If you are the Shogun, you can have a family garden like Hama-rikyu Gardens. This "garden" was established in 1654, and occupied by a succession of royal family members. It would ultimately include a tidal pond, two duck-hunting grounds, a mansion, flower gardens, trees, teahouses, a pier for the Shogun, bridges, a shrine, a statue, and more. At one time there was a guesthouse. This inviting green space is now surrounded by tall modern buildings, and it reminds me of Central Park, though it is smaller.
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| Modernity at the subway station near the gardens |
We wandered around the gardens, enjoying all the little trails and landscape features. I felt lucky just to be able to walk around in this delightful park. I can't imagine what it would feel like to own it as private property.
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| A 300-year old pine tree |
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| A mythical god of War |
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| A rain garden |
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| Wisteria arbor |
We took a "water bus" from the pier inside the gardens up the Sumida River to Asakusa. The ride was confusing at first because we arrived somewhere after only 5 minutes or so, and I thought the announcer said this was the end of the route. Most people got off, but not everybody. However, some people may have had round-trip tickets, and they stayed on because they were going back to the gardens. We almost got off but we asked one of the crew and he said "The next stop." At this point the boat turned around and went back the way it came, so we were still confused, but we finally found a rack of maps and we were able to figure out the route.
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| This is not a WWII bunker. The shogun used to hunt ducks on this property. It's a duck blind. |
It ended up being a 40-minute ride up the river. It was very pleasant. The sun was out and the temperature was just right. We saw a lot of interesting things from the water - fourteen bridges, many buildings, laundry on balconies, an island with fancy apartment buildings, small parks, walkways, a few fishermen, a few other boats, a few jet-skiers, floodgates, some joggers, one jogger kicking a soccer ball while jogging, and a big gold thing on top of a building. We enjoyed the boat ride very much.
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| I have no idea. |
Asakusa is a lively, bustling part of Tokyo. It is home to the Sensoji Temple. Before you get to the shrine you have to walk through a colorful, crowded series of streets and alleys filled with shops, restaurants, bars, and other establishments. We were ready for lunch, so we picked a restaurant that had a line, operating on the assumption that the people in line considered it worth waiting for. Several restaurants had long lines, but several did not. I did not see anything that seemed like it could be the name of the restaurant in the Latin alphabet.
It took about 25 minutes to get in. Like most of the restaurants we had been to so far, this one was very small (13 tables, providing seating for about 30 people) and had a very limited menu. I ordered tempura shrimp on rice, and Ken had tempura shrimp on noodles. The food was good, but not great, and it did cause a little trouble the next morning.
After lunch we continued down the crazy busy street toward the temple. We walked past a bakery that was making taiyaki - waffles shaped like fish, stuffed with different delicious fillings such as sweet red bean paste. Since we hadn't had dessert yet, we stopped. (Maybe this is what caused the stomach issues, not the shrimp. I kind of doubt it because these treats were so incredibly delicious, that it seems unlikely. I know that there is not necessarily a correlation between taste and stomach problems, but there ought to be.)
It was hard to miss Sensoji Temple. In Japan, a temple is always Buddhist, and a
shrine is Shinto. In Bali, a temple is Hindu. In Vietnam, a temple is
Taoist and a pagoda is Buddhist. In Hong Kong and Taiwan a temple is
Confucian and a shrine is Buddhist. I think. It's hard to reconstruct
after-the-fact. Anyway, this one is a temple, and it's Buddhist. I am pretty sure that a temple is never Jewish in any of these places.
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| You can see a cloud of incense inside the gate. |
This temple was huge, and it was very busy. In addition to the enormous main building, the temple complex contained a 5-tiered pagoda, a garden, a large gate, and numerous smaller temples.
All kinds of activities were going on. There was incense (Buddhist ever, Shinto never). There was the hand-washing we had seen the day before. (I saw somebody drink straight out of the dipper. That's the last time I wash my hands in a temple.) There was the same fortune-telling we had seen in Vietnam, where you shake a can of sticks until one falls out and then you get a paper fortune based on the number on your stick. There was a big commotion around the main building - people going in, taking photos, praying, buying good luck objects from the little shop inside the temple, and whatever else you can think of. I even saw a man walking his dog up the steps of the temple.
This place was literally a selfie Nirvana. It would have been a great place for an anthropologist or sociologist to study the selfie culture.
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| The Japanese like to make "peace signs" in their photos. |
All around the grounds of the temple there were little booths selling street food. I don't know whether this happens every day or just on weekends and holidays.
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| Octopus balls! |
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| Humongous yams |
There were teenage girls walking around in gorgeous kimonos, showing off. (And they looked so beautiful, how could they not show off?)
Tokyo has 12 to 15 million people, depending on who you ask. Many of them came to Asakusa today. We don't know anybody in Tokyo, so we did not expect to see anyone we knew. But we actually did run into a family who was part of our group of nine on yesterday's tour.
On the way back to the subway station we saw a panda bus.
Because it's Japan.
