Shinjuku Gyoen Gardens

Jet lag meant we only got a few hours sleep and we were up early so, after breakfast at what we are already thinking of as our cafe, we walked down to the gardens in the main photo which are made up of different themed gardens. The photo is of part of the formal Japanese garden. As you can see, there are signs of blossom already.

From here, we walked to the Meiji shrine, dedicated to the Emperor who was credited with modernising Japan and forging closer links with the West. Near the shrine is a large display of sake barrels, gifted by the brewers as a tribute to the Emperor.

From here we walked through the shopping district of Harajitsu to the famous Shibuya crossing, which is more difficult to get a good photo of than you’d think. The chaos is fun though.

Feeling pretty exhausted by now we caught the subway back to Shinjuku and walked to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building where you can take the free elevator to the top for fine views across the city to the SkytreeTower.

Another subway trip saw us back to our hotel, where we realised we’d walked almost 12 miles and 27000 steps - probably not a good idea on very little sleep!

We managed a few more steps to the Kabuchiko district for a bowl of excellent ramen in a small place where you sat at the counter watching the chefs prepare the food.

(Beginning to back blip now, 4 days into our trip, having been too busy and tired to put finger to keyboard before now!)

The extras are fairly self explanatory.