Sunday Afternoon in the Park

Sunday, April 14, 2024

Note: I have tried to fix the problem with yesterday’s fabric photo. I used a different photo and a different method of importing it. Please let me know if you are not able to see it now.

On such a beautiful day, and a Sunday, at that, great crowds of people showed up at Shinjuku Gyo-en National Garden to see the lovely cherry blossoms. The blossoms were a little bit past their peak, but still perfectly glorious. 

People were walking about, sitting on blankets, enjoying picnics, and admiring the landscape. Women with parasols shaded themselves. Toddlers ran about joyfully. It was a total party atmosphere.

Photo from Wikipedia, original by Georges Seurat

I began to realize that there are several varieties of cherry blossoms, some with double rows of petals, some a deeper shade of pink. They all looked stunning with the blue-blue sky as a backdrop.

After walking past all those wonderful trees, and past a place called “Mother and Chld Woods”, we reached the area designated “Traditional Japanese Garden.” It was charming and soothing. There was a pond full of large catfish begging to be fed, a tea house, a moon-viewing gazebo, arched bridges, and, of course, more cherry trees. It was hard to believe we were in the middle of the world’s largest city unless we looked up and saw skyscrapers peeking over the trees.

As we left Gyo-en, throngs of people streamed in through the entrance gate. For a couple of blocks outside the gate throngs of people were headed toward the gate. This sight made me realize I had probably never seen an actual “throng” before, but the cherry blossoms had undeniably attracted “throngs.”

We went to Shinjuku Station to purchase our train tickets for the rest of our trip. We also stopped at a 7-Eleven to top off our IC cards. (An IC card is rechargeable and works on the subways and buses in Tokyo and most other cities in Japan. It also works on vending machines and in many restaurants and convenience stores.)

We ate lunch in the B2 level of Shinjuku Station, choosing a Korean restaurant without realizing it. The signage and the menu were written in Japanese characters. Korean writing looks quite different. Not that I can read Japanese writing. By the time we figured out it was a Korean restaurant, we just decided to stay because we were able to sit at a real table on real seats. I had a weird cold noodle dish that came with ice cubes in it. It was very bland. I was expecting more vegetables.

 

After lunch we went to Meiji Jingu. It’s an important Shinto shrine in the middle of a large, pleasant, wooded park. There were throngs here, too. Or maybe they were hordes.

The first torii gate

The approach to the shrine involves walking down a long path, through three enormous torii gates. These gates mark the transition from the secular world to a sacred space.

Barrels of sake wrapped in straw display the names of donors who help support the shrine.

The second gate

After the three torii gates, there is a final gate that looks like it can truly protect visitors to the shrine from the cares and stresses of the world outside. Before entering it is customary to may purify yourself with water.

The final gate

Once inside you may purchase omamori, amulets, and leave messages for the gods. You may not visit the main sanctuary, and we didn’t even see where it was.

Visitors purchasing omamori, and getting their fortunes told

We did get to see part of a ceremony involving young men and women dressed in white.

For dinner we went to a noodle place near Shinjuku Station called Tokyo Aburagumi Sohonten Nishi-Shinjuku. You wait until they have a seat for you, then you order from a machine.

The menu is very limited, but the food is good, and it arrives quickly. It was like ramen, but without the broth. Very nice chew to the noodles.

18,000 steps today. Oh, my aching feet.

Today’s fabric is dobby fabric. Dobby is a type of weave that creates texture and patterns in the fabric. This beautiful fabric was made in Japan by Hokkoh and is sold in the US by SewnInSeattle.