As a complete contrast, we were drawn to the towering Tokyo Skytree. How could we not be, it looms over the Sumida River from Asakusa at some 634 metres, making it the second tallest structure on the planet (depending on which website you look up of course). It seems debatable, but Skytree is really, really high, it dominates the Tokyo skyline.

To be honest, we mostly try and shy away from overly touristy hangs, so the thought of going up one of the world’s tallest buildings to a viewing platform with the masses was not high on the list. But, nudged by enthusiastic friends, we went anyway. Look, it’s organised chaos – herded up never-ending escalators, scanned at every turn, then squeezed twenty or so at a time into lifts that jettison you to some 451.2m above ground in seconds and deliver you to a 360-degree viewing platform that’s jam-packed with people squashed to the window’s edge. What’s not to like…?

Then the views are of course spectacular, but sadly on this murky grey old late-afternoon (we were aiming for sunset), Fuji was nowhere to be seen. However, the vastness of Tokyo is laid out below you as far as the eye can see (conditions allowing). I guess in hindsight we should have come early morning to get a clearer view but then who can know the weather. Today as I write it’s raining with low cloud. Tokyo Skytree from our hotel room has completely disappeared into the murk. 

What’s more interesting and amusing perhaps at Skytree is the amount of Japanese cartoon kitsch that’s plastered everywhere – on the viewing glass, through the glass floors, on the doors, in the lifts – in every nook and cranny up here you’ll find Pokémon anime characters and their friends. Skytree ‘attendants’ are everywhere too, dressed in bright anime-style uniforms, coralling the masses from lift to lift, platform to platform and, of course into the gift shop. Sadly, I don’t think these photos do this tower much justice, but then the weather wasn’t in my favour… However, this disappointment aside, the abiding feeling for us was that Skytree is a kitsch tourist trap that seems only to exist to extract yen from eager travellers. 

 Pokémon. I guess you “Gotta catch ‘em all” – wherever they may lurk.