Japan2k26, Day 4

27 Jan, 2026

2026-01-27 23:58pm, 4 Chome-15-14 Nakacho, Koganei, Tokyo 184-0012

Hi friends from Bearblog, and hello as well to anyone who found me through other strange paths. As has become tradition for the past four days, I’m sharing my day here in Tokyo, writing from the hostel lounge while enjoying some really good edamame flavored chips.

Day 4 was pretty tiring, I have to say. I’ll admit I don’t have a step counter with me right now, so I can’t tell you exactly how many steps I took today, but I remember my brother saying around 6:00 pm this afternoon, “We’re at 21,000 steps so far…”. So I’m guessing I ended the day at around 25,000 steps, which on average comes out to roughly 20 km at least according to Google:

“25,000 steps correspond on average to about 17.5–20 kilometers, depending on individual stride length. Considering a common average of 70–80 cm per step, this amount of physical activity represents a long walk, far exceeding the classic 10,000 steps (which equal about 7–8 km).”

Leaving aside this very boring explanation, the point was simply to say how physically tired I am at the end of a day that was definitely full, but also beautiful. First of all, as usual, a Pokémon pack and breakfast at 7Eleven, made up of a banana and strawberry smoothie with the addition of a small bottle of R1+ yogurt, which is supposed to help start the day off right, followed by a classic beef pork bao. I’d rate it a solid 7 out of 10.

After that, we took one of those “regional” trains to Kamakura, a very well-known city around here that I’d describe as the Japanese version of Riccione (Italians will get it). Basically, a classic seaside town: completely flat, full of typical shops and good food. Our food choice, however, was a small late morning snack at a Family Mart, so we’d have more room for a proper dinner later. We visited the giant Buddha statue, wandered through the streets of Kamakura, and checked out the very famous little alley full of street food, where I tried “dango” which I can safely say I will never try again in my life.

After about an hour on the return train, we arrived in Odaiba, a district mostly dominated by huge buildings that I assume are offices, a large park but maybe a bit too much concrete all around, a six floor shopping mall where I bought some clothes, and finally the main reason tourists and people in general come here: the Gundam statue. It’s a life size statue of the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam from the Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn series, installed in 2017. I have to say it’s seriously impressive to see it in person. On the spot, I tried to guess its height and imagined around 20 meters, which turned out to be 19.7 meters pretty close, I’d say.

As has become tradition, the day ended in Shinjuku for dinner, where we tried a few dishes at a not very famous restaurant, one of those places that does a bit of everything with average quality. Still, I ate really well, and as of now I’d say it was the best dinner so far. That said, the best meal overall is still the rice and meat at the Redrock restaurant in Harajuku, which I absolutely recommend.

A couple of walks through some shops to look for souvenirs to bring back to Italy, then the Yamanote Line to return to the hostel. Usual shower, and here I am writing these words. What can I say so far I’m really enjoying everything. I don’t want to get too reflective or sentimental, because I want to write deeper, longer, more focused posts about Japan and how I experienced it. So for now, I’ll stick to telling you things in a more surface level and objective way, rather than a reflective one.

Thank you so much for reading these words your time is precious. See you soon.

– Tega

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Thanks again, everyone 🫶🏻

#2k26 #blog #japan #travel