Oceania Riviera in Japan – Discovering a Premium Experience: Getting There & Tokyo Part I

As I prepared to board the Oceania Riviera for a cruise circumnavigating southern Japan, what I have long said has come into play: Taking a cruise is really like a sandwich, the bread (cities that you embark and disembark in) matter as much as the meat (the cruise) itself.  And with Tokyo, Japan being the embarkation port, it was time to take a big bite of that sandwich, spending four days in Japan’s biggest city!

Flying to Tokyo was actually quite easy with my United Premium Economy bulkhead aisle seat was more than comfortable enough for me to relax and sleep on my eleven-hour flight from San Francisco.  However, landing at Haneda Airport was not quite as relaxing.  I had to push through a crowd to get into approximately twenty rows of lines, winding back and forth for over an hour to get to immigration. Whew! (Note: Pre-registering on the Visit Japan website was a good idea as it expedited the process once you finally got to the immigration officer.)  The good news was that because it took so long there was no waiting for my luggage!

You may read that using the trains and subways in Tokyo is the way to go. That may sound great if you have a backpack and lots of time to figure out where to go, wait for transfers, etc. but in reality it is a great way to create a nightmare. Even getting a taxi at Haneda Airport can be a bit disorienting as the language barrier strikes you right away. (Most Japanese do not speak fluent English and culturally they may choose not to speak it at all so as not to embarrass themselves…or you.)

My private transfer was waiting for me and brought me right to the Tokyo EDITION, Toranomon; a luxury Marriott property at the level of a Ritz Carlton, but with an entirely different feel.  I opted for a Premier King Room with a view of the Tokyo Tower. Normally I wouldn’t book a Marriott property, no less a room with such a premium, but I got a great travel agent deal. Boy, was I happy I went for it!

The room is very Japanese in style with a minimalistic design with blonde wood everywhere…but it has every possible amenity and, oh, that view!

Service was impeccable and charming, not stuffy. It was my birthday during my stay and the hotel celebrated it for four days with little presents each day (a birthday cake and flowers on arrival; birthday breakfast cake the first morning; a huge ice cream sundae the next evening, and birthday waffles on my actual birthday).

Further, when they could not offer me an upgrade on arrival, they gave me complimentary breakfast each morning…which quickly became a highlight!

I could be the best hotel I ever stayed at…but more about that as my journey goes on.

Oh, yeah: Experiencing Tokyo!  In typical fashion, I hit the ground running.  I have to start out by saying that whatever you heard about how amazing the Tokyo subway system is and how inexpensive it is to use, the reality is that despite the color-coding of the lines, it is so complex and involves many long tunnels to walk through, lots of stairs, signs that are mostly in Japanese and require transfers from one line to another, that for short stays the use of taxis and Ubers is the way to go. While they are definitely more expensive, the time savings and stress-free getting around this huge city are well worth it. (Not dissimilar to New York City if you live there, the subway is the only economical way to go, but as a tourist: fuggedaboudit!)

BTW, don’t ever touch the taxi or Uber’s doors to get in or out, as they are automatic. To touch them is considered rude!

Also, while most taxis do take credit cards (and if you use Uber the charge is automatically to your card), not all do (nor do most small restaurants and shops), so carry cash.

Speaking of cash, don’t look for banks for ATMs, but rather 7-11s and Family Mart convenience stores; all of which have them. And they are everywhere…and when I say everywhere, I mean everywhere! 

My son – who had spent a summer living in Tokyo – gave me a list of places to visit including a ramen joint (calling it a restaurant would be an overstatement), Yarō Ramen. What I foolishly didn’t expect was that it was right in the middle of the anime area: Akihabara area of Chiyoda City, which instantly created an overflow of sensations with its lights, sounds, people, shops, etc! 

I placed my order in a vending machine, which takes currency (not credit cards, which are not used in many places), and received my change and a ticket. I then sat down at an old counter and a server took my ticket: One Yakisoba and one Miso Tonkotsu Ramen with a beer and a whisky (which is, I came to find, a whiskey and soda).

As I waited, I saw giant bowls of ramen being quickly consumed with much slurping and wondering how everyone, including petite women, was finishing their bowls.  But then it was my turn and, possibly because of jetlag, but more probably good sense, I found it impossible to finish one dish, no less two. In fact, when I gave up it looked like I had hardly touched either of the delicious offerings!

Also distracting were young Japanese women dressed in French maid outfits handing out small flyers. I texted my son to get an answer and his response was “Don’t” and that meant my inquiry had to go deeper…but not just then, as there was so much to see.

As I wandered, I looked up and saw a Cat Café on the second floor of a building and couldn’t turn down the opportunity. Basically, you pay a small fee to sit in a room with cats; big fat cats. You can pet them and give them snacks, but you can’t pick them up.

After that weirdness, it was time to wander a world filled with Anime; a culturally iconic almost lifestyle in Japan that on the surface seems like it is merely a bunch of strange cartoons and expensive models, but which – when one digs deeper – is a very complex social discussion with roots in sociology, politics, history and much more. But even if you don’t have the slightest idea of what anime is about, the energy and obsession with it is something you need to experience if you are going to immerse yourself in Japanese culture.

The reality is I don’t get it, but my children (especially my son) are into it and I want to respect that, despite the the amount of complex interrelationship there is between the characters and the insane prices of anime figurines.

With jetlag starting to creep in, it was then time to decompress at a small craft brewery that my son frequented just outside the chaos, which was quiet and overlooked a small bridge with the lights of “anime world” in the near distance.

An Uber got me back to the Tokyo EDITION, Toranomon (there are two Tokyo EDITIONS, with the other in the Ginza District, but the Toranomon hotel is far better) and I was awake only long enough to be wowed by the Tokyo Tower lit up right outside my windows.

My morning started well before sunrise – thank you jetlag! – which gave me time to get some work done before heading down for breakfast at 7:30 a.m. The now-included breakfast offerings were incredibly diverse and delicious.

Because of the vastness and language challenges in Tokyo, I decided to hire private guides during my stay. I had set up two guides over three days; the first to help give me an overview and have sort of a fun day and the second to be a two-day historical journey through Tokyo. While everything worked out incredibly well in Tokyo, as I will explain over the course of these articles, securing the right guides can be challenging even using well-known companies.

My guide for the first day basically disappeared two weeks before my arrival. After a number of emails, I went directly to Tours by Locals and a few calls later it was agreed a replacement guide would be necessary. But, of course, finding one last minute didn’t afford me the most experienced guide. She, was, however charming and accommodating.

First up was to the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden for a hopeful peek at Sakura (cherry blossoms). In the past, the Sakura was usually in late April to early May, but with climate change, it comes much earlier, with late March being calculated as its real start. (In Japan, climate change is not a political issue and is readily accepted as fact in relation to daily life, from Sakura to water levels rising.)

We did see some cherry blossoms as there are many species of cherry trees and exposure to the warmth of the sun. And, of course, other beautiful trees plus a very nice greenhouse.

As we were sort of freestyling with our substitute guide, she suggested we visit the Meiji Jingu Shinto shrine. For the first time this journey I felt like I was engaging with historical and spiritual Japan. Japanese culture, more so than what Western society identifies as religion, is a combination of Shinto and Buddhism, which is reflected in the architecture and rituals.  For the sake of brevity (rare with me!), I will leave it there for now.

And then it was crazy shopping time, as my children had very specific demands…I mean requests…for specific Japanese items. So we first headed to Takeshita Street in Shibuya. Pretty much anything you might want (other than anime) is available, as are quite a few Cat/Otter/Hamster/Any Other Animal cafes; which I personally think sound cute, but probably border on animal abuse.

I was getting a bit hungry and found a Takoyaki stand for a bite and a beer. Takoyaki is basically a creamy dough ball with octopus in the center that is then covered with bonito fish flakes. It is a combination of deliciousness and a “burn the entirety of your mouth” experience. They weren’t quite as good as the ones I had a few years ago in Osaka, but I enjoyed them. (Interestingly, eating or drinking on the streets is extremely frowned upon, but there was a small area where it was, apparently, acceptable.)

After securing the Kuromi-related anime item for my daughter, it was back to Akihabara in search of the Hololive anime figurine my son requested. That brought me to a surreal store called Don Quijote, which is like a cross between a Super-Target and the biggest souvenir shop you have ever been to, crammed into five floors of disjointed items with narrow conflicting aisles accompanied by blasting mixed genre music.  In other words, you have to experience it to appreciate it.  After departing that sensory overload, I was able to secure the Hololive figurine across the street. Whew!

Oh, but we were not done. Remember I mentioned the Maid Café thing? Well, I said to the guide, “Have you ever been to a maid café?” and when she said yes, well…you know me…that’s where we headed!

As I understand it, in recent years Japanese men find it very hard to develop relationships with women, while also dealing with high levels of stress from both the workplace and the societal demands of conformity. Maid cafes are places where people, usually men, are doated over by young women who make them feel special. While there is no overt sexual aspect to maid cafes (other entertainment venues like soap lands do) maid cafes are down right creepy!

After waiting over an hour to get in, we were brought to a counter by one of the young Japanese women dressed in French maid outfits, where my server…and even younger women still wearing braces (and too young to be photographed) fawned over me, calling me “master” and assuring me I would have a wonderful time feeling special.

And then it got weird…nope, that wasn’t the weird part!  We had to order food and a drink. So we ordered “Shaky, Shaky” drinks which, after you cast a magic spell on them, “Moe. Moe. Kyun” the drink is shaken and a surprise color in your horrible cocktail is revealed. The “food” was no better, but just troublesome with a dog-faced curry and childish sundaes. Plus, for a fee, you can get your photo taken with your favorite maid.

After that experience, it was definitely time to call it a day!  Looking back upon my first 24 hours in Tokyo I most certainly started my dive into Japanese culture and cuisine underscoring that if you want to see Tokyo a couple of days just won’t be enough.

Next up: A dramatically different exposure to Tokyo and Japanese history and culture during a two-day truly immersive tour that was probably the best tour I have ever taken.