{"id":1308,"date":"2013-11-20T10:56:09","date_gmt":"2013-11-20T20:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/suggestionofmotion.com\/auto-draft\/"},"modified":"2015-11-17T14:42:10","modified_gmt":"2015-11-18T00:42:10","slug":"5-days-tokyo-otsuka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/suggestionofmotion.com\/blog\/5-days-tokyo-otsuka\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Days in Tokyo: Otsuka"},"content":{"rendered":"

Right away I knew that there was something special about Otsuka.<\/p>\n

Otsuka would be our home base in Tokyo for the next 5 days. As we stepped out of the train station in Otsuka for the first time, I knew that we had chosen well.<\/p>\n

Was it because Otsuka Station was on the Yamanote<\/em> line that runs through all of Tokyo’s hot spots? The bright lights of Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, and Harajuku are mere minutes away from Otsuka by train.<\/p>\n

\"Otsuka<\/a>

Otsuka Station<\/p><\/div>\n

Or perhaps it was because cars were surprisingly absent from Otsuka’s roads? Instead, “rush hour” in Otsuka sees the streets filled with pedestrians leisurely walking home from the train station at the end of day.<\/p>\n

\"Rush<\/a>

Rush Hour in Otsuka<\/p><\/div>\n

Surely it must be the eternal sunset that seems to envelope Otsuka. The blazing pink-orange skyline brings a calm over Otsuka and its residents.<\/p>\n

\"Dusk<\/a>

It’s Always Dusk in Otsuka<\/p><\/div>\n

Ultimately, all<\/em> of these things have a hand in making Otsuka a particularly extraordinary place.<\/p>\n

But most of all, you can breath<\/em> in Otsuka. In Tokyo, a city with over 31 million people<\/strong>, that is exactly what you need. It’s very easy to feel suffocated by the massive crowds and towering buildings of Tokyo’s more popular areas such as Shinjuku or Ikebukuro.<\/p>\n

Those places are nice to visit, but at the end of a long day, Otsuka is a welcome respite from the never-ending activity that Tokyo is so well known for.<\/p>\n