We arrived in the Shinjuku section of Tokyo around 1:30. We parked the car in the basement of the Keio Plaza Hotel and started on our walking tour by heading towards the Shinjuku station.

Here we are just leaving the Keio Plaza Hotel. Notice the businessmen in the foreground. Bowing is a major part of Japanese culture. By the end of the trip, it had become a natural reaction for Jennifer and me to also bow in greeting and acknowledgement.

Much of Shinjuku is made up of back alleys of computer stores, game arcades, camera shops and so forth where all sorts of electronics are available for purchase. It is truly a geek's paradise.

 

A popular fashion with some girls in Japan appears to be these long, long athletic socks that are crushed down against the ankles. This saleslady was handing out some kind of free sample or advertisement to passersby.

One of our destinations was the Lumine Department store. There are two buildings 1 & 2. We were to visit Lumine 1. In many ways, this was alot like a vertical mall. There were all sorts of different stores on each floor, book stores, clothing stores, music stores with several restaurants on the top floor.

 
 

Around 2:30, we had lunch at the Botejyu restaurant located on the top floor of Lumine 1. As is the case with many such restaurants, the food is displayed as plastic models in the front of the store.

At my request, we had okonomiyaki, which is a Japanese pancake layered with meat, eggs and seafood. Usually, each person will get a different kind and we share. For myself, I got the Special Mix. It was delicious!

 

As we continued through Lumine, we ran into an author (the one in the blue mask) promoting his book. Don't ask me to explain, even our hosts were a little baffled by the performance.

After lunch, we continued on our walking tour. As you can see by the clock, it was about 3:35 in the afternoon. The pedestrian traffic is so thick in Japan that it is critical that you wait for the traffic lights before crossing the streets. At this time, Jennifer's friend had to go to work and we headed to the Shinjuku subway with her parents to continue our tour.