The rain is here to stay for a few days. After finishing “dryable” laundries, Eyquem, Gadea, and Samuel get going, umbrellas is hand. We take the subway to Chuo city and arrive in Nihombashi. It is raining decently. The first small stop is to admire the Nihonbashi Kirin Statues, which ornate the Nihonbashi bridge. We next escape the rain by entering a soba place and have an early lunch. After lunch, it is time to find the Tako no Hakubutsukan (Kite Museum). It is not that easy, as nothing in the street points to its venue. After a while, we enter a building tower and detect a small sign: we found it. The museum is just one double room full of old and newer kites, images of Kite meetings, of Kite making. We tour around, study some documents, and then move on to the next objective: the Zero-Mile stone in Japan is just around the corner, almost on Nihonbashi bridge. From here, all distances in Japan are measured!
Although it is raining, we decide to walk to Shin-Nihonbashi station to collect a stamp. On the way, we have spotted the Fukutoku Shrine, which is in the middle of a fancy area with high buildings. Despite the rain, a number of worshipers are around. It seems this is the place to come to ask for lottery wins, maybe the lottery reward is high these days? Rain keeps pouring, so we are happy to enter the train station and take some time to find the Eki Stamp base. What should we do next? Despite the rain, we have noticed that a number of JR stations are close by. This is easily explainable by the fact that we are a stone throw away from Tokyo Station, so many lines are converging.
We thus reach the stations of Kanda, Ochanomizu, and Akihabara, exploring the neighborhoods around the stations and in the triangle defined by them, this despite rain falling at a heavier rate. Quite wet, we take the metro to Waseda, as it is time for some work and reading. In the evening, Róbert takes us to a craft beer place not far from Waseda. The original plan was to go to a craft beer place near Tokyo station, but student questions and the rain have pushed us to revise the plan. Turns out, Craft Beer Granzoo is a very small but very nice place, and we are happy to spend some time here. After dinner, we walk back home going through a different path, and discover another part of the area not far from home.
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