Asakusa and Ochanomizu Photos

The final day of backlogged photos. Enjoy!


The view down Nakamise, from the Kaminari-mon gate.


Hozomon gate [宝蔵門], at the entrance to the Sensoji Temple area.


One of the many statues in the Sensoji area. It, like many other statues I saw, is dressed in brightly-colored clothing.


The back of the Kaminari-mon gate lantern, it reads "風雷神門", or "Gate of the Wind and Thunder Gods", which is the Kaminari-mon's full title.


Nikolai Cathedral, huge Orthodox church and the largest Byzantine-style building in Japan.


A covered bridge portion of the Yushima Tenmangu Shrine. To the left are ume [梅], or plum blossoms, in bloom. While I missed seeing the most-famous sakura [桜], or cherry blossoms, bloom, I am glad I was there to see the ume.


The deserted yard of Yushima Seido [湯島聖堂], a famous Confucian temple that has served as the site for many universities and schools. This was literally all there was to see there. Not sure why it's famous, but it is.


Main building at Kanda Myojin Shrine. Many Japanese will brave rain and cold to go pray at shrines and temples.

Tokyo, Day 5: Ueno, Ginza, and Sengaku Temple

NIHONESE KITTEH! I found it in Ueno, guarding a sleeping hobo. Yes, there are both cats and hobos in Japan.

So today was my last day in Tokyo. I leave for Taiwan at 10 AM tomorrow, meaning I have to leave the hostel by about 6 (since it takes over an hour to get to Narita airport by subway).

With the lessons of yesterday fresh in my mind, I set off with pants that are not too tight. My destinations: Ueno [上野] and Ginza [銀座]. Ueno looked really interesting in the guidebook, a "vital town where you can feel history and culture." On my way, I ran across Ameyoko [アメ横], a famous street of stores. It was boring, and most of the stores were closed when I went by. My real target was Ueno's huge Onshi Park [上の恩賜公園], a huge public area containing temples, museums, statues, and even a zoo! Before you get all excited, no I did not go to the zoo. I had originally planned to, but it was freezing outside so I said screw that. I did, however, go to the National Museum of Nature and Science. I made sure to check the gift shop, but everything there could have been purchased at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.


I SWEAR I did not pose the dinosaurs like this. Apparently Japanese kids are just as perverted as we are. Go figure.

On the rooftop of the museum is (and I really don't know why this is there) a "Parasol Garden". The featured parasols are special though. When you walk near them, they open up. But you have to watch them closely, because it takes them like five minutes to open, so you may think they aren't working.



After the museum, I went around to a bunch of temples. For those of you out there asking: does he HAVE to go to so many temples? No, and when you go to Tokyo, you can go to as few temples as you want. But for me, as a Sinophile, temples are fascinating. *Steps off soapbox* Anyway, The most famous of the temples in Ueno is the Toshogu Shrine [東照宮], which is famous for its giant bronze lanterns.



Sadly, Toshogu temple itself was closed for construction. So all I got to see was a giant cloth covering that had a picture of what the temple WOULD have looked like, had I not arrived while they were working on it. Wow, thanks. Then I attempted to find another famous temple, called the Kaneiji Temple [寛永寺], but as we know I fail at directions, so that didn't happen.

I was cold and hungry so I boarded the subway for Nihonbashi so that I could enjoy the same delicious ramen as I had yesterday, and then I went to Ginza. It was incredibly upscale. There are huge Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Armani buildings and tons of upscale restaurants and cafes. I'm sure I looked really out of place, sipping hot cocoa and people-watching in my hoodie and jeans.



I got bored of my perch in the Ginza coffee-shop very soon, and walked around Ginza a bit more. It was around 3 PM so I had a couple hours left before my hostel reopened, so I decided to retrace some of my steps. I bought a couple of charms that will supposedly help me do better at school and bring me luck.

I went to Asakusa, to look at some of the shops and see if there were any souvenirs I wanted. I noticed that the main Sensoji temple that I had visited (and even been inside) recently, was under construction. Suddenly the strange fabric "building" I had seen before made sense. The Sensoji temple is, and has been, under construction. Not sure how I missed that one the first time around X_X. But I did discover a whole new section of the temple grounds that I had missed before, including lots of miniature shrines.

My final stop was Sengakuji temple [泉岳寺] in the Shinagawa area [品川] on the southern side of Tokyo. This is where the Forty-seven Ronin are buried. Their (embellished) story is something of a Japanese legend, and represents loyalty to one's lord and to bushido, the way of the samurai.



That was my last stop before I went back to Asakusabashi and my hostel. I ate ramen again (cheap and delicious!) and here I am.

Tokyo, Day 3: Asakusa and Ochanomizu

Kaminari-mon, or "Thunder Gate", in Asakusa.

Wow, this whole being forced to roam Tokyo for 7 hours a day thing is really exhausting…but also rewarding (I guess… *grumble*). And the weather today was abysmal. It was rainy and cold. If it had been just a few degrees colder, it would have been snowing. As it was, I could see my breath and the rain was so bad I had to buy an overpriced umbrella. Thus, I think I deserve a nice hot shower, some food, and another early (7 pm-ish probably) bedtime.

This morning I again got up as late as possible (10 am), and then decided to see what other wonders my Tokyo Metropolitan Government-sponsored free guidebook held. So I decided to go to Ota, which supposedly holds a temple, some museums, and an aquarium. You may notice that my summary for today doesn’t include Ota. That is because I gave up after walking for half an hour in every imaginable direction from the subway station. Then I figured hey, it’s an Asian city. There’s probably a ton of temples and museums that are much more easy to find! So I decided to go back to the area near my hostel, called Asakusa [浅草] (my hostel being located by Asakusabashi [浅草橋].

My Tokyo-provided guidebook describes Asakusa in glowing terms (surprise!): “Time has stopped here since the Edo period, which is reflected by the numerous stores in Asakusa (because stores always reflect time stopping, right?). Take a walk and you can step back in time.” There is a famous temple here, called Sensoji Temple [浅草寺]. For those of you out there who are particularly astute, or good at paying attention, you may notice that in Japanese, these identical characters are often pronounced in multiple ways. This is one of the reasons I hate the language. Also, they stole all of those characters from China. Anyway, Sensoji temple is supposedly the oldest temple in Tokyo, built 1400 years ago. In front of the temple is a long street, called Nakamise [仲見世], filled with lots of shops, and a large gate called Kaminari-mon [雷門], or “thunder gate”.

While at Kaminari-mon, I found a surprising number of Chinese tourists, in fact I helped one Chinese family take a photo. I’m not sure why I saw so many more Chinese people than yesterday, perhaps they find old-style temples to be more interesting and relevant to their own cultural experience. As with yesterday, there were many white tourists too. I got several pictures, bought my baby brother a Totoro stuffed animal (he had requested a “soft animal” from Tokyo, so I hope this will suffice), and discovered that the Tokyo subway has a day pass. I bought one, and then proceeded to abuse the system, riding it as many times as possible so as to get my money’s worth (I enjoy subway rides anyway!).

Flipping through the guidebook, I decided to visit Akihabara [秋葉原], specifically the small sub-region of Ochanomizu [御茶ノ水]. It is a “bustling street with specialty shops of electric appliances and pop culture.” I’m beginning to notice a trend with this guidebook… almost every single part of Tokyo seems to be bustling, modern, and stylish. Except, notably, Asakusa. It was here that I ate lunch, at a “Chinese cooking” place. I had something they called “Shanghai noodles,” which was basically a slightly fresher and better version of 35 Chinese’s lo-mein.
After lunch I went to Nikolai Church, an Orthodox Christian church with interesting Russian-style architecture. I didn’t go in because it looked deserted and I’m probably going to hell anyway, so I didn’t want to invite misfortune upon Tokyo…or myself. Then I went to Yushima Tenmangu Shrine, a shrine to the sky god. Next was Yushima Seido, a Chinese-inspired Confucian hall, which was … deserted. I guess most people have better things to do than go sightseeing on a rainy and cold Monday morning. But they probably don’t live in hostels that kick them out at 10 am. Next was Kanda Myojin, an ancient shrine that is supposed to bring luck, a spouse, and business, that is, everything important in traditional Japanese society.
I was exhausted from all this walking and picture taking, and my camera was beginning to do that thing it does, where it says it has full battery but then suddenly the battery dies. So I abused my day pass on the metro some more, until 5:00, and then came back to the hostel to crash again. An Australian joined our room. Not so attractive. But friendly, and has a cool accent!

Impressions: the Tokyo metro and subway system is amazing. It is absolutely huge, incredibly convenient, and relatively inexpensive (at least compared to other big cities like New York). My day pass was 1,000 yen ($10), and a single ride is usually around 200 yen ($2). Trains come so often that you rarely have to wait more than 2 minutes. Some of the trains even sing to you at each stop (by that I mean they play tunes as the doors close and as they start up). In short, I love them.

Anyway, it is shower and food time, then I am crashing.

-February 15, 6:05 PM