If you haven't already see the previous Tokyo blog you can find it here.
Underestimate the Golden Gai at your peril
The Golden gai is a network of narrow alleys with over 200 tiny shanty style bars, clubs and eateries each with their own individual theme. Much of Tokyo looked like this in the past before the 'economic miracle' between the end of WW2 and the 80's caused much of Tokyo to be redeveloped into the ultra modern city we know today. The Golden Gai ("Golden district") is a drunkards paradise and a great place to socialise with locals and others travellers alike.
My friend and I had dinner then decided to go for a ‘few’ beers before heading back to the hotel for an early night as we had to be up early the next morning to knock a few tourist spots off our 'places to see' list. We ended up drinking sake, hibiki and beer until 5am with a Chinese sushi chef, an off duty policeman, a married old couple and a barmaid who spoke reasonably good English acting as our translator. This was our introduction to the Golden gai and i'm pretty sure most nights however well intended end up crazy here.
Emperors back yard
After sleeping off some of the booze and miraculously getting out of bed before mid-day we headed to the Imperial palace gardens. The gardens area a large park like area in the centre of Tokyo and the palace is still the primary residence of the Emperor of Japan to this day. Unfortunately the actual palace is off limits to the public and is obscured by trees, which was disappointing. Still well worth a visit though!
Quake Proof
Next we jumped on the Hanzomon metro line to the Tokyo Sky Tree about a 15mins ride away to see Tokyo from a 'birds eye' view. Apparently the Sky Tree can withstand a magnitude 7 earthquake even if it struck directly below the tower. Personally it's a theory I wouldn't want to test out myself.
P!$$ Alley
After walking around Tokyo all day we decided to get some food at a place well known to locals - Memory Lane or in Japanese "Omoide Yokocho" it's a series of narrow alleys tucked away next to the busy Shinjuku station and most establishments their are izakaya which is pretty much a bar which serves grilled food fast. Everything from grilled pigs rectum to Whale meat is served here.
Interesting fact: Memory lanes is also known as "piss alley" by the locals because the establishments there are so small they used to not have toilets so customers would have to do their business outside in the alley. Fortunately all the bars include a tiny toilet these days.
Time for us to leave Tokyo.
10 points for the first person who guesses where we're going next :)
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This looks amazing. Love the photos.
KYOTO!? Also you made it up the Skytree! What a view right!? I didn't get the chance to go to the Golden Gai when I was in Tokyo. We got dragged off to Roppongi by some drunken Koreans instead
Not Kyoto! Sky tree was great, got some crazy vertigo at times though - i'm bad with heights. We missed Roppongi this time, is it worth a visit?
Osaka? Well it was a really fun night, not exactly an authentic Japanese experience as the crowd there is much more international. We staggered out at 6 or 7 am to bright daylight and a swarm of people in suits going to work, oh and my friend ended up giving a prostitute a massage haha
Hiroshima! Ahh nothing worse than walking out a bar into the daylight. Man, loads of them walking about offering "massagi"!
nagasaki
Hmmmm... nope =D
I really want to visit japan one day.
No time like the present. :)
awesssome japan ! Mount Fiji?
Nice guess! But wrong :P
And I want to go there :)
Great story and pictures 👌🏼 If you finde some more alleys you can contribute in my new contest #yourcityvibez would like to see more from you 🙂
subbed and will contribute! I like the idea.
nice article adammac, wondering if you will like this article https://steemit.com/food/@whitedolphin/mian-sushi-and-asian-fusion-tucson-arizona-review
Guys, I did not expect this many up votes. I'm grateful for the support.
Thank you.
We miss Tokyo ... when we lived there we left the apartment right after rush hour and came back after dinner. After 3 month we were done and needed a break :) But I'd go back this very instant!
its been far too long since my last visit to japan, i think i need to get a new passport in order, thanks for the inspiration ;)