先月末、東京スカイツリーと浅草に行ってきました。
I visited Tokyo Skytree and Asakusa the other day.

東京には最近ちょくちょく行く機会があるのですが、今回は友達と待ち合わせて旅を思いっきり楽しんできました。
I have been to Tokyo quite a few times recently, but this time, I enjoyed visiting fun places with a friend of mine.   
 

いざ東京へ! | Here we go!

待ち合わせは茨城県民お馴染みの上野駅。上野東京ライン開通後初めて特急を利用しました。常磐線の終着駅ではなくなったので、今までとは全然違うホームに停車。
I met up with my friend at Ueno station, which is a quite familiar place for Ibarakians. I took the Ueno-Tokyo line semi-express train for the first time since the line was extended. Ueno is no longer the terminal station for the Joban line, so the train stopped at a different platform.  

そこから東京駅に移動。東京駅一番街ラーメンストリートで腹ごしらえ。
We then went to Tokyo station and had ramen at Tokyo Ichibangai ramen street, or the ramen-shop arcade.  
東京ラーメンストリートひるがお20151128
「ひるがお」という塩ラーメン専門店の「塩玉ラーメン」¥880です。席に着いてから3分もしないうちに出てきました。さっぱりかつ、味わい深いスープがうまかったです。あとチャーシューが脂っぽくなくて最高でした。
We ate shio-ramen at a ramen shop called "Hirugao". The "shio-tama ramen" in the picture was ¥880. It was served in just three minutes. The soup was really good, full of flavor, and the pork was also good because it was lean.
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さて東京駅から神田に移動し、浅草へ。浅草まで神田から銀座線で10分。神田駅は山手線から銀座線への乗り換えも3分程度で、利用しやすかったです。
We went to Asakusa via Kanda from Tokyo station. It's only a ten-minute ride to Asakusa from Kanda and only takes three minutes to switch from the Yamanote line to the Ginza line at Kanda station. It was convenient.  
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銀座線浅草駅から歩いてスカイツリーへ。とにかく高く、どこからでも見えるので、道には迷いません。
On the way to the Skytree from Asakusa station (the Ginza line). You'll never get lost because you can see it from anywhere.
VirtucalSkytree151128
天気にも恵まれ、絶好の観光日和。人生初めてのスカイツリー展望台へ!
It was a perfect day for travelling under the clear blue sky. It was time to go up to the observatory for the first time in my life!
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ずっと上ばかり見ていて首が痛くなりました。でもその価値あり!
I was looking up all the time, and it hurt my neck a little, but it was well worth it! 

東京スカイツリーへの展望台へはチケットを買って上がります。しかし当日は土曜日で混んでいたので、まずそのチケットを買うための整理券をもらいました(写真撮り忘れた・・・)。着いた時刻は午後2時。しかし整理券に書いてある再集合時刻は18:30~19:00。ということでそれまでの時間は自由に行動できるので、浅草へ。
You need to get a ticket to go into the observatory, however, we needed to get a numbered ticket first because it was a Saturday and so many people were there. So we got a ticket (which I forgot to take a picture of), and it said we needed to come back sometime between 6:30 and 7:00 pm, though we got there around 2 pm. Until 6:30, we had a plenty of time to visit other places, so we were off to Asakusa. 

浅草 | Asakusa

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東武スカイツリーラインで東京スカイツリー駅から浅草まで3分。便利です。ここ浅草も人生初。
It takes only three minutes to get to Asakusa from Tokyo Skytree station by the Tobu-Skytree line. Asakusa was also a place I had never been before.
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外国から来た旅行客も多く、目をつぶっていると日本に居ることを忘れるくらい色々な言語が聞こえてきます。
So many people were from overseas. If you closed your eyes, you might forget that you're in Japan, hearing so many languages around you. 
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おみくじ。末吉。都内有数の観光地らしく、説明も英語あり。
A fortune teller strip. It says "sue-kichi" or "not too lucky". I never thought I'd be told my fortune in English as well, but it didn't really surprise me because Asakusa is one of the most popular tourist spots in Tokyo.

そのあと、銀座線で渋谷に行って、かの有名なハチ公像を見て、スクランブル交差点を渡って、歩いて代々木公園へ。そこで少し休憩してから、原宿駅、そして再び東京スカイツリーへ。(原宿→新宿→神田→浅草→東武スカイツリー駅)。
After that, we headed to Shibuya by the Ginza line (without switching lines) and saw the prestigious Hachi-statue and then walked across the famous Shibuya crossing. We continued to walk to Yoyogi park where we took a little break and then went to Harajuku station. By then it was time to go back to Tokyo Skytree. (Harajuku→Shinjuku→Kanda→Asakusa→Tobu-Skytree station).

再びスカイツリーへ | Back to Skytree

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着いた頃にはすっかり夜。ライトアップされたスカイツリーも綺麗です。
By the time we got there again, it had gotten dark enough to enjoy the lit-up Skytree.

今回、スカイツリーの展望台に上がる時にすごく良いと感じた点は、整理券をもらってから再集合時間まで列に並ばなくてもいいことです。さらに再集合からチケットを買うまでの待ち時間は15分程度。チケットを買えばすぐにエレベーターに乗って展望台に行けるので、全体的に待ち時間が非常に短かかったのが良かったし、ありがたかったです。
I found it great that you don't have to wait in line for hours to buy a ticket. You just come back at the designated time on your numbered ticket, and you can ride the elevator as soon as you get a ticket. It took us only about fifteen minutes to get our tickets. I really appreciated the short waiting time. I would say everything was very well-organized.

余談になりますが、展望台に上がるエレベーター前では金属探知機が設置されていて、さらに手荷物検査が行われていました。私はそれを見て、物騒な世の中になったなぁ、などとのんきなことを思いましたが、一緒にいたアメリカ人の友達は、ちゃんと検査が行われているところを見ると安心すると言っていました。自分が平和ボケの日本人であることに、思わぬ形で気づかされました。
As a sidenote, there were metal detectors at the gate to the elevators, and they said we needed to go through a baggage check. I thought that it was kind of a pain, but my friend, an American, said it was a relief to see that proper security measures are taken. It happened to make me realize that I'm a typical Japanese who takes peace for granted.
 

いざ展望台へ! | Going up to the Observatories!

いよいよ毎分600メートルという高速エレベーターで地上350メートルの展望デッキへ。速すぎて途中耳が痛くなりました。
Now it was time to go up to the observatory that's 350 meters above the ground in the elevator that goes 600 meters per minute. It was so fast that my ears hurt.
 
さてさて、展望台からの眺めをご覧ください。
So, this is the view from the observatory. 
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私は東京タワーにも上ったことがありますが、それより明らかに高いです。
I've been up on the Tokyo Tower observatory, but it was way higher than that.
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右上に見える赤い建物が東京タワーです。
The red structure in the upper right-hand corner is Tokyo Tower. 

さて次は更に上の展望回廊へ。こちらは地上450メートル。たった100メートルしか違わないじゃん、と思っていましたが・・・。
We then went to the upper observatory that's 450m above the ground. I didn't think one hundred meters could make much of a difference, but... 
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展望回廊からの眺めです。写真では分かりませんが、実際に見るとこちらの方が明らかに高いです。
さらにここは下から風が吹いてきたので、ちょっと怖かったです。
The view from the upper observatory. You may not be able to see any difference in the picture, but it was way higher than the first one. In addition, the wind was blowing from down below and it was a little bit scary. 
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川面に反射する月が綺麗でした。
The moon reflecting on the river was beautiful.
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展望デッキ最下層にあるガラス床。夜だったせいか、高さがあり過ぎるせいか、全然怖くなかったです。
The glass floor on the bottom floor of the observatory. I don't know if it was due to the fact that it was night time, or that it was just too high, but for some reason it wasn't scary at all.

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正直、3090円も払って高い所上って何が楽しいんだろ、と思っていましたが・・・かなり楽しかったです!目の前に広がる大都市・東京を見渡すこの感覚を是非一度、実際に足を運んで味わってみて下さい。
Truth be told, I didn't expect it to be so much fun! I didn't really understand why people were willing to pay as much as ¥3090 just to go up that high. Now that I've seen the magnificent night view of Tokyo, I highly recommend for you to see it for yourself. I'm sure you'll be amazed.

今回は夜で富士山が見えなかったので、今度は晴れた日の昼間に上がってみたいです。
I didn't get to see Mt. Fuji because it was at night, so I'd like to visit there again on a sunny day.

使用機材 | Equipment

Camera:Sony a6000

Lens:E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS (Kit lens)

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