Tokyo Xmas

It’s Christmas time at Roppongi Hills.  Where the trees are lit up and people say “メリークリスマス” instead of “happy holidays”.  It is also incredibly cold.  But hey, it IS December…

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東京から新年あけましておめでとうございます!

For the second year in a row, I found myself in Tokyo for New Year’s.  Unlike most of the world, where New Year’s Eve is another excuse to get smashed and celebrate loudly, New Year’s in Japan is pretty much the exact opposite of that, with family time taking priority over debauchery.  As a result, many people in Japan “go home” and stay in over New Year’s, filling family obligations before connecting with friends and visitors.  Most restaurants and businesses close early (by 1600) if they’re open at all.  A lot of businesses take several days off during the New Year’s holiday, so if you’re doing your first Japan visit during this time, you will find that a lot of businesses and attractions will be closed.

NYE schedule for the Oedo Line

New Year’s is also unique in that this is the only day of the year when the trains (JR, Eidan and Toei) run all night.  Granted it’s a abbreviated schedule, but at least they’re running.  If you find yourself out that evening, take a picture of the schedule that’s posted so you don’t come back to the station and have to wait for an hour for the next train back.

One tradition that visitors can partake in is hatsumode (初詣), the first shrine visit of the new year.  The way to think about the new year is that it’s an opportunity to wipe the slate clean.  Pay your debts and make amends for the past year and make wishes and pray for a good new year.  Many of the major shrines in Tokyo get slammed over the first days of the new year as practically everyone is off work. Meiji-Jingu in Shibuya which is probably the best known shrine had over 3 million people visit over the first three days of the year.  Many choose to visit on New Year’s Eve night, as I’ve done the past couple of years.

During my New Year’s visits, I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Tokyo (Shinjuku).  Even though it’s overshadowed by it’s glam cousins, the Park Hyatt and the Grand Hyatt (Roppongi), the Hyatt Regency Tokyo has a good location, the club rooms are very nice and best of all, there’s a 7-11 in the basement AND has direct underground access to Tochōmae Station on the Toei Oedo Line. The hotel had a small New Year’s celebration in the lobby with singers and free champagne to toast at the stroke at midnight.  The entire shindig ended just short of 0030.  When I visited the Meiji Shrine last New Year’s, my friends and I arrived at the shrine close to 0100 and wound up queuing with 400,000 others to pay our respects.  That took just about 3.5 hours.  So, I thought, if I leave later, perhaps the queues won’t be as thick and I won’t be outside so long in the cold.  At 0200, I made my way to the subway and 20 minutes later, I was at the Meiji Shrine.  Where there was a slightly shorter queue.  The wait was only two hours before I made it to the front.

Due to the lateness (or earlyness) of the hour, after I made my offering, I purchased new omamori and recycled my old ones and hightailed it back to the hotel where my warm bed and room awaited me.  Usually there’s food stands and amakaze just outside the shrine area for snacking and fun but many of the booths were closed due to the late late hour.

 

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Damn Fast (and Damn Nice)

I’m spending my last night in Tokyo at the Sheraton Miyako in a standard room on the 6th floor. A lower floor again but I get a view of the neighborhood. The hotel is next door to a Toyopet dealership and at the bottom of the hill from the Shirokanedai Station off of the Namboku Line. The lobby has an early 60s design that would fit in the world of Mad Men or 花樣年華. It doesn’t look retro; it was probably how it was built many years ago and spotlessly maintained since. My room was recently remodeled and was quite comfy and plush. I can only imagine how the “nice” rooms look like.
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The bed is awesomely firm, like most nice beds in Asia. The opposite of North America…
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Nice desk and loafing couch. I think that’s the same TV I have in my bedroom.
Internet here is free but wired. Check out the speed!

Damn fast!

Sheraton Miyako
1-1-50 Shirokanedai Minato-ku
Tokyo, Japan 108-8640
Phone: +81 3 3447 3111

It’s not always bad on the lower floors

Often, travelers will groan when they check into a hotel and they get a lower floor. Usually, higher floors are reserved for elite guests (much like upgrades and E+ are usually for elite flyers). In some cities, like New York or Hong Kong, a higher floor is a must because you get a feel for the city. Hong Kong and New York are defined by their skylines so it’s best to able to see them.

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From the sixth floor, overlooking Roppongi Keyakizaka Dori. Happy New Year!

Having a lower floor at the Grand Hyatt Roppongi, for example, isn’t the end of the world. In fact, it gives you a sense of having bearings since there’s not really an outstanding icon of Tokyo to focus on. No million dollar skyline or Art Deco canyons here. What Tokyo has is street life. It’s the best city to explore on foot (provided you’ve not twisted your ankle before the trip) and its full of neat things you won’t find riding on the Hato Bus. The hotel is part of the Roppongi Hills complex and it serves (along with Tokyo Midtown) as an oasis from the silliness that Roppongi is known for.

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Hallway from the room to the front door. Nice!

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The rest of the room, including a wet bathroom and a properly firm bed!

The question will arise; how could I stay here on my usual low budget? My stay here was an award night from Hyatt’s Faster Free Nights promotion. During my last stay in LA, I stayed at two Hyatts, thus earning me a free night anywhere there was availability. What’s important is that the service was sublime, the room was comfortable and I had a place to fall flat faced after the 10 hour flight from SFO. Despite being on a “lower floor”.

Grand Hyatt Tokyo
6-10-3 Roppongi, Minato-Ku,
Tokyo, Japan 106-0032
Tel: +81 3 4333 1234 Fax: +81 3 4333 8123

Good food is where you find it; Mutsumi-ya in Tokyo Station

I spent my last hour in Japan (being in the lounge doesn’t count, because since you clear passport control, you’re technically “not” in Japan) puttering in 東京駅.
It’s been a while since I’ve needed to go through Tokyo Station on the way to NRT. These past few visits I’ve been going through Shinjuku Station since it’s closer to where I stay during my visits. There’s a lot happening in Tokyo Station and the surrounding Marounouchi neighborhood. For one, Tokyo Station has a left baggage service in the basement close to the NE’X tracks so you can check your bag and putter around for the day before making the long slog to NRT. Although both stations have lockers, they won’t swallow a 26″ roller, that’s why it’s nice to have the left baggage service at Tokyo Station because Shinjuku doesn’t have it. Another bright spot of Marunouchi are the many nice restaurants in the area that includes a branch of A16 and a Cafe that’s part of Joel Robuchon’s restaurant chains.
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Almost feels like being in Paris. Of course, we ARE in Marunouchi…
The best food I found though was inside Tokyo Station itself. There’s a branch of Mutsumi-ya in a special Tokyo Ramen Street section of the basement. I stumbled upon this gem as I was wandering around semi-lost for a new place to eat. Mutsumi-ya is a Hokkaido based chain as evidenced by their flagship bowl of corn-butter ramen.
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It was very oishii! Corn and butter in the broth…
Unlike most Hokkaido style ramen I’ve had, this bowl has the satisfying food buzz that you get with good Hakata style ramen. The broth was rich and hearty and very satisfying. And unusually for Hokkaido ramen, the noodles were firm and has the feel of quality. It’s easy to mass produce thick noodles (which Hokkaido ramen uses) and many shops cheat with store bought noodles. I don’t think Mutsumi-ya does that. It’s that good.
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The restaurant itself is not designed for lingering; rather it’s all about eating and going.
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Here’s some of their other menu offerings and some credentials

2009 Tokyo Motor Show (now with less emissions and fun)

Two years ago, I attended my first Tokyo Motor Show. It was a big affair, with practically every major manufacturer in existence. The M3 saloon, the Nissan GT-R, the BMW 135 motorsport edition, the Lexus IS-F and the Roadster PRHT were featured or premiered there. I’m sure I missed others that were premiered there too. Practically all of Makuhari Messe was used for the show which also featured a lot of buses, lorries and motorcycles.
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Flash forward to 2009. Thanks to “hope n’ change”, the US dollar is in a downward spiral, the automotive world is in a tizzy, no thanks to high oil prices (due to the tanking dollar) and the uncertainty of Government Motors, trade policy (protectionist) and lack of fiscal policy of the current occupiers of Washington DC. As a result, practically every non-Japanese auto company save for Caterham, Lotus and Alpina flaked out on the Tokyo Motor Show this year.
The budget cutting was obvious. Instead of all of Makuhari Messe, the show only covered three halls; almost sounds like a typical show in the states. There were only 1/3 the amount of models to go with the cars and bikes, there was no commercial vehicle section (what vehicles there were wound up displayed by their respective manufacturers) and the featured models that were there were featured in little time blocks, like a show.
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They were on stage for exactly 30 minutes…
But that has nothing on the fact that the TMS this year was BORING. Each manufacturer’s theme was “how green can we be” with boring or dumb looking electric cars.
An example was Mazda’s area, where there were tons of people carriers, compact cars and kei (light) cars. At least 30 of these transportation modules. But the models that Mazda is known for, the RX-8 and the Roadster (Miata), would you like to guess how many they had? Nope, too many. There were one of each. One. Although I guess you could say that there were two cars that weren’t boring. They attracted the biggest crowds of the Mazda area. Two cars that have been in production for a combined 10 years.
Nissan was worse. With a stage that proudly bragged “zero emissions”, their area was chock full of eco cars. Almost as an afterthought, a GT-R was placed at the edge of their area. Guess where all the people in the Nissan area were?
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These people were moving around; not really looking.
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That’s because they were all here, at the only GT-R on display.
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This is the car Nissan chose to feature on its stage. The Leaf, an EV due next year. Yawn.
Toyota/Lexus and Honda had the biggest areas of the show. Honda continued the eco theme ad nauseum but had an interesting exhibit on how they’re making their Super Cub a plug in EV but strangely enough, none of their motorcycles are hybrid or electric. Waaaah! They did have their CR-Z concept that premiered two years back as a, you guessed it, an electric car! Toyota/Lexus had the most interesting cars there. A new supercar from Lexus and a concept car that some are saying could be the new Celica. Toyota making fun cars again? Faster please. They also had the usual SUVs and family cars on display. And Priuses. So many Priuses. How much acid rain will fall on Canada due to the increased nickel mining? I wouldn’t park my car outside…

Missing Tokyo?

It’s summer and it’s nearly time for the Koenji Awaodori. And again, I’m unable to attend. I’ve been working on a project for most of the summer. Will blog about it later. However, for those of us who miss the Tokyo Street Style, click on the link!