The Big 40 in Japan - Day 2: Record Temperatures
July 29th, 2026
After a better-than-expected sleep at the Grand Hyatt, it was time for our first full day in Tokyo. We made our way down to breakfast before the crowds and enjoyed our first of three breakfasts there. The highlight for me today and every day was the Japanese omelet and their special vitamin juice. They had a great spread, and we stuffed our faces. From there, we made our way out into the late-July heat to our first stop of the day, Meiji Jingu. We decided to make the walk there before it got too hot, and ventured on a 45-minute (3 KM) walk from our hotel to the famous shrine.
We arrived at Meiji Jingu right as it opened and followed the crowds through the park and to the shrine. It’s remarkable how you can go from these massive skyscrapers and luxury shop-laden streets to this beautiful temple nestled in the center of the city. We made our way through the hundred-year-old temple and took in the various buildings that were somehow spared during WWII. We didn’t spend a ton of time there but instead got back on the subway and made our way back to Shibuya.
Jake has always had a fascination with going up tall buildings for the views. It's probably the thing I find least interesting about cities, but as a team player, we went to Shibuya Sky. We arrived right as they opened at 10 AM and purchased tickets. For some reason, that allowed us to skip the initial queue, and we were among the first up at the top that morning. I will admit the views from Shibuya Sky were incredible; we were fortunate to go on a clear day. There are two levels, and after taking the first, we took the escalator to the top of the building and did a full 360-degree walk-around before heading back down and having one of the best coffees of the trip at Rokumei Coffee. It was so good that we both bought coffee beans to take home.
Before heading back to our hotel for lunch, we stopped at the massive Tower Records. Jake has been a record collector for a while now, got on a kick, and wanted the Norah Jones album. We searched far and wide, including the 7+ floors of Tower Records, only to come up empty-handed. He ended up picking up a Miles Day record instead. From there, we jumped back on the subway, found it rather easy to navigate, and got back to our hotel to have a quick Sushi lunch. We split a small carafe of sake and had their sushi lunch, which was a dozen pieces of sushi, an appetizer, and dessert. It was phenomenal, simple, sophisticated, and to the point. The perfect lunch.
We got our second wind (barely) and left the hotel. I’m so glad we did. I think if we had gone back to our room, I would have slept for the rest of the day. We instead took a rather long subway ride to Senso-Ji, the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo. It was swarming with people when we arrived a little after 3 PM. We walked around the temple, which smelled overwhelmingly of incense that was burning throughout. We didn’t spend a lot of time there, instead opting to do some light shopping on the nearby streets and stopping for another coffee. This time at a small dessert/coffee spot where I got a coffee, and Jake had an ice cream float.
Afterward, we jumped back on the subway to Roppongi, freshened up for dinner, and walked the 15 minutes to Atelier Morimoto XEX. We wanted to do a teppanyaki dinner experience while in Tokyo, and this was one of the best-reviewed ones we could find. It didn’t hurt that the executive chef was also the famous Iron Chef, Masaharu Morimoto. When we arrived, they took us straight downstairs to this beautiful teppan. We were seated, and we ordered drinks: an Old Fashioned for Jake and sparkling water for me. We expected someone else might join us at some point during our two-hour dinner, but it was just Jake and me, with about eight staff watching us intently as we ate each course. Fortunately, it was all delicious; from the tuna tartare to the Wagyu beef, the meal was tremendous, albeit a bit awkward. We made our way back to the hotel, grabbed a nightcap at the hotel bar, and called it a night.
