Tokyo - SkyTree and Asakusa

We got a late start on our second full day, probably due to a combination of jet lag and a long day prior. Once we were up, dressed and fed, we made our way to the Tokyo SkyTree for amazing views of the city.

It was very easy to reach the SkyTree. We took the Asakusa line metro from the Higashi-Ginza station near our hotel and hopped off at Oshiage. We made our way up through the station and bottom of the building to the 4th floor to buy tickets. The line was pretty long but kept moving and lasted about 20 minutes. We bought our 2,000 yen tickets and after an elevator ride that zipped us up 350 meters in less than 50 second, we were at the first observation deck.

The SkyTree opened about a year ago and you can tell. There were vast facilities at the SkyTree, as well as a shopping complex. At the observation deck, there's a cool section of the floor that has a glass bottom so you can see all the way down to the ground.

We jumped on the Toei subway this time and got off one stop later in Asakusa, which I think was my favorite neighborhood in Tokyo. It was approaching 5pm by the time we got there, so many stories were already starting to close up for the day. We wandered through Nakamise Dori and tried a few snacks before stopping at Sensoji Temple at the end of the outdoor market.

  

Next we headed to Kappabashi (Kitchen Town) and were disappointed to find that all of the shops were closed for the day. We promised to come back before we left town so we could get in our ceramics shopping.

Since it was dinner time, we decided to find a place to eat in Asakusa rather than struggling to find something not too expensive in Ginza. Thanks to Lonely Planet (and Google Maps) we found a local, no-frills tempura restaurant called Daikokuya that we enjoyed.

Next it was back to the hotel for the night since we planned to have an early start the following day for a trip to Hakone.