so it is midnight actually closer to 1am
here in tokyo and
tokyo tower literally just turned off as
i got here but today
we're exploring the back streets around
the area of tokyo tower
all right we'll start right here because
this is one of my favorite little alley
views of tokyo tower
look at that view it's obviously much
nicer when the tower is lit up but i
guess we work with the hand we've been
dealt
in fact this entire area around the
tower is just chopped full of little
back streets like this with
amazing views of the tower probably
more than we can do in a single night
but
let's head this way
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one of my favorite things about this
area is the amount of greenery
and little hidden parks and paths and
seating areas that are
dispersed all through in fact there's
you know what let's let's head up this
stair right here
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the park that's down here has always
been one of my favorite i've been living
in the area for almost two years now and
it's been closed
pretty much since i moved in so let's
swing through before we hit some more of
the back streets
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like how cool is that little pathway
into here
oh i love this space so much
those guys back there decided to come
into the park with a domino's pizza and
just kick back and relax and
i figured i'd just give them their space
we're gonna head out this way
and explore some more of the area good
news
maybe let's call it good news i know
sooner across the road than tokyo tower
lit up but for some reason in
in christmas colors and weirder yet just
the tip
of the tower is orange why why is it
i can actually see tokyo tower from both
the balcony of my apartment and my
office
and it's never really consistent at
night sometimes just the bottom
half is lit up sometimes literally just
if you look online apparently there is
a schedule for it but it still doesn't
like why
why is just the tip orange it looks
weird
it just it's strange
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some of the cherry blossoms are starting
to open up it has been
a really warm week here in tokyo in fact
we're just like a week away
from full blossom that is right cherry
blossom season
is a week away a week but don't worry
i'll be bringing you a lot like it's
dark but there's one tree right here
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actually most of the trees in here are
blossoming quite nicely
and tokyo tower is being a little bit
weird right now
so this area here is zojoji temple which
usually has one of the most beautiful
views of tokyo tower that you can get
and now suddenly it's pink but right now
it's under construction so
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all right so this here is shiba koen or
shiba park and
why is it christmas again what what is
going on with this tower today
anyway especially on weekends this park
tends to get really packed but this area
right here leads to what it's not a
secret but what seems to be a secret
park
up there and i say it's a secret park
because for some reason nobody ever goes
up there
and this seems to be gated right now
there's a pathway over there let's see
if it goes
okay all right yeah so
it's totally open this for some reason
is just
gated and closed so you can't walk
through it at night
i have literally never noticed that
alright so this area
up here i don't know what it is about
this space it can be incredibly crowded
down there and there will still just be
nobody up here wow it's dark
like you can see zozoji temple over
there
and then wow i am admittedly this is
probably my first time coming up here at
night
so i am slightly taken aback by how dark
it is
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again just to reiterate not a secret
park it's
it's just shiba koen but for some reason
so few people come up those stairs so if
you're looking for a peaceful park to
hang out in
this is the place
also that is how late it is there are
only
that many people awake it is 2 12
in the morning
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which is one of the reasons we didn't go
straight into the back streets because a
lot of the area around here is either
residential or like this a lot of
greenery which is why i've slightly
fallen in love with living here but just
out this way leads to one of the bigger
business areas tamachi
which actually has some pretty cool back
streets so let's go check it out
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so
it's warm
it's just something nice about 100 yen
vending machine so
most of the area around here is going to
be primarily business with
a tiny bit of residential and when
people ask me
when you're exploring how do you know
where it's okay to explore and where not
to explore
my rule of thumb has always been it's
okay to go down the back streets and the
narrow streets and all of that but
don't cross barriers be respectful and
the narrower the street you get into
generally the quieter you should be also
common sense just don't touch stuff
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and one of the other things that i
really love about this area
is the number of these little tiny
hidden shrines
you'll find spread throughout the area
and this phone booth
because phone booths are increasingly
rare in japan
iphone booth
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it is just about three o'clock in the
morning now i've spent the last half
hour trying to find a decent vantage
point to capture tokyo tower from
finally found a good rooftop and of
course it shuts off
just as i get up there literally just
missed it
one of my favorite hidden backstreet
shrines is just up around the corner so
we're gonna go take a peek
and i weirdly love this co2
zero action we i think we all get what
they're going for but
they've missed the mark just a little
bit on the english
you don't find nearly as much messed up
english nowadays unless it's on clothing
you'll always find our own clothing i
kind of miss it it's always been kind of
a part of the experience but
there's the there's the shrine too and
while the shrine is cool there's
something over here we'll show you so
you can
vaguely see tokyo tower back there but
this little
building right here this is an embassy
this is the embassy of kyrgyz i hope i'm
saying that right
i love it and i make a point of swinging
by this shrine every single time i pass
by it don't know why
just love this little shrine
this isn't usually here it looks like
they're getting set up for a festival
it's easy to see why
i love this little shrine right it's so
simple but
there's still just so much more around
the area of tokyo tower to show though
we haven't even scratched the surface
who knows maybe next time the tower will
actually be lit up
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you