Work hard play hard

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Breakfasted at that same cafe, it's so close and cheap and tasty. We also picked up some packing tape.

We hopped the train to Shinjuku, the administrative hub of Tokyo.

First stop was the Tokyo metropolitan adminstration building. It is monument to beaureaucracy.

The building is huge, and that's only one of three, the other buildings are less impressive, but still eat up a whole block. From here all of the 23 wards of Tokyo and all of the subordinate cities that have been enveloped by Tokyo are administered. That's a 48 story building full of people that push paper, denying your parking ticket appeal, obfuscate the trash collection processes and generally keep a city of 30+ million civil, very Orwellian.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Metropolitan_Government_Building

They do let you up to the top to see the skyline.

If you look real hard on that second picture you can see Mt Fuji.

This was 45 stories up, which is higher than the Tokyo Tower a few days ago.

After the observation deck we went to the park, pictured above, to get some nature and fresh air. It's neat how quickly the sounds and sights of the city melt away in these many parks around Tokyo. They purposefully live the outside edge with tall hedges to insulate you from the city.

After that we wandered into Shinjuku proper. There are many many tall buildings, and walking arcades full of shopping and restaurants.

We stopped for coffee and donuts, and realized the Robot Restaurant was nearby. We went to check it out, they were closed at the time, but it looked like it was going to be ridiculous. The box office didn't open physically, so we bought our tickets online, saving about $10 in the process. And set out to check out the shopping in Shinjuku.

Firstly most of it is underground. Shinjuku Station is made up of the intersection of multiple trains, not just multiple lines, but types of trains, it is the busiest rail station in the world. And malls have developed around it. There are miles and miles of underground shopping, That link the various stations and sky scrapers around the area, with many of those buildings having their own shopping/dining/service malls.

That is the best I can do to capture the hive nature of all of this. These promenades are 2-3 levels underground, with 30 sorry buildings above then, some times rail lines above, some below. And people everywhere. Never have in felt so close to the urban megalopolis described by SciFi authors like Asimov and Blish. I could see how this could become the Caves of Steel of the Robot-Empire-Foundation series .

And knowing all these things developed in the last 75 years really puts it into perspective, to the Japanese the cities of Ghost in the Shell, and Akira and Evangeleon were only natural progressions of the development/advancement they saw around them.

On the way out of the depths of the city we got a cheese tart. My goodness was it great, a little sweet cheese treat, served hot. Honestly we should have purchased more than one, buy they didn't take card...

We hit another izakaya for a light dinner before the show. Some really great strips of beef grilled as we like on a table size grill.

The show was Japan, condensed into a 60x30 ft show floor, 60 minute, LED and blacklight extravaganza.

There were three acts, the first was a modernized Traditional drum Taiko show. But you know with lights and absurd costumes and some extra cleavage thrown in.

The second was a fight scene between these alien robot invaders, and this pristine natural world that, prior to the rights knew no violence. Which i found difficult to believe because these peoples has developed weapons at some point in their past. Anyways, this had large pneumatic romote controlled robots and pyrotechnics.

The third was just everyone and a bunch more robots piling on the stage, no real narrative. Honestly the third act was kinda weak.

Each act was preceded by the drink cart coming out, and prior to the third act there was a significant pause, like longer than the third itself, which kinda soured the whole thing.

Was it awesome? Absolutely
Do I regret spending the time and money going? Not really
Would I go again? No, I'll take you there, drop you off and go to a bar around the corner, pick you up after and drink more.

After the show I was a little drunk, discovered that lil glasses of sake was a better deal on ABV than Asian beers. So we went to another izakaya and had yet more grilled beef and beer. Then made our way home for the last night in Tokyo.