First full day: Asakusa, Sensoji Temple, and Tokyo Skytree

For our first full day in Tokyo, we decided to visit the Asakusa area, with the famous Sensoji Temple, and Tokyo Skytree.  

But first, breakfast at 6:30 am at our hotel in Ueno. We’d been awake for hours at that point since we were jet lagged. Our first breakfast in Japan was quite tasty and the view made it even better.  You can see Tokyo Skytree in the distance (it’s the tall pointy shape). 

Senso-ji Temple 

To get to the temple, we walked through alleys of vendors. On our way, we made a few stops to get a little something for Zelda of course, try a few treats we’d heard about including ninjyo - yaki with the red beans paste. 

Tokyo has been in a heat wave and with not a cloud in the sky, the heat and humidity were exhausting. To help, we bought a couple of Pocari Sweat, a drink that helps replenish electrolytes, from a vending machine.

Around Sensoji Temple, there are several shrines and we made sure to make see them all. 

After the temple and adjacent shrines, we walked down Hoppy Street to eat lunch in an Izakaya. We ordered poor belly, beef, pickled cucumbers, and a couple of hoppy beers. The food was absolutely delicious, refreshing, and flavorful. See the separate post regarding Chris’s reaction to hoppy beer. 

Making our way back to the street vendors in Asakusa, we made a stop to buy a melon bread. Chris’s smile in the pic below says everything. 

Tokyo Skytree

After the temple, we made our way to Tokyo Skytree for views of Tokyo at 350m and 450m above. Both levels provided a 360 degree view of the city. The downside - we couldn’t see Mount Fuji from the top since it wasn’t clear enough. Either way we were on cloud 9 (also see pics from other post).

After Skytree, we made our way back to our hotel in Ueno and made a quick stop at a food truck where we had a minced pork fried korokke (croquet) and it was divine.