Today was as exhausting and exciting and interesting as I had expected it to be, wth the additional entertainment of cold drizzling rain all day. Never ones to let a bit of rain dampen our enthusiasm (pun intended) we bought umbrellas and soldiered on.

Our first stop was for breakfast at a cafe which promised all the toast you can eat for ¥500 ($AU5) – as well as tea, coffee or soup. The cafe was decorated for Halloween, which seems to be a big thing here.

Thus fortified, we headed to the Meiji Shrine, one of Tokyo’s most significant Shinto shrines. Meiji is dedicated to Emperor Meiji and his consort, Empress Shoken, who are credited with creating the foundations for modern Japan during the Meiji Restoration (1868–1889). After entering a huge tori gate you walk through a lush forest of around 172 acres, which was a delight, and possibly even improved by the rain. The shrine was busy with tourists but we also saw a traditional wedding procession, which was lovely. There was a display of bonsai gardens as well as chrysanthemums, and the famous sake wall.

From there the contrast with our next stop could not have been greater, as we walked down Takeshita Street, in Harajuku, an incredibly crowded pedestrian shopping street famous for trendy youth fashion, sweet treats, and pop culture. We passed a variety of shops, including a pig cafe (I kid you not!), a capybara cafe, and an otter cafe. It was crowded, and jostling umbrellas adds to the challenge of crossing the road, and getting decent pics, but the atmosphere was festive.

Also we saw one of Tokyo’s famous 3D billboards.

A shortcut took us past a smaller shrine, Togo Shrine, built in 1937 to commemorate Japan’s naval war hero, Heihachiro Togo. There were no tourists, but a serene garden complete with lake and koi carp. A delightful surprise.

All of this was before lunch! We found a little Yakitori restaurant where we sat and recovered, then explored the Shibuya area, including the famous “Shibuya Scramble” which was as crazy as you would expect. Here are a few more pics to round out our day. The rain never got really heavy, but it also never let up, and we were getting pretty cold, so called it a day around 4 to warm up and make our plans for tomorrow.