The Tuna thought he was doing a great job at work.
Instead, he was canned 🥁

…Previously, Odaiba

Hey, turns out me and Noe stayed in hotels close to each other.

Asakusa

Ohayou, Asakusa~ 🌞

Asakusa Nishi-sando Shopping Street

We’re taking things at a more leisurely pace today.

Asakusa Kagetsudo

Hey, I’ve seen this shop mentioned on the net before.

Ice cream melon pan for breakfast. Damn, this was a good melon pan 👍/🍈

Just
like
my
animes

…Melon pan…cider?

Just another day in Japan.

Tsukiji Fish Market

I’ve always wanted to visit this place but never found the opportunity.
The wholesaler market, with its famous tuna auction, moved to Odaiba but most of the tourist parts are still here in Tsukiji and this place remains one of the best places for the freshest seafood.

These streets are narrow. I can see why the wholesalers outgrew this place.

Actual wasabi, not that green-colored horseradish stuff we get in the west.

Expensive Japanese strawberries. They tasted like strawberries.
The UK already grows some of the best strawberries in the world so I guess I’ve been spoiled.

Yo, this giant crab leg was the best crab I’ve ever had. Crab has such an unsatisfying effort:meat ratio but these were far meatier and were crazy juicy. I’m drooling just looking at this photo again.

Oish.
Definitely would like to come back here in the future. There were still a lot of stalls I didn’t get to try plus the restaurants too. The only thing I didn’t like was this stall that sold sea urchin and wagyu beef sushi rolls. The weird combination piqued my curiosity but yeah… I’d give that a skip if you see it.

Ueno~

Ueno~~

We don’t really have anything else planned today. Just a leisurely stroll down Ueno.

Yushima Tenmangu Shrine

Spirited away.

We stumbled across this shrine on our walk and ooh pretty ume blossoms.

This shrine is dedicated to Michizane, God of Education (though he was mortal before his death). Many students will visit during exam time to pray for success on these wooden plaques.

There’s also a cow statue somewhere, that I didn’t see, which you rub for good health. Students will visit to rub the head for an intelligence stat boost.

The shrine is filled with Michizane’s favorite ume trees.

If this all sounds familiar, it’s because I coincidentally visited another one of the Michizane’s Tenmangu shrines back in Kyoto (refresh after the images load for the heading link to work).

I had narrowly missed the ume blossom festival back in the Kyoto branch but this shrine runs its festival for a whole month. We weren’t around for any events though.

So lively today.

Cute👴

Also, uh, there was a monkey.

🤔

Eh, nandatte?!

mayonegg

He’s fast!

And the crowd sugois.

What am I doing with my life?

Good boy.

That was a neat discovery. Dunno if it would be worth visiting outside the ume blossom season.

Japan’s streets are always an aesthetic.

I really like the colors of that little restaurant on the bottom.

Marishiten Tokudaiji Temple

Passed by another temple. We didn’t go in this time.
It’s interesting to think about how throughout Japan there are all these pockets of history that have been around for longer than the USA has existed.

Ameyoko Shopping Street

The former black market that runs under the Yamanote train tracks.
Now a massive open-air market selling food and clothing from all over the world.
This place is bustling after work.

Also the street where the Mitsuboshi Colors lived.

Niki no Kashi snack store

Inside Ameyoko is Niki no Kashi, which is not only one of the biggest snack stores in Japan but also one of the cheapest. Not just Japanese snacks but snacks from all over the world too.

🦀🦀🦀

C O R N PUDDING

😱🍋
We got a big haul of stuff, tax free too.
I forgot what we got because I never took a photo of it and we’ve eaten it all now.
Would recommend this place if you’re in Ueno 👍

Always one of these no matter where in Japan you go.

💦

Cute

💦💦🍤

From the makers of the used book store, Book Off, and the used equipment store, Hard Off, we now bring you the used drinks store, Bottle Off.

I wrote that as a joke but after googling it this really is a store that sells second-hand (but unopened) drinks, huh. But they’re not actually run by the same company behind Book Off.
You could say…they’re a knock off 😎

Ameyoko was known for its leaked American good$ during its black market day$.

What’s wrong, honey? You haven’t touched your corn on sliced bread.

Long long escalator___

Goodbye, Ueno.

Asakusa

Cute bakery.

Oh hey, the Skytree (Dark Type).

Dinner near our hotel to end the night.

Curry wa Nomimono

I ate at the Akiba branch during a previous trip. Been looking forward to this again.

Still oishi/10 😋

Don Quijote

Don Quijote because why not.

Nippon steel fried over 1000 times.

This is a lot of different oranges.

😏🍌

Mario 64 display.

Epilogue

戦利品

More colorful lumps of sugar for my konpeito collection. The colors are starting to fade after being displayed in the living room for 3 years though. And my friend wanted fridge magnets.

This one’s mine.

Not so much walking today.

Next time, last day with my parents in Asakusa…