The ULTIMATE Tokyo Experience Sensoji Temple and Market Tour

The ULTIMATE Tokyo Experience Sensoji Temple and Market Tour

[Music] [Applause] All righty, fellow travelers. Welcome back to the adventures of the traveling don and our continued series here in Japan. And today we’re continuing our Tokyo adventures here in three different neighborhoods in this video. That’s going to be Asakasa, Weno, and Akihabara. I’ve watched so many videos about this place, and I finally get to experience it for myself. This is going to be a lot of fun. So, we’re here at the Kamariman Gate. I think I got that right. Which eventually leads down to Senzoji Temple. But let’s go and explore these three fantastic neighborhoods. [Applause] [Music] So, the main strip that’s going to run you from uh the Kamarimon gate all the way to Senzoji Temple is Nakamise Street. And this is a big shopping street. And as you can see, there’s already quite a few people showing up, but this is nothing compared to what I’ve seen in other videos. Like, it’s most of the shops don’t even open up until I think about 10:00. Some are already open early. Um, I’m here, like I said, a little bit before 9:00. Um, some of them are just starting to open at 9:00, but I think most open by 10:00, and that’s when it really starts to bustle. So, which we’ll see in a minute. But it’s good to come here early, get here before 9. That way, you don’t have long lines and crowds of people to get to the shrine. And once you’re done with the shrine, then, of course, you can just enjoy the hustle and bustle of the market, which is what I love. But first, we’re going to check out the shrine before all those super big crowds get here. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] All right. So, the temple behind me is Senoji Temple and this is the oldest established temple in Tokyo. I think it goes back to about the 7th century and number one, it is absolutely gorgeous. Honestly, the temple I haven’t been inside yet. We’ll go in inside in just a second. And I’m not sure whether or not they’ll allow photos inside, but the outside is fantastic. However, that fivetory pagod behind me is kind of really cool. That’s to me that I love this style of architecture. The Asian style, Japanese style, all like I can’t wait to get to like Vietnam and Korea and experience that. But here in Japan, this is absolutely fantastic. And what’s also really cool and not many people I think ever mention this right behind me as you can see right above I believe those are called oaraji and those are basically two ma there’s a pair of them on either side of this secondary gate here uh there are two big massive sandals and they are meant to bless uh good walkers uh and things like that. So, it’s uh interesting, but also the fact that they’re really wellcraftrafted and those some big feet to fill those sandals cuz you could probably fit like 10 of me in those sandals. Those things are huge. The fact that they made those those are amazing. So, sorry. I get the the most random things always attract my eye. You got all this crazy beautiful architecture. I’m like, what are some big giant sandals? That’s what I’m into, though. Okay, so we’re doing this omakuji thing. I’ve never done this before. So apparently you put 100 yen into a little slot here. And then you take this and then you’re supposed to take it until you get a stick. A stick will have a number. I’ve got number 74 there. So you remember your number. You don’t take the stick. And then put it back. And then you’re going to take out a sheet of omokuji from the number of your drawers. So we got 74. Let’s look for 74 real quick, guys. All right. And oh, here we go. And we’ve got the sheet. Okay. I’m going to read this in a little bit and I’ll get back to you guys. Well, I got bad fortune. First time doing this. And of course, I’m going to get bad fortune. It says, uh, you should not know that there are or you should know that there are many pe there may be some bad people like a snake or tiger that hurt you. The Chinese letter two tales for one bull means to lose everything. When the people get pleasure, there happened to be some interference. I’m not exactly sure what all this means. It does say in the bottom though, your request will not be granted. The sick patient is hopeless. The lost article will not be found. The person you wait for will not come. Building a new house and removal are both bad. Marriage of any kind to start a trip and new employment are all bad. Tear gone. Thankfully, I am um I’m I’m It’s I’m in luck because all you have to do is fold this and tie this over here and you leave your bad luck here. I think that’s how it works. Hopefully, cuz otherwise this might be a good idea. So hopefully whether or not the uh bad luck leaves stays here uh doesn’t go on my tying skills because mine just look like crap and there’s other people’s that look like really really nicely tied and I’m like does it matter if you know my t or am I just doomed? We’ll find out. [Music] [Music] [Applause] So, I got to first off say that temple is amazing. Absolutely beautiful. The architecture, the colors, is just phenomenal. I can see why it’s such a huge attraction. And I gotta tell you, the crowds within an hour, it the start difference is a ridiculous. However, most people basically stay around the Nakamise shopping street and it seems like the temple itself, but there’s a lot more to the grounds than that. So definitely take a walk around and visit all the different shrines that they have around here because it becomes a little bit quieter. It’s not as chaotic and there’s some beautiful little shrines and ponds with koiish and just absolutely phenomenal. So take your time when you’re here and walk around more than just the temple itself and of course Nakami Street cuz there is more to Senzo G temple than you think. [Applause] All right. So, first little snack that we’re going to try while we’re here at Nakami Street is it’s this pastry that’s uh got chestnut and sweet potato. So, looks good. It’s a little sticky on top. So, I’m guessing it’s there’s some kind of glazed sugar or honey, but Oh, that’s very nice. And that cream in there. I’m not sure what that’s made of because there’s got to be more than chestnut in there, but that is rather delightful. Kind of a nice little starter snack. Really nice. And that was about what? 324 yen. So somewhere around like a dollar, a dollar almost $2 maybe. Not bad. Okay, it’s time to officially try one of these candied strawberries that so many people have posted um you know on videos and stuff. So, let’s go and try this real quick. Oh. Oh, that’s good. like the sweet coating of like the sugar that glazes around it and then when you get past it and you just bite in the strawberry strawberry just kind of bursts. Oh, really good. Lot of sugar. Probably the only one only one I’ll do today. But those are good. That strawberry is fantastic. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] So from Senzui Temple in Nakami Street, I was walking over to Hoppy Street and I saw that this place had basically big fried chicken. So I got the big fried chicken. Spicy. This look at huge piece of chicken. Very hot. Oh hot. [Applause] Oh, but also juicy. The batter on that is fantastic. And even like the the chili seasoning that they put on there. It’s got some good heat. It’s not super spicy, but that is fantastic. This is a beast of a chicken. All right, so this is going to sound sacriiggious to some people, but uh that was better than Family Mart. I’m sorry. That was absolutely delicious. I love Family Mart. I’ve had already three of them. I have basically one a day. But oh my god, number one, it is about four to five times bigger than a Family M chicken. It’s only 700 yen, which I think Family Mart runs around one. So, you know, it’s it’s appropriate if it’s like five times bigger. So, but good lord, that was fantastic. The batter, the spicy uh the spicy seasoning that they put on there, just enough to give you a little bit of heat. It lingers a bit, but it’s not too spicy. Man, that is fantastic. And now, let’s continue on. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] This thing is literally staring into my soul. That’s terrifying. [Music] So, I got to say, walking down Hoppy Street and then kind of the interconnecting streets that come from Nakamise, it a totally different world and it is literally just a block or two blocks down and you just most of it is the locals. Um, all of these like izakayas and all these places that you can come. This probably is popping at night particularly with locals. It’s all very very cheap. Even you think of like that big chicken was like 700 and then you go back to Nakami and my little strawberries were like 600. So it’s like a hundred yen difference and I got so much more out of that big chicken. But this Hoppy Street is kind of like more locals. But also when you are as white as me and the sun is out today. Definitely go to one of the drugstores. I went to the drugstore. This for like 600 yen. got uh uh Sunbears Active Protective Cool for sunscreen SPF 50. So, I’m going to go find some place to rub that on and uh continue on cuz I don’t want to become as crispy as my chicken. Might end up tasting good, but I don’t want to become that crispy. So, anyway, we continue on. [Music] All right. So, after the chaos and the hustle and bustle of Asakasa and Senoji Temple, I figure next spot we’re coming over here. We are now in Ueno and Ueno Park in particular because this is a place I’ve been wanting to come to for quite a while. And it’s just this beautiful sprawling park. We’re right here on the south side here. And this is Shinabazu Pond. You can’t really see the pond too much. Just a little bit through there. But it is just absolutely gorgeous. And honestly almost prehistoric looking. Just like the height of these. I don’t even know what type of vegetation this is, but it is phenomenal. Absolutely fantastic. And behind me, of course, is the Shinu Bazu. I think there’s a Buddhist temple right behind me, uh, which you can actually go to. And I got myself a little amulet. I’m not supposed to open it. Um, you know, given I had bad fortune over at Senoji, I figure I would try my luck here and basically use this as an amulet. This particular one is, I think, only to safeguard my money. So, even if the rest of misfortune happens to me, as long as I keep this and I don’t open it, at least the money should be safe. Hopefully, maybe we’ll see, you know, maybe I just got, you know, 100 yen and they just I don’t know, man. I’m just going along with it. Okay, I’m I’m trying to get out of Japan without all the bad luck and curses following me home. Okay, but anyway, it is an absolutely beautiful park. This is on the south side. Now, let’s continue to the north side and check out. They’ve got several museums up there, the zoo. We won’t go into everything today, but I do want to kind of showcase where they’re all at. [Music] Well, I will say Oweno Zoo is a zoo. And I’m not just talking about the animals. There’s a lot of people here. It is packed. Well, given like I said before, I am filming up here in Asaka 10 and Akiabara on autumn equinox day. So, it is a holiday. So, there is a lot more going on than probably naturally on, you know, I’m shooting this on an act on a what a Tuesday. So, probably during the regular week when there is no holiday going on, this probably be a little bit less uh crowded. But even still, it’s a nice zoo. There is quite a lot to see here. And it’s only 600 yen. So, you think that’s what four or five bucks somewhere around there. So, it is rather impressive what you get for, you know, the price that you do pay. Uh I’m still kind of on the fence about zoos in and of itself. Let me know in the comments below how you feel because I’ve been to wildlife conservation centers um and stuff like that where it’s it’s a little bit more natural for the animals as much as it can be. But I understand the purpose of a zoo particularly when it comes to kids. Uh and I like you know like it is a holiday right now. There are tons of kids and their families here to experience animals that they would never really see you know in Japan or if you’re at a zoo anywhere else in the world. But I’m on the fence about it. But even still, it is really well put together. Very nice and quite a nice kind of managerie of animals. So definitely definitely will say particularly for the price really nice. So quick tip I’ve learned since coming to Oeno Zoo. If you want to see the giant pandas, which you know they’re super cute, I love pandas. Come here early. do it the first thing because the line for the pandas is ridiculous. Well, I don’t know how fast moving it is when it comes to being in there and how long people have, if there’s a time limit, yada yada yada. All I know is right now it’s almost about an hour long wait to see the pandas. And look, I love pandas. They’re super cute. I’ve been compared to a panda. I don’t know why. I don’t know if that’s a fat joke. I don’t know if it’s my dopey face. Um, my big round face. I I don’t know. Apparently, I’m a panda. But maybe I’m also when you see stupid videos about pandas sometimes, I’m like, “All right, I do get it because I do stupid crap all the time.” But I will say if you want to see the pandas, which I don’t have time for on this one, definitely come early cuz uh the line racks up real fast. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] So, out of the garden and straight back into the pot of fire. Good lord. I thought Nagamise shopping center and street was wild and busy, but Amayyoko here is packed. Like it is like bumper to bumper, wall to-all or stall to stall as you could say. Just people all over the place. And it’s definitely bigger cuz it’s more than one strip. You have multiple strips that kind of intersect and it’s just holy moly. Talk about a lot of people. It’s really cool. But there is so much to see. You want to talk about a just a hit to the senses. Absolutely wild. [Music] All right. So, I’m starting to get a little hungry and thirsty. And honestly, I don’t even know where I’m at in Aayoko. I’ve just been walking the strip. Just I picked one spot. It looks they’ve got yaktori. We’ve got that coming. Um for right now though, gami. Got myself a nice beer. Oh, nice. Cool. And it looks like my uh edamame arrived. Soakas. And let’s [Music] All right, so the yakator has arrived. And of course, I got four different six, two different types. Traditional chicken thighs to start this off. Oh, that chicken is so juicy. God damn, that is so moist. Phenomenal. And then I got one that said garlic to some kind of garlic sauce. So, or garlic paste, whatever they put on top of there. That’s probably a lot of garlic. That is good though. I love me some good yagatory. But damn. Oh, absolutely delicious. Okay, that yagator was fantastic. But good lord, that was wild. If you are into markets like I am, Amayoko phenomenal. It is packed. It is just heaving. The man, the smells, and just the energy, the vibe is awesome. So, all right, we’re off to Akiabra. And the third and final of the neighborhoods for this video. [Music] Okay, so we have now made it to our third and final neighborhood and this is Akihabara and this is the Akihabara electric town. So, this is where you come to go if you want to get any kind of electronics from brand spanking new to, of course, used and just old school stuff. So, we’re going to go check a few different shops, just kind of see what’s going on here and see where we go from there. [Music] So that first store was actually a shock to the senses. So I think I went into the Geigo building number three. I think there are multitude of them. There actually is of course the uh well it no longer exists. The old Sega building which turned into the Geigo building which now I believe closed literally like a month before I got here. So that no longer I think the building still exists but as the Segosaur as the Geigo building it like the iconic one that people think about that no longer exists. that is now permanently closed. I don’t know what they’re going to do with that app from this point on. Um I haven’t looked into that, but they do have a couple of the other GI Geigo stores, including the one I was behind me, Geigo number three, I believe it is. And it’s got about seven floors worth of different types of games. I think the first three are claw games with a bunch of great looking prizes. And then the next four floors are a mixture of sports, music, and even like retro games and stuff like that. So, it is really cool. Definitely if you are a gamer nerd, if you like any of that kind of stuff, definitely check out and it’s not just Geigo. I’m there’s probably a multitude of these types of arcades all over all over Akihara. [Music] Speaking of retro games from earlier, the next shop you want to come to in Akihyaba, if you are a big gamer nerd, particularly if you grew up like me, uh, born in the 80s, grew up in the ’90s, you talk about growing up on Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Sega, Sega Saturn, NES, SNES, Super Potato is where it’s at. And it’s three floors of I think the third floor where I’m at right now is specifically like Nintendo, Game Boy, Sega, and then it goes up to like PC, uh, PlayStation, things like that. But you want to talk about retro and kind of reliving my childhood. Absolutely fantastic. They even have like the old um I’m looking for something even older, but like they’ve got the old right here like Pokemon Blue, green, and fire error and red. And of course, we never got green in the US, but this is War Land 2, Super Mario Brothers. This is awesome. [Music] [Music] That thing is absolutely terrifying in a somewhat cute way, but still goddamn terrifying. [Music] So the third and final shop that we’re exploring here in Akihabara is the Doniote in Akihyabra. So they have doniote kind of like all over Tokyo and I think all over Japan. There is a mega store in Shabuya when we do the Shabuya video. We will go check that out. But we’re just doing the one here in Akihabara. And even the one here I’m like I don’t know where to start. I don’t like there is anything and everything that you could want here. And I don’t know if I want anything or if I just want to buy everything. It’s like I’m trying to keep my hands in my pocket when I’m not filming because I’m like all these things I want yet I don’t need. Or maybe I do need in my life, but it’s not I don’t need it right now. I don’t know. it like it’s just it’s one of those shops that honestly is built for you to just go out with a bag that’s got a bunch of random crap in it because there’s so much all over this place. It’s absolutely phenomenal. I like I’ve seen people come in here. I’ve doing videos and it’s just it’s so cool. [Music] So a quick note when you are visiting the uh Doniote and Akihabara. So it is on the fourth and fifth floors of that particular building. And um when you get the fourth floor is where kind of like the whole main store is. The fifth floor has got, you know, the maid cafe and it’s kind of it’s called the figurine level. When you go up the escalator, particularly if you are going up there as a family with kids, you got youngans, take an immediate left and look at everything left and beyond until you head back down or go up to the other store which is not Donote on the sixth floor because straightforward and to the right is basically the hentai corner. Don’t get lost in there. You know, it it’s hard to get out and uh yeah, you you see things that you know, youngans are too young to see. So anyway, take that advice and uh yeah, just when you get up to the fifth floor, take a hard left and continue on. Don’t look back, please. All righty, travels. That is going to be the end of this particular Tokyo and Japan adventure and I hope you guys enjoyed these three neighborhoods that we checked out. Weno, Asaka, and Akihabara. This was awesome. You know, it was little bits and pieces. It wasn’t a full deep dive, but I kind of wanted to hit all three in one video, particularly in my first time here in Tokyo. Who knows, next time I will come back. Maybe I’ll really delve into these neighborhoods one by one. I would really, really love to do that. But I wanted to kind of get all three because this is kind of like what can be done in a really nice little day trip. You know, you see the history of Sensoji Temple and Asakasa and then of course Hoppy Street and Nakami. And then you come over to Weno and you get lost in that scuffle and just the the craziness of Amayyoko Market. And then when you need a break from that, you go to Aweno Park and find a little corner for yourself. Absolutely phenomenal. And then of course you come to Akihabara and you know this is where you nerd out, you geek out. It’s electric city, baby. It was awesome. So I hope you guys enjoyed the video. If you did, give it a big old thumbs up and of course smash that subscribe button. Uh definitely helps out the channel, particularly nowadays with everything going on with YouTube. But I very much appreciate all of the support. And of course, if you want to help support the travels even more so and get some free specific merch to just my uh subs uh my excuse me, my Patreon members, go down to Patreon and of course sign up. So, I do appreciate you guys and to me again, peace out. Have a great night. [Music]

Come and Explore what I like to call the Tokyo Triad. A mix of History, Nature, Culture and the Futuristic Electric Town. We will be exploring three neighborhoods of Tokyo that couldn’t to have been any more different than each other. Asakusa, Ueno and Akihabara.

We will start in the past, exploring the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. The oldest temple in Tokyo, founded in the 7th Century, serves as a major center of religious faith for the goddess Kannon. A truly beautiful piece of Japanese architecture. Make sure to stop by the shops along Nakamise Market for some local bites.

The second neighborhood to visit will be Ueno. That is where the Nature and Culture of Tokyo kick in. The large sprawling paths of Ueno Park are a great place to escape the noise of the city. While diving into the crucible that is Ameyoko Market is a blast to the senses. The food and sounds of the chaotic market are truly something one must feel.

We finish off by exploring Akihabara Electric Town. A place that feels like its from a scene of a futuristic movie. Which is an interesting thought since Akihabara is also where you can step into the past of gaming and find refurbished gaming systems from the 80s and 90s.
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