Ueno Park
I started the day by visiting Ueno Park which is loaded with sightseeing spots (and homeless Japanese men on bikes (?) and feral cats). The sights include multiple museums (Tokyo National Museum, the Orient Museum, the National Science Museum, the Shitamachi Museum, the National Museum for Western Art and the Tokyo Metropolitan Fine Art Gallery), temples and shrines, an amusement park and a zoo.
I started on the southern point of the park where there’s a statue of Saigō Takamori (1827-1877). Takemori was an important historical figure and played a major role in the Meiji Restoration when power was returned to the Emperor in 1868. Although Takemori helped return power to the Emperor, he subsequently helped lead the Satsuma Rebellion against the Meiji government. The Satsuma Rebellion was eventually crushed by the Imperial forces at the Battle of Shiroyama where Takamori was also killed. How he died is a little vague (gunshot, committed seppuku etc) but holding true to his samurai lifestyle, it does appear he was decapitated. If you’ve read my earlier blogs you’ll realize the samurai love a good disembowelment and decapitation to return one’s honor. Also, if you’ve ever seen the Tom Cruise movie “The Last Samurai”, Ken Watanabe’s character Katsumoto is based off of Takemori’s life and the last battle scene is the Battle of Shiroyama.
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| Saigo Takemori Statue |
Moving Northwest through the park, I then stopped at a Buddhist Temple, Kiyomizo Kannon-Do built in 1694. One interesting item I’ve not previously mentioned about Temples in Japan is that they often have an area outside for hanging ema boards. An ema board is a small wooden plaque that a visitor can purchase form the Temple and then write their prayers or wishes on and hang outside the Temple so that the spirits or gods can receive them. I’ve included some photos of the main display outside Kiyomizo along with several boards that I thought were interesting. You’ll notice that one of the boards has text on the side wishing that swine flu would disappear. I saw many boards with this same wish. I point this out because throughout this blog I’ve often called out what I see as the contradictory nature of Japanese society. So keep the point about swine flu in the back of your mind and read on as I’ll bring up the point later.
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| Ema Boards |
As I continued to head North through the park, I then stopped at the Gojo Shrine. This is a Shinto shrine and the first one I’ve visited in Tokyo. Shinto shrines have entrances with red torii gates as seen in the photos. This particular shrine is dedicated to Inari the God of Rice. Inari’s earthly messenger, the Fox, is well represented at the shrine and in the photos I’ve included. Don’t ask about the red bibs, I’m still trying to figure them out myself. The red is associated with the deity but I’m not sure of the bib connection. The foxes all look like they're about to dine on Chicken Little. Sometimes it’s best just to go with it.
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| Gojo Shrine |
My final stop for the day in Ueno Park was the Tokyo National Museum and specifically the Heiseikan Building which includes special exhibitions and an entire floor dedicated to Japanese Archaeology. Although I find the subject fascinating, I know most readers of this blog could care less about the world’s oldest pottery so let’s move on.
I’ll probably visit Ueno Park again as there’s much more to see but I had other sights I was interested in visiting.
Senso-ji Temple
Heading due East from Ueno Park, my next stop was another Buddhist Temple, the Senso-ji Temple. Unlike many of the other Buddhist Temples where peace and tranquility reign, the Senso-ji Temple is a Charlie Foxtrot. For you non-military types, Google “Charlie Foxtrot” and enjoy. The Senso-ji Temple is one of Tokyo’s oldest and largest and attracts an enormous number of visitors and keeping with the Buddhist tenet of forsaking worldly goods, the environs surrounding the Temple are a complete tourist trap where you can buy cheap plastic trinkets and other souvenirs. There are some better quality stores as well but the tourist trap section is right outside the Temple gates. Unfortunate.
You enter the Temple grounds by walking through the Kaminarimon or "Thunder Gate” which is quite impressive. The backside of the gate has two massive straw sandals mounted on the supports of the gate. If you look close you can see a Nike “swoosh” on the side of the sandals.
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| Senso-ji Temple (Kaminarimon or "Thunder Gate”) |
Further into the Temple grounds is a huge incense burner where a steady stream of visitors fan the incense smoke over themselves. The smoke is thought to have healing properties. I don’t recommend inhaling it like I did. I carried on a flirtatious ten minute conversation with a wooden bench before the haze lifted. I did get the bench’s phone number though.
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| Senso-ji Temple (Incense Burner) |
Right next to the incense burner is a purification fountain. The concept is to pour a ladleful of water over the hands and perform a quick washing and also rinse out the mouth. But you’re not supposed to drink from the ladle. You pour the water into your hands and drink. But here’s something that boggled my mind. If you recall earlier in this blog, I mentioned the ema boards and the wishes to eliminate swine flu. Plus if you walk around Tokyo or ride the subway, you’ll see a good percentage of the population wearing masks. There’s even a sign in the elevator of my apartment complex warning about the rapid spread of H1N1 in Japan and to take all necessary precautions. Yet here I was at the Senso-ji purification fountain and I watched person after person drink from the same ladles. Contradictions abound but that’s also what makes Tokyo an interesting place to see.
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| Senso-ji Temple (Dragon Purification Fountain) |
Asahi Building
After I left the Temple, I decided to take a boat ride down the Sumida River. I walked out of an alleyway and when I looked East, this is what I saw:
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| Asahi Building |
I’m calling it the Temple of the Golden Sperm.
Apparently it’s also known as the Asahi Super Dry Hall. Asahi is a major beer manufacturer in Japan and Super Dry is one of their brands. The Japanese affectionately refer to it as “kin no unchi” or “The Golden Turd”. That might be more apt of a description.
Hama-rikyu Gardens
The boat ride was a nice leisurely cruise down the Sumida and I left the boat when they stopped at the Hama-rikyu (Hama Detached Palace) Gardens.
For those male readers who might not be all that secure in your masculinity, you may want to stop reading at this point. Although the Gardens were originally established as a duck hunting refuge for the Shogun, it now contains a tea garden and flowers and I took multiple photos. Yes, I’m now taking pictures of flowers and even thinking of attending a Kabuki play (Broadway equivalent in Japan). What the hell happened to me? I better get myself to the samurai sword museum quick.
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| Hama-rikyu Gardens 2 |
As I mentioned, this was originally established as a duck hunting refuge and I had to laugh when I walked through a small glade and discovered this lone duck in one of the ponds.
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| Hama-rikyu Gardens 1 |
He was the only duck I saw in the entire gardens which means he’s either the dumbest waterfowl or has the biggest set of cojones. They even have a duck grave/memorial (no joke) within the Gardens to appease the spirits of all the ducks that were killed throughout the years.
Since I'm coming back to the States for a quick trip in mid-June I plan on doing some tourist shopping this weekend. I need to take some photos in one of the stores I visited previously called "Bic Camera". Imagine if Best Buy and Las Vegas had a love child, that would be "Bic Camera".
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