Blossom Bloom Expectations

Well, here we are in a rainy Tokyo and will we see any blossom? We had heard that Spring has arrived early in Japan and that all the blossom bloom had been and gone. Our excellent guide, Ms Tachibana, picked us up on a miserable wet and cold morning. So far on our trip, the weather has been unusually warm, so we knew our luck would run out eventually. Because of the rain, we took taxis during the day, rather than using the metro. However, later, Diane and I made sure we used public transport whilst we were here - we always make sure we use the local transport systems when abroad. Our tour took us to Asakusa which is home to the Sensoji Temple and is in the city's oldest geisha district. Here was a bustling place, with lots of traders operating from market stalls, thronged with locals and a considerable number of locals dressed in traditional clothes. The guide showed us the custom to take before approaching the Temple, that included washing the hands. Then, at the Temple itself, you bow twice and say a prayer. Then at the Meiji Jinju Shrine, Ms Tachibana showed us how the custom differed, in that you clap twice after the bow and before the prayer.

We then had a slight detour to the Sumida River, to show us that the blossom is still alive and kicking in Tokyo; it was really lovely and we were not disappointed. But our guide bettered that when we went to Yoyogi Park, where there were many blossom trees, all in full bloom. We had another detour into the main shopping centre, to visit a number of marvelous stores and, in particular, the food halls. These rivaled Harrods and Fortnum & Masons - the variety and choice was amazing. But the most incredible part of our tour was to the Nissan and Sony stores; in the former, we had our picture taken that was then transposed onto the top of our coffee. In the latter, there were two robot dogs that really could have been real. They reacted to all human contact when you stroked them and even just looked at you in a 'dog like' way when you were near then. Pretty incredible but really scary.

Then back to the Park Hotel which is a sort of avent garde artist promoting themed accommodation - rooms certainly the smallest we have stayed in, but comfortable.