First full day in Tokyo and we didn’t have much a plan. We had no plan at all, in fact. We were ready to be taken where the wind blew.
Since we had never stayed in Shinagawa before, we thought it would be good to spend more time in the Minato area, and the Tokyo Tower seemed like a good place to start.
We hopped on the Yamanote line going counter-clockwise and three stations later we were in Hamamatsuchō facing Shiba Park with the Tokyo Tower in the back. We made our way to the park under the blazing hot sun, when Zōjō-ji, a beautiful Buddhist temple, slowly started to appear.
After exploring the temple grounds for a bit, it was time for the main course: the imposing Tokyo Tower.
We went in to seek refuge from the heat, but the restaurants were packed, and the kids’ activities were all closed because of a birthday party happening later that day. Since we’d already gone up before, we then walked towards Roppongi Hills.
It seemed like a short and easy walk on paper, but it ended up being one of the most difficult things we did during out time in Japan. The heat was excruciating and everyone needed nutrition at this point. It was getting past lunch time too, so most restaurants that we spotted were already closed.
Finally we arrived at Roppongi Hills. After looking at most restaurants inside, we wisely decided to have a light meal outside in a food stall installed to help support an on-going summer festival called “Summer Station”.
There was an installation with 66 Doraemon statues, a live concert going on in the background, and reasonably priced beer. This was more our vibe.
Afterwards we hopped on the subway and headed for Odaiba for no particular reason.
This was probably the best decision of our entire trip. After the girls had fun in a playground with their new Japanese friend Eimi, we bought some more snacks at a nearby supermarket, and then we walked towards the water.
We ended up having the most blissful afternoon at Odaiba Beach, where the kids played until they could no more, and we could just sit back and watch the sun go down.
I got stung by a bee in my left foot, but not even that could ruin the most incredible afternoon we’d had in Japan.
Drop a word