A Morning Walk in Tokyo and Travel to Minakami

Aug 8, 2025

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August 7, 2025. Tokyo, Japan. Day 2

Today was packed with activity as we tried to take in a bit of Tokyo and then travel to Minakami. Being jetlagged, we were wide awake at 5 a.m. and decided to get out on the street to beat the summer heat. We had a wonderful stroll through the city and got to see Tokyo waking up to a new workday.

We made a quick stop at a sidewalk vending machine that squeezed fresh orange juice for us. You could see the oranges being loaded and squeezed into a good-sized cup, which cost $4. We walked through Hibiya Park and ended up on the perimeter of the Imperial Palace. We then walked back through the Imperial Palace Gardens on our way to the hotel.

As it was getting hot, we began to use the intricate underground maze that kept us away from the heat. There are all kinds of shops and restaurants below ground level—a city underground with hundreds of people moving orderly and quietly about their day. There, we found Kanno Coffee and had a great wasabi-infused egg sandwich and coffee, an affordable combo for less than $6.

After returning to our hotel, we headed to Tokyo Station to board the Shinkansen to Takasaki. There is much to say about the Shinkansen experience, so I will cover that in a separate blog post. We arrived in Takasaki and, with great difficulty, found our way to Toyota Rental Car. When I say great difficulty, I mean Google Maps didn’t work, the tourist office wasn’t helpful, and it was only a visit to the police station that yielded solid directions. The rental car experience itself was very smooth; we highly recommend Toyota rental as they are reasonably priced and include full coverage in their pricing structure.

We arrived at Minakami Onsen Aratashi by 4:30 p.m., made our way to our room, and after a hot soak in our balcony tub, we felt sleepy. I was the first one in bed by 5:30 p.m., and Barbara followed soon after. The plan was to get up by 7 p.m. for dinner, but we slept soundly through the night. We plan to spend the next few days taking in the mountainous region of Minakami. Stay tuned!