After our quiet stay in the somewhat abandoned mountain towns, we arrived to Shinjuku Station after a three hour train ride into the tail end of a double typhoon. I have a great sense of direction, and I’ve managed to understand subway and metro tracks around the world, and I’m really adept at using Apple and Google Maps. Nothing, and I mean nothing, prepared me for Shinjuku Station.
It is the busiest station in the world, averaging about three million people per day and over a billion annually. By comparison, Atlanta airport has over one hundred million passengers annually. Let that sink in for a minute. That means that this train station has ten times the traffic of the Atlanta airport. It is massive and people are headed in all sorts of directions, all of them seemingly knowing exactly which way to go. Except for us, of course. Yes, all signs are also in English, and one would think that would make it easier, but simply finding our way above ground out of this expansive complex is harder than finding your way into the Ministry of Magic. The construction doesn’t make it easier, but to be fair, I think no matter what, we’d look like a fish swimming against the current eagerly trying to get a breath at the surface. We went in and out of this train station multiple times in our few days in Tokyo, but it never got easier! (While we were in Tokyo, we saw a meme about Shinjuku Station that said: “I made out of the world’s hardest escape room in only three days!”) For our arrival, it said our hotel was only a ten minute walk from the train station, but that didn’t account for the twenty minutes of trying to find your way out of the station.
That being said, our tiny hotel room at Hotel Rose Garden Shinjuku is in an easy location and has a great breakfast. Our room has all that we need, despite the fact the two of us cannot be moving around the room at the same time as there is no space for passing in any way! 
We did not have a long list of must-dos in Tokyo, but rather wanted to make the most of our time with a few highlights. On our first night, we did a food tour with Lloyd, a wonderful guide from Uzbekistan who has been in Tokyo for ten years. As an immigrant who also knew the local customs, he had some great insights. We enjoyed lots of tasty foods at local establishments where we stood out as the only foreigners. There was pickled ginger, dumplings, fried sweet potatoes, lots of kinds of noodles, a “fish” cake for dessert, sake, and even fried spam. I ate plenty and had a blast! A particular favorite was seeing “Memory Lane” where tiny sit-down restaurants the size of a food truck grilled a wide variety of food on skewers. 
Our sushi making class was also a highlight! Nigiri sushi is really what is more popular here. It consists of a small ball of rice, a tiny bit of wasabi, and a slice of some sort of raw fish on top. We made these with tuna, shrimp, salmon, and snapper. We also made sushi rolls that we are more accustomed called maki. We put rice, sesame seeds and tiny orange fish eggs on the outside of seaweed before rolling up crab, salmon and cucumber on the inside. I will be honest that I did not expect this sushi to be some of my favorite, only assuming that they did not use premium quality goods, but I found it comparable and quite delicious! 
Of course eating was a top priority and we did it well. We went to the Tsukiji Market and ate our way through lunch one day. We devoured tuna nigiri, wagyu beef sushi, and a cantaloupe that was more flavorful and tender than any I’ve tasted at home. I also tried the cooked eel as it is a favorite here. It was cooked in good seasoning and the texture was not bad, but it was still a bit too fishy for my tastes. 
We ate some great meals, but I only have one restaurant that I really want to recommend. The tricky part is that on Maps, TripAdvisor and Tabelog (the Japanese app for restaurants), it is called different things. Sushi-Yama in Shinjuku is on the sixth floor of a building just off a busy street that feels like Times Square. (Don’t be afraid of restaurants that aren’t on the main floor! We ate at many that were not on the ground floor, and seemed to be hidden gems!) With no windows, they created their own vibe with a central kitchen and a bar wrapped around it and tables along the wall. Our waiters were all kind, helpful, and attentive. As it was our last night in Japan we chose this place because of the sushi. There were options of platters with different types of sushi which probably would have been best, but knowing that it was our last night in Japan, we enjoyed the extensive a-la-carte menu where we could pick and choose our favorite things. So, naturally, it was more tuna and Wagyu sushi for me. There were options of different fat levels of tuna, and unsurprisingly, the fattier tuna melted on the tongue like butter. We also got some tempura vegetables, so, don’t worry, we’ve gotten those in, even if they were first deep-fried. Also, when ordering my sake (which I’ve come to love), I got to choose my own unique glass to use. What an adorable touch! I am certainly going to miss Japanese food! 
One activity we were both looking forward to was Mario Kart driving on the streets of Tokyo. It did sound a little odd, and perhaps a little dangerous, but it had rave reviews, so we decided to try it. It was a little drizzly when we showed up, and the host gave us the option to come back, but we opted to go, and I’m so glad we did! We picked out matching minion onesies, as you do when driving go-carts. Were they necessary? Absolutely not. Did it add to the fun and ridiculousness of it all? Of course. Jessica and I joined a couple from California and our Kiwi guide, Michael, in red go carts with lights and go pros filming for safety. We were given some basic instructions, then we each hit the accelerator and sped through the streets of Shibuya. Did it feel unreal and perhaps a little unsafe? Absolutely, but it was so much fun! At times we probably got up to thirty miles an hour, but these are busy city streets, so it did not allow for great speeds, which was fine with me! Michael was great making sure we weren’t left behind at traffic lights, and when we did have a red light, we’d pull up next to each other so he could take fun photos of us. We crossed Shibuya Crossing, a huge junction of streets, twice, at night, and it was an absolute thrill! Watching Tokyo lights zoom by while tourists waved and filmed us and locals didn’t bat an eye added to our own enjoyment. (If anyone sees people post videos from Sunday night in Tokyo of red Mario Karts with two minion drivers, please let me know! 😉) Also, should you be coming to Tokyo and wanting to do this bizarre, unique experience, make sure to get an International Driver’s License! 
Aside from eating and shopping, our two big goals in Tokyo were cats and Harry Potter. Yes, I know this isn’t London, but this city also loves the magical chosen one.
Japan loves cats almost as much as Jessica and I do, which has been tricky for our wallets and suitcases, but fun for us. The amount of living, breathing cats we have seen is in the single digits, but the amount of cats on things we’ve seen is probably in the millions. There were chopsticks, spoons, shirts, oven kits, sponges, cookies, pants, tea kettles, wall hangings, and figurines of every shape and size.
We ventured to the Lucky Cat Temple just thirty minutes outside of the city which felt like a completely different world of quiet and calm. As the story goes, a lord in the 1600s had been beckoned into the temple by a cat. Because he went indoors, he was spared from a lightening storm. The cat has now become a symbol of good luck and fortune. We purchased our own small cat and added it to the collection there, as you are supposed to do when making your wish. Local shops were of course in full support of the cats and had plenty of adorable items! We also ventured to another part of town, Yanaka Ginza, which was said to be a cat loving area, and we certainly saw plenty of “furry” touches! The 3D cat billboard was close to our hotel, and it was also fascinating to see. I can really appreciate people who love cats. I know they are good people! 
As for Harry Potter, no, I’m not sure why Tokyo has become such a hub, but when there is something great in the world, why not embrace it? One train station close to “The Cursed Child” Theater was all decked out in red carpets with portraits, house colors and the movie theme played throughout. Just outside of this was a cafe and store all decked out in Hogwarts themes. 
We didn’t go to the Universal Studios in Osaka, but we did go to the Harry Potter Studios in Tokyo! At first, it felt a bit odd entering the studios that were so similar to those in London and yet were not at all used for filming. I loved the London Studio Tours both times that I went, and knowing that the sets had been used to make the magic happen made them all that more meaningful. However, Japan does do everything better. So there were sets here that we didn’t see in London like the Forbidden Forest, the Ministry of Magic, and inside Number 4 Privet Drive. Were these places actually used in filming? Not at all. Did that make them any less magical? Absolutely not. We loved it! 
You could easily spend all of your money on fun, extravagant adventures as well as keep sake treasures here in Tokyo, but we found several free things to do that were perfect. We wandered through Yoyogi Park and Meiji Jingu, both huge green spaces that rivaled Central Park and were a welcome reprieve from the busy streets of Tokyo. One evening we waited in a ten minute line to go up the Tokyo Metro Government Building. It’s the eighth tallest building in the city, and it has free observation floors at the top, even with a grand piano allowing people to serenade all the tourists. This same building offers a free lights show after sunset, so we joined the crowd lying on the turf looking up at the building. We watched a twenty minute variety lights show that is apparently done multiple times throughout the evening. It was as remarkable as this city is! 
We fly on to another adventure today. I’m sad to leave Japan, although, not necessarily Tokyo. Our time here was perfect, but I’m not a big city girl. A quiet island sounds perfect for our next stop!
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