We packed our bags and left them in the lobby of the Rindo no ie before heading through the park across the way and making our way through the woods to the shrines at Nikko.

We got a lift from the owners to the station, caught the donko back to Utsunomiya, and got a warm Shinkansen into Ueno, where we got the Yamanote line for Nippori. Checking into the Suzuki Ryokan was a job. We had reservations but the lady kept insisting that we had just called from the station. I kept telling her that we had already made reservations a month ago. After about 6 times, she pulled out her reservations and found them. She originally had Drew and Sarah in one room and me in a single but she quickly adjusted for the M-F division of rooms.

We headed across the tracks to the front of Nippori station, and had some noodles at a Chinese restaurant.

On Thursday we went to Shimbashi and found the Caretta Building for a view over the Ginza and Tsukiji. We went through Tsukiji on a record pace, and got some breakfast at a convenience store which we ate in a small park of the Dentetsu Building across from the fish market. We then walked to the Yurikamome station and rode it almost to the end of the line to look over some reclaimed land that was under construction but nothing there yet but a couple of stations. We then backtracked to Aoni, where we had to wait until 11 AM for anything to open. At least Starbucks was open so we sat there until the magic time. We checked out the Toyota Megaweb, which has a lot of the newest Toyotas on display as well as concept cars. After time there we decided we'd ride the clear car on the ferris wheel for some views. It was actually interesting and gave good views of the harbor. Walked through Venus Fort a bit before returning to Shimbashi on the Yurikamome line, and taking the Yamanote up to Ueno where we checked out the National Museum. The special exhibit was "Leonardo" but for Y1500 it didn't seem to be too Japanese and we skipped that special part. We then walked to the Ameyokocho market area and had dinner at a yakitoriya where the beer was only Y300. Back at Nippori, Drew and Sarah tried pachinko for 3 minutes and a couple of thousand yen.

On Friday, we all headed to Harajuku on the off chance a cosplay girl couldn't read a calendar, and there was no trace. I checked out Meiji Park, stumbled across a wedding, and found an exhibition on the Emperor Meiji's clothes. I then went to Shinjuku to the Yodobashi Camera store for some batteries and a thin calculator. Walking up and down Takashimaya Times Square which is new at the south entrance to Shinjuku Station, I found a Starbucks and got a Frapuchino before riding the Yamanote over the top to Nippori and got to the room 5 minutes before Drew and Sarah got back. We all headed down to the tempura place under the station for dinner.