Major Update Time!

Oh, hello there, you're still checking this blog? I commend you! And I thank you for your patience, and tenacity in returning here day after day, longing, burning, pining for more pictures of Japan. Yes. I know. But fret not, your wait is over. And you're in for a lot of reading and clicking, so get your snacks and beverages now, exercise your clicking finger, and settle in..

So, my backlog of pictures begins weeks ago, with photos I took on a weekend trip into Tokyo. Orchid (a friend from training) and I ventured out to Asakusa, a shiny red beacon (not to be confused with shiny red bacon) of touristy goodness. Asakusa is famous for the Senso-ji, a buddhist temple, and the area surrounding it that is swathed in souvenir shops.

We arrived in style on the Ginza subway line and followed the mob toward the temple area. We stopped into the tourist information booth and then took a couple photos while waiting to cross the street. The temple is also famous for its huge chochin hanging in the outer gate. Taking a photo here is a trial because everyone else is trying to do the same and all are vying for the best angles. One tries not to walk through the middle of other people's pictures, but it's a confounding maze, and I'm fairly sure I ruined at least 20 family photos.

After passing through the outer gate, and under the giant chochin, you are confronted with an overwhelming sea of dark heads. Here lies Nakamise-dori crowded with its shops where visitors have been shopping for centuries. Walking down the street (currently decorated in celebration of the autumn colors) you approach the main buildings.

As you walk through the entrance on the inside you see the bright red everywhere, and the temple's five story pagoda. As you can see, procuring an unadulterated photo of simply the pagoda, is impossible.

Just inside the entrance you can pay a hundred yen to get your omikuji, your fortune. Even after asking a few of my Japanese co-workers, I have still not managed to divine for how long, exactly, these fortunes apply. I received very good luck (which would be great if I believed these sorts of things), but poor Orchid, who seems to be rather superstitious, received quite bad luck. If you expand the picture as much as possible, you can read the amusing English translation. My favorite is "Stop starting a trip." Which made Orchid ponder "does that mean I should leave Japan??" But, luckily for the superstitious, should you receive a bad fortune, you can simply tie it up with the expectation that this will prevent the bad fortune from occuring.

Next, further into the temple area, the air is laden with the heavy, sweet scent of burning incense. And here you find the well-known incense cauldron. The smoke from this cauldron is reputed to be healing and you'll see devout visitors, full of hope, wafting the magical bluish smoke toward their faces, or in more desperate cases, rubbing it into whichever area of the body needs the most help. Perhaps he is hoping to cure his baldness, though I think it may be a bit too late...

Next to the cauldron is the area for cleansing oneself before entering the temple. Please be careful not to spit on your neighbor's shoe. After dripping, swishing, and drying, you can move up the stairs and into the building. You are to cast some coins (a monetary offering to pay for your wishes) into the wooden box, if there is a bell ring it, bow twice, clap twice to bring the god's attention to you while you think hard about your wish (be as specific as possible please, no need to be wishy washy), then bow once again.

You can go into the very front area of the temple, but walls of wire will keep you from wandering into the religious area where monks offer prayer amid ornate and shiny decor that monetary offerings have bought.

If you proceed out the left exit of the temple you'll find a lovely garden, which is a welcome respite from the swarming humanity of Nakamise-dori and the fervent, pushing wishers. You'll see this except, you probably won't see me in front of it.... And if you wander toward the right you'll find this stone bridge, my koi friends, and a lovely view. Also, some shrines.

After having some tasty yakisoba, Orchid and I left Asakusa and since it was early, we went to Shinjuku to take a look around. There we found the main branch of Kinokuniya, a bookstore I'm rather fond of, and some other interesting stores. We stopped into a few stores, considered going to Tokyo tower, but after finding at the shoe store that it was a bit far away, decided on Harajuku instead. Also we found these interesting shoes. I kid you not.

In Harajuku we went to Meiji-jingu, where former emperor Meiji and his wife Empress Shoken are enshrined. The Japanese built this shrine in honor of them after their deaths (1912 & 1914 respectively) turning an iris garden they frequented into a rambling forest, garden, and shrine. This shrine was infinitely more pleasant than Asakusa. It was much quieter and the forest area surrounding the shrine is incredibly beautiful. I hope to return when the leaves are changing color, and to arrive earlier in the day, since the garden area was closed by the time we arrived.

We arrived in early afternoon and decended into the woodsy shrine area. It it's quite expansive and the gravel walkways are wide and inviting, and the wooden torii are beautiful and impressive with respect to size. On the way to the actual shrine there is a snack area and gift shop, and beyond that along the side of the path are casks of wine given as gifts from france for the dedication of the shrine. Parts of the shrine are being restored, and most of the current shrine has been rebuilt since World War II. It is wooden, and it blends well with the thriving forest that encloses it. Even though there were a good number of people around, it was still peaceful. Here, there were no omikuji to be found, but if you find that paying and praying may not be enough to bring your wishes to bear, you can purchase and sign prayers to be left at the shrine and hopefully granted by the kami (gods) enshrined there.

These prayers can be found at just about any shrine, but the Meiji shrine is popular thus the prayers were very interesting to read. They represent a world of visitors and their dearest wishes. They hang in every language, and most are simple hopes, seemingly left as a legacy rather than an actual prayer. I found "love health & baby soon" particularly endearing (I quite enjoy the ambiguity in the handwriting of "stock" which looks like 'stork', as well as "refuge" and "powerball"

These kinds of wishes are good, especially in light of Japan's great oversight. He gave coins to his friend, and he watches as his friend prances easily, spryly up the mere seven steps that mark his own barrier.

It began to grow dark under the heavy canopy of the trees, so we headed out at a leisurely pace, and found that we were leaving just as it was closing.

It was still quite light outside of the trees when we left, so we headed just down the hill and across from the train station we had arrived at and took a trip down Takeshita-dori. It was growing dark, but the hordes of teenagers were in full shopping swing. This was a really fun place to go, and we greatly enjoyed seeing all the different shops, and inhaling the sugary smell of the crepe stands wafting about on the breeze.

And finally, here are some updated pictures of my room for you. My tiny little sofa, and the cardboard table top I constructed for one of my stools from the giant box the sofa was delivered in. Also, here's the bag I bought. Hah.

Please tune in next time for Tokyo Tower, a Japanese Garden, and my trip to Nikko...

Love you!