I first met up with Maria and Serena at Asakusa, Tokyo's spiritual center. The area felt like a condensed version of the shrines I have visited in more remote areas of Japan. They somehow managed to create a similar reverent atmosphere in the middle of the city. 
In a rare occurrence, the garden in Asakusa was open to the public for an ancient Japanese art exhibition. It was a fantastic exhibition. I was most impressed with the massive wood carving canvases, which created amazing sense of depth using mere inches of carved wood. We then wandered the garden grounds, relaxed and drank some green tea in the tranquil environment. 
Contrasting the garden, we forged our way through the jam-packed crowds at the Asakusa shopping stalls. Clearly designed to trap tourists visiting the shrine, these stalls sold some of the most random souvenirs I have seen, with many of them being completely unrelated to the shrine.
At the front of the shopping arcade is a massive gate for the complex, which has a gigantic red lantern. From what I heard touching the lantern was good luck, which is easy enough to do since it only hangs about 7 feet off of the ground. The underside of the lantern has an intricate woodcarving, so it was worth pushing through the crowd to see this iconic spot. 
We then caught the subway to the nearby Ueno Park for the beginning of hanami, Japan's cherry blossom viewing season. All over the park were people camping out and picnicking with friends under the newly blossoming cherry trees. Hanami is quite a big event in Japan. The cherry blossoms only bloom for a couple of weeks, so on those weekends everyone plans to get together and enjoy the great weather and beautiful scenery. Festival stalls pop up in all the parks across Japan, and many parks host concerts and other performances during this brief season.
In Ueno we found some food stalls, of which I am a big fan of, and stumbled upon a traditional Japanese dragon dance performance. A pantomimed slapstick performance, it was quite fun to watch. In another section of the park, near the museums, was also an art exhibition and a big band performance.
Some other interesting sites in the park included a warped tree that makes a circle called the Moon Pine, as well as a big art display close to the museums.
I parted ways with Maria and Serena to meet up with another friend who lives in Tokyo. Together Kirsten and I went to the Imperial Palace. For Hanami, the palace grounds were opened to the public. We had to take advantage of this extremely rare occurrence. Before we were allowed to enter Inui Street, we had to go through multiple security checkpoints that would be at home in a US airport. We were then permitted to walk along the road lining the moat to the imperial gardens. While the trees were not quite in bloom yet, I am glad we got the chance to enter the grounds.
We then hopped into the East Gardens of the imperial palace (which are normally open to the public) The 'garden' is more of a massive grassy open space, which is an unusual site in Japan, let alone the bustling metropolis of Tokyo. Many many years ago the gardens functioned as the city center, crammed full of buildings and the Imperial Palace. We chilled out at the park for a while, basking in the afternoon sun and temperate weather. We left to head to a highly regarded seafood donburi restaurant, but when we arrived there was already a line wrapping around the corner even though the restaurant hadn't opened yet. I'll have to go another time in the future. 
That evening before heading back to Tottori, I met up with an acquaintance from my last trip in Tokyo. Surprisingly enough, I joined Hiroki for a Buddhist ceremony to end my trip in Tokyo. It was an interesting experience to go to another religion's usual ceremony.
O and on the night bus back, I went to the restroom at one of the rest stops. I think Japan's toilet culture might be getting a bit out of hand, there was a large digital display of the occupancy status and floor plan of the restroom.
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