Tokyo Arrival – Day One – 28 February 2024

Mt Fuji stood out against the bright blue sky, 60 miles to our west, as we passed by Haneda Airport.

Shipped cleared around 8 am.

Since we planned to stay out late, we slept in and stayed onboard till 1 pm. We will be here overnight.

Tokyo Internation Cruise Terminal – opened in 2020

There is not much here – Lots of empty space – room for shops and expansion in the future.

Terminal has – Wi-Fi, Shore Side Security during the day, Tourist Information Desk, Restrooms, Taxi Stands

The port offers two shuttles: One will be a loop around the immediate area, with stops at a nearby mall and Hotels. The other shuttle goes to the Tokyo Teleport Train Station which is on the Rinkai Line. The Tokyo International Train Station is closer – a little over 1/4 mile and is on the private Yurikamome line, which is close to central Tokyo.

Here is a video that shows us walking to the Yurikamome line station and buying a ticket.

Please spend some time on YouTube learning about the Tokyo Subway station. You can get anywhere in Tokyo quickly, but you must familiarize yourself with it before starting. The system doesn’t take credit cards for one trip passes – cash only, but they take bills and make change. Buying a day pass is possible, but Day passes don’t work on all lines and aren’t sold at the Terminal. If you have time, you can investigate downloading an app that will allow you to use your phone as a payment method. Figure this out before your cruise starts. I won’t discuss the details of navigating the Tokyo Subway and Train system here. There are numerous resources available on the web and on YouTube.

Official brochure on the Port Shuttle HERE

TOKYO YARN CRAWL

Walked about 500 yards to Tokyo International Train Station

Shuttle to Tokyo Teleport station will save a walk but add time to your train trip as it goes further west initially.

We took the Yurikamome line to Shimbasi Station and transferred to the Ginza Line towards Shibuya Station. We took some time to walk across the Shibuya Scramble, a massive pedestrian interchange where everyone crosses the intersection from all directions.

PUPPY YARN

We transferred to the Private Inokashira Line at Shibuya and got off at Shimo-Kitazawa Station. The Puppy Hand Knitting Yarn Shop is across the street from the Station’s west exit. You can check out their online store HERE. You can find directions using Google Maps—Search for Puppy Yarn Tokyo.

The shop is small but has a nice selection of yarns. Judy picked up Puppy’s DENIM yarn in white and dark blue. The people working in the shop are friendly but speak limited English.

WALNUT TOKYO

We took an Uber to our next yarn shop: Walnut Tokyo. Check out their website HERE. Search for Walnut Tokyo on Google Maps, and you will find their location and get directions. Uber works in Japan but will call you a taxi—you end up paying the fare on the meter, but the payment is on your Uber app, and you don’t need to have cash. Walnut Tokyo is on a small side street, and the Taxi will drop you off on a larger street nearby.

This shop is much larger than Puppy Yarn with a wider selection. If you can only go to one yarn shop in Tokyo, Judy recommends visiting Walnut Tokyo. She bought some dark blue Alpaca, Silk & Merino blend yarn and a sweater quantity of Nomad Noos a 100% camel wool that is hand spun by women in Nepal.

AMIMONO SPIN

We took a taxi to Kinkos in Shibuya, thinking they would offer DHL or FEDEX service so we could return our absentee ballots, but they don’t. We walked to Amimono Spin from Shibuya, again crossing the scramble.

Amimono Spin is on a narrow street and was easy to find. They have one large room filled with yarn, floor to ceiling. All the yarn in the shop had the ‘Amimono Spin’ label. Judy bought some white linen blend and one cake of white lace-weight cashmere.

GINZA

Walking back to Shibuya, we took the Ginza Subway to Ginza, looking for a place to eat. We found that most places were closing at 9 pm, so we were too late and decided to take a Taxi using UBER back to the ship.

LOCAL CULTURAL SHOW

We arrived back at the ship around 9:45 pm. We were able to watch the last half of the local cultural show – titled JAPANESE FUSION: A VIBRANT CELEBRATION OF CULTURE, which was a small group of performers who danced and played a variety of Japanese instruments, including O-Daiko, Shime-Daiko, and Kane to the occasional accompaniment of American pop tunes.

DAY TWO – SECRET FOOD TOUR/ KITCHEN DISTRICT

Our plan today was the Secret Food Tour HERE

Our group left the ship at 9 a.m. and walked to the Tokyo International Cruise Terminal Station, where we caught the train to Shimbashi. We transferred to the JR Yamanote line and arrived at Ueno station around 10:20 a.m.

Our group of ten, eight from the ship and two Americans visiting from the USA for the Tokyo Marathon met our guide outside the Hard Rock Café, and we were on our way. The tour started at 10:40, but we had to wait until 11 a.m. until the first restaurant opened. The tour was over around 2:30.

Here is a map showing the location of our stops.

Sushi Tsune (Atre Ueno 2F, 7-1-1 Ueno)
– Tuna
– Salmon
– Boiled shrimp

Gyoza Ichigoro (6-8-14 Ueno)
– Gyoza, Japanese Dumplings

Kanoya (6-9-14, Ueno)
– Yakitori
– Negima(Chicken’s thigh with green onion)
– Torikawa(Chicken skin)
– Tsukune(Minced Chicken)
– Edamame

Oyama (6-13-2 Ueno)
– Japanese Kuroket
– Curry Kuroket

OtoOto (2F, Bamboo garden, 1-52 Ueno Park)
– Tempura

Karutaya (3-29-5 Ueno, Taito-ku)
– Miyako Manju (Sweet bun with white beans)

Kiminoen (3-29-5 Ueno, Taito-ku)
– Macha and Milk ice cream

At each stop, we reviewed the menu, but our choices were preselected and served quickly. Secret Food tours are a great way to visit an area and sample the local food. A bonus is the chance to interact with the local guide and the other guests.

KAPPABASHI Dougugai Street (Kitchen Town)

After our food tour, we walked about one mile to Kappabashi Street, where we enjoyed browsing through many of the very specialized shops selling everything from storage containers to plastic food displays, cutlery, and Japanese knives. After our cooking class in Mexico, where our chef used a very nice Japanese knife, I decided I needed to get one in Tokyo. Several stores along Kappabashi sell knives, and after some research online, I settled on a 21 cm Chef knife by Tojiro – The Tojiro Pro Damascus – Model F1032 for ¥34,650 or about $235.

We took a taxi back to the ship.

Security was shoreside and I declared my knife to the inspectors. The inspectors gave me a receipt and turned the knife over to the ship’s Security and I will retrieve the knife in Fort Lauderdale.

WORLD STAGE

Comedian and Ventriloquist Mike Robinson was on the World Stage this evening. He was very funny and put on a great show.