Bags outside the door by 7 am again as we headed to the Chitose Airport to head to Tokyo Haneda airport (10:30 am to 12:10 pm).  Our plane was a B777-300 that held 514 passengers ten across (242 feet long).  They told us that the Chitose to Haneda flights were the busiest in Japan with flights every 30 minutes.  Our first stop after collecting bags was a shabu shabu lunch at Ginza Rangetsu.  It was quite delicious.  We then walked around the Ginza area starting at the Mitsukoshi department store and their basement food floor.

After that, we visited the Meiji Shrine, which is located in a 170-acre forest of cedar and camphor trees.  After the walk, we bused back to check into the Capitol Hotel Tokyu.  This is, by far, the nicest hotel we’ve stayed in on the trip (and in all of our previous stays in Japan).  It overlooks Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s home and office and the Diet (parliament) building.  We’re surrounded by police, so it’s one of the safest areas in all of Tokyo!  Dinner was on our own, and we tried a nearby sushi restaurant (Umai) that wasn’t nearly as good as the one in Sapporo.

Cheryl

Here are photos of the morning:

Here are more photos of the afternoon and our new hotel: