Travels in Tokyo: Shinjuku, Kawagoe, Omiya (Bonsai village) and Tokyo Mosque

As this was our first day with no tours (and third full day in Tokyo overall) we slept in late, not leaving the hotel until 11:30. One thing that really effected us was the jet lag, something to note if/when traveling to Asia. Tokyo was 12 hours difference from the US (compared to 6 for Europe) and that really made a difference. We didn’t feel normal again until this day, and when we returned, it took a few days to recover, so I wouldn’t go again for less than 10 days (our trip this time was a week).

After sleeping in we decided to check out the Tokyo Mosque, which may seem an unlikely place to visit, but it is in a quiet neighborhood, which provided a chance to get away from the hustle and bustle. Once we disembarked the train, we walked about 100 feet and saw a woman waiting outside a small restaurant. The menu board read “4-course French lunch from 12-2, 400 yen.” It was 11:55, and we waited along with the woman, who was soon joined by a friend, and they opened the doors promptly at noon. Jessica will have more on the meal itself, but let me say, it was spectacular! For only $25 USD a person, we ate beautifully prepared food along with excellent drink. Fully satiated, we proceed the short walk to the Mosque.

We learned the Tokyo mosque was built by Turkey (we came to love visiting Mosques in Turkey, as they are so beautiful, bright and somber places to rest and reflect), and after talking to one of the local parishioners, a gentleman from Indonesia. he said there were Muslims from other countries as well that worshiped here. He was nice enough to offer to take our pictures inside once the prayers were completed. We explored the convenience store next door that sold many Turkish delicacies and delights, of course, having to try some baklava.

We walked back to our area down quiet streets, while it lightly rained on and off. We stopped by a 8-story mall, which was packed with tourists, many at the full floor Nintendo store. Once the rain ceased, we walked through the sprawling Yoyogi Park, stopping to rest on a bench, and watched the locals and their families enjoy the day; seeing one man walking 18 dogs (we counted)! We tried to see the nearby world famous Meiji Shrine, but it was near closing time, and they were not allowing anyone else into the park, so we would go another day.

We hopped on the train, but during rush hour, it was intense as people packed like sardines into the train cars. We had to push and it was a bit uncomfortable, but at least it was a short trip. Only during rush hour was it like this, usually we had a seat, or at least, if standing, we could move freely. As it was already dark out, and we were tired, we went to the local FamilyMart, a convenience store, similar to the many 7-11’s, that sells almost anything one would want, especially really good, quick food.

We bought sandwiches, fried treats, odd flavored chips, and weird packaged sweet treats. And these stores are everywhere, so more than a couple times we would stop in one for a quick snack or a walking beer. We returned to the hotel, dumped our two full grocery bags on the bed, ate until full, and went to bed early.

We had a big day ahead of us, but didn’t know it at the start. We were going to visit the town of Kawagoe. An Edo-period castle town, it is best known for its old clay warehouses and merchant homes, called Kurazukuri and our destination was the Warehouse district, called Kurazukuri no Machinami. A co-worker had asked a friend of theirs who lives in Japan any good recommendations, and this was one. It was a little under an hour train ride from Shijuku station, but it was like we stepped into another place, away from the hustle and bustle, bright lights, and skyscrapers. We walked down the Meiji-era Candy alley, which was a tiled (mainly) pedestrian street lined with sweet shops and other stores, but felt modern. We stopped for a couple treats and found a bench to eat them.

We also passed a large electronics store where I had to buy a Japanese Playstation game and visited a Buddhist temple (they are everywhere). We wisely decided to try a Custard filled fish-shaped Waffle-like treat, which you can see in Jessica’s hand, before we devoured it. It was one of the best treats I’ve ever had!

We continued on, and reached the Warehouse district, with its dark wood buildings and intricate stone roofs. There were many Japanese tourists, and oddly to us, a distinct lack of Westerners. We did a little shopping, Jessica finding a unique cell phone case and necklace.

We also saw our first Buddhist cemetery, with a very interesting statue.

We visited some more shrines, including the Kawagoe Zeniarai Benzaiten Shinto Shrine, and had them fill another page in our Shinto Shrine book.

All this walking made us hungry, and we had been wanting to try some Ramen while in Japan, and noted a place in Candy Alley selling Ramen. We returned and ate the best Ramen I’ve ever had!

We had already felt quite productive, but another place, just outside of Tokyo that I had wanted to visit was Omiya, also known as the Bonsai village. In the past year I have gotten into growing and developing my own Bonsai trees (I have 40ish now, which is too many) so I was quite excited to visit, if we had time. Well, it was only a 45 minute train ride away, and we were in the sleepy town of Omiya.

There is a Bonsai museum located in Omiya (aptly named the Omiya Bonsai Village) that we were going to see; but another big perk of the town are the Bonsai nurseries. We visited in a few, and they were unbelievable! They don’t allow pictures, but my jaw was wide open seeing all the beautiful little trees, in rows upon rows, and so many different varieties. As a new Bonsai enthusiast, I was stoked! At one of the nurseries, we saw a Frenchman taking a picture of a Japanese gentleman in front of tree, and we asked about why. We were told the gentleman was a Bonsai Master and this tree was over 600 years old!

As we walked around the quiet town (and it was, almost eerily, quiet) we saw two men working on a ladder, fixing something. One of them called out to us, and came running over. He had a few baggies with him, each held a postcard of a famous Japanese place or artwork, and a 6 inch wooden Dragonfly. He told us his father had made them, and he wanted to share them with us. Our normal skepticism about scams kicked in, and we recoiled a bit. But his smile and insistence that we take the items and share them with our family back home, and that they were free, put us at ease. It was a nice moment. “Welcome to Japan” he said with a smile as we parted ways.

Some trees that we could take pictures of, were the locals growing Bonsai trees in their yards and patios. It was so cool!

We made it to the Bonsai Museum with an hour before they closed; a Japanese woman met us as we approached the entrance; she told us they closed for the season yesterday (sad face). I was disappointed, but we had seen so many cool trees that I didn’t feel cheated at all. We said “no problem!” and made a quick stop at the Bonsai cafe, across the street from the museum. There we talked to the proprietor, who spoke great English, about the town, and bought a couple trinkets. We made our way back to the train station and in 45 minutes we were back at Shinjuku station.

After a stop at the FamilyMart for a pre-dinner snack, we returned, rested our feet and did some laundry at the hotel. We had wanted to visit the Golden Gai area, which was near us, in Shinjuku, and were streets of Izakaya bars, that were very popular with tourists. Some do not allow Western visitors, and we were shooed out of one, being told it was “full” (which is possible, as many don’t seat more than 4 to 8 people, so were not offended). Not everything is for us, so we moved on.

We found a nearby Jazz bar and had some drinks. We left, searching for food, we found an odd Irish pub in a basement that served subpar pizza and wings, but we were hungry and they had cold beer, so it worked. After we walked around amongst the many people and bright lights of Shinjuku, eventually ending up back our hotel, exhausted from a long day.

Still, we had things to do the next day, onward and upward!