Tokyo at night is a city of light. It glows, pulses with electric energy that spreads out over the land, sea and sky. It draws you in, like a moth, flitting around its glow, yearning to touch it. The last time I was in Japan, I longed to see the lights of nighttime Tokyo but never had the chance. This time, I made sure we would be in a place where I could bask in them. Choosing a hotel was easy in that regard, any high rise hotel will have a view of night time Tokyo different from the rest.
Our accommodations were in the splendid Tokyo Metropolitaan Marunoichi Hotel, located as a part of the Tokyo Station complex. Tokyo Station is massive, five sub levels deep and with sprawling complexes of shops, malls, underground passageways like a warren beneath the streets of the city. This isn't counting the levels above ground with the beautiful brick main building standing proud with its impressive domes. The best part about being close to it though is that one can reach anywhere in Tokyo on the Yamanote Loop line. It's easy to get lost in a dozen ways though, and we did at first.
We emerged from the subway and into the throngs of people getting off work. Tokyo Station is best avoided at rush hour, but we made our way out to the front of the building since I knew the approximate location of our Hotel. We passed little bars and food stalls that rest in the shadows of the bullet train tracks to reach our destination, a tall gleaming tower of silver steel. To the eye it looks like any other business tower, but the TMMH (as I will call our hotel) is located on the 25th floor and above.
Stepping from the elevator, away from the throngs in the street below, we emerged into a quiet and airy atrium with polished floors and a neat little train set in the center of the room. The whole space was gorgeous, quietly civilized by comparison to the hubbub of travelers cascading out from the station below.
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| Model trains running |
As we checked in I looked over the model. As you can see it features a few Tokyo Landmarks like Tokyo Station, Tokyo Tower, Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Skytree. Little Shinkansen (bullet train) models made rounds, buckled together like tiny snakes weaving along the tracks. Below these were smaller commuter train models, but the whole set was pretty well detailed. It was lit up for the night, and I could see little shops and businesses next to taller skyscrapers. Our own hotel was included among these which was a nice touch.
Up in the room, I found the serenity continued into a nice little space with a bed and huge picture windows that looked out over Ginza. From my vantage point I could see around towards the real Skytree, Tokyo Tower and the innumerable other towers, apartment buildings and other structures that spread before me as a sea of lights.
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| View towards Skytree |
Looking down I was rewarded with a view of Tokyo station itself, with the bullet train platforms spread out like keys on a piano. I could see trains come and go even as I stood looking out at them. Tokyo is sometimes described as a city that never sleeps. It is also a city of light. Even late at night, the city pulses with electricity, a dynamo of humanity that hums at all hours of the day. There is something about it that allures any traveler, but Japan transforms with the setting of the sun. Things change, become dark and mysterious. The glow of lights casts down from buildings and illuminates the night sky. It is a quality words cannot express, a beauty no picture can contain.
In simple words, Tokyo is the most beautiful night city I have ever visited.
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| Tokyo Station at night from above. The station itself is on the right, the bullet train platforms spread out in the middle. |
I could sit on my bed looking out at the winking lights. I remarked in my journal at the time about the warmth I saw. The Japanese have a sort of light very unique to other cities one can visit. There are tones of blue, gold and winking red that offset the colder halogen hues gleaming from the business towers. It is a feast for the eyes, and with the trains coming and going I likened it to watching the synapses of the human brain in a constant firing with information flowing down the spine.
We went down into the station itself for dinner. One of the other great parts of being close to Tokyo Station is there are uncountable numbers of small restaurants in the many underground shopping spaces. We enjoyed a meal of fresh vegetables with Chinese style Noodles and a delicious chicken broth. After a long flight, it was the perfect way to unwind and enjoy even in a busy, tightly packed place like we found.
This stock is the real deal, concentrated chicken goodness that is a cure for the common jetlag.
After dinner my parents and I retired to the Hotel to sleep, but I woke early that morning and decided to walk around Tokyo Station. It was four in the morning, and the whole of the place was empty. It is a strange, otherworldly feeling to step into this space with no one around. Just hours before, throngs of people packed to tightly into the halls one can lose sight of what is in front of them.
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| Ghost Station
Walking here in the early hours was like walking through an episode of the Twilight Zone, where I was the only person alive, secluded and alone. I made my way to the main station area and stood in the center of the space beneath one of the domes. Standing in the center, I did a full circle with my camera and then looked up into the egg-yellow ceiling above me. From my vantage point I could see the eagles spread with their wings, the little emblems of Chinese Zodiac and other flourishes.
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One of Tokyo Station's Domes |
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| 360 of a Dome |
Normally this dome is crowded with people passing through the turnstiles on the way to work. I had it all to myself for that brief moment before I returned to the hotel. On the way back I stopped again at the model and admired the tiny touches. Looking down at it was like a microcosm of the real Tokyo beyond my hotel room. A space of light, shadows and intrigue. I'd only just arrived and there was so much to explore. The day was just about to break and we were going out to our first adventure at the Edo Tokyo Outdoor Architectural Museum.
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| Closer look at the Hotel's Model Trains running |
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| A look at the model with the lights at night |
Next time: The Edo Tokyo Outdoor Museum.
