东京第五天 Day 5 in Tokyo

2023年5月31日，星期三，东京之行第五天

Wednesday, May 31, 2023, the fifth day of the Tokyo trip

PJG很早就预定了东京皇居的下午一点半的门票，今天天气还不错，没有雨，坐一班地铁大概30分钟就到了东京站，下了地铁，在东京站附近逛一下，突然看到在东京站门前聚集了一群人，还有马，很多警察，似乎什么重要人物在这里。走上前去，看到几个人上了几辆很皇家感觉的马车，由警察护送，离开了东京站。问了一个执岗的小姑娘，在谷歌翻译的帮助下，是刚举行了一个迎接中国驻日本的大使的仪式。

PJG booked tickets for the Tokyo Imperial Palace last month for our visit at 1:30 pm. The weather today was nice, not hot and no rain. It took about 30 minutes to take the subway to the Tokyo Station. After exiting the subway, we walked around Tokyo Station and happened to come across many people gathered in front of the Station watching horse drawn carriages and many policemen.

It seemed that some Very Important Person was here. As we got closer, we saw a few people boarding two very royal looking carriages, escorted by the police, and leaving Tokyo Station towards the palace. I asked a young police woman guarding the door. With the help of Google Translate, she told us that they just held a ceremony to welcome the Chinese ambassador to Japan!

吃完午饭，已经快到了我俩预约的东京皇居参观的时间，走到门口的时候，看到很多没有提前预订没票的人在排队，去东京皇居参观是免费，只是最好需要提前预约，感谢某人提前的计划。站在那里等着1点开门的时候，PJG突然意识到，我俩没有带护照！完了，估计进不去了，我俩打算就用驾照试一下，希望没有问题。当工作人员开始查看每个人的预约的时候，他找不到我俩的预约号，他又看了一遍，还是没找到，突然他说，啊～～ 你们的是6月1号，哈哈哈，这是什么一个错误？ 我俩竟然都没注意到是明天！ 这样也好，明天肯定不会忘记带护照的。

After lunch, it was almost time for us to visit the Tokyo Imperial Palace. When we walked to the entrance, we saw many people queuing up without reservations or tickets. Visiting the Tokyo Imperial Palace is free, but it is best to make an appointment in advance where there is no queue. Thanks to someone for planning ahead. While standing there waiting for the doors to open at 1pm, PJG suddenly realized that neither of us had our passports! How stupid! It’s over, I guess we won’t be able to get in, so we plan to try it with our driver’s license, hoping there will be no problem. When the staff started checking everyone’s appointments, he couldn’t find our appointment number, he looked again, but still couldn’t find it, then suddenly he said, ah~~ Yours is for June 1st, hahaha, What is this mistake? Neither of us even noticed it was tomorrow! This is also very lucky, since we will definitely not forget our passports tomorrow.

离开了东京站，我俩坐地铁去了秋叶原电器街（Akihabara Electric Town），是位于东京的一个著名地区，这里是电子爱好者、动漫迷和游戏玩家的天堂，有大量的电器店、电子产品商店和二手商品店等。不过我俩既不 是动漫迷，也不是游戏玩家，在这里转了一圈，感受一下这个巨大的行业的心脏之处，就坐地铁回酒店了。

After leaving Tokyo Station, we took the subway to Akihabara Electric Town, which is a famous area in Tokyo. It is a paradise for electronics lovers, anime fans and gamers. There are a large number of Electronics stores and used goods stores, etc. But we are neither anime fans nor gamers, so we walked around here to feel the heart of this huge industry, and then took the subway back to the hotel. We briefly visited a “Maid Cafe” where the servers are dressed in Anime style but after finding out there was a 800 yen cover per person, we quickly left.

PJG在网上看到一片文章介绍了一个生鱼刺身的小饭店就在那个思出横丁的小巷里，据说已经开了70多年了，我俩打算去试一下。这个小店正是我俩喜欢的那种感觉，不浮华，就是鲜美的食物和亲切的氛围。

PJG read an article on the Internet that featured a small restaurant with sashimi in the alley of Yokocho (Memory Alley) that we had visited a few nights ago. It is said that it has been open for more than 70 years. This small restaurant is exactly what we both like, not flashy, just good food and a friendly atmosphere.

给今晚美味食物又增添了一些乐趣的是，那个服务员竟然是一个中国人，我俩完全没有看出来，她说了一口流利的日语，还以为她是老板的女儿呢。她来到日本已经19年了，在这个饭馆里就工作了18年了。吃完晚饭，我俩去了附近的一个弹子球游戏店，被这个大型游戏店给惊到了，走在一排一排的游戏机间，那些游戏机发出的声音就很震撼。这个类似于赌博机的弹子球游戏在日本的规模相当大，弹球机市场曾经产生的赌博收入超过了澳门、拉斯维加斯和新加坡的总和。我俩不知道怎么玩，又看不懂日语，1000日元用了不到5分钟就消失啦，哈哈。

To add to the fun of this evening’s delicious food, the waitress turned out to be Chinese, originally neither of us could tell, as she spoke fluent Japanese and we thought she was the owner’s daughter. She has been in Japan for 19 years and has worked in this restaurant for 18 years. So we had a good chat.

After dinner, the two of us went to a nearby game store, and were surprised by this large Pachinko place. Walking among the rows and rows of machines, the sound was very shocking. Of course, the two of us don’t know how to play, and we can’t understand Japanese, so the 1,000 yen disappeared in less than 5 minutes, haha. Gambling is illegal in Japan so instead of money you can exchange winnings for a gift.

Although we messed up on our Imperial Palace date, the day turned out to be very enjoyable and a really delicious dinner awaited us. We look forward to visiting the Imperial Palace tomorrow. Good night from Tokyo.

尽管我们在参观皇居的日期上搞错了，但这一天过得还是很愉快，尤其被一顿非常美味的晚餐补偿了。期待明天参观皇居。晚安东京。