TOKYO Part 2

Day two of Tokyo started off with a hearty breakfast of one banana and my first hot food from a vending machine (not bad but still...it was from a vending machine). The first thing we did was walk about five minutes to the nearby temple - Sensoji. This is the oldest temple in Tokyo and is pretty massive. Above is a picture of the five story pagoda of the Sensoji grounds with the Tokyo SkyTree in the background. I thought it was a nice combination of ancient and modern. By the way, the Tokyo SkyTree's inner workings were inspired by the ancient method of pagoda construction! Fascinating right? As we walked up to the temple itself, we walked up a huge gate called Hozo-mon that also used to act as a treasure house for the temple. Then we walked past clouds of sandalwood and washed our hands at the cleansing station (which not only had dragon spouts arranged in a circle, but an angry Buddhist warrior statue standing on top of them - regal yet a bit ominous).

The inside of the temple was gorgeous. Photographs were prohibited, but there was an opulent inside with golden everything, intricate designs, extravagant details, and chanting monks. It was stunning.

Before moving on, we saw...

Nisonbutsu - a pair of buddhas. These were very beautiful, we thought. The one on the left gives wisdom and the one on the right gives mercy. Which would you choose?

Bell of Time.
"Sounding through clouds of flower -- is it the bell in Ueno or Asakusa?" - Matsuo Basho

"Bell of Time" reminded us all of "Ocarina of Time." This little side shrine had a sense of abandonment, compared to the bustling temple.




And we also saw a little park with a jungle gym, the likes of which we have only seen in anime (very blocky - rectangular structure). It was minor, but we were all excited and got pictures on it.

Once we shopped along that long road of souvenir stalls that had been silver walls the night before, we made our way to the famous Tokyo Tower!

This Eiffel Tower replica that is colorful in its orange glory and has appeared in many anime including Sailor Moon, Rayearth, and Detective Conan (as well as so many others due to the tower being so iconic in Japan). The tower also functions as a radio/broad-casting tower.

To be honest, the section of Tokyo we entered for the Tower was pretty interesting in itself. Tall buildings, mirrored sides, side streets with hidden shrines, leafy buildings, and construction created a sense of an urban environment but different from the day before in that the buildings were taller and there were not many people about. To the left is an odd building we saw that I thought was straight out of a sci-fi/dystopian story.

The tower has a lot more to it than we realized! Base floors of shopping, food court, cleaning performer (in which a 'janitor' starts cleaning things with funny noises being emitted over an intercom or speakers and then interacting with people and getting noises - for instance, he made the fix-glasses-flash-light gesture and when I copied him there was cool noise! Then when a tall friend of ours went to give him a high five, but kept his hand super high, there was a negative *bong* and when the cleaner high-fived a kid, magical twinkling - adorable), One Piece cafe, Mario Kart (here we go again), and, somehow connected, an aquarium, minor museums and galleries, and more.


Going up the elevator was surreal. Inside was dark with a low orange light that shifted to blue and back again. The elevator was very fast and smooth and I felt my ears "pop." Once we got to the observation deck, we were met with 360 panoramic views of Tokyo. This is where it really hit me: Tokyo is huge! Expansive! Ridiculous!

 Along the ceiling of the observation deck were signs saying what you were seeing. We technically saw all the districts of Tokyo including Akihabara, Shibuya, Ueno, Asakusa, Ikebukuro, Harajuku, Roppongi, Yoyogi Park area, and more! We even saw the cloud-enshrouded feet of Mt. Fuji! I was so excited about the drama created by the clouds until I realized it meant we couldn't see Mt. Fuji. But that's okay - one day Mt. Fuji, I'm coming!

 Watching the people and streets below was like watching a model city or a simulation. It was like looking at a colony or beehive and seeing the connections between everyone in this huge city, with tall solitary islands of skyscrapers and cemeteries and mysterious parks, of arterial streets and rainbows of color.

We tried the regular and the matcha version of the famous Tokyo Banana - one of the only famous Tokyo foods. It was a sponge-like cake with banana-custard filling. It was quite delicious, but the matcha version even more so. I ate Moss Burger for the first time and was a little disappointed. Most people I talk to say it is the best place for burgers but maybe they just mean you should go if you are missing burgers with buns? Seeing all the shops was very interesting as was talking with the owners. By the way, I saw light-saber umbrellas but they were not the portable kind. They were cool though!


















We added an unexpected spot to our list as we left Tokyo Tower. We were walking down the street and were met with a large, maroon/burgundy temple. Zoujouji. It was pretty neat so we checked it out. It had a very Chinese and powerful style, like someone who was rich built it. Surprisingly, we were allowed to take pictures of the interior and no one was praying, so here is a picture! This was actually not as extravagant as the Sensoji interior but this was pretty cool. There were also large chandelier type fixtures of interlocking golden pieces hanging from the ceiling and taiko drums along the walls for festivals. This temple also had some beautiful statues and, as we were walking up to it, we saw an incredibly long line of Jizo Buddha statues for the spirits of children. 

After this surprise section of sightseeing, we took a "break" on our way to our next destination in a park area by the subway, with a large circular sidewalk area that had a pedestal in the middle engraved with the traditional creatures of the four directions and elements (tiger, dragon, turtle, and phoenix). We all had an Uncharted/Avatar the Last Airbender vibe and were inspired by a nearby telephone booth and...well...one thing led to another and we filmed a short video replicating the Deadpool 2 trailer in which I mug and shoot someone mainly for their Pokemon Hat and Panda Man fails to save the day despite him also being the Avatar...now that I type it out, it sounds pretty awful. But it was a lot of fun and a good way to take a break. (By the way, C has not finished the editing yet as he did a great job directing and filming, but I cannot wait to see the finished product).

Next, we rode the train to go to the Imperial Palace of Tokyo. However, what we didn't realize, is that it's free (yay!) and has no castle or palace....It was a beautiful park with some ancient guardhouses and a tea house and the base from an ancient watch tower, but no palace left-over. We did enjoy a peaceful and beautiful garden though.

We stopped again in Akihabara, had a snack (I had croissant Taiyaki - so flaky and warm and sugary and amazing) then we went back to Sensoji's souvenir street for some friends' wanted to buy something they saw earlier. I'm glad we went back because then we really got to enjoy and take pictures of Kaminarimon. This is an extremely famous gate of Sensoji but is very small (despite it having a huge lantern hanging in the middle). I love this gate so much, it being protected by the wind and thunder/lightning spirits Fujin and Raijin in the front, and two bodhisattvas or buddhas in the back (one of which shocked me since it was one of the few obviously female Buddhist statues I've seen in Japan).

Then we had some of the most delicious soba I've had so far in Japan (apparently another famous food of various Tokyo districts - I had the salad soba which was full of a variety of fresh vegetables), before grabbing our bags and bidding farewell to this ginormous city. Unfortunately, one of our friends lost one of his tickets and had to take the next train. Thankfully, there was a train only ten or fifteen minutes behind, so when we arrived, we didn't wait long. I enjoyed my first vending-machine ice cream and tried to stay awake. Getting home was a hassle since we also experienced my first train delay. For some reason, JR was having a lot of problems - thankfully most of us rode it for only one stop. In Japan, at least in Nishinomiya, the train systems close sometime after midnight, so trying to get home at such a late hour was a bit nerve-wracking. There were a lot of young people, people with dyed hair, and tired-from-drinking-after-work people. There were even two people messing with and taking selfies with a sleeping businessman (they turned out to be friends, but it was very funny).

Finally made it home, but went to bed much later than I had originally planned, making the school day afterwards not the most fun. Other than classes, I took the day easy and quickly recovered.

Overall, I really enjoyed my Tokyo trip! There is still a lot to see and visit, but for a first time, I think we utilized our time wisely. It was a lot of fun and I truly appreciate the group I went with. This trip was amazing and I'm glad to cross Tokyo off my list; this also makes me excited for more weekend trips in the future.