A MONTH IN JAPAN – TOKYO AND MOUNT FUJI, NOVEMBER 7 - 8, 2025

November 7, 2025 – Asakusa

The Lonely Planet Pocket Guide to Tokyo describes Asakusa.

Asakusa is all about keeping the old traditions of Tokyo alive.  Much of the neighborhood still feels authentic, from the historical restaurants scattered around Senso-ji – Tokyo’s oldest and most recognizable temple – to the energetic rickshaw-pullers shuttling passengers from place to place. Though a lot of the area is catered toward tourists, locals love it, too.

•  Azuma-bashi Bridge

We took the Chiyoda Line from our Nezu Station, transferred to the Ginza Line at Yushima Station, and got off at Asakusa Station to begin Lonely Planet’s “Walk Asakusa.”  Station exit 4 brought us up to the wide Sumida River with a view of Tokyo Sky Tree and the Asahi Group HQ building (both below) from the Azuma-bashi Bridge.   

The brewery headquarters complex consists of a high-rise office tower clad in bronzed windows and a lower tower with a sweep of gold something or other on the roof, giving the appearance of either a frothy glass of beer of You-Know-Who’s orange pouf, depending on your point of reference.   

Lonely Planet has an even more colorful description:

The building with the golden blob (officially a flame, but the locals say turd) atop it is Asahi Super Dry Hall. 

• Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center

We took the elevator up to the top floor of the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center next to the Asakusa Station, for a fantastic aerial view of our main sightseeing objective:  Senso-ji.  

In the elevator lobby of the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center we saw an intriguing sculpture.   

According to the accompanying text:

A tradition from the Edo period, a lucky “kumade” rake charm from the Otori-jinja Shrine is said to bring increased happiness, good fortune and prosperity.  [ I was beginning to sense a theme in these shrines-- ¥ ¥ ¥.] 

At the Tori-no-ichi market, held at the shrine every November on the Tori-no-hi days (the days of the rooster), one of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac, more than 100 stalls lined up within the shrine grounds sell these kumade. 

On the way out, I got a visitor’s stamp for the sketchbook I bought at the Mitsukoshi department store a few days earlier.   

When planning for the trip, I saw an Instagram Reel about collecting stamps at Tokyo metro stations as a kind of Pokemon treasure hunt alternative for adults.  Those stamp locations were too difficult to find and I soon gave up in favor of collecting temple stamps.  More on that in another post.  But wherever I found a stamp and an ink pad, I took out my sketchbook and had at it.

• Senso-ji.

I hate to say it, but the temple complex and the adjacent lanes form a giant outdoor, carnival-like bazaar, lined with shops selling everything from cat-themed lighting 

to red bean curd cakes (excellent!), kimonos (available to rent for dress-up), Shinto amulets, white paper ties to affix onto pilgrim kiosks on the temple grounds, good luck charms and fortunes, tee shirts, ice cream (No, I did not try the white bait or the jellyfish soft serve below), the ubiquitous and infinite permutations of matcha, and a myriad of souvenirs with varying degrees of tackiness.  

Tip:  Note the sign on the ice cream shop above that prohibits eating while walking.  There are no public trash cans in Tokyo, other than some PET bottle recycling bins outside or inside transit stops.  Smoking, eating and drinking are prohibited on the street.  Eliminate those activities and you eliminate almost all litter.  Japan is very, very clean.

On the side streets adjacent to the Senso-ji temple complex, there were also a few small neighborhood shrines   

and facades with outstanding graffiti, like this roll-up garage door.

On the beautiful, warm day that we visited Senso-ji, we were met with a vast, undulating sea of tourists, deliverymen to the food stalls, Japanese schoolgirls in their blazers and plaid skirts, office workers on their lunch hour, and lovely young ladies dressed up in kimonos taking selfies.  

After wandering the stalls and the side streets, we found an izakaya on Hoppy-dori street with plastic tables and stools outside and Korean fare on the menu.  Across the way was a group of young Japanese women laughing loudly and knocking back hoppy doris, the name of what Lonely Planet describes as "a cheap beer-like beverage low in alcohol."  So much for the stereotype of the reserved Japanese!  After lunch, we visited Hondo, Senso-ji's main hall.

• Hondo      

The main hall looked quite impressive, but you couldn’t enter it.  The same was true for the auxiliary buildings and the pagoda.  Views were either exterior or, in the case of Hondo, through a metal mesh screen into the darkened interior.  Frustrating.

The gorgeous landscaped grounds, complete with koi pond (video below), compensated somewhat for the disappointing temple experience, but with all the retail commerce going on, Senso-ji lacked the gravitas I associate with religious sites.  Instead of feeling awe at being in Tokyo’s oldest temple, I felt as if I were at the Otori-ji Shrine on a Rooster Day wandering among 100 stalls selling kumade.  Heretical though it may be, my advice re Senso-ji is:  Skip it.  There are better shrine experiences to be had in Tokyo.

     

Determined to salvage only a so-so temple day, we decided to go for the real deal, the Meiji-jinju, a monumental Shinto shrine ensconced in a 170-acre forest.  But it was quite a long way by metro from Asakusa; we had spent much too much time at Senso-ji; and it was already getting late.  The shrine closed at dusk, which would be around 4 pm this time of year.  Still, we decided to go for it and would have made it had we not gotten a little discombobulated once we exited the metro and proceeded on foot toward the shrine. 

Tip #1:  While Google Maps may be your best friend in Tokyo, like all friends, it is sometimes unreliable.  We found that the Google-estimated time to walk from point A to point B was not infrequently way off.  Be advised. 

Tip #2:  When a site or restaurant says it closes at a certain time, that doesn't mean last admission.  It means it closes.  In the case of a site, you will be denied entry.  In the case of a restaurant, the staff will start clearing tables and resetting them for the next day while you are still eating, and you will be expected to get a move on.

• Meiji Shrine

As the fates would have it, we arrived at one of Meiji's three towering wooden torii (gates) at dusk and the guards shooed us away.  But unlike the case with the Imperial Palace and its gardens, we returned to Meiji and its park before leaving Tokyo.  I'll cover that visit in my next post.

• Neighborhood Restaurant

Earlier in the week, on our second night in Tokyo, we walked over to Ueno, a neon-lit party area full of restaurants, young people, and night life, for dinner (below).   

On our way there that evening, a few blocks from our apartment, we met a woman walking her dog.  She struck up a conversation when she heard us speaking English.  She had lived in New York City for some years, working as a hairdresser, and when she returned to Tokyo, she opened a salon just around the corner from where we stood.  She was very friendly and asked where we were going.  We replied to Ueno for dinner, and she asked whether we had tried the small restaurant just up ahead, across the street.  We hadn’t and she said it was among her favorites and that we should try it.  So this night, we decided to do just that.  I can’t tell you the name of the restaurant, which was written in Kanji, but I could find it again.  It as that good!

Tucked away between a couple of apartment buildings, the restaurant was accessed down a short flight of steps.  Inside there were maybe four tables, only one of them occupied:  our fellow diners were a middle-aged man and his elderly mother.  We made eye contact as we sat down, and the man spoke to us in English.  (This happened a lot.)  As it turned out, he was an artist visiting his mother, who lived in the neighborhood and also spoke English.  (This also happened a lot; Japanese English speakers include more than the younger generation.)  Unfortunately, mother and son had already finished dinner, so we didn’t have a chance to talk for very long, but it was clear that we foreigners were warmly welcomed.

The owner/chef/server, however, did not speak any English, but it didn't matter.  He gave us a translated menu and we ordered five dishes, plus -  of course - sake. This straightforward, savory meal at a small neighborhood operation, obviously a labor of love as it didn't seem to be overflowing with customers, proved to be one of my favorite meals of the trip.  So simple.  So delicious.  So photogenic!

Anthony Bourdain once said of Japanese cuisine:  

“every chef I’ve ever met, if you asked them, ‘If you had to spend the rest of your life in one country, eating one country’s food for the rest of your life, where would that be?’ They’re all gonna say the same thing: Japan. Tokyo. 

No kidding! 

November 8, 2025 – Mount Fuji

How can you go to Japan and be within striking distance of Mount Fuji and not go there?  You can’t.  So, we decided to use our penultimate day in Tokyo for a side trip to see the iconic extinct volcano.  We took the Chiyoda Line from Nezu Station and transferred at Shin-Ochanomizu Station to the JC train for Shinjuku Station/Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal, where we picked up the bus to Kawaguchiko and Mount Fuji. 

It was sunny in Tokyo.

But it was mostly cloudy in Kawaguchiko.  Oh, well. 

• Kawaguchiko 

The town is situated on a lake from which you have spectacular views of Fuji reflected in the shimmering lake, as you walk around its perimeter.  Or so the guide books say.  I can't say we actually saw that reflection, but the fall foliage was vibrant.  

We kept pointing our phones up to where we thought Fuji was, but mostly we just saw sky and an occasional fleeting glimpse of the summit when there was a brief break in the clouds.

 In fact, this manhole cover might have been our clearest, most complete view of Fuji that day. 

Nonetheless, we had a very nice walk around the lake and saw some brilliant foliage. 

And we also saw some lakeside Japanese kitsch.  The Buddha-like garden gnome was next to the "seen better days" swan boats, which were next to a food truck selling barbecued chicken skewers.  My husband brakes for food trucks.

Running a little behind schedule to catch the bus back, we missed a turn and almost missed our return ride to Tokyo.  But at the last possible moment, as we neared the bus station, Mount Fuji emerged majestically from behind the clouds, and there it was!  One decent shot of the snow-covered peak.  And a lovely day.

Keep it real!

Marilyn