Wednesday, June 16, 2010, Heisei 22, Tokyo — Well we made it to Tokyo and finally have wee-fee so that we can actually post something. i’m not sure we’ll post much because we have very little down time. And what downtime we have seems to be filled with two 8-year-olds fighting with foam swords and generally wreaking havoc.

Will had a truly unforgettable birthday yesterday, starting with a cake in our room with “Happy 8th Birthday Will” written in Japanese and English. We then wandered Ginza, watched World Cup soccer in 3D at the top of the Sony Center, bought foam swords at Hakuhinkan as Will’s birthday gift, had a fabulous tempura lunch at Rick’s favorite restaurant, Ten-tei.

The highlight of the day was the Ninja Akasaka restaurant, a kischty but totally fun restaurant that would never fly in the U.S. because it must break every fire code in the book. The concierge clapped her hands and a black-dressed “ninja” appeared from a secret doorway to grab a menu and lead us down and up winding corridors, complete with a drawbridge and a master ninja doing magic tricks at our table. We then — because Asma is a determined traveler, thank goodness — we ascended the Tokyo Tower and saw the beautiful lights of the city.
Gotta go, Tokyo is calling.