In November, my 77-year-old father from Ohio came to visit for 17 days. My challenge: Where to take him? It wasn’t easy narrowing down our destinations to a reasonable itinerary but it helped that we decided to stick to Tokyo-area sightseeing. It was nice to have a home to come back to each night – less tiring for Dad — and for my 5-year-old son to not take a big break from attending kindergarten.
We did small things, like exploring my local Japanese grocery store and mall. We did big things, like going to the top of Tokyo Skytree tower and visiting my favorite Tokyo temple, Sensoji in Asakusa, both common tourist must-dos. We also made time for a few holiday-related ventures. Dad attended a holiday parade and tree lighting on the base we live on, we stuffed ourselves silly at a Thanksgiving Day buffet and we decorated my little house for Christmas. Since we live so far from home, it was special to get to spend that kind of time together.
I’m fortunate that my dad is rather spry for his age – he jogs at least once a week – so our explorations were fairly broad. Here’s a sampling of the places we visited:
Kichijoji, Tokyo: He got as big of a kick out of visiting the squirrel enclosure in the zoo at Inokashira Park as I do, as well as the park’s small shrine. (Squirrels are anything but exotic back in Ohio!) We also had fun exploring the neighborhood’s many little alleys and shops. Kichijoji is one of my favorite Tokyo cities.
Asakusa, Tokyo: This neighborhood is home to the beautiful Sensoji Temple. We wandered up past the many booths selling souvenirs along the Nakamise street that leads to the temple and Dad was impressed/overwhelmed by the sheer amount of shopping opportunities crammed into a small area.
Ukai Toriyama restaurant, Takao, Tokyo: A Japanese friend of mine very kindly hosted my father and I for an amazing multi-course Japanese lunch at Ukai Toriyama restaurant. Located at the foot of Mt. Takao, the restaurant consists of a series of small traditional Japanese buildings set in lovely grounds, complete with footbridges, carp ponds and gardens artfully arranged as only the Japanese can do. The presentation of the food was equally as lovely, served in a tatami mat room overlooking one of the ponds. We feasted on tofu, grilled chicken, fish and vegetables, mushroom soup, miso soup, rice with pureed yam sauce and mochi (pounded rice) with red bean sauce, among other things.
Yasakuni Shrine and Yushukan war museum, Chiyoda, Tokyo: Yasakuni shrine is a Shinto shrine that commemorates Japan’s war dead. The shrine was founded in 1869 and enshrines 2.5 million people. It has a controversial recent history, however, since 14 class A war criminals are also enshrined. The nearby museum provides a conservative Japanese perspective on the country’s wars. We found the museum’s films, memorabilia and artifacts fascinating.
Tokyo Skytree tower, Sumida City, Tokyo: It’s the world’s tallest free-standing broadcasting tower and, as you’d expect, it offers incredible views of the vast expanse of city that is Tokyo. They even had a quirky Star Wars themed display going on. (It continues until Feb. 11.) Wil, Liam and I previously took in the views there last spring
Imperial Palace East Gardens, central Tokyo: We strolled for a few hours through the grounds of what was once Edo Castle. There’s not much evidence of the palace’s greatness left, but we enjoyed imagining what was once there as we looked at the remaining guard houses, moats and walls. It’s a nice slice of classic Japan smack in the middle of the city.
Roppongi, Tokyo: We dined at a German restaurant and perused a few shops before enjoying the main attraction: the winter illuminations at the base of Mori Tower and along Keyakizaka Street. The light shows here in Japan this time of year are amazing and I’m so glad my dad was able to see one of the city center ones.
Odaiba, Tokyo Bay: Dad loves cars, so I knew a visit to Tokyo MegaWeb for the giant Toyota car showroom and the VenusFort mall, with its museum of vintage cars, would be in order. Lucky for us, we stumbled onto a small festival taking place at Toyota, so we were treated to a stage show with traditional dancers as well as a bevy of dancing mascots. (Just another day in Japan!) We gaped at the giant Gundam robot — Thank goodness, he doesn’t move — and at Asimo the robot — who not only moves, but dances and recites poetry. The latter performed for us at the National Museum for Emerging Science and Technology.
Ueno Park, central Tokyo: On Thanksgiving day, Dad, Liam and I immersed ourselves for a few hours in ancient Chinese history. We went to the Tokyo National Museum at Ueno Park to see the “Great Terracotta Army of China’s First Emperor” exhibit. It’s a rare treat to get to see these 2,000-year-old statues (The exhibit is on view through Feb. 21.) The highlight is the final gallery where you can walk up to and around nearly a dozen of the nearly life-size statues themselves. Photographs are allowed only of replicas, near the exhibit exit.
Showa Kinen Park, Tachikawa, Tokyo: Showa is my favorite Tokyo park. I’m so glad I was able to take my father there for a visit. It’s a huge park, so we limited ourselves to the Japanese Garden, the children’s forest with its dragon playground and massive ‘marshmallow’ jumping fields, and to the farm village. The trees were not as spectacular as I’d hoped but we still spied a few vivid, fall colors.
Yomiuriland, Inagi-shi: On Dad’s last Saturday, we boarded an afternoon tour bus here on base for the easy trip to Yomiuriland, a small amusement park, for another spectacular light display. Once the sun set, the entire park dazzled with lights. All the rides were surrounded by bulbs and entire sections of the park were set aside for extra displays that shimmered in time to music. One of the shows flashed over a large pool. (The illuminations continue through Feb. 14.) To be honest, it was almost surreal at times. Liam was ecstatic to ride his first (little) roller coaster and even those of us still only young at heart had a blast.