Two more days in Tokyo

On Thursday’s morning it finally stopped raining. I started my day by going to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It is a large museum dedicated to the evolution of the city of Edo and its inclusion of the modern day city of Tokyo. It included a history of Tokyo since its creation. As such, there is a very interesting history section of the American controlled city after WWII. Here is a model of what they think Edo entertainment area looked like in the mid 1800s.

After the museum, I took the subway again (that is the way I have been getting around) to Shinjuku. This is not only Japan’s greatest entertainment area but it is the center of their retail electronic industry. As such, there are huge electronics stores that specializes in such products. The sheer size of these stores dwarf similar stores in New York City. Next up on my agenda was the world’s busiest intersection. Another subway ride found me there. It is hard to describe the energy of this intersection. Pedestrians frock the intersection to take photos of themselves right in the middle of the action. I actually saw a trio of guys do a physical comedy act right in the middle. Here is a photo from the second story of the Starbucks there.

Finally I closed out my day by going to the Bank of Japan Currency Museum. But this was disappointing. The displays seemed rather thorough and all the signs were in two languages. Unfortunately, English wasn't one of them! Yes, this museum seemed very geared for the Chinese tourists which are the primary tourists in Japan. Needless to say, I didn't spend much time here. On the way back to the subway, I stopped in the oldest department store in Japan. This was very impressive as it seemed department stores here are still very much in vogue. Also the elegance of this store was unmatched by any of the old line departments stores we had in the US. Here is the main sculpture in the atrium. Actually, this picture doesn't do this store justice!

Friday morning had me catching a train to Kamakura right after breakfast. A note about the trains in Japan. There are many and various routes. So many that their schedules almost defy reading. And, I thought the subway system here was complicated! Fortunately, the trains to Kamakura are frequent and Kamakura is well known. So even though I add to change trains on the way, I made the 1 ½ hour trip from my hotel without incident. Just a little about the history of Kamakura. It prospered as a samurai city for over 150 years from 1180 to when the regent committed suicide which ended the shogunate in 1333. During that period there were major Buddhist structures built and these now bring multitudes of tourists on day trips from Tokyo. After arriving, my first stop was their famous giant Buddha. This bronze statue was casted in 1252. Actually due to its size, it required 30 separate castings. Then to securely connect the 30 stages together, they used 3 different ingenious interlocking systems. It was truly a marvel of its time. The height of the Buddha is almost 13.5 meters and it weighs about 121 tons. You can enter it and look up into its head (that is what the odd picture is). It is noteworthy that this Buddha has survived a tidal wave in 1498 as well as a major earthquake in 1923 without any damage.

Nearby the giant Buddha is the Hasedera Temple. This Temple is from 736 and is situated in a lovely garden. The principal Buddha here is an 11 faced Kannon statue that stands over 9 meters tall. Unfortunately, photos of this Buddha are not permitted. This Buddha was in a satellite structure.

The grounds of the Hasedera Temple are home to hundreds of small Jizō statues. These statues are placed by parents mourning offspring lost to miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion. These statues remain in place for about a year, before being removed to make way for more statues; it is estimated that some 50,000 Jizō statues have been placed at Hase-dera since World War II.

After visiting Hasedera Temple, I walked back to the heart of Kamakura City and visited the Tsurugaola Hachimangu Shrine. This shrine was built in 1180 and moved to its current location a hundred years later. This shrine is devoted to the Hachimangu, the god of warriors.

This afternoon I got to get together with my nephew Ian and his wife Cecile. I had no idea they were Japan on vacation until a few days ago. Any way, Ian arranged to meet at my hotel. It was the first time I had the opportunity to meet Cecile as they live in France. All in all, we had a wonderful get together and dinner.

Tomorrow, Saturday will formally start my time with the Overseas Adventure Travel group tour Cultural Treasures of Japan Tour. I will then be on this Tour until I leave Japan on August 30th.