Tokyo Days 2 & 3

Samu took us to several neighborhoods over the course of the next two days. 

The first area of Tokyo we visited was Ueno, after traversing the subway! Here, we saw our first official temple! Samu explained that the temples with more Indian influence tend to have more natural and earthen colors, while those with Chinese have more red and gold. 

Temples have different shrines, each which can be dedicated to many different deities. Businessmen may pray to one specific shrine for luck in business, students to one for luck with their exams, and so on. At the temples, there are prayer boxes (known as saisen-bako) at which you drop coins (traditionally, a 50 yen piece which is the only coin with a hole in it), bow twice, clap twice, then say your prayer or wish and bow once more. You can also purchase charms and prayer bead bracelets for various purposes.

 

Several temples and shrines had foxes in them, which are the servants of Inari Okami, the god of the harvest. The females fox servants always have their mouth open, though I can't remember why. I asked if the fox servants are nice or mean to people, and Samu said that it depends on the person. So always treat foxes well... 

Foxes are a big piece of the mythology that I've seen in several video games related to Japanese culture, including Assassin's Creed Shadows, Ghosts of Tsushima and Silent Hill - F (where they play a very prominent role).

            

Ok, enough video game talk for at least one paragraph. For Buddhist temples, the gates are simply called Gates, while for Shinto temples, they are known as Torii. Torii always have to touch the earth, so even those erected in skyscrapers have the poles running all the way down to the ground. For Inari Okami's temples, there are often a lot of Torii back to back, which transport you to a different realm when you pass through them. 

After we learned all this, we went to the Tsukiji Fish Market! This is where they would historically do the infamous Tuna Auction. We walked around and tried various delicacies, and they were all delicious! Claysie was even brave enough to try Sea Urchin, though the rest of us declined to partake in this particular dish. I did not take any pictures but I'm sure TPU-F and Claysie did so they can share. We then went to the Ueno Park, close to which was the final battle of the Samurai. that I referenced in my last post. That evening we went to an Artisan strip that Claysie found for some much needed retail purchase therapy. Here, I got a lovely birthday gift from the TPUs, a custom made watch by a local watchmaker! 

 

We started off the next day (Day 3 in Tokyo for those of you keeping track) by visiting Nippori, which is known for its fabrics. Sadly, most of the shops were still closed (mind you, this was around 10:30 AM. But in Japan some stores don't open around 11 usually, though they are open very late. But Claysie was able to buy some leather, and we took some cool pictures.

The Last Samurai 

 

Cars and Bicycle Parking is Multi-Level

 Sewer Covers Have Cool Designs 

 Tee Hee 

Next up was Akihabara, which is the infamous electronics/anime neighborhood in Tokyo. Samu told us that originally, this was where the poorer citizens of Tokyo lived. They would repair, trade and sell electronic items as they did not have enough money to buy new ones. This slowly evolved, and it became the Nerd haven that it is today! The streets are lined with shops that cater to every Geek desire, from Manga (Japanese comic books/graphic novels) to Anime (animation of said novels) to figurines, toys, electronics and even the infamous Maid Cafes (which we did not visit). We went into one of these stores, which was basically six stories of figurines and toys!

 

 

 

  

Last up was Odaiba, which was a series of artificial islands originally constructed by the Edo Shogunate in the 1850s to protect Tokyo from attacks from the sea. In the 1970s, when Japan had more money than they knew what to do with and had to spend it to avoid inflation, the government filled in the water between the islands and decided to build a tech-futuristic city, including a fully automated high-speed train (again, this was in the 1970s)! 

 

 

 

Notice the three monkey fountain int he last image for my fellow Sibligentals!

That evening, in Odaiba, we went TeamLabs Planet. But I have to make that a whole separate entry. Until next time, this is Danielito-Sama signing off!