Ghost Town

We headed out of the hotel this morning into the main street by Tokyo station and were completely shocked by the immediate change in atmosphere. Usually such a buzzing and vibrant place, the main street felt so quiet and empty. The crowds outside of the station from last night, the queues for the taxis, and the seas of people looking for a place to stay had all gone. Hopefully they had all got home. From the news reports this morning, it looked to have been a long night. But the trains seemed to be running again.

We headed to our local 7-Eleven, where we go every morning for bottles of water. However it was closed. It hasn't been closed since we've been here, even at 2am in the morning. We kept walking and finally found a supermarket, but there wasn't a lot we could buy. The shelves were all bare, with nothing by newspapers and soft drinks in stock. We brought some drinks and a local newspaper and headed out.

Tokyo seems to have coped really well with the earthquake from an infrastructure perspective, the buildings are still standing and there's no major damage to the centre. However, it feels like yesterday has taken the wind out of this buzzing city. The odd person that you do pass in the street gives you a smile, but the excitement and passion has gone from their eyes. Tokyo feels really flat today.

Still shocked by the quietness of the city, we walked into the main train station. Inside the station was extremely busy and there seemed to be a lot of people still waiting for a train home. People were sleeping in the waiting rooms and there were large queues at the JR Tours office for the bullet train. One thing that really stood out was that despite the crowds of people waiting to get home, everyone was still queuing patiently. Even in the subway platforms, everyone formed an orderly queue. We could do with this on the London underground!

We decided to get a train to Shinjuko where there is a large park and shrine. We favour open spaces at the moment!