Japan Day 3

So we hit a few snags today.

Today was our first day spent exploring Tokyo.

First, apparently Monday was a holdiay. We checked all the guide books and online for holidays but missed this one. That`s because when I asked someone about it they said it was an exercise day. I`m not exactly sure what that means other than what it means to us which is that since the holiday was on a Monday and the museums are usually closed on Mondays the museums were then all closed on Tuesday. We, of course, didn`t discover this until it was too late. So we basically spent a lot of time looking for two museums that ended up being closed. If we had known they would be closed today, we could have moved our itinerary around. Oh, well. No vacation is ever perfect.

We haven`t gotten lost exactly yet, but we have had ended up going the long way around a few times. This is to be expected when traveling, but I think I nearly killed my sister off today.

We are pretty good at using the trains and subway now. Tokyo`s system is amazingly elaborate, very organized, but not very intuitive. We did get to experience using the subway during rush hour. I`ve heard it can get really bad.

We haven`t had a chance to put my sister`s basic Japanese skills to use yet. However, I am happy to report that she does understand all the children.

This is my furtive attempt to take a picture of the train station during rush hour. It doesn`t look near as crazy as it actually was.

One great thing about the Japanese transit system are the markings on the ground where the door will stop. Then people line up behind those markings and board the train in an orderly fashion.

Not very busy at 9:00 am but this is a souvenoir street on our way to Sensoji Temple (the oldest in Japan)



Another furtive photo this one of Yodobasha Camera department store in Akihabara, the eletronics capitol of Tokyo. I don`t know how to properly explain the sensory overload of this store. There are flashing lights, and tv monitors, different types music blasting every 10 feet, and signs, signs, and more signs. It was awesome!

On a side note, I saw the missionaries in this store. One of them was from West Valley. I wished them luck.