Travelers' Tales 2nd Edition: Last Days With Lauren in Tokyo

View of Tokyo with Mt Fuji in the distance.

February 20, 2026

We tried to catch more Tokyo highlights before Lauren needed to return. It was a clear, windy morning so we went to the Metropolitan Government Building to check out their 45th floor observation deck. Karl asked one of the workers on the ground floor if you can see Mt Fuji from the viewing point and he was told no. That worker needs to take a look. There were signs identifying the buildings and naming the landmarks.

It is mind boggling to think that there are over 37 million people live in Tokyo. It beats Delhi at 33 million.

We haven't seen much modern urban architecture in our travels so far. Tokyo has some cool buildings.

Godzilla was climbing over the top of this building in the Ginza district.

This building is on Kappabashi Street. We spent too long looking at Japanese dishes, knives and cookware.

Also on Kappabashi Street. It is a haven for aspiring cooks.

We checked out an 11-story Muji store in Ginza that has a hotel on the top floors, a restaurant, a diner and floors and floors that felt like a Muji version of IKEA. So many cool things!

We went into a multi-story Uniqlo that had a flower shop on the ground floor.

We spent several hours in the Tokyo National Museum. It has six different buildings located in Ueno Park. I could easily go back before we leave Tokyo. We spent most of our time in the Japanese Gallery. The English signage was the best we have seen in any of the museums we have visited on this trip.

We saw armors and swords. This is the armor of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu.

This is a Japanese Hina doll dressed in Heian period clothing. We will be here for the Hinamatsuri Festival on March 3rd. Traditionally, the dolls acted as scapegoats to absorb misfortune and take on bad luck.