Wifi-sorted. SUICA card-sorted. Comfortable shoes hopefully sorted. Our two travellers successfully navigated the Tokyo metro towards Shibuya Crossing. This intersection is the most famous and busiest pedestrian intersection in the world. The green light appears and people from everywhere flood the intersection as they move in multiple directions before the red light appears. Unfortunately it’s hard to capture in a photo. Sorry, you just have to go there!

Just nearby is a statue of Hachiko, the loyal Akita dog who waited for his owner every day, outside the station, even after his master’s death. If you want to know more, there’s a film made starring Richard Gere, that our retirees recommend.

These two knew they were in for a lot of shrines and temples so they had planned to be selective. The Shinto Meiji Shrine made the list. Beautiful gardens, welcoming entrance and a very peaceful atmosphere. Set in Yoyogi Park, this is dedicated to a popular emperor and his wife. They had tried to make connections between Japan and the western world back in the 1920s. There were no loud voices or any other inappropriate behaviour as we had all been warned:

I guess we had all been put on notice.
We think waving was ok.

Harajuku which was the next stop, is known to be a bit different with an unusual culture. This was found to be the case as Mr and Ms X walked down the famous Takeashita Street. There are no words suffice to say that there seemed to be an unusual obsession with strawberries.

And there were queues…and, yes, that’s a strawberry and whipped cream sandwich (on Tip Top bread!)

A rest in a park is always a good idea and an even better idea if the park in question has cherry blossom. Thankyou Shinjuku-Gyoen!

Out 2 adventurers then joined the Ninja Food Tour for the “Best of Izakaya”. Izayakas are like gastro-pubs. Small in size, share plates and speciality drinks are their core business. After three and a half hours we discovered that Mr X can indeed use chopsticks, Mr X knows a good Saki from a bad one and that Ms X can identify most parts of the chicken used in Yakatori. Two other Aussies, a doctor and a builder and an American journalist accompanied Mr and Ms X on this great night. Our 2 guides kept the group fed, watered, informed and entertained as three Izakayas were graced with our company and many scenic spots were visited during the night.

How lucky were they to have Godzilla watching over them all night!