Despite its young age - the shrine was built in 1920 (or at least finished) - it is still quite impressive. For example the three tori (temple gates) are made out of the trunks of 1,500 year old trees.
From a Miko (shrine maiden) 4k both bought some victory charms for good fortune at the Go camp and both of us left a wooden tablet with our wishes and prayers at a holy tree inside the temple area (1k: Sorry, I forgot what it was called).
Next stop was total contrast to the quiet and peaceful Meiji-jingu, we were headed Takeshita Street near Harajuku station, a fashion-centered and consumeristic, crazy street. As it had started raining, we didn't take many photos - but rest assured: It was loud, colourfull and even more crazy than you can imagine. There are two more streets that are supposed to be even crazier, Cat Street and Killer Street. But since the rain suddenly got quite a bit heavier, we didn't go there anymore.
It was only early afternoon but the rain made walking in Harajuku not a good option. Since we had different preferences for our last day we split up.
I (1k) went to Odaiba, an artifical island created in the bay of Tokyo. My first impression when I left the station and went to the beach was how quiet it was. After spending nearly a week in big loud Tokyo this was a great contrast.
But of course Odaiba has more to offer for a sightseeing tourist than a nice quiet beach. Instead one can feel as if being in New York, with the skyline of Tokyo behind the bay and the Statue of Liberty in front. That's right, there is a small replica of the Statue of Liberty on Odaiba.
The second (for me) great sightseeing spot was a life-sized model of the Gundam mech, which happens to be there probably because there is also a Fuji-TV building located on the island.
While 1k was walking in the rain and visiting the bay, 4k did some shopping duties in Sunshine City in Ikebukuro. This is an enourmous (big would be an understatement) shopping mall, office building with 11 floors in total (including the basement). You can find anything there, there is even an aquarium (with seals and penguins, among others!) - since yesterday, 27th of June, you can also play Go there! Unfortunately, 4k was one day early for the opening, but she still took some photos for you.
The club is located on the 9th floor (office floor). If you want to go there, the best point of orientation might be the Pokémon Center on the 2nd floor. Take the elevators that are nearest to this shop (a bit hidden, take a look at the floor map near the escalators) to the 9th floor and then turn right. Go right through 2 glass doors (between them is a huge staircase on the right) and you can almost see the club on the right side of the corridor. Look out for the 碁 sign.
It looks like a really nice Go club (if open ;-) ) with brand new playing material (thick table boards, wooden bowls). It seems to have some kind of affiliation (owner..?) with the Japanese representative of the 2004 World amateur championship (fifth place) - the certificate and trophy are on display in the club and visible from the outside. I'd guess that this Go club is a great choice for anyone who is travelling to Tokyo with one or more person that's not interested in Go but in shopping (and maybe children, too, who are interested in the aquarium). I'd accept any bet that you can't pass more time playing Go than the other(s) can pass by shopping (if money is no concern, of course ;-) ) !
We met again in Roppongi to eat dinner. Roppongi is a great spot to go out, as it has a lot of great restaurants and bars. Also there are several nice exhibits at Roppongi, currently there is a Star Wars exhibit running and one on the anime/manga Naruto (both finish by the end of June).
At the restaurant we decided to visit (Gonpachi), we had to take seats at the counter, as we hadn't reserved a table upfront - which tells you something about the popularity of this restaurant. The food was very delicious but somewhat expensive (especially concerning the size of the servings). However, the atmosphere is really very nice! Also quite a few famous people visited the restaurant, e.g. Lady Gaga, Silvester Stallone or Keanu Reeves.
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