Fits on the Road: The Day Before the Tokyo Marathon & the Tokyo Sky Tree

Hi there!

I haven’t had as much time after the marathon to sit down and blog. Leading up to the race, there was a bit more down time since we didn’t want to be on our legs too much so I was able to catch up with you here and here. But since then, it’s been go, go, go! I have been working on the marathon recap and hope to have that done soon, but first, here are a few pictures from the day before the marathon.

In this post, I shared our Friday activities, with the expo and the tour. Saturday, we took our time eating the hotel breakfast before taking public transportation to the Tokyo Sky Tree.

Public transportation in Japan could be confusing, as there are buses, a monorail, the subway, and the JR railway.  Our hotel was right by the monorail but we frequently used the subway and the JR. We had a “PASSMO” card that we would load up with yen throughout the trip that worked for all the different transportation systems.

Tokyo’s subway is notoriously crazy packed. They have white-gloved staff that will actually PUSH you into the car during rush hour. This is a great video:

Here’s my picture of one of the staff:

The first time we took the subway, it was early on Saturday morning. There was no one there at all!

But throughout time in Tokyo, we have definitely seen what craziness can ensue during rush hour.

Anyways, back to the Tokyo Sky Tree.

The Tokyo Sky Tree is the tallest structure in Japan at 2,080 feet. It is definitely a stereotypical tourist attraction, like going to the space needle in Seattle. Dustin’s brother, who has lived in Tokyo for over 15 years, never has gone, for exactly that reason! But we figured it was an easy way to get a cool perspective of just how big Tokyo really is.

We’re not in Minneapolis anymore!

I guess on a very clear day, you can see Mount Fuji, but it was just a bit overcast/hazy, so we couldn’t that day. But going to the top of the Sky Tree did offer some amazing views.

The employees at the Sky Tree had very unique uniforms designed by Mina Perhonen:

There were also little mascots at the Sky Tree doing a dance when we arrived. Adorable!

(The lighting was too bright, so I had to use a weird filter so you could actually see the characters)

From the Sky Tree, we could see the Asahi beer hall, which has a big golden sculpture on it. Apparently some people call it the “Golden Turd!”

Here’s a closer picture. Some call it the Golden Turd, some say it’s supposed to look like the froth on the top of a beer…what do you think?

Also within the Sky Tree, there was a glass floor that went straight down to the ground:

Even though it was a bit cheesy, I thought the Tokyo Sky Tree was a nice attraction to do the day before the marathon. By the time we got back to our hotel, it was nearly 2:30 pm. We took it easy for the rest of the day until the Marathon Tours pasta dinner at 5:30. Then it was early to bed before the race!

That was our day before the marathon! Stop back soon for the full recap of the Tokyo Marathon 2015.