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Spindle: Asakusa (浅草), the suburb we were staying in, has the oldest and most famous temple in Tokyo — Sensō-ji, which is written with the same kanji (浅草寺). We made a brief stop here before beginning our pinball ride through the Tokyo metro system and the streets above.

The common features of Japanese temples and shrines were prominent here, in part due to tourists swarming around them: elaborate entrance gates, a donation box in front of the main hall and a pool with spring water where ponies cleanse themselves. I tried pouring the water, and it just ignored my hooves like the intense sunlight shining from above without clouds in the way.

Parcly Taxel: Outside the temple stood a row of shops ending at the main gate. Traditionally they would have served just the pilgrims arriving here, but now they were selling products from all over Japan… and souvenirs meant for tourists. They did not intrigue me, and my attention was more focused on the omikuji (御神籤) booth near the pool, which I had not tried last night. After offering 100 yen I shook a metal container and out came a numbered rod, which was associated with a fortune.

大吉 (great blessing) was written on the slip. "Yay!" I exclaimed, and I kept it in the pocket of my saddlebag for good luck. (If 凶 (curse) or a variation had appeared, I would instead have tied it to a nearby pine tree.) With that, our walk of Tokyo could begin in earnest.

Spindle: Our first stop was the shopping and fashion district of Ginza (銀座), possessing multi-storey boutiques and huge department stores. The buildings are so high here that they channel the wind, concentrating weak breezes into strong gusts that I loved playing in. Patterned pavements and a pedestrianised main street on weekends encourage ponies to walk around and talk around, though Parcly is rather shy when it comes to the latter.

Here we were wandering around like a headless horse, so at first we did not realise we had crossed into the neighbouring district of Marunouchi (丸の内), where Tokyo Station lies trapped between modern financial towers. (We had traversed the station's interior when we arrived in the metropolis, but without seeing the classical façade.) One of Coco Pommel's friends had a tote bag shop here.

Parcly: Alas, exploring such a big city from the ground isn't very illuminating, and I've got a pair of wings. Why not travel to some sky-high place and get a free panorama?

Since I could already see the Skytree from the roof of my house, that was consigned to another day, so the Tokyo Tower was next on my itineary. It's modelled after the Eiffel Tower, but is painted orange and white to aid flying at night, the novelty of which dissipated when I entered the observatory deck. Skyscrapers, skyscrapers everywhere! Even out to Tokyo Bay and the feeder city of Yokohama, it was all a mass of grey and white under the setting sun, except for a nearby park. "Maybe I should spend some time near water," I mused.

Spindle: So we spent the next five hours — and ended up wasting our evening — around Odaiba (お台場), which was once a set of artificial island fortresses but is now a sprawling entertainment complex. As an example of the sprawl, where else in the world can you find together a Ferris wheel, a 1:1 scale mech and a replica of the Statue of Liberty?

From the monorail serving this place Parcly had assumed it was going to be a quiet harbour with yachts and the like, but she was fatally mistaken. Instead she found spacious open-air walkways and stores of all cultures, some of which applied their traits so haphazardly as to be pretentious. It seemed hopeless, until we had dinner at a sushi bar where the plates came on model Shinkansen trains; obviously a tourist-oriented concept, but the food was delicious!

Parcly: I really had been bounced around like a pinball, riding rails and switching stops on hoof for a whole day. As the Ginza Line train returned to Asakusa, I felt Spindle blowing my heart warm, a renewed love for Tokyo burning bright.

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Posted previously at: 2016-12-11T03:01:45 | Posted previously by: Parcly Taxel