, and areas like Shinjuku and Shibuya feature more modern and feature packed examples of this phenomenon. This leaves Ikebukuro as a slightly slower-paced area which still has plenty to see and do.

Most importantly for us, Sunshine City is the home of the Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo, the largest Pokémon Center in Japan. Lachlan carefully rationed his spending money throughout the trip to make sure he had some left to spend here.

There is also a store in Sunshine city selling products related to Studio Ghibli. We skipped the gift shop on our visit to the Ghibli Museum because it was very crowded, So this was a chance to see if there were any Studio Ghibli souvenirs that we had to have. Everything was fairly expensive, so we settled for a photo op outside the store.

After our visit to Sunshine City, Heide headed off to do some solo exploration while Lachlan and I stayed in Ikebukuro to experience some more modern Tokyo culture, starting with a cat cafe.

We soon found out that Nekobukuro is more of a cat playground than a cat cafe, as no food or drink is served. This does make it a cheaper option than some of the fancier and newer cat cafes in Tokyo, where the overpriced drinks don’t actually enhance the cat experience.

Ikebukuro – the Wrong Side of the Tracks

Before leaving Ikebukuro Lachlan and I wanted to go for one more arcade gaming session. After consulting Google Maps we thought we would try a smaller arcade on the west side of Ikebukuro Station. We hoped that this would be a less noisy and crazy option than one of the larger arcades.

The west side of Ikebukuro was a bit grittier than the east side. It didn’t seem dangerous (it’s still Japan after all), but we found it definitely less touristy and a little bit edgy.

We eventually found the arcade we were looking for. However, it was scattered over a few floors of an entertainment building that included a bowling alley. On the ground floor there was a pachinko parlor section which we accidentally wandered into.

We didn’t find any games we wanted to play in any of the scattered arcade sections. However we did find a vending machine that serves hot dogs and fries. We did not buy anything from this machine.

After our west side adventure, we headed back east of the station to a different arcade for one last gaming session for the trip.

Meiji Shrine

We headed to our next stop, Harajuku Station. The train was pretty crowded, I just managed to get my arms free to take a photo.

We met up with Heide at a cafe on Yoyogi Park and spent some time there drinking coffee and resting up. After a while our friends met up with us and the whole travel group was together for the last afternoon’s sightseeing for the trip.

Before diving into Harajuku (the center of modern Tokyo fashion), we checked out Meiji Shrine for a last dose of traditional Japan. Meiji Shrine is not particularly ancient by Japanese standards, having been built in 1920. However, the sheer scale of the shrine and it’s surrounding grounds is impressive. The shrine and surrounding Yoyogi Park provide a peaceful respite from the noise and buzz of modern Tokyo.

The torii gate at the beginning of the path to the shrine is huge. It also stands out because of it’s natural wood finish rather than the orange color you see at most Shinto shrines.

Continuing the large-scale theme, on the way to the shrine we saw a wall of sake donated by sake producers to ensure good fortune for their businesses.

Just before we got to the central shrine complex we saw a Shinto priest scurrying off, presumably to attend to his priestly duties (or maybe he was done with those and was headed home for the day).

As it was fairly late in the afternoon, there weren’t all that many people there. It was nice to be able to take photos without teeming crowds in the background.

Harajuku – Peak Modern Tokyo

Our last experience in Tokyo (and Japan) was spending some time in Harajuku. This is the center of modern Tokyo fashion, although we were there in the evening so we missed the peak of the teeming crowds of young Japanese fashionistas who wander the streets of Harajuku to see and be seen.

We did see some of the crazy Harajuku style expressed in shopping center architecture.

We saved one of the most amazing Japanese experiences for last. Dinner at the Kawaii Monster Cafe in Harajuku was a feast for the senses. Firstly, the decor is amazing.

Even the bathrooms are spectacularly decorated.

The food isn’t particularly amazing to taste, but the visual presentation is right on theme.

The tentacles reaching over the bar were one of my favorite design elements.

Just when our eyes and brains were beginning to adjust to these crazy surroundings, a floor show featuring a dancing girl and a giant cat took things over the top.

This was a great option for our last dinner in Japan, one of those experiences you can only have in Japan.

Farewell Japan

The next morning we packed up and took the train out to the airport.

We caught some last glimpses of the Japanese countryside before arriving at the airport to catch our ride back home to Houston.

In our two weeks in Japan we managed to see a good cross section of what Japan has to offer. From the ancient temples of Kyoto to modern Tokyo sights and experiences, Japan has a great range of things to see and do. Even though we’ve been there a few times now, there is still a lot more to discover. We’ll be back again some day for sure.