2018 Japan Vacation, Day 2 (Part 1) - Tokyo Station Plush Shopping

On our first morning in Japan, we had trouble adjusting to the time change. Kai woke up a little after 2am and my wife got up just after 3am. I was mostly awake from that time as well but stayed in bed until after 5am.

We were going to have breakfast at a restaurant that didn't open until 8:00 so we relaxed at my wife's parents' apartment until it was time to leave.

To pass the time until the restaurant opened, we watched some television. This show had on the mascots for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

At the restaurant, Kai had a pastry filled with beef curry for breakfast. He loved it!

My wife had fried egg breakfast. As you can see, it came with a salad. Most Japanese meals are very healthy.

And then we took a train to central Tokyo. Our destination was Tokyo Station. Train stations in Tokyo often are big shopping areas, and Tokyo Station is probably the biggest.

We passed one place that had unusual plush creatures. My favorite, and Kai's, was this giant daikon, a Japanese radish.

We stepped outside of the train station just long enough to take the following picture of the iconic station building.

But we quickly went back underground where it was cooler, and where Kai wanted to shop.

He had been planning for this trip for months, meticulously planning which plush characters he would buy with the allowance money he saved. In the preceding weeks, he stressed out about how much he could afford as the currency exchange rates changed, and also worried about how much the tax would be.

Our first stop was the Pokémon store. Kai took pictures and looked at the selection of plushes.

Kai was thrilled when we found out that this shop was tax free for foreigners, so he filled up a basket.

Next it was on to the Nameko store. Not as familiar to most Americans, nameko is a type of Japanese mushroom and the plush characters are based on the Nameko video game. Kai was first introduced to them the last time we were in Japan and his grandparents here have started his collection of plush characters. Now he could get some in person.

As with the Pokémon, this was a tax free shop and he filled up another basket.

And then it was time for lunch. We had planned to go to Ramen Street in Tokyo Station which has several different ramen restaurants. But with the heat, we didn't have an appetite for a hot meal and instead went to a place that had various cold noodle dishes.

After the successful morning of shopping, we thought Kai would be very happy, and he was at first, but then he got agitated talking about how stressful his morning was. The morning didn't seem at all stressful to me, but I always have to remind myself that Kai is not like the rest of us. Not sure if it was the crowded train ride where we had to stand most of the way, or all of the walking we did in the train station, or just the trying to decide which plushes to buy, it apparently a stressful morning for him.

He got a little loud in the restaurant - he doesn't exactly have a soft indoor voice - but when he gets agitated he gets even louder and it is quite embarrassing, especially in a country where polite behavior is so expected.

My wife suggested that we take a break back at her parents' apartment after lunch rather than continuing on our schedule which would have involved us walking around Harujuku in the heat. Kai loved the idea, and was instantly back in a good mood.

On the way back, the temperatures hit the high for the day - 104 degrees.

We heard on television that this was the hottest day in the area in 25 years.

I think Kai would have been very crabby if we had gone through with our original plans. And so it was a wise move to take a break.

I'll post the rest of the day separately as soon as I can.