Anyway, we were there by about 7:30 to learn that the wholesale market keeps tourists out until 9:30. Vigilant security patrol the perimeter and resisted attempts at persuading them we were there as buyers. A bit of thinking got us in though. DON’T look like a tourist. I had a little backpack so I just held it to my waste, took off our hats and sunnies and just walked in like we were meant to be there. White gumboots would have been better than thongs, but we were in. Fcuking amazing. The activity was non stop and it’s easy to see why they don’t want the public in there. The potential to get run down by one of the little turret trucks used for transportation is very real. Amazing array, but the really striking thing was the sheer volume which was enough to convince me that our wild capture fisheries must be closer to collapse than I’d previously thought. If it lives in water, the Japanese eat it. 9:30 rolled around and the hordes came in so we bailed
We headed to Meiji Jinku Shrine in Harajuku. On the way we went to the top of the Tokyo Metro Gov Offices in Shinjuku. It’s worth doing just to get an idea of just how big Tokyo is and costs nothing. The Shrine was pretty cool, but compared to some we saw later, nothing that great. Being a Saturday, there were heaps of Shinto wedding ceremonies happening
Across the road we stumbled across the Tokyo Food Fair. I ate my first octopus balls, something I 1st suspected was whale, but it tasted like fatty beef and a few other things I have no idea what they were. Most of it good though so that was dinner taken care of
Next day was a Sunday so it was back to Harajuku to check out Yoyogi Park which we believed was the place and time to see the weird people doing weird things. Was a bit of a letdown – didn’t get much weirder than sad people pushing prams containing expensive fur babies, but we were somewhat surprised by an area inhabited by what we thought must be otherwise homeless people. Some of the ‘sites’ looked semi-permanent. Seems there’s no attempt to move people on which is somewhat heartening
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/8mJrP3J.jpg)
In the arvo we took the Monorail over to Odaiba. Got off and had a bit of a wander in Odaiba itself. Octoberfest, Car show and artificial beach where nobody swam. Back on the rail for a complete loop. You can see a lot and it’s all weird just as smnmntll said. Even the replica Statue of Liberty. Back to Shinjuku for dinner. Fcuk the food is good and a Sunday night is no deterrent to the vibrancy of the place