Bridges, Beer, and The Beauty of Tokyo Nights

An activity we have enjoyed a lot since being here in Tokyo is walking along the Sumida River. Here we can walk side by side and without the interruptions of crosswalks on the local streets. The amazing 27 km river is spanned by 37 bridges. Each bridge is unique in it’s design and absolutely stunning! We haven’t seen them all, but here are a few of my favorites. It’s especially beautiful at night!

Dave and I recently enjoyed a date night at a local place called Beer Club Popeye. We had fun sampling some of the 70 beers they have on tap. We fumbled our way through figuring out the ordering process, but still had a good time. I’m not always a fan of beer, but I loved the pineapple/mango one!

Train Rides and Twilight

It always feels different to experience a place at night. There’s something about the dark skies and shining lights of a city that feels a bit magical to me. Tokyo at night is mesmerizing! Not every country we visit this year will be walkable at night. At times that will be due to safety and sometimes other circumstance. In Costa Rica, the night was prime time for getting swarmed by bugs. We have spent a lot of time walking here at night and have yet to encounter any bugs. It could be that it’s still too hot. The overnight low right now hovers around 80 degrees. Regardless of the reason, it’s a welcome change.

Late yesterday afternoon we rode the train back to Akhiabara, to experience it during the evening hours. We can walk to this area of Tokyo in a little over 30 minutes , but the train is fun and very inexpensive so we went that route. It cost 150 yen/each to get to this destination, which is a total of about $4.00 for all of us.

The kids enjoyed playing a few video games and we devoured some delicious sushi and miso soup for dinner. It was fun to walk around and experience the energy of this place at night. It was peak Tokyo rush hour when we finished eating (7pm) and the streets were flooded with people! When we were getting ready to leave, we decided to walk rather than the fight the crowds on the train.

To get back home, we walked over the Sumida River and had the Tokyo Skytree as a backdrop. The Skytree is an astounding 2,080 feet tall. It is the tallest structure in Japan and the third tallest in the world!

Whether during the day or at night, Tokyo has so much to offer. We have had challenges navigating the cultural differences at times. We often look around a little stunned the first time we walk into a new place, but we’re figuring it out.