Finally today we went somewhere that you were actually allowed to take pictures inside! We started the day fairly early at the 21_21 Design Sight Museum by Tadao Ando and Issey Miyake. They had an entire exhibit on measurement and scales and we were allowed to take pictures of most everything, we just weren't allowed to touch which was like torture for me. The building itself was really nice and the exhibition was fun, everything was related to size and scales and how we measure things. This was one of my favorite ones, they look like giant post-its representing all of the different paper sizes.
After the museum we went to the Meiji Jingu shrine close to where we are staying. We walked a lot here, the grounds were gigantic and surrounded by forests which were very pretty. But after a few miles of walking we finally found the shrine and it was very beautiful. as well I especially liked all of the details on the doors and light fixtures. The craftsmanship here is very detailed and everything is beautifully designed.
The most fun part of being at the shrine was that we got to watch a wedding party go through. I guess today was a very special day in the life of Buddha so there were a lot of weddings everywhere today. But a very special one was at the shrine and it was so fun to watch the police trying to move everyone out of the way so they they could walk through the gates and people were taking pictures like crazy of these people they didn't even know and I saw the bride laughing and I was laughing too. It was pretty ridiculous.
After the shrine and our long walk back to the entrance we walked over to the Tokyo Olympic Stadium right across the street. It was designed by Kengo Tango, completed in 1964 and consists of two different stadiums which are both suspensions systems. They were pretty neat and we got to see ads for the Japan soccer teams and basketball teams so it was pretty fun even if we didn't get to see an actual game. After the stadium we went to some other places that I can't even remember now. It was a long day and obviously these weren't too memorable.
But I do remember where we went after that- Shibuya which is like the Times Square of Japan. I've never been to New York, but wow this place was absolutely insane. I could have literally spent hours sitting, waiting at the light for it to change and then just watching the swarms of people cross the street, it was pretty incredible. Pictures don't really do it justice, I think there is nothing like being there and being surrounded by that many people. And then in a few seconds its all over and people slowly build up at the light and the second the light changes it all starts again.
After our experience at times square we ended our night going to Shinjuku which is just one district over from Shibuya. These places looked pretty similar, but Shinjuku was more of a place that I expected Tokyo to be like based on my preconceptions about Japan. It was very crowded with people and lights and advertisements were everywhere but it also had a little bit more of the sketchy vibe with some weird shops and entertainment things. We ended the night by eating dinner out in Shinjuku and we had Japanese BBQ where they have the fire in the middle of the table and they bring you a bunch of raw meat and you cook it yourself. It was delicious and a great way to end the LONG day as you can see by this post.
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