Reid Main

For our last full-day in Japan we decided to take it easy and focus more on seeing the sights. After grabbing some Blue Bottle we made our way to the Daimon Station and took the Oedo Line out to the Ryōgoku neighbourhood.

As big fans of sumo we couldn't possibly leave Japan without visiting the Ryōgoku Kokugikan where three of the six Grand Sumo Tournaments (honbasho) are held every year. It was a very impressive building that had a small museum and gift shop where we obviously had to buy something. Hopefully one day we get to return for an actual day of live sumo.

From here we walked to the Sumida Hokusai Museum where I had my mind absolutely blown by the works of Katsushika Hokusai. I'd bet dollars to donuts that very few people reading this article know who that artist is but you'd probably instantly recognize his work, The Great Wave off Kanagawa. What I didn't know about that piece is it is a nishiki-e wood block print and this museum showed the various blocks that were used to make it. I cannot fathom the amount of trial and error that went into this sort of work. Dude died over 170 years ago and I'm still here in awe of what he created. If you are in Tokyo I highly recommend you check out the Sumida Hokusai Musuem.

After meeting today's quota for pretentious art gallery enjoyer, we decided to go back to being degens and headed to Akihabara to do some more shopping. But first we needed food and chose to return to Kikanbo, a ramen shop that we visited nearly 6 years ago to the day. Thankfully almost nothing has changed and their spicy "oni" ramen is still delicious. Even at the hottest level this is some of the tastiest ramen I have ever had. I imagine we'll be returning to Kikanbo every single time we visit Tokyo.

With our bellies full we ventured out into Akihabara for some more shopping. The Shosen "book tower" truly lived up to its name as a 10 story building absolutely packed to the brim with books. Yodobashi Camera Akiba is the same delightful overload of the senses as it always is. And to close out the trip we visited a bunch more used hobby and retro game shops where Elsie was able to make some last minute purchases. By 5pm we were pooped so we headed back to our hotel and began packing for the flight home.

Around 7pm we were starting to get hungry so we headed out for dinner. I thought I had found the perfect place for our final meal. A chicken joint that according to the reviews serves some of the freshest and juiciest chicken in all of Tokyo. 25 minutes later we were standing in front of the entrance and experienced the same gosh darn problem we have for most of the trip. The sign to the restaurant said "closed" but some Japanese people were sitting down inside eating and there were cooks behind the counter still preparing food. Rather than barge in and demand to be served in broken English we wandered around trying to find another restaurant with no luck. We ended up at a Mos Burger (a McDonald's competitor) for our final meal in Japan which was quite disappointing.