Well, last full day in Tokyo done... Last sleep in Japan tonight!
So thankfully the weather cleared up overnight and today was back to clear blue skies. Unfortunately, the temperature has dropped a few degrees and it's been pretty breezy. This is not a good combination for spending the day on open-top buses!
So the hop-on/off bus in Tokyo has 3 routes. The first one heads out to the Tokyo Sky Tree via the Akihabara area, well-known for its comic-book stores, cos-play, and maid bars. There's not really a lot to see on this route beyond the general cityscape. Given today is a normal weekday, the streets didn't seem to have much in the way of "interesting" persons on them (I think it's more at night you get the "maids" out flyering for their "bars"!)
The second bus takes you around the Tokyo Midtown (ashopping complex) and Roppongi Hills (also a shopping complex, although the area is one that has a high concentration of foreign residents living in it) before ending up at the Tokyo Tower. Given the times of the connecting bus for the 3rd route at the tower I decided to head on up for a different view of the city. There are 2 observation decks - the first at 150m up, the 2nd at 250m. You can either buy a combined ticket for both levels, or just for the first (although you can buy a ticket up to the 2nd level once at the first level, but I think it costs more. The first lift has windows in the door so you can see out on the way up. The 2nd lift has windows in all 3 sides and the doors so again you get some good views on the way up. There also seemed to be something in the recorded announcement on the way up about possible hearing cracking sounds, but that it was perfectly normal! I'm not sure if they explained the reason why. As with any of these towers, once you get to the top you can feel the tower swaying in the winds. It turns out that if the wind gets above 20km/h they close the upper level.
After that, the 3rd bus. This one takes you around Odaiba. This is probably the best route for a bit of scenery as you head over what I think was the Rainbow Bridge (again, in high winds the bus is diverted) getting some good views of the harbour area and city skyline. This bus also takes you past the fish market, although there's nothing going on there by the afternoon (also realised how far away from the hotel it was so a visit would have meant an incredibly early start!)
So had a wander around the eastern side of Shinjuku station this evening. It's an interesting area where a lot of the "entertainment" establishments are. It's what you expect from Tokyo in terms of bright neon lights, kareoke, etc. Not an area I'd want to spend a lot of time, but it's still worth a quick random wander around the streets!
Anyway, I have half a day tomorrow, so am tempted to head to the beer museum I read about a couple of days ago. Failing that, there's the National Science Museum.
I probably won't get to upload an update tomorrow as I doubt I'll have much internet access. However, I will have internet access from the lounge at the Secret Stopping-off location.