This shrine was built in 1920 to honor the Emperor and continues to be a spiritual center today. While visiting, Ray purchased a 500 yen ($5) wooden votive tablet. This time, Ray made an earnest request regarding the location of a certain American cultural event led off by a guy named Ichiro which occurs in October and has never been in Seattle.
After leaving the shrine, Ray and Traci finished their souvenir shopping in Harajuku – first stopping at Kiddyland, a store with 6 floors of toys, and then the Oriental Bazaar – two places close to the JR train station with many great souvenir ideas at fair prices. Ray and Traci returned to the Prince Hotel with Traci enjoying a rice curry take out dish and Ray munching on McDonald’s French Fries awaiting a return journey to Harajuku for dinner. Traci and family met one of her Seattle friends who works in the financial industry in Japan at a restaurant called Fujimama’s. Everyone enjoyed a “party platter” of great food including spicy chicken wings, a salad dish, calamari, swordfish, chicken with pineapple, and fried rice. Fujimama’s is located two blocks from the Harajuku JR station and is very foreign tourist friendly – many employees speak English, for instance Ray’s cousin who coincidently works as a chef at Fujimama’s but had the night off. Ray and Traci stopped at McDonald’s on the way home for another Kit Kat McFlurry and a hot fudge sundae.On Saturday, Ray again ventured out to run – it was again partly cloudy but more humid. He encountered a work crew repaving a sidewalk. Even though they had electric arrow signs and a coned off path in the street, no less than 4 guys in blue uniforms directed pedestrians like him into the coned off path at 6AM on a weekend! – and each worker bowed as he passed. This brings up the issue of personal service – Japan prides itself on the great service: People are paid to stand next to the elevators and bow to hotel guests as they walk by. Both of these examples could represent excess and inefficiency especially in an economy with a net loss of workers due to declining birth rates. Perhaps economic reality and worker shortages as the population ages will force more “efficiencies” into the economy (much like America....). After the run, Ray and Traci joined her parents for a final breakfast at the tasty Hapuna buffet. Upon completion of their last Japanese meal, Ray and Traci made a quick visit to the main Tokyo JR station. Housed in 1918 building, the station’s façade is undergoing renovation. Construction has not seemed to decrease traffic as even on a late Saturday morning the station was packed. On the way home, Ray and Traci did encounter some excitement as a plain clothed police man stopped them in the Shinagawa station. While it still remains mysterious why he stopped Ray and Traci, he seemed satisfied after Ray showed him his hotel room key. Both initially thought it was some sort of scam on tourists but that may be a typical American reaction. In any case, Ray and Traci made it back to the hotel for checkout and rode the Narita express train to the airport without incident before an eight and a half hour journey back to Seattle.
Tips for visiting Japan:
1. Stay in a hotel near a train station with a large department store – Big food courts are found in the basements, and especially for non-Japanese speakers, the easiest place to get a great (and cheap) meal to go is in these places. Unfortunately Shinagawa does not have any big department stores although “Wing Takanawa”, a shopping center located at Shinagawa station, does have a grocery/food court.
2. Japan has always been a cash economy but this is changing with the “Suica” Cards which are basically preloaded gift cards. The difference is these cards are used in many if not most vending machines, almost all of the Tokyo subway stations, and many vendors. Trains and subways in Tokyo are often operated by different companies even if they share a station (For Seattle visitors think Metro Transit and Amtrak) – the easiest way to navigate the different lines is to use a Suica pass.
3. You can get a Suica card by taking advantage of the Narita Express package – 3500 yen gets you a ride from Narita into a Tokyo station, and a Suica card with 1500 yen pre-loaded on the card. This is quite a savings as the ride to Narita costs 3000 yen alone. Only people with foreign passports can take advantage of this offer at the JR ticket station in Narita.
4. You don’t need power converters, but you do need an adapter if you use appliances (i.e. laptops) with 3 prong AC adapters as Japanese outlets have only two prongs (no ground). Bring one as hotel gift shops will sell you one at many times the price found at Target or Walmart.
5. If you want to stay at the Shinagawa Prince (or other Prince Hotel) sign up for the Prince Club International (free) and make a club reservation to get free internet and free daily breakfast coupons. The breakfast buffets are 2000 Yen per person, and Internet access is 1050 yen if you don’t have a club room.
6. At the time of our visit 1 US dollar = 106 yen, so prices are often quoted in straight dollars – after paying the currency exchange fee, it is close to 1 = 100.
7. Since train stations are so massive in Japan, it pays to know which exit (N/S/W/E) to take when trying to reach an attraction. It is also helpful to have a compass when interpreting maps since Japanese streets can be confusing.
