The Tokyo fish market is as crazy as it is said to be. Sarah and I did not bother trying to go the the tuna auction in the morning since one really needs to get there by 4:30 to get a spot. But we did arrive in time to catch some of the craziness. We ate breakfast at a sushi place inside the market: talk about fresh. What we ate was caught just that morning. Some of the others went to a really famous shop but I couldn’t bear to wait in line for 2 hours that early in the morning.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful aside from some exceptional dried fruit from a street vendor. We spent some time wandering around shops and visiting the grounds outside of the emperor’s palace. The palace itself and inner grounds are closed to visitors most of the time.

Day 8 had us traveling to Kyoto. But we had to visit Kitty Land first. It’s a huge toy store in Tokyo with a whole floor filled with only Hello Kitty stuff.

Day 8 was also better for food than the previous one. For lunch we found a buffet at a natural food store. Dinner was at an epic soba house where the noodles were made in front of you and all the dishes were based around buckwheat.

Kyoto is a much quieter city than Tokyo and much, much easier to navigate. The road layout was based on NYC. They really now how to use architectural lighting here. Where night time in Tokyo was all about quantity and explicit eye sex, Kyoto is subtle and tender. Each light knows just where to touch you.