Tokyo Day One: Shibuya, Harajuku, Asakusa

Our Tokyo trip was amazing. The sights were incredible, the Japanese people so polite, and the food was to die for. But honestly our favorite part of the trip? Catching up at the end of each day over a glass of wine at the hotel. Just being together. Just the two of us. Simultaneously dreaming about the future, while talking about how we can be more effective right where the Lord has us. With no distractions or things that needed to get done. 

Since moving to Okinawa, we have been in a much different season of life than we have ever experienced. Work has been busy and overwhelming, and time together has been little. Being that we are both lovers of quality time, we CRAVE time away to reconnect and talk and laugh and make memories. This long weekend was just that.  

My sweet husband is by FAR the easiest and most fun person to travel with. He is so go-with-the-flow and patient and kind and carries my bag for me when I complain about my feet and my back hurting. It was nice to not really have much of an agenda, but just travel through Tokyo organically, stopping when we wanted to, and continue to move through when we wanted to. I felt like we did a good job of seeing a lot, but also making it a vacation. We wanted it to be adventurous, yet restful.

Japanese airport food beats American airport food, no competition.

mmmm. Pancakes, coffee, donuts. Breakfast food, sugar, and carbs speak to us. 

Guys! Don't worry about the smeary window, or my iphone reflection. This is Shibuya Crosing: the time square of Tokyo. The busiest intersection I've ever seen. At the peak times of the day over 1000 people cross here every time the light turns green. That's craziness. 

After Shibuya, we took off walking and made our way to Yoyogi Park. We were totally amazed by how peaceful and serene this park in the smackdab middle of Tokyo was, despite how crazy busy the world right outside the gates of the park were. It was a sweet little sanctuary in the middle of chaos.

SNOW! Snow is a big deal considering we will see very little of it over the next three years. I am a lover of cold weather clothes- boots, scarves, sweaters, jackets, everything- so I was loving this cold weather. 

We stopped at Meiji Shrine which was set back in a dense wooded area with beautiful trees and several wooden torii (Japanese gates) leading up to the shrine temple. Brian and I watched the Japanese people for a long while as they came up to the shrine to make an offering by tossing a 5 yen coin in the large box in front of the shrine, bow their heads, clap twice, and bow again. 

We got to witness a beautiful wedding processional while at Meiji. I love that in the heart of one of the worlds largest and most modern cities, the tradition of the Japanese people is not lost. The bride and groom dressed in tradition Japanese dress and their guests all wrapped in silk kimonos. 

As we walked through the streets of Harajuku, the crepes were calling Brian's name. Crepes are street food of the district of Harajuku, and man did they deliver. Homemade warm crepe filled with whipped cream, bananas, and chocolate fudge. Delicious.

We ended our night in Asakusa, at the base of the tallest free standing tower in the world- the Tokyo Sky Tree. The construction was just finished in March of 2012 and it is breathtaking. The civil engineer  degree side of my husband came out as we spent the rest of the night googling and youtubing videos of the construction of the Sky Tree. It is pretty amazing. 

Day one, done! And I have so many more pictures to share.