Tsukudo Shrine

I went to Jimbocho, the books district, again today, and it wasn’t far from there to Tsukudo Shrine, a small shrine hidden among skyscrapers. It’s a shrine for worshipping the “god of the Samurai”, Masakado, who went to war against the Imperial court for independence.

This shrine is pretty much completely modern, since the original was destroyed in World War II by American forces, along with its treasures. Apparently, the bucket holding the head of Masakado was also destroyed by the “notorious B29″.

. . .

Anyway, the shrine was rebuilt, and now occupies a narrow space between tall buildings, and features its own interesting glass highrise.

The shrine can be seen from the street through the torii gate and a corridor of huge concrete pillars.

The temizuya, or fountain for cleansing.

Tokyo in Winter – Atago Shrine

Yesterday I went out to see a couple of shrines in the more central area of Tokyo, Atago Shrine and Nezu Shrine. The sky was overcast most of the day with some blue skies fighting their way through now and again. There were piles of tiny chunks of ice everywhere, and even though it wasn’t snow, kids were still trying to play in it.

Atago Shrine
The story of this shrine is that a samurai once carried a message to his master on horseback up these stairs. The legend says that it took him one minute to get up, but 45 minutes to come back down. And how.

Did I actually go up these stairs? You’ve got to be kidding. I came up the other side of the hill, and when I got to the stairs, I could hardly walk over to the top step because I couldn’t see anything on the other side. It just looked like a drop-off. Looking down the stairs made me want to faint and throw up at the same time. I had to lean against a pillar to take my photos.

Whee!

Inside the precincts was a little pond with a small booth at one end and some torii standing in the water.

Look closely; there are koi feeding off the bottom of the boat.

Some ladies contemplating the likelihood of making it down alive.

There were so many things to look at, I almost forgot to look at the main shrine building.

On my way out (back down the other side of the hill; I would’ve had to go down the stairs on my rump) I found a cheese shop, Fermier, with all kinds of lovely cheeses in it. There was a French cheese nerd (by that I mean, a cheese nerd from France) with a guide in there asking lots of questions, so I just tried to mind my own business. In spite of that, a clerk came up to help me, then when I couldn’t speak Japanese, found someone else to help me in English. Which meant I was obliged to buy cheese.

I bought a little bitty surface-ripened goat cheese, a Crottin de Chavignol. I didn’t even smell it or anything; it was just the cheese I knew I would probably like for less than 1000 yen (about $12). It’s about the size of a silver dollar. I’m sure the lady thought I had no idea what I was doing, but she’d only be sort of right.

That’s it for today. Next up, Nezu Shrine!

Back in Tokyo — Four days of sumo!

I’ve been back in Tokyo for a little over a week now, but apart from settling in, I’ve just been going to Hatsu Basho (the January sumo tournament). I bought five tickets this time, and I’ve used four so far; as usual I didn’t take a lot of pictures because I don’t like watching live events in my camera’s view screen, but I did snap a few.

These photos are all from different days, no real rhyme or reason here.

Early in the day. The crowd has yet to assemble.

Portraits of yusho (championship) winners.

One day, I decided to get one of the specially-themed bento boxes served at the Kokugikan. I got the one named after new Ozeki Kisenosato, comprised of his favorite foods.

My favorite thing was the rice with katsuo (bonito) flakes on it. I don’t know quite how it was prepared, but it was super tasty!

Later in the day, the crowds get bigger and the ceremony more spectacular.

Rikishi filing in wearing their kesho-mawashi (ceremonial aprons).

The dohyo-iri (ring entering ceremony) for top division wrestlers.

I felt sneaky snapping this photo of press photographers with my iPod camera.

I bought art! Sumo art. This is something I wanted to do last time and wasn’t able to. These are really my only souvenirs on this trip. I’m posting small photos for copyright reasons.

The Sumo Tea Houses by Daimon Kinoshita. This is a real modern woodblock print.

A framed original painting of Yokozuna Hakuho by Kototsurugi, who is also a former sumo.

Anyway, that’s just about all I’ve done since I got here! My new apartment is a lot like the old one, only grubbier and with only one burner instead of two. In general the kitchen setup is not as good. I haven’t been doing much cooking. Getting to the apartment in the first place and getting around in general have both been much, much easier this time.

Asakusa, the former red light district!

A long post, but I think it’s a good one!

Last week I made a trip to Asakusa, the location of the famous Sensoji Temple, and at one time, the Yoshiwara, the former licensed red-light district of Old Edo. I took tons of pictures, so it took me a while to sort through them and choose some for this post. (Here’s a map of the temple precincts, with points you can mouse-over for a photo and English description of each area.)

Of course I had to take some pictures of the giant red lantern at the Kaminarimon Gate, one of the most famous photo spots in all Japan. It was almost impossible to take a picture without taking or being in some stranger’s picture.

Hai, cheezu!

Sensoji Temple is Tokyo’s oldest temple, and I felt a connection to the past when, in the shopping arcade within the temple precincts, I looked at reprints of old woodblock prints showing the huge red lanterns seen at each of the temple gates (though surely the lanterns are occasionally replaced with new ones.)

The underside of the lantern at Kaminarimon Gate.

Beyond the Kaminarimon Gate is a shopping arcade, full of the kind of traditional Japanese souvenirs everybody hopes to bring home from their trip: folding fans, sweets, beckoning cat statues, and tiny foam penises that enlarge (“40x their size”!) when you put them in water. I think it’s interesting that there is basically the equivalent of a never-ending street fair going on within the temple grounds, and I wonder how this practice originated.

I took a quick walk through the shopping arcade to start with, because I had heard there were slightly better souvenirs on some of the side-streets, and I wanted to see everything before buying anything. (I did stop and immediately buy myself a reproduction of a woodblock print of the Five-Storied Pagoda surrounded by blooming cherry trees, though. It was just too pretty.)

Beyond the shopping arcade is the Hozomon Gate, the approach lined with paper lanterns that are normal-sized, but which seem tiny compared to the enormous red lantern in the center of the gate, flanked by two black ones.

After Hozomon Gate and to one side is the impressive Five-Storied Pagoda. I took way too many pictures of this building, most of which probably look a lot alike to anyone else. I’ll just show a couple here.

Directly opposite the Hozomon Gate is the Main Hall, and before that, the incense burner where visitors cleanse themselves before entering the Main Hall.

Visitors crowd around the incense burner to wave the smoke upon themselves as a cleansing ritual.

The lantern at the Main Hall.

After seeing the Main Hall, I decided to get some souvenirs, so I went back through Hozomon Gate. On the back side was hanging a pair of giant straw sandals. (Read the story of these sandals here; it’s too long a story for this post.)

After passing the Hozomon Gate I side-stepped the main shopping arcade and explored some of the side-streets, where the souvenirs were a bit better quality — a few kimono shops selling fabric remnants, antiques dealers, and so on. There was also a snack vendor who carried his booth on his shoulders, though he seemed to be actually promoting traditional Japanese popular theater (taishu engeki, theater for the masses, as opposed to kabuki or noh.)

He was dressed in a cheap feudal Japanese peasant get-up, complete with a funny plastic traditional “hairstyle”. Note the promotional posters on his booth.

A side street. If I recall correctly, the red building is the backside of the main shopping arcade.

Back in the shopping arcade, after pizza toast and a Coke float, I was still hungry so I decided to get some snacks.

This is a manjuu, sort of a savory dumpling that in this case was deep fried. They’re best eaten fresh and hot. This one is made with black sesame seeds, but they had a lot of different flavors including green tea.

A rose-flavored soft-serve ice cream. It seemed like this place had about thirty flavors of soft-serve. After I fumbled with my souvenir bags while getting out my money, the lady at the counter suggested I sit down in a spot in the shop to eat. Maybe I seemed clumsy?

Later in the day, the sky became overcast and I thought the light was more interesting, so I went back through the temple grounds for more pictures.

I also entered the Main Hall, where the treasures of Sensoji are stored.

Sorry for the blurriness, but I thought it turned out kind of cool anyway. My little camera does well in low-light, but this was too much for it.

Outside the Main Hall.

Next to the Main Hall was the garden for Yogodo Hall, a pretty spot where a few small and interesting booths are located.

While looking around for Asakusa Shrine, the Shinto shrine that “watches over” the Buddhist Sensoji temple, I passed Awashimado Hall. After World War II, it was temporarily used as the Main Hall. Later it was moved to its current location.

Awashimodo Hall

I finally remembered I had a map of the precincts in my bag, and saw that the shrine was on the other side. On my way back across the grounds, I saw Sky Tree in the distance. It’s everywhere!

Sky Tree in the moonlight, from the grounds of Sensoji Temple.

Compared to Sensoji Temple, Asakusa Shrine was small, simple, and quiet.

The torii.

The temizuya, or fountain.

Asakusa Shrine.

After seeing Asakusa Shrine, I wandered the streets of Asakusa toward the former Yoshiwara, which was the red light district during the Edo period (now the location of an amusement park). I saw this place with posters advertising traditional popular theater. Maybe it’s the theater itself? I’m not sure.

All of the actors in the posters are men. These talented actors play both female roles and what my friends and I call “cool guys”: wandering samurai, princes, or magicians who beat the snot out of a gang of enemies at the end of every one of these shows that I’ve ever seen on TV.

One of quite a few establishments with lighted lanterns in the front.

I walked back through the temple precincts to get to the subway, and snapped this picture of the Five-Storied Pagoda, illuminated for the evening.

For more pictures, check out the set on Flickr!

Night on the Sumida River

Yesterday I went to Asakusa (the former red light district of old Edo), and I’ll be posting those pictures soon, but tonight I just have a few pictures to show you of night time on the Sumida river, and an unusual building I found there.

I like to take walks along the river at night, because it’s just around the corner and they’ve done a really wonderful job beautifying the riverfront. There are always lots of joggers and people fishing, and it feels quite safe.

Boats pass through from Asakusa to Odaiba, a man-made island, which is the location of Tokyo Big Site and lots of other attractions.

I’m fascinated by a certain square building on the waterfront. I mean, obviously, most buildings are cube-shaped, but this one is a flat square. It also has a square hole in it. I wonder what made the architect decide to design it this way? Was it a practical consideration (“we have property shaped like this . . .”) or purely aesthetic?

A better view, but not as clear a photo.

I walked over to take a close-up. There are escalators below the glass passageway.

I took these with my little Lumix DMC-LX3 by Panasonic. I think it takes good low-light pictures for a snapshot camera, don’t you? The only downside is that it has almost no zoom. Oh, and it has a lens cap, which is a pain, but I think it’s because the lens is a special one for low-light conditions. I’m happy with it.

Nikorai-do — Holy Resurrection Cathedral

Today I went to Ochanomizu to finally see Holy Resurrection Cathedral, also known as Nikorai-do, the main cathedral of the Japanese Orthodox Church. Once upon a time you could see the dome of Nikorai-do from all over Tokyo, but now highrises block it from view. In 1923 it was severely damaged in the Great Kanto Earthquake. Since funding could no longer come from Russia (because of the Cultural Revolution, I gather), it was funded from within Japan.

(I have to apologize for all the cranes, traffic cones and similar in the following pictures; unfortunately, they are ubiquitous in Tokyo as construction and repairs are constant. Also, I’m not feeling very wordy tonight, so I will mostly just let the pictures do the talking.)

But first, some doggies.

I saw these little Italian Greyhounds on the way to the subway station. Totally want all five of them.

After getting to ground level at Shinochanomizu Station, I had to walk around a little to locate the church. It gets dark early here, and so the cathedral was backlit. This was only around 3 o’clock.

There was a church bazaar going on today, so I felt a little awkward traipsing around the grounds.

I bought some cookies at the bazaar. These are Chinese-style almond cookies, sugary and pretty dense. Very nice.

When I sat down to eat my cookies, I saw a railing that had filigree of various designs, including Nikorai-do itself.

Also, this cute little guy was hiding in a corner.

Not too far down the street was a shrine to Confucius, Yushima Seido. The park-like grounds are below street level.

Apparently, this is the largest statue of Confucius in the world. I wouldn’t have thought so, but it’s true.

No matter how many times I tell myself it’s not a rooster, I still keep thinking it’s a rooster.

And this is Tokyo.

Lots more pictures in my Flickr Photostream, of course!

Random Assorted Tokyo Photos

Since I haven’t posted in a good while, and since Ty asked, here are a few random pictures to tide you over until my next decent post. Mind you, these pictures are sort of the “leftovers” that hadn’t made it onto my Flickr account, but hopefully you’ll find them interesting anyway.

Hibiscus blossom on the street near my apartment.

The street leading away from Fukagawa Fudoson, the local big Buddhist temple.

An old-fashioned post box.

A restaurant sign advertising grilled eel within. I never thought eel could be so cute!

A grove of trees near the line for Yasukuni Shrine sumo. If you look closely you can see a couple of sumo walking past.

Part of the opening ritual.

Practice for the lower division guys.

The upper division rikishi (sumo wrestlers) are the ones wearing white.

Sumo singing sumo jinku (sumo songs).

Waiting yobidashi.

. . . and the world’s smallest semi.

I’ve been quiet because I’ve been researching visas and other matters relative to staying in Japan. Haven’t learned much yet, but I will keep you all posted.

Tokyo Disneyland – The same but different!

On his way back to the airport from his vacation in Nagano prefecture, Jonathan stopped in Tokyo and we took a day trip to Tokyo Disneyland! It was amazing to start out in the morning by train and arrive at Disneyland in about an hour; I’m used to a twelve-hour car trip!

Also amazing to me was the fact that I was in a train halfway around the world, yet peering out of a window, watching Space Mountain come into view with the same feeling of excitement I’ve felt every time I’ve seen it.

This time it’s on a waterfront, and there is no Matterhorn beyond it.

The day started out rainy and overcast, and it was a Sunday, so it looked promising for low attendance. The Tokyo Disney Resort has its own mini-transit system, with a monorail going from Tokyo Disneyland to Tokyo Disney Sea, the newer theme park. We decided to visit just the Disneyland park, since the one-day passport doesn’t allow you to attend both.

One thing I learned about Tokyo Disneyland is that it’s not actually owned by Disney; the Oriental Land Company licenses everything from Disney, and the attractions are designed and created by Disney Imagineers. The similarity to the original Disneyland, but with many differences, and huge open spaces to accomodate very large crowds, made the whole experience a bit surreal. It was a strange feeling to not look at a map, but still know where to go, in a place I’d never been before.

The atmosphere at the gates was the same as in Anaheim. Kids and adults wearing funny hats and clothes, grown-ups randomly skipping, everybody in a good mood and willing to stand in line for ages if necessary.

The monorail station from inside the Park. This must’ve been a section of turnstyles not opened yet, because there were lines of guests where we came in.

The Park was all gussied up for Halloween. It’s not a Japanese holiday, but you still see it observed a little.

In this case the mood was an old-fashioned Halloween with a fun orange and purple parade, with Mickey Mouse speaking in his recognizable falsetto — in Japanese. (I think I deleted my parade pictures on accident, which makes me sad . . .)

The Mickey planter even has orange flowers in it for the occasion!

The World Bazaar, Tokyo Disneyland’s answer to Main Street, U.S.A., had a glass roof. I get the feeling they get a lot more rain here than at Anaheim. . . .

The only drawback to this is that it kind of messes up the illusion of a real turn-of-the-20th-century street. All the shop names are in English, which surprised me since I’d gotten used to not being able to read much. It was all so familiar . . . the Grand Emporium, the Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner (sans chili-cheese dog, so don’t get hungry for it), and other shops were all there in one form or another. However, the goods inside were often different. The Japanese take omiage (souvenirs) seriously, and the best souvenirs are usually snacks, so at Tokyo Disneyland there are lots of cookies and other semi-perishable foods in all kinds of Disney character tins. There are also tons of cellphone straps with Disney charms on them, Disney character ponchos with hands that looked like paws or gloves or whatever, and lots of crazy hats that are different than the ones at Disneyland in Anaheim. At the Home store there were Japanese-style kitchen goods, like bento (lunch box) sets (got one!), rice paddles shaped like Mickey gloves, onigiri (rice ball) molds, and more. Hmm . . . maybe I should go back when I have a real kitchen!

I mentioned the huge open spaces earlier; here you can get an idea of what I meant. I think this area was blocked off for the parade.

There were also a lot of cafés, and in Japan, what that means is tea or coffee and cake. Sandwiches if you’re lucky. This one, Sweetheart Café, looks so cute, doesn’t it?

We went and got Fast Passes for Space Mountain first. Tomorrowland was also a lot more open, and was all “Tron”ed out. Or at least I think it was supposed to be like “Tron.”

While we were in Tomorrowland, I ate an orange juice Mickey Mouse-shaped popsicle. I love orange juice popsicles. LOVE. After that, we saw Goofy working the crowd.

Oh, the world owes him a livin’ . . .

The day got sunnier as it went on, and more guests arrived, but it still stayed nice and cool. Finally, the hot weather has passed. Tokyoites probably think it passed a long time ago, but I’m from the mountains. I’m not used to sweltering heat.

Cinderella’s Castle. Trivia: Tokyo and Walt Disney World — Cinderella’s Castle. Disneyland and Hong Kong — Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, and at Paris it’s called Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant, which makes it sound all sophisticated and stuff.

On to Frontierland — I mean, Westernland.

Cigar store Indian? No, just a Country Bear.

Country Bear Theater. It still exists somewhere, and all is right with the world. For now it’s all decked out in the ghosts of cowboy singers.

The most surreal part of the day happened in Westernland. We were headed back from Pirates of the Caribbean when a cast member directed us to detour through the front of the Country Bear Theater. Now, the Country Bear Jamboree was my favorite thing at Disneyland as a kid. I think some people might find that a little peculiar, but there it is. When they shut it down almost exactly a decade ago, I was very sad to see those dusty old audio-animatronic cowboy-yodeling bears go.

The attraction was like a cross between a time-warp and a bizarre dream. The bears were ancient (though still pretty cute), and they spoke and sang ’70s country songs in Japanese. The show itself was not the updated one I’d got used to, but the one I remember only hazily from when I was very small, with Big Al twanging “Blood on the Saddle” (that one was in English), a song I performed for the family all the time as a kid. I always wondered why I could only remember about four lines from the song — apparently, it was because that’s all there are. There were about ten other audience members. The two poor cast members staffing the ride had to clap in time with the music, and do this for every single show I’d guess. I and a few other people clapped along to help, and I was tempted to start cowgirl yipping just for fun but I figured everybody would think I’d gone nuts.

Anyway, it was weird.

We had friend chicken in Westernland. I think I’ve mentioned how in Japan, you typically don’t eat while walking. Not no way, not nohow. The exceptions are festival days. The looks of pure rebellion on some teenagers’ faces as they walked through Westernland gnawing on barbecued turkey legs were awesome.

Plastic food display at a restaurant in Westernland. Even Disneyland has plastic food.

One thing not in its right place at Tokyo Disneyland: The Haunted Mansion. I think I’m the only person in the world still spooked out by this ride. Inside, Jack Skellington from A Nightmare Before Christmas has taken over.

After a few more rides, I ate another orange juice popsicle. That’s right, I ate two.

Snow White is on her way to get an orange juice popsicle I bet.

Another thing that still exists here that is sadly gone from Disneyland in Anaheim is the Electrical Parade. Instead of discontinuing it, the brilliant people in charge of this park actually update it with new floats. There’s a float of the Genie from Alladin that changes colors, and floats for Pixar movies like Toy Story and Monsters, Inc.

It was an excellent day. Psst! Don’t tell my family, but I didn’t ride every ride.

Space Mountain at the end of the day.

There are more pictures in my Tokyo Disneyland set on Flickr!

Finally — Sky Tree!

Hopefully I didn’t scare you all away with the story about my annoying sex neighbors. Because today I finally visited Sky Tree! Or I got as close as you can get right now while it’s still being built.

Up to now, I haven’t shown many of my pictures of Sky Tree, because it always ended up looking puny compared to the closer buildings in the shot. Though I had started to doubt it was really very big, I found out today that it’s actually a very tall building after all. It’s not a tree, though, which is kind of disappointing.

On my way to Sky Tree. It’s starting to look more imposing.

Remember I’ve mentioned that there are little shrines all over the city that you just stumble upon suddenly? Here’s one I found on my walk today.

The walk was long (I think it took me about an hour and a half, and I didn’t get lost since I could see my destination the whole time), and sort of dull. I hate to say it, but even though it’s near Asakusa, which is “the geisha neighborhood”, I could see why they need something like Sky Tree in this part of Tokyo. There was nothing there. Much of the walk was pretty unattractive, though the area improved a little as I got close to Sky Tree.

I saw this poster when I was almost there. Amadeus was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. I showed it to my nephew, Jeremy, when he was about 12; it was a Director’s Cut, which I hadn’t seen before. Holy bosoms! I about died. . . . Anyway, I want to see this.

Finally I stood at the bottom of Sky Tree. It feels like it’s going to fall on you. I think it sort of looks like a free-fall ride, don’t you?

Workers workin’. You can see the adorable Sky Tree logo on the banner there.

An ice cream vending machine. I’m always looking out for non-soft-drink vending machines, because people always say there are so many amazing vending machines in Tokyo, but I’ve hardly seen any that weren’t for sodas or cigarettes.

Sky Tree already has a mascot and souvenirs! Imagine I got one of these for each of you.

I hope you enjoyed the look at Sky Tree! I thought of you all while I was there.

Around My Neighborhood

In recent comments, my sister asked me why I called my neighbors the “bunny rabbits.” I guess I should clarify, since maybe not everybody follows the same line of thought as me. I live in an apartment building that’s exclusively for foreigners visiting Japan for the short-term (a few months or so). When I moved in I was told how important it was to be quiet after 9pm and before 9am, but apparently no one told these two, because for about three or four days they were at it like rabbits, at any time of day or night, and you could hear them all over the complex. What makes it more rude is that the building has the homes of Japanese families all around, and in Japan, it’s super important to be considerate about noise because there are so many people in such a small space. You rarely hear partying late at night from your neighbors here. Anyway, suddenly the noise stopped. Maybe they moved, maybe they had a tiff, or maybe they just got bored with each other. Who knows? All that matters is that now they are quiet.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

I went to buy makeup today, so I just snapped some pictures of things I saw on the way.

At a pet store, Japanese crawfish, ¥250 (about $3.00). The one on the top right just finished annoying the one on the top left.

A video screen, showing an animation that I think was about reporting crimes to the police. On-screen in this picture is Pipo-kun, the Tokyo Police mascot.

The Eitai Bridge.

Railing on the Sumida River.

A boat headed toward the Tokyo Bay.

The front of the Old Murabayashi General Store building, built in 1929. Curious, isn’t it?

Here’s the makeup I bought. DHC primer, foundation, night creme, lotion, and two samples of an olive oil cleanser; also a sample kit for a brand called “Rose the Rose” which uses real rose oil in their products. DHC is a well-known Japanese skincare brand that can be ordered via catalog in the US. I’m happy to be able to get their products so easily.

I’ve had a few requests to put some people in my pictures. I will do my best!