Day 4 - Tokyo Station and Shibuya

Another beautiful day in Tokyo!  We've certainly been blessed with great weather this trip.  Thus far, we've had no rain, and the temperatures have been downright mild.  This good weather has not only made it more comfortable to get about, it's also ensured we can do so much more each day.  With even a little rain, I think we'd postpone or even eliminate some of our itenerary.

Thanks to yesterday's full agenda, we got to bed late, which led to a later start.   We had another glorious breakfast, then set out to see Tokyo Station.  Along the walk to Asakusa Station, we noticed the streets were much busier than they'd been all week.  Apparently, June 21st is the Summer Solstice, which people seem to celebrate and take vacation.  Lots of people filled the streets closer to Senso-ji temple, peeking into the shops.  We, too, took a moment to peek into a shop or two.  Mona spotted a nice shirt for me, as well as a nice, collabsable bag (that we would later use to pack up!).

We boarded a JR Rail train (the Yamanote line) for Tokyo Station, one of the first times we'd use the JR Rail passes as a group.  This train gave us a chance to see one of the busiest stations on the planet. 

The Ginza exit put us on fashionablem, Metropolitan boulevards, featuring Coach, Kate Spade and Omega - truly the "Rodeo Drive" of Japan.  Walking around a bit, we left the station and headed to Sanrio World, a location Mona and I visited in our 2015 trip. 

From Sanrio World, we headed up the street and found Muji, a department store.  We found a few more items of clothing and found ourselves getting hungry.  As before, a trip to the basement to find food courts were in order.  Mona selected an excellent food court, Mitsukoshi Ginza, and we were off!  The store was teaming with people, but we found a nice sushi bento and a selection of breaded items to eat.  Miraculously, there was a small park just a few blocks away, and we managed to find a few seats.  Lunch was refreshing and we were off again.

We made our way back to Tokyo Station and worked our way inside.  With all our bags, we chose to use the handy coin lockers to store our belongings for a bit.  Down on a lower level, we worked our way to Tokyo Character Street, row after row of shops related to commercial properties such as Capcom, Disney, Nintendo and of course, Pokemon.  The Pokémon Center at Tokyo Station was a must-see stop, with a limited selection, but some rare merchandise. 

From there, we walked to the street level and worked our way over to the real Pokémon Center, Pokémon DX.  This store was packed with Pokémon toys and games, which Kylee made short work of!

Walking back to the station, we went to retrieve our bags and head onward.  Except, I couldn't find the coin lockers we'd used - the picture I saved didn't include the location data.  Doh!  After trying to retrace our steps, Mona stopped at an information booth.  A helpful clerk used the receipt to tell us exactly where the locker was in the facility.  With our bags in hand, we boarded another JR Rail train and headed west to Shibuya.

Shibuya station was even busier than Tokyo!  It felt like swimming upstream, working our way through the crowds.  However, our efforts paid off, when we emerged from the sea of people and found the Nintendo store.

Mona had been in communication with one of her former students who was living in Japan.  We coordinated with her to join her at a ramen restaurant near Shibuya station.  It was nice getting to hear about her adjusting to life back in Japan, and learning a bit about the company she was working for.  But every meeting must have a close.  After a great meal, we parted ways and worked our way over to Shibuya for the long train ride home.

Back at the hotel, we packed our luggage and prepared for our last night in Asakusa; tomorrow would bring us to Sapporo!