Japan 2025 Tokyo 

We were experienced Sunflower passengers, so we knew our way around. The Beppu-Osaka overnight journey is shorter than the Shibushi-Osaka run and it departs at 6:45pm, arriving Osaka at 6:35am, so we opted to skip the onboard meals. It was a Sunday night so the bath house was busy. We took in some of the entertainment but mostly slept in our comfortable twin room.

We were rolling by 7:00am and we were familiar with the path system in and out of the Osaka port area, that lead us out to the Yamato River. We rode along the river without conviction and made our way to a Gusto restaurant for breakfast. We dropped off the bikes at XB-Planning just after 9:00am. Thank you Shinya!

We followed the Google Map instructions to reach Shin-Osaka rail station. We waited in a short line to  purchase Shinkansen tickets. The 14-car bullet trains go every seven minutes but we wanted to sit in a two seater on the Mt Fuji side, so we had to wait half an hour before departure. We purchased a couple of bentos for the journey.  The Nozomi (minimal stops) took less than 2 1/2 hours to Tokyo Shinagawa station. Mt Fuji was all clouded in.

We had a 22 minute ride on the Yamanote line to Shin-Ōkubo station and then a short walk to our apartment, the Shinjuku Tokyo Holiday Hotel. Our timing was good as we arrived at the check-in time of 3:00pm. We dropped our bags and wandered south to the Shunjuku area. We had our fill of neon and people and returned to our neighbourhood for an excellent, authentic Thai dinner. We bought a few grocery items  for breakfast at an urban style supermarket.

A visit to teamLab Borderless Museum was the main event that day. We had left it a little late (two weeks ahead) to purchase tickets on-line. We would have preferred an early entry, but the noon entry time was just fine. Tokyo is more of an afternoon and evening city, but we filled the morning with a visit to the Metropolitan Government Building. There are two observation areas on the 45th floor of the north and south towers. Admission is free and it was easy to reach from our apartment. There was a short queue for the 9:00am opening. We went up the south tower and with a little extra time on our hands, we zipped up the north tower. There wasn't really much of a difference between the tower views. Tokyo is a big city. 

We caught a train from the Tochomae station to Roppongi station. The station seemed to be close to the centre of the earth, because it took forever to return to the earth's surface to transfer to the Hibaya line onto Kamiyachō station. I had selected a ramen restaurant to fuel up at.  There was a line-up to enter Tenrai-ken ramen restaurant  at 11;00am and we had our first ramen soups of the trip. 

There are two teamLab operations in Tokyo and we opted to visit the Borderless museum, based on reviews and reports. However, the Planets museum would also be an excellent choice, but it doesn't allow endless wandering if you want to experience rooms a second time. Borderless is in the Azabudai Hills shopping complex and we had a few minutes before entering and observed that there are some excellent eating options there. Borderless was a focal point for foreign tourists so you get to feel the full-on tourist environment too.  The teamLab museums feature dynamic lighting effects with music that feel like going on a psychedelic trip.  It was a cool experience, constantly changing. We spent three hours in there and Sheila is convinced that we didn't see every room. 

We pressed on to Shibuya and the over-hyped Shibuya Crossing. The area felt like a Tokyo version of Picadilly in London with lots of people wandering about. Foreign tourists are well represented. After weeks in rural and small towns of Kyushu, we appreciated the youth and vitality of Tokyo. So, that's where all the young people are.  By 5:00pm, we were worn out from a day on our feet and we headed home on a rush hour train. We had enjoyed our meal at the Thai restaurant the evening before so we returned there later in the evening.

We had extra time on our last Japan day and I had read that some visitors recommend visiting Meiji Jinga early in the day before it gets busy. That was easy for us, as were early birds and the Shinto shrine was just 20 minutes away from our apartment. We got to the surrounding forest by 7:30am and enjoyed the serenity of the shrine and park, returning to pack our bags by 8:45am. 

We connected to the Keisei Limited Express at Shinagawa and we arrived at Narita Terminal 1 before 12:00pm. We checked our bags in and poked around the airport and spent our last Yen. By 3:30pm, we were on board ZG022, the no-frills Zip-Air flight to Vancouver. We had splurged for full flat seats and we both had at least 5 hours of sleep on the 8 hour flight. We regained the day lost, crossing the International Date Line. We connected with a Pacific Coastal Airlines flight with much a much appreciated ride home with Bev & Don. We were home before we left Narita. It had been another stellar trip!