If you are planning a trip to Japan then buying a Japan Rail Pass is a must for train travel – amazing value if you have a foreign passport and a tourist visa. You buy a voucher for the pass from your home country and then exchange the voucher for the pass at the station office.
“The Japan Rail (JR) Pass is a special pass valid for unlimited travel on Japan Railways (JR) transportation, including all JR trains (Shinkansen “bullet trains” except “NOZOMI” and “MIZUHO” services, limited express trains, express trains and rapid or local trains)*, JR bus company local lines (JR Hokkaido Bus, JR Bus Tohoku, JR Bus Kanto, JR Tokai Bus, West Japan JR Bus, Chugoku JR Bus, JR Kyushu Bus) and the JR Miyajima ferry.”
So our next day consists of finding the correct ticketing office and most importantly standing in the correct waiting area between the green lines (no excuses if you fail to do this it is to the back of the line!) to exchange vouchers for Japan rail pass. Easy enough once we locate the office in the Shinjuku station maze. Our next task is to buy tickets for the Romance car – a train going to Hakone but surprise! – not in the JR complex at Shinjuku station it is another part of the complex on the west side the Odakyu station. We stand in line at the ticket office but then spot a travel agent next to it and on enquiry they sell the tickets and the sightseeing pass for Hakone and Mt Fuji. (Ladies the bonus is that on the west side of the station there are 2 department stores Keio and Odakyu where you always find food on the basement floor.)
All tasks done we celebrate lunch in a small Ramen bar with Pork and kimchi and strangely Oolong tea with vodka.
Now the good bit – Tokyo has wonderful art shops and Sekaido is a treasure to behold – 6 floors of stationary, art supplies framing and papers – truly magnificent – I may have made a purchase or two (birthday money!) and find they have a tea room where afternoon tea is served in beautiful fine china cups. From the window we spot a large garden and feel that after the madness of Shinjuku an afternoon of trees, gardens and water might be remedial to cool off from the heat and humidity.
Shinjuku Gyo-en is a large park and garden in Shinjuku and Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan and was originally a residence of the Naitō family in the Edo period. The park is large and has many different sections, but our interests is in things Japanese and explore the Japanese landscaped garden. There are two ponds beautifully landscaped with a scenic bridge, clipped bushes, and very large fish. Behind the garden is a tree walk and some wilder areas of wetlands and wildflowers.
We attempt to find another art shop but because of station renovations and being sent around in circles with Google maps we decide its time for dinner and a random pick in an enchanting alley with small restaurants and lanterns and select the one with the best picture menu – turns out no English subtitles and no English spoken – you order on an iPad in Japanese – challenging but not as challenging as when it turns out that you have ordered pig bbq kebabs made of different part of the animal – nothing is wasted except on our plates !– (at least the pork belly was nice and the salad.)
