Shibuya scramble, Scottish folds and Sumo

After absorbing Taka’s pointers, on day two the Travel Bees felt confident to use Tokyo public transport. We set off after another convenience store breakfast and headed to the famous Shibuya scramble crossing.

Seen in many photos of Tokyo, this crossing surrounded by high rises and bright lights, involves stopping traffic in all directions while pedestrians cross the road. Although there are pedestrian crossings marked, it seems it isn’t mandatory to follow them. When the traffic stops and the man turns green, it is a free for all as people jostle (in a polite way) to get where they are going.

It is a great place to people watch. Everything I had read, recommended going to the Starbucks on the second floor of a building overlooking the crossing, grabbing a coffee, a window seat and settling in to watch the crossing as it got busier.

Sounded great but it seems many of the people in Shibuya this morning had read the same guide book. Imagine how surprised and confused we were when we discovered Starbucks closed down on the 31st of October 2023!

Disappointing, but we felt we could see what it was all about from ground level and after getting involved in the scramble ourselves we decided to wander the alleys of Shibuya. What a cool area this was, with a young and hip vibe. There was plenty of shopping and we lost Master 16 several times as he disappeared into shops in search of ‘drip’ clothing.

In the end, we headed to Cat Cafe Mocha to enjoy another uniquely Tokyo activity. A cup of tea with an animal! Here we had 30 minutes to enjoy 25 cats of assorted breeds including Scottish folds with their weird ears, Ragdolls, Persians, Siberian, Munchkins, Ragamuffins and more. Being a cat family, we enjoyed this brief interlude from the millions of people on the streets!

As we wandered back to the train station we enjoyed some street food. The wagyu beef skewers were to die for and Mr Travel Bee enjoyed trying Takoyaki (octopus balls).

From here we headed to the main event of the day…. a Sumo tournament. I had discovered some weeks ago that we were going to be in Tokyo while a tournament was on. These only happen three times a year in Tokyo (for 15 days) and as we love to include a sporting event on our travels, we felt very lucky to coincide with a grand tournament.

We met our guide Yoko at the nearby train station and she gave us a quick run down of what it is all about; the rules, the rankings and todays draw. We had a brief tour of the sumo museum before heading to our seats.

Here we got to take in three hours of bouts, the skill level and ranking increasing as time went by. I was lucky enough to sit next to Yoko who was very excited and pointed out all her favourite wrestlers showing us photos of when she met them. She was great and very happy to answer any questions about what was going on.

Our evening culminated in watching the Yokozuna (Grand Champion). Plagued by injury, this giant man was held together with strapping (both knees, both ankles and an elbow). On day 3 (they fight once a day only) he had so far won one and lost one.

Somewhat a symbol of resilience in Japan, the current Yokozuna has had a tumultuous path to grand champion. Having got to Ozeki level (almost the top) he was injured and had to start at the bottom and work his way back up. The crowd loved him and we all roared when he was victorious.

Another great day and great sporting experience for us Travel Bees!

TTB