TheBeijing and Tokyo are quite close to each other geographically, so I travelled to Tokyo quite a few times, even sometimes just for a weekend to enjoy some authentic Japanese sushi. One of the most famous seafood markets in the world is Tsukiji Market in Tokyo, where one can find the freshest seafood early in the mornings and served in different kinds of ways to tickle your taste buds. One of the highlights in Tsukiji market is the “Tuna Auction” every morning from 5:25 to 6:15, which only allows 120 people daily to visit and normally people have to queue up from 2 am. It was there I heard about the story that Tokyo was previously named Edo, meaning “the mouth of a river” in Japanese. And Tokyo was in fact a fishing village in the old Musashi Province. So, its history already tells where the freshest seafood comes from!
Besides the unforgettable fresh fish from Tokyo, people’s politeness and kindness is another bonus. The whole city is always in great order and quiet, even though everywhere is busy. People hardly hear any loud-speaking or any kind of noise in public. Every time you visit a restaurant, you are welcomed with a 90-degree bow and a big wholeheartedly smile. There was even one time during our dinner that a Japanese waitress was not able to understand one English word, she immediately knelt down by the side of our table and started apologizing and bowing. Honestly, that kneeling down and bowing was a bit “too much” for western-educated-background people, however, I believe their politeness tops any other nation.
Tokyo’s charm is not only from its food and great order, but it also gives people all different opportunities to find out whatever you would love to experience. You can visit the historical traces of Tokyo, like Sensouji Temple; you can find joys in a theme park; and you
can also spend all your time shopping and finding goods. As long as you like, you can preview the various flavours of Tokyo one by one.
Now, thanks to the Olympic games, it is a great chance for Tokyo to show its modern townscape to the world. And I believe Tokyo might be on many people’s travelling list after this pandemic!