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Train rides around Tokyo from here on will be listed simply as the sequence of starting, interchange and ending stops, with lines bracketed.

Nishi-sakai (Tōzai) Ōtemachi

Parcly: For my first excursion I travelled back to Ōtemachi and sauntered to Marunouchi (丸の内), where the haute couture Issey Miyake lies. Rarity loves their bags and I bought one on behalf of her. While I was waiting, a generous clerk gave me a bottle of water, which I earmarked for drinking throughout the day.

On opposite sides of this area, uncluttered by power poles the city is working hard to bury underground, lie Tokyo Main and the Imperial Palace outer gardens. Threading across, I took a rest in the Kitte shopping centre for a while, then waded into Tokyo Main and ate buns and such in lieu of lunch (using the Japan Rail Pass to get in).

Tokyo Main (Yamanote) Takadanobaba (高田馬場)

Spindle: Though this wasn't Shinjuku Station proper, we were in its vicinity, and had dinner at the very small tonkatsu restaurant Narikura (成蔵). We had to go through a complicated entry process, involving multiple stages and a fairly long queue, but the wait was worth it: the mass of succulent, pliable tonkatsu was a shocker.

Parcly: Twilight was so pleased with my experience, both here and across Japan so far, that she teleported herself and her five friends into empty adjacent chairs so they could have the same meal. Any tonkatsu that one pony couldn't finish was shifted to another who could, and all the meat was consumed, leaving everypony with bountiful stomachs.

Takadanobaba (Yamanote) Shinjuku

Parcly: The busiest train station in the world gets its title from the many rail operators serving it: JR, Tokyo Metro, Toei Subway, Odakyu, Seibu, etc. Strolling here and in the surrounding department stores, in particular Bic Camera, helped digest that lot of food from Narikura, with a side effect of gaining a little weariness.

Shinjuku (Yamanote) Tokyo Main (Tōzai) Nishi-sakai

Spindle: Already on our first day in Tokyo, we had completed a full tour of the 29 stations of the Yamanote Line, which have stayed constant for nearly half a century – a thirtieth, Takanawa Gateway (高輪ゲートウェイ), would open in time for the next Tokyo Olympics. That the stations have stayed constant is indicative of a most trusted "ring rail of Tokyo" binding important places and institutions together into an urban core, much like the Circle Line in Canterlot.

Parcly was puckered out from the walking and eating, collapsing on the sofa when back at the accommodation as a theatrical display. As soon as that happened, however, she was revitalised by her memory of the day's events, looking forward to more probes into the city.

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Posted previously at: 2018-12-18T18:19:00 | Posted previously by: Parcly Taxel