Good morning – Day 1 in Tokyo
Our first day in Tokyo began early. Brittney and I both woke up before our alarms around 6:30, so we decided to get a head-start on our morning and explore the neighborhood around our AirBnB. To our surprise practically nothing opens in Japan before 8AM, not even the coffee shops, and most places don’t open until 10! We did a little walking around the block and circled back to a Mister Donut (similar to Dunkin’) and waited in line for it to open, literally. The Japanese will queue up and stand like statues right at the front door of a shop waiting for the owner to unlock the door.
You might think it would be impossible to visit Japan without extensive knowledge of the Japanese language, but we’ve managed to get by with just the bare essentials. Most service workers understand enough English to navigate a basic transaction; “to go?, cash or card? tap here. would you like a bag?” Everyone at the airport spoke fluent English, and our dinner last night was ordered by a tablet at the table, so this was our first real attempt at a half-english-half-japanese exchange. It wasn’t perfect. We successfully ordered donuts, and unsuccessfully attempted to order a coffee.
After breakfast we made our way to the train station headed for Kichijoji, a small town nearby our first real destination: the Studio Ghibli Museum. Well, better to say a relatively small town. Even the outskirts and suburbs of Tokyo are bustling metropolitan areas. We arrived around 9AM and wandered the streets and alleyways of shops that didn’t open for another hour. Our plan was to meet up with Stephen and Devin at a soufflé pancake shop called Flippers, and on our way we passed a specialty shop that only sells apple pie, among other delights.
We queued up for the shop to open at 10AM and had a chance to look over the menu posted on a sandwich board outside. The soufflé pancakes here are very instagram-worthy, but I assure you they taste even better than they look. Impossibly fluffy, buttery, and covered in your choice of assorted toppings. I went for the roasted pistachio and caramel nuts flavor, and Brittney opted for the BLT eggs benedict.
Next stop was the Studio Ghibli Museum. If you’re not familiar with the name, Studio Ghibli is an animated film studio on the scale of Disney/Pixar here in Japan, with quite a large fanbase state-side as well. Brittney remembers watching Kiki’s Delivery Service on repeat as a kid, and I got hooked after watching Spirited Away as a young teenager. We checked out a half-dozen Ghibli DVD’s from the library in preparation before our trip, and it’s hard to not get sucked in to the charming, hand-drawn worlds of each film. Photographs are not allowed inside the museum, but you are allowed to take photos in the outdoor spaces. The permanent exhibits in the museum detail just how much care and craftsmanship go into the making of their films, from the detailed watercolor painted landscapes to the frame-by-frame animation style. It was a delightful experience all around.
Our plans after the Ghibli museum were pretty sparse, so we headed back to Kichijoji and hit up the towering seven-story Uniqlo store (did I mention even the small towns around Tokyo feel large?) and the nearest Starbucks to try the monthly special beverage, the Japan-exclusive Booooo Frappuccino, a black and orange drink made with a pumpkin pudding (yes, pudding) and a bitter caramel sauce. Brittney was not a fan, but I had no problem finishing it off.
We had tickets for Disneyland Tokyo the following morning, so we called it an early night and made our way back to the AirBnB. I don’t want to burden down every single post with pictures of our every meal, but stay tuned, I’ll have a full post of just delicious food photos soon.
-Jacob
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