A Longer Trip to Hokkaido

[drron]

I thought this might be a sign denoting a historic spot but in fact this was erected in Feb 2016 to commemorate the donating of a book from another "Post" town marking the friendship of Fukuroi-juku with Shinagawa. over the years.


But this one says the most delicious oysters.


And s beautiful display in a florist shop.




I now reached an historic site. I recognised it from my reading as being the spot of a mile marker on the highway.

 

[drron]

This is now Hinkai Park.






Virtually across the road a surviving business from the early Mieji period. Maruyama shoes opened here in 1865 and now the 6th geneation of the family are still making Japanese shoes by hand.










And here is the current owner hard at work.

 

[drron]

There are a lot of temples in the vicinity. This one is active.












And another fruit and veggie place.

 

[drron]

As in many places a lot of greenery in front of houses and businesses.


And a highlight of any visit to Japan - a hundred yen shop.




Was pleased to find a Japanese terrestial orchin on the street.


And then came across another historic site. The area where the Shinagawa Honjin was situated. It was the accommodation for feudal lords and high ranking officials travelling the highway.

 

[drron]

So the Park is now called Sesekei Koen or Sacred Spot park. After the Meiji Restoration and the Emperor renaming Edo as Tokyo and his capital the Honjin was not needed. it became the Police Convalescent Hospital. Pretty nice as it was on the Seaside. Most of the area has been built over and the park is just a tiny bit of the original area. There are some mosaics here. This one is the plans of the Honjin.




This sign gives a history of the Honjin.


It was tree pruning time. I wouldn't want these fellows job.


And the road as it might have looked in this area.


Next some street hydrangeas,

 

[drron]

Now walking back on the new road parallel to the old highw ay. Everything east of this is reclaimed land.




In 1982 citizens of Shinagawa formulated a cultural charter which is celebrated with this little park.




Then you come across a remnant of the old sea shore with a series of canals leading out to Tokyo Bay close to the Rainbow bridge.


A shack over the ladder down to his fishing boat.


Another Shinagawa scenic spot.

 

[drron]

And several canal boats. Several advertising cruises but I didn't see any activity.








I presume it has flooded here.

Soon after this I was able to access the raised walk way all the way back to the hotel. It is coveres and below a lot of greenery.




And I came across this in the building next to the Intercontinental.


And that finished my walk for the day.

 

[drron]

so our first chance to try the evening's offerings in the club. first the menu.




I first tried the sake flight. I really liked this collection and my choice was 1-3 from the right hand side.


After that I had a neat Ki No Bi craft gin. I was going to add tonic water to it but it was excellent neat so I didn't. Will be on the look out for it towards the end of the trip. Spirits are actually cheap in Japan. In one store I saw Roku Gin at $A50 a bottle. looked up BWS and i was $77 a bottle.

For food we would start with the nights canapes. here is the selection for the first night.


I liked them, Mrsdrron not as much. It was sunset time.




Then there was the buffet.




And I wonder who took all the tomatoes out of the dish.


Well I did leave half of one.

 

[drron]

I really liked these little fish.






Then the red wine selection. The first night I had the Japanese wine. easily quaffable.








Nice cheese selection.




Then time for bed.

 

[drron]

Day 2 and breakfast. Mrsdrron had worked out you need to say tomato sauce on the side when you order your omelet. I had the egg Benedict. Not the best I have had but not the worst either.




And the buffet.






Strange meats.








This morning was the time to Takubin our large bag to Sapporo. We love the system especially when travelling by train or bus. Even more important now as I d o not want to be lifting a heavy bag because of my current back problems. Arranging it here was the easiest and took the shortest time ever. I had gone down to ask the front desk what was the procedure as there was no labelled Concierge desk. No worries. When I appeared with the bag an older woman came out with the form and asked where was it to go. I said the CP Sapporo and showed her the booking on the IHG App. She said that's easy I can do all this now and just put the amount on your bill. So 2 minutes tops I was back in our room. Fantastic service.

 

[drron]

After breakfast it was time to look after Mrsdrron's interests. That meant finding a nearby 100 yen shop. The closest was across the other side of Shinagawa station. bove the station is shopping centre and it had an Iseatan supermarket we both enjoy going to Japanese supermarkets so e went there first. The fruit is always incredible.
Look at these apples. Huge.


And nearly $10 a peach!




Some unusual things in the bakery.






Unfortunately the 100 yen shop was a small poor one so she for probably the first time ever found nothing to buy there.
Mrsdrron now went back to the hotel and I went to look for a building I saw out the club window.




Whilst taking those photos I noticed out the other side the Monorail was passing.

 

[drron]

However my sense of direction wasn't working so i set off in the wrong direction. But there were some interesting things to be seen. Turning the corner an unusual building for Japan but with construction work going on in front of it.




Passing a couple of hotels and businesses I turned into a residential stree which i thought was headed in the right direction. The only business was this little flower shop but it was doing a good trade.


The street scapes here are beautiful. lots of greenery and the hydrangeas are flowering.




Then I came into a more upmarket area. This flag and plague intrigued me.


I neede a rest so sat on a seat in the front and there was a plaque that answered my question. It was Iceland's Embassy.


Around the corner was another building with a flag but I knew this one as it was in a trivia quiz on one of our cruises.


Serbia of course.

 

[drron]

The street scapes improved.







Apart from this Embassy.







Most of the trees even had signs telling you their scientific names.






And one house up for sale. I think we would need to win lotto to afford it.

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Charm is a retirement/nursing home company just fyi! (The advertisement above).
Loving the report so far, the exploration of the off the beaten track parts of Tokyo and Shinagawa alone has been fascinating!

 

[drron]

I continued on and came to a property with high walls and razor wire in places. Realised I was on the wrong track and headed back down to the railway line.






When I got there I looked to my right and immediately recognised the boundary of the property I was looking for.


So off I went. The original Tokaido road came down this hill. Ther were several forts/ houses on the hill in pre Meiji times. At the time of the Meiji restoration the top of the hill was removed for reclamation of Tokyo Bay and building new forts to protect the harbour. The government wondered what it could do with the hill and originally decided to build the British Embassy there but that building was immediately burnt to the ground by protestors.
When I reached the top of the hill there was a church on the opposite side of the road with a tall tower which looked like you could climb it.






Next to that is the Marriott Tokyo.
But the property I wanted to see was completely obscured as I walked around it.






The name of the property is Kaitokaku. The government sold off a lot of land around here to the Mitsubishi company and Kaitokaku was originally built for the then company president as his home. It is still owned by the Mitsubishi company and used for social occasions.

ファイル:Kaitokaku in Takanawa, Tokyo.jpg - Wikipedia

ja-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog

The building was designed by an English Architect.

Josiah Condor | mitsubishi.com

This page introduces Josiah Conder, an important figure in the history of Mitsubishi. This website provides information on Mitsubishi group companies.

www.mitsubishi.com

 

[drron]

Walking back down I stopped where trains of the keikyu line cross a road. When back at the hotel google maps showed this to be the old Tokaido road route. It was a good place to get a train shot.


Opposite Shinagawa station an ad for the coming Maglev service.




After crossing the station I headed for Chuo Park where they said there were 800 hydrangeas. Apparently they removed 750 since that article was written as I certainly couldn't see many. But a nice place to wander anyway.











But even in the outdoors they shut smokers away from everyone.

They were having an outdoor lunch which looks like an everyday affair. Two craft beer vans also selling a selection of meats for BBQ. You could cook it yourself or have them do it. But one look at the BBqs and I decided to head back to the hotel.

 

[drron]

So to our last night in the Club. I started with their 2 craft beers before switching to the reds.




And the night's canapes.


It had started to rain heavenly but briefly a gap in the clouds appeared.


The views at night.








And decorations.

 

[drron]

So to the first of the month and we fly to Hokkaido. I had booked these last year and it was only when we checked in that I realised we were on JL515 to Sapporo and JL516 back. And we are on an A350. We caught the Keikyu line from Shinagawa to HND. Only 330 yen each. A bargain.
We didn't go to the lounge as they are pretty basic. We had sent our large bag from the IC by Takubin to the CP Sapporo. JL had sent me a QR so I could go straight to security. However they wouldn't do one for Mrsdrron. So we went to a service desk and they told us to use a kiosk. We did and it told us to go to the service desk. So this time she gave us both BPs.
We had about an hour to wait for boarding. We were in Group 2 but they boarded groups 1 and 2 together. Our seats.




It had started to pour.

The typical farewell.

 

[drron]

A very long taxi which gave plenty of opportunities to watch planes landing.








And now we are rolling.

 

[drron]

Even though the weather was poor I still got a look at Fuji. Having seen her in all her glory she doesn't need to hide any more.






Soon we were approaching Hokkaido after having our refreshments. A plastic glass of apple juice.