Tokyo, Japan: Oh Goodness, is this meet ever going to end? We have been in Tokyo ten days already and have seen quite a bit of the city before heading to the stadium each evening.
The women's and men's 20k race walks began this morning at 7:30, and were shown on television as the racers took a route throughout Tokyo. Nanako Fuji of Japan won the bronze medal in the women's race, so that will be widely celebrated. That's about all the commentary you will get from me on the race walk, okay. Back in the stadium this morning, the men's decathlon began and the women's heptathlon continued.
Dave wanted to see Tokyo Station. Inspired by the Amsterdam Train Station, Tokyo Station was built in 1914 with red and white brick. Below the train station (actual rail cars - this is where you catch a bullet train) there are several levels of (so many) subway lines and a maze of shops. The big thing here are bento boxes people can buy to eat on the train, and pokemon. Pokemon shops abound.
The Imperial Palace is one block away from the train station, but we had been there before (on a previous trip) and the palace itself is closed to visitors... so felt no need to go again. Only the grounds are open to the public. The Emperor no longer resides in the palace - it is only used for state functions. Did you know the Emperor of Japan is the only currently-reigning Emperor in the world? (Don't tell Donald.)
Also near Tokyo Station is a fancy tea shop where we could buy tea we had liked this week, Ippodo Tea. It is three-times more expensive in the states, so we bought some to take home and some as gifts. The shop was in a very fancy mall, but was not filled with luxury designer brands, instead we found shops that resembled Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrel. I saw a St. James shop, Solomon, and North Face. So much to see. One shop was kinda weird, but it's just my opinion. The item for sale looked like a two-foot R2-D2, that was available in a variety of colors. The sales clerk was rubbing her/his/its head and it was cooing. The poster in the shop suggests maybe your lonely grandma would enjoy a friend on her lap while she plays the piano? The whole situation was creepy.
I was too disturbed to ask the price. It is called the Lovot.
There are two floors of restaurants in the mall. Most are Japanese, but we saw Korean, German, Italian, Mexican, and who knows what else. Starbucks, of course. Dave has been wanting yakitori - grilled meat on a stick - so we went to a yakitori place and it was very good. It was a chicken-only restaurant, cooking Miou birds exclusively. Didn't know there was such a place, but at least I didn't have to worry about accidentally eating shellfish/pork. I ordered the set-price lunch meal. It came with a small bowl of pickled radish and the most delicious appetizer: fried chicken skin. Jacques Pepin makes this quite often and I have as well... but the Japanese version is paper thin and super crackly.
Then a bowl of rice, with even more chicken and an egg plopped on top. I could not get over the deep color of that yolk - way darker than the free-range organic hens lay for my farmers market. Dessert was (I think) some-sort of a panna cotta or maybe just milk jello, with (I have no idea what the turquoise stuff was), and fruit. The small bowl in the center was filled with a lemon sauce for the milky custard below the blue stuff. I ate it all.
Dave had ramen with a broth created by cooking/boiling/pressure cooking the bones so long, they disintegrate and the liquid becomes cloudy (good description here). It seemed like a "cream of chicken soup" base, but with no dairy. He also had yakitori - at 3 o'clock in the photo, pickled veg at 5, a sushi roll at 7 and dressed watercress at ten o'clock.
Another rest in our hotel room and we were back to the track. Rain was predicted from 4-8p this evening. We could see the pavement was wet as we walked from the shuttle bus to the stadium, but it didn't rain a drop (that we noticed) during the competition. Highlights - and Lowlights:
One fun thing: I ran into Andy Wheating in the concourse tonight. Great to see one of my favorite Duck alum 800m men - in Tokyo!
No idea why/who chose the team for the heats in the men's 4x400m relay, but the American men did a terrible job and did not qualify for the final. Why does America have so much trouble in the relays? The women moved the stick around and will compete tomorrow night for the 4x400m gold.
Both US teams will race in the 4x100m relay finals tomorrow night. No drama there. It was Kenya, Kenya, Italy in the women's 5000m final. Beatrice Chebet won in 14:54.36, followed by Faith Kipyegon and Nadia Battocletti. Kenya was on the medal podium again tonight as Emmanuel Wanyonyi won the men's 800m final is a competition record of 1:41.86. (People, that is very, very fast.) American Anna Hall won the heptathlon gold with 6888 points over the seven events, and American Chase Jackson won silver in the shot put. Jessica Schilder of The Netherlands won shot put gold. Recent Duck grad, Jaida Ross, took 8th place.
That was a quick wrap-up. The events are so fast now - with tomorrow only holding finals - there is simply no time to make notes! I want to enjoy the meet. Please watch the evening recap in the states (linked below). We are so lucky the people sitting behind us are connected to so many of the athletes, so we get nightly visits to our section from sweaty people wearing big medals around their necks!
Looks like one little girl has a new stuffy to hang from her backpack:
We finally figured out how to beat the system. Since there is no food in this hotel after 11p (room service goes til midnight but they are so busy, the food doesn't arrive for ages), and I have broken up with Lionel Messi (i.e. finished the potato chips), we decided as we are in subway stations and small shops all around Tokyo, why not grab any of the thousands of to-go options? We bought a few things we could eat cold, popped them in our room mini fridge and had a feast at 11p while watching the meet recap (in Japanese) on TV.
Pedometer: 11,067 steps.
Until my next update, I remain, your living my best life correspondent.
Links:
World Athletics Championships | Tokyo 2025
Meet Schedule
How to watch from the US
World Championships Results
Tokyo Weather