In Japan - Tokyo SkyTree Town Soramachi / Solamachi GRAND OPENING

Our teacher reminded us yesterday about the Tokyo SkyTree's opening day on May 22 (today). It was raining today but once I set my mind I don't easily let go of it. I took a train up to Oshiage Station.

Tokyo Soramachi (or Solamachi, as officially translated), is located next to the Tokyo SkyTree. You can access the SkyTree from Solamachi. It's pretty much a shopping mall, but what makes it unique is the fact that it incorporates Edo period theme. The shopping district on the first level is called Solamachi Shotengai, and it will be open only until 2 September 2012. For more information, visit the official website (in English or in http://www.tokyo-solamachi.jp/). It's an awesome place :)

One of the shop attendants actually dressed up as a geisha.

Aside from shops, they also sell gourmet foods, and one of the most bizzarre ones I found was this purin (caramel pudding) in mayonaise bottle. LOL.

Well, Soramachi is really huge. It was separated into the East Yard, West Yard, and Tower Yard.

Up on the third floor of the West Yard lies the food court called Tabe-Terrace (tabe means 'eat'). The type of food sold at Soramachi ranges from fastfood chains like McDonald's, foods most Japanese normally eat, and fancy foods. I would say a lunch meal will cost you approximately 800-1500 yen if you are not eating anything extravagant, and that's a reasonable price considering that SkyTree is a very popular tourist spot. You would pay about the same amount if you dine at restaurants located in department stores in Japan.

Next to the food court are toy shops, and one of the main shops that attracted me was the JUMP Shop (yes, that Shounen JUMP's JUMP):

And the Rilakkuma Store:

Special Rilakkuma hugging the SkyTree :)

And TV character shop:

On the 4th floor's Tower Yard you will find people lining up to ride the elevator to the Observation Deck. It was raining and it was dark and yet so many people were on the line @__@

Well, there was no point of me lining up there and even if I could get a ticket I wouldn't go on a cloudy/rainy day. So I moved on to the East Yard towards the Japan Experience Zone.

Well, no English translation here, but I'm sure you'd understand what things were. Somehow :3

Nihonbashi 300 years ago (if I read it correctly)

Different types of shouyu (soy sauce)

And then there's this big nabe (hot pot) on the 5th floor where the Sumida City Point exhibition was.

It looks very realistic! Well, the ingredients are actually helmets that you can wear. I wore the shiitake and napa cabbage helmets and took photos but I'm not gonna post it here because...

They're probably meant for kids. Yup. But I've seen adults putting them on too. Not too many, though xD

And then, if you walked a little further, you'll see this room on the corner called Space 634 in katakana (スペース６３４). It's a hall for special events, and this time they're letting us in for free. There's a special art exhibition, and it was GORGEOUS.

I took the photo with my cellphone so it's not really capturing the beauty but by all means if you go to Soramachi, please see the art exhibition. The ambience was amazingly calming, with smooth and relaxing background music and soothing fragrance. Something floral, but I'm not sure what it was.

Well, moving on to the 6h floor. Restaurants, restaurants, restaurants. Yup. All of them look delicious, but interestingly the restaurants' decorations are very classic. There are a lot of varieties: Japanese (udon shop, unagi shop, tonkatsu shop, conveyor belt sushi, standing sushi..), Western, Indian, Chinese, Korean... and the prices are

There's an open area on the 5th and 6th floor for you to sit down, relax and enjoy the view, and since it's a public space you can just sit there anytime (if there is a space for you there haha).

7th floor... Chiba Institute of Technology Skytree Town Campus Exhibition, which explains how the Skytree was made. Unfortunately, my skill isn't high enough to understand technical jargons used, so I completely skipped it. It looked fun, though ;__;

Oh and I almost missed it... on the 5th floor of the East Yard there's this open tea shop that sells matcha in all forms: hot matcha, iced matcha, matcha latte, ice cream, parfait, cookies... well, lots of stuffs.

And if you buy anything from this shop, you can sit down at a classically decorated space as you enjoy the scenery around SkyTree.

And close by, a shop sells old-fashioned Meiji brand milk :)

On the way back, on the 2nd floor, there is this salt specialty shop.

You can taste many salts from all over the world and feel the differences!

There are tons of things to write but there was not enough time. Well, it's best to explore it on your own because Soramachi has a lot of things to see and explore, and things that I explored and write about in this blog are based on my interest. I'd be happy to answer any questions about the Soramachi and things I would recommend checking out as far as my knowledge goes :)

Overall, Soramachi is a truly exciting place to go. It encompasses modern culture and technology, history, traditional culture, specialty food, fashion, and the arts. People from all ages could definitely enjoy something out of the Soramachi experience. I'd love to go back to Soramachi again to explore more areas. half a day is definitely not enough!