Having left Hakone, we stopped for a short break at the town of Odawara while waiting for our connecting train so I took the opportunity to make a quick visit to the relatively obscure Odawara castle.
The trains brought us to Asakusa by late afternoon where we checked in to our hostel. Since it was already quite late, we decided to head off to Ikebukuro in search of the "Otome road" or Maiden Street, a section of the shopping district of Ikebukuro that mirrors Akihabara but mainly serves the interest of female otakus (fujoshi). We managed to get to the area but could not confirm if that was it though so we headed back to our cramped quarters to rest for tomorrow's journey up North.
It's back to Nikko although much later than my previous visit. It was by late morning by the time we arrived so the light was kind of harsh. Instead of going to the places I went to before, we got the Nikko free pass and headed out to Lake Chuzenji and Kegon falls. The snow and mist on Mt Nantai was a sight to behold, as were the unmelted snow when we arrived at Lake Chuzenji. The scenary was nice but due to the shortage of time, we didn't stick around for long after lunch (500yen for some Yuuba 'sashimi'?) and caught the bus out to the shrines.
Having visited them before, my principle focus was to at least visit the Futaarasan shrine because of it's significance in relationships and marriage. Nice feeling to be back at the shrine with someone else in company. We both baulked at the entrance fee to the Toshogu so we simply headed out to the Narabijizo path to count the jizo statues before we headed back to Tokyo. The next day was a leisurely (and uneventful) day spent at Akihabara and an evening stroll at the kabuki-cho district at Shinjuku.
Of all the days, it had to rain on the day I head out to the Tsukiji fish market. It was cold and wet but it was nice to be back to experience the orderly chaos and to tuck into some fresh sushi (ordered the supreme sushi platter!). I was alone at that point in time as my partner was tired but we met up before lunch and headed to Saitama. Having arrived at Washimiya in the afternoon, we were greeted by the sight of the decorated mikoshi at the station! A new-found sense of fun made us brave the cold drizzle to head towards the Washinomiya-jinja, made famous by the Lucky-star anime. It was something we did not regret as we bundled into the cafe beside the torii gate. The theme is predominately evident with the decorated cars parked nearby as well as the artwork on the many prayer plaques at the temple.
By the time we went back to Tokyo, it was already evening and still drizzling but we headed out to the Tokyo tower anyway. I had not really planned extensively to have this special occassion on the top of the tower. It was more of an impulsive thing as I had only made hasty preparations for the visit only just before we flew over. I have to tell you, my mind was a total blank and my heart was full of butterflies after trying to filter through all the thoughts and plans to carry it out but I opted to keep it simple and just do it. The smile and the tears in her eyes was enough to cap off a wonderful and memorable first trip together.
The writer is not too pleased to be back although he apologises for the delay in the updates due to lethargy and the annoying feeling of simply being back.
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