Shibuya

As I mentioned before, Shibuya is known as a nightlife spot in Tokyo. It also seems to be a shopping hub, but we were only really there in the evening, so that's the side we saw. Our hotel was about a 20 minute walk away (close enough to walk, but far enough to be nice and quiet). The first night, we walked over just to see what the place was like. It was certainly crowded. One crosswalk in particular is especially impressive as it is flooded with pedestrians from all directions for a few minutes periodically. I wanted to get a picture, but my iphone camera is no good at night.

We browsed around in some of the shops and generally people watched. Then we used Russell's restaurant finder and located a little izakaya that was known for its special yakitori (grilled chicken). We went off in search of it. It took quite a bit of work to find the place beause it was so small and out of the way. We got close with Google maps, but almost had to give up when Russell spotted it down a tiny alley. We ducked in.




At first, there seemed to be the stereotypical, music screetching to a halt, everyone in the place turning to stare, moment when foreigners arrive. But the place was run by an elderly couple who had had foreigners before (once) and the lady was very quick to make us feel welcome and start chatting with us. Music back on, locals go back to whatever they were doing. The owners asked us if we had found the place on the Internet, and we admitted we had. They seemed very pleased. The food was delicious and we had a good time.

Russell and I had made plans to see my host family on our last day in Tokyo, so we looked over our schedule and decided that we would be brave and go to Tokyo Disney the next day.