Japan 5 - Tokyo

Friday, 15 May 2026

Today we finished our time in Tokyo, and then headed to Niigata to board our cruise ship.

Hie Jinja

The Hie Shrine is a small Shinto Shrine right next to our hotel. We decided to do an early morning walk across the street for a visit.

The shrine as seen from our hotel room. A significant portion of the shrine was undergoing restoration and was a construction zone.

Looking back at our hotel (Capitol Hotel Tokyu). Note the torii at the base of the stairs leading up to the shrine.

The washstand.

Since this is an Inari shrine, in addition to the usual wooden amulet placards, you could purchase a ceramic fox amulet.

The "Inari Sando" - a torii path from street level up to the shrine.

The two gatekeepers. In an Inari shrine, they are usually foxes, but these look more like dogs to me. Regardless, the left one is clearly female with pup, and the right is male. The female's toes are separated to be able to wear sandals. It is common for the guardians to be wearing clothing.

Amulet rack.

Ginza & Beyond

Ginza is one of Tokyo's most famous shopping streets. Tour buses are given specific times to show up at their bus stop. Our bus had the 13:30 time slot.

We walked about 2 blocks off Ginza to go to Bic Camera - a department store that combines Best Buy, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Total Wine. It was quite the Japanese experience!

"Black Cat" is the ubiquitous Japanese delivery service. Transportation is so crowded that most people ship their luggage to their destination ahead of time. When we rode the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Niigata, our luggage was delivered to our ship on a van that traveled separately.