In which I complain about the weather

Before I moved here, I would chat with daid a fair bit and when he'd complain about the summer in Tokyo, I'd complain about the summer back in Ontario. However, since I hadn't visited Tokyo in the summer before moving here, I had no idea how terrible a comparison that was.

While Ontario can sometimes get pretty hot and is frequently humid, the weather will alternate between something vaguely hellish and something pretty reasonable every week or two (or at least this is how I remember it). Around here, the maximum temperature is at least 5 °C hotter and it's just constantly hellish outside.

I do not think there has been a day this month where the humidity has been less than 60% and this entire week, the humidity has been above 80%. When combined with daytime highs in the low- to mid-30s, even sitting somewhere shaded and not moving around very much results in profuse sweating during the day. I can't even walk to the train station in the morning without being disgusting by the time I get there (and I don't even want to think about what happens when I have to jog a little to catch a train).

That's also just the usual bad weather. There are also typhoons, which fortunately haven't really hit Tokyo at all this year. One was supposed to pass over, but it dissipated first and the other crossed over Honshu to the south of Tokyo into the Sea of Japan so it just rained sideways and sporadically for a day. Granted, at least when a typhoon is nearby, it feels cooler outside because it's at least really windy.

And yes, the winter is pretty mild here, which is more than I can say for the winter in Ontario. In principle, this should make up for the terrible, terrible summer. Except that our apartment lacks central heating and any insulation to speak of, which is unpleasant in its own way... but I still look forward to it because it's much better than this.

Taking the wrong train and the fun times that ensue

There are many different train lines and companies in and around Tokyo. Typically, each train has its own stop on its own platform or on a particular side of one platform so it's very easy to know which train you're getting on in principle.

However, in practice some trains will change into other trains or the line will branch or something else. Generally, the terminal stop is indicated both on the train and on the signs so you should know what you're in for, but sometimes you're not paying attention when you get on the train or you just get really unlucky when a train that you thought would turn into a local train turns into an express.

In general, the best thing to do in this situation is to get off the train as soon as you discover your error and either backtrack or take an alternate route (if you know one). As long as it's not the last train, it isn't necessarily that big of a deal, although taking an alternate route might cost you a bit more, especially if it involves changing to a different train line or company. Also, if you mess up your attempt to backtrack, you might also end up spending more than you planned on.

For example, the other week I was taking the Fukutoshin line (part of the Tokyo Metro system) home from Ikebukuro. This platform has one Fukutoshin train going toward downtown Tokyo and one going further out. A few stops after Ikebukuro on this line, however, this train branches; one line continues to be the Fukutoshin while the other becomes a Seibu-Ikebukuro train or something (owned by Seibu).

I wasn't paying attention and I accidentally got on the express train that was going to turn into a Seibu. I could have got off at the next stop on the express and it would have been fine, but I was reading or playing with my phone or something and didn't notice until the announcement for Nerima started. I know that Nerima is definitely not the right way.

So I got off at Nerima and went onto the platform that I believed should be retracing my steps (also, everyone on the platform stared at me so I suspect that not many foreigners go there), but instead of getting onto the Seibu train that would turn back into a Yurakucho, I got on one that remained a Seibu train until it rolled up to Ikebukuro on a different platform.

So I had to leave at the gate, pay my 440 yen (I had taken a different Tokyo Metro train line to get to Ikebukuro in the first place) and then go back to a train that would take me to my station, paying another 240 to get home (for reference, I can go almost all over Tokyo from my station on 240 yen).

I could have got back on the train going the other way and get on the correct train that would take me to the right platform. However, I was tired and hungry so I just wanted to go home instead of continuing to play train pinball.

Since then, I definitely pay much more attention to the trains before I get on them.

Tokyo Imperial Palace: East Garden

Last Wednesday, I had another free afternoon and since it was neither Monday nor Friday, I took another trip to the Imperial Palace to visit the East Gardens. It was rainy, but open so I finally got to see it (unlike last time). In addition, the rain meant that instead of being crowded, it was pretty sparsely populated, which made it especially nice.

Subtle strip club is subtle

I'm going to wrap up this week by being a little lazy. Here's a picture I took back in March of a strip club I saw wandering around Ikebukuro one day. Someone seemed to think that calling a place "Men's Private Theater" would class up the look, though the blacked out windows just scream "this is a strip club".

A nice view of the city, for free!

The week before last, I visited the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku, which has a pair of observing decks on the 45th floor. While these aren't super high, all things considered, they do offer a pretty good view of Tokyo and some surroundings. This is probably because despite being the biggest city in the world (or biggest metropolitan area in the world, depending on your definition of "city"), Tokyo doesn't actually have a lot of really tall skyscrapers.

The observing deck of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building is also totally free to visit. So if you have some time to kill and you're in Shinjuku and like going to the tops of tall buildings, I definitely recommend visiting it.

The Metropolitan Government Building is also pretty easy to find from Shinjuku station. If you can find your way to the area of the station with the taxi and bus stops, there are moving sidewalks from the station which will take you most of the way there underground and signage exists in English as well as Japanese indicating the path there.

Sunset over Tokyo

Even though it looks like the sun is reflecting on a river, it's actually buildings.
Apologies for my reflection.

Monorail

Here's the Tokyo monorail in Shinagawa.

 

Yes, in addition to having a million trains, Tokyo also has a monorail.

More of outside the palace

On Friday, I shared some pictures I took wandering around the area near the Imperial Palace and in the park just north of it. I thought it fitting to show the other pictures I took once I got onto the main grounds today. I warn you that they're much less exciting though.

To start, there's a big gate called Sakurada-mon.

Some guy kindly walked through it as I was taking a picture for scale.

A walk of contrasts: wandering outside the Imperial Palace

Today, I had a free afternoon and was near Tokyo station so I thought I'd drop by the Imperial Palace. Since this was a little impromptu, I wasn't expecting to get super close (past a certain point, you need to have reserved a spot in a tour group), but I figured there are gardens and the like that should be nice.

Anyway, I managed to make my way there without too much trouble despite only having a general sense of where it was, and I got to observe the contrast between the moat, old walls, old bridge and traditional-looking buildings...

...and the very modern city just across the street. 

Personally, I thought this was an interesting contrast. I got to spend much time thinking about this contrast too since the first gate I approached was closed. Since it was a nice day, I didn't really mind and figured I'd walk to the next gate hoping it would be open.