We started the morning off strong by beginning our adventures at 7am. After eating breakfast at Sakura Hotel, we hopped onto the subway and went to the fish market. Although we did not get to see the fish auction at 5am, it was still an exciting experience to see! The market was hustling and bustling. People all around us were in constant motion. It was quite interesting to see all of the different varieties of fish on sale at the many, many vendors.
After the fish market, we went to the shopping district of Harujuku! I had my very first crepe there and it was quite tasty! There were a lot of young school kids running around, so I was a little surprised considering it was a Friday around 1pm... But I think Masako said the children were on a school field trip, so that makes sense. The Japanese are a very fashionable group of people. The women are always in heels and wearing a skirt or fancy pants and the men always seem as though they are ready for a work presentation. With only 30 minutes to look around, we soon continued our adventure to the Meijing Shrine.
We walked towards the shrine through a paved path with trees towering over us. I felt like I was in a Jurassic Park! The trees were huge and soared so high up in the sky! The temple was great! We even briefly saw a wedding ceremony take place! While siting down to sketch for a little bit, I noticed there was a daisy symbol used throught the exterior decorations.
Briefly stopping in Shibuya, I got to see and take a picture with Hitachi, the dog! After that we headed to the 21_21 contemporary design exhibit. Considering I'm a graphic designer, I completely geeked out! The exhibit revolved around the idea of units and measurement (Photo above showcases the measurement of 1GB in characters, photos, and time.) I'm sure I my fellow designers were here they'd freak out about how great Japanese design is too! It was so wonderful to see such amazing work and be inspired by wonderful artist and designers :) It was definitely the highlight of my trip so far!
Once we finished visiting the art museum, we went back home. It was quite a long day and my feet hurt a lot! But it was definitely worth it! It's only been a couple days of adventuring in Japan, so we'll just have to wait and see what else is in store for us!
Matane :)
Kim Yang