The first full day of the tour had finally arrived and the Tokyo Summer Maximum crew was poised and at the ready. The buzz of anticipation permeated the whole group in the final moments before boarding the bus, and our professional tour guide for the day, Ms. Michiko Sato, was already chatting it up with the group. Though some of us looked like we were still asleep, we all hopped onto the bus excited for the onslaught of awesome.
 Just before we set out, someone noticed this bit of coolness: Tour participant Eric Trammell, winner of Bandai Visual's Gunbuster Sweepstakes, made his own shirt (pictured) to commemorate his trip to Japan. It seriously looked professionally made, yet he professed that it was just something he'd thrown together himself. Too awesome.
We drove through the heart of the Tokyo metropolis, making our way through the busy morning traffic to our first stop of the day. As we passed through famous areas like Ginza, Akihabara, and Ueno, our pro guide related everything from Japanese customs and traditions to the number of Starbucks locations found in Tokyo. It wasn't long, though, before we'd arrived at Tokyo Tower.
 After enjoying the view from the main observatory, we hopped back onto the bus and made our way over to Asakusa. It being a Wednesday, one might not expect there to be too much of a crowd over at Asakusa's Buddhist temple Sensoji, but we were in for a surprise: Formula 1 driver David Coulthard had brought his F1 car to be blessed for an upcoming race. Mr. Coulthard's Red Bull sponsors had apparently seen fit to invade Asakusa and steal our glory! News reporters were out in full force, and there were far more people than there would be on a normal weekday. Not to be outdone, the legions of Destination Japan's Tokyo Summer Maximum tour were let loose on the area to wreak havoc explore. The morning clouds were just starting to part, the weather was shaping up to be quite pleasant (if a little humid), and Japan was waiting to be discovered.
After some downtime for lunch in the Asakusa area, the Destination Japan crew regrouped and headed out once again to conquer! We were on a rampage at this point, surging through Japan like we owned the place! We weren't about to stop with just a trip to a temple, so we headed off to Kabukicho for a place to focus our fury: the Ninja Yashiki. There we were treated to a special ninja lesson taught by martial arts master Masayuki Waki and Ninja group Shinobi no Shu, and hosted by the wonderful Experience Tokyo staff. Donning our ninja garb and ready to flip out and assassinate learn the ninja way, we watched Waki-sensei's grappling demonstrations and weapon techniques while we anxiously waited our turn to try them on each other. As soon as he gave the word, we were at each other's throats!
After completing our ninja training session, we took a little time for photos and such, posing with real ninja weapons (!) and trying on some wicked samurai armor. But after all that excitement, we needed some time to relax. Being a ninja is really hard work. Destination Japan knew the perfect place: the Meiji Shrine. We loaded up on the bus and set out again, but we started to notice that we were losing daylight, and the shrine grounds would close soon! So in a rush to get a taste of the tranquil beauty of the Meiji Shrine, we hurried into the park as soon as the bus stopped moving. After some time enjoying the peaceful grounds of the Meiji Shrine, our feet were beginning to grow weary, and we returned to the hotel to rest up for the next day's activities.
|
|
|
|
[ top of page ]
|
|
|
|
| Day 3
|
Sightseeing in Tokyo and
NINJA EXPERIENCE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
