Monthly Archives: September 2018

Nakamise-Dori (Tokyo, Japan)

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Nakamise-Dori

After our visit to Senso-ji Temple, we proceeded to the approximately 250 m. (880-ft.) long Nakamise-dōri (仲見世通り), the best place in Tokyo to buy souvenirs.  One of Japan’s oldest streets, this shopping street leads, from the gorgeous Kaminarimon (“Thunder Gate”), to Sensō-ji temple itself.  Items sold here range from outrageously cheesy items to authentic and useful souvenirs.  For centuries, Japanese pilgrims and tourists who visit Sensō-ji every year flock here to shop at its small stores.   This stone-paved pedestrian street, retaining the feeling of old downtown Edo and the cultural florescence of the Meiji era, started during the Genroku and Tempo periods of the Edo era when horse carriage operators were granted the right to set up shops next to the east side of Niomon as compensation for cleaning the temple compound through forced labor.

Shops near the Kaminarimon Gate of Senso-ji Temple

In the early 18th century, Nakamise-dōri (translated as “inside street”) was said to have come about when neighbors of Sensō-ji were granted permission to set up shops on the approach to the temple. However, on May 1885, the government of Tokyo ordered all shop owners to leave but, on December of that same year, the area was reconstructed in Western-style brick. During the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, many of the shops were destroyed.  In 1925, the shops were rebuilt using concrete, only to be destroyed again during the bombings of World War II.

The surrounding area had around 89 small traditional shops, many of them run by the same family for many generations.  I admired the shutters painted with different seasonal vistas. Stores sold traditional Japanese items such as chopsticks, yukata, geta, wooden combs, maneki neko cat statuettes (a traditional good luck charm), hair accessories, elegant fans of all colors and sizes; handmade umbrellas; geta (traditional footwear), masks, folding fans, ukiyo-e (woodblock prints); kimono and other robes; samurai swords; and Buddhist scrolls.  You can also shop here for Godzilla toys, t-shirts and mobile phone straps. The shops at both sides of the last stretch near the temple sell official Senso-ji merchandise – omamori amulets, scrolls, incense to burn at the huge burner in front of the temple’s stairs, books about the temple (in Japanese) and o-mikuji fortunes.

 

Nakamise-Dori is a good place for visitors to try tabearuki (“walk-and-eat”) and enjoy Japanese street food such as tempting traditional kibi dango (sweet and soft rice cakes in a stick covered with millet flour), oden, (a winter snack), imo yokan (sweet potato jelly), odango (a sweet snack), kaminari okoshi (sweet puff rice crackers), colorful candies sold in beautiful traditional patterned cases; ningyo yaki (little sponge cakes filled with red bean paste and shaped like dolls, birds and the famous Kaminarimon, Asakusa’s symbolic lantern), deep-fried manju (a bun stuffed with red-bean paste), kibidango (a millet dumpling), freshly toasted sembei crackers, juicy fried meat croquettes, sweet melon pan bread, cooling matcha green tea ice cream and other green tea-flavored treats.

Trying out vanilla ice cream in a melonpan at Asakusa Sakura

Vanilla ice cream in a melonpan bun

There are also eating places that feature traditional dishes (hand-made noodles, sushi, tempura, etc.). For lunch, we dined at Tatsumiya Restaurant. Here, we were seated in a traditional Japanese setting – no shoes and on low tables with mats.

Check out “Restaurant Review: Tatsumiya Asakusa“

Dining, Japanese style, at Tatsumiya Restaurant

During the holidays, the arcade is decorated with seasonal trappings – silk plum blossoms and kites during New Year’s Day, bright foliage during fall and cherry blossoms in spring. Running perpendicular to Nakamise-Dori is Shin-Nakamise (“New Nakamise”), a covered shopping arcade lined by various shops and restaurants.

Shin-Nakamise (New Nakamise)

Nakamise-Dori: 1 Asakusa, Taitō-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Open daily, typically from 10 AM to 7 PM but hours depend on the individual shops.

How to Get There: Nakamise-Dori, a 2 minute walk from Asakusa Station, is served by the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, Toei Asakusa Line and Tobu railway lines. It is also a 10-min. walk from Tawaramachi Station on the Ginza Line. Take A3~A5 exit for Nakamise. This shopping street is traditionally approached via the Thunder Gate.

 

Asakusa Shrine (Tokyo, Japan)

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Torii (Japanese gate) leading to Akasusa Shrine

The Asakusa Shrine (浅草神社 Asakusa-jinja), one of the most famous Shinto shrines in the city, is also known as Sansha-sama (Shrine of the Three gods, san means “three” and sama means “shrine”). The shrine. popular among the public, stands only a few dozen meters to the left of the main hall on the east side of Sensō-ji Temple, down a street marked by a large stone torii.

Akasusa Shrine

Part of a larger grouping of sacred buildings in the area, the shrine honors the three men who founded the Sensō-ji. According to legend, on May 17, 628, two fishermen brothers, named Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari, picked up a bosatsu Kannon statuette of Sensoji Temple caught in a fishing-net in the Sumida River.  Hajino Nakatomo, the third man, was a wealthy landlord who, upon hearing about the discovery, approached the brothers.

Shrine Pavilion

He delivered an impassioned sermon about the Buddha to the brothers who were very impressed and subsequently converted to the Buddhist religion and devoted their lives to preaching the way of Buddhism. Nakatomo consecrated the Kannon statue in a small temple. These three men are worshiped here as Sanja Gongen.

The shrine, commissioned by Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, was built in 1649 during the Edo Period.  It was integrated with Sensoji Temple until the Edo period.  However, when the Gods and Buddha separation ordinance was promulgated in the Meiji period, it was separated from Sensoji and renamed Asakusa Shrine. Its beautiful, vermillon-lacquered shrine pavilion was built in the same style as the Nikko Toshogu, in the gongen-zukuri style of Shinto architecture.

Statue of Lion-Dog (Kumainu)

Unlike many other structures in the area, including the Sensō-ji Temple, the shrine, along with the Nitenmon Gate, where the only two buildings in the area to survived the  World War II Tokyo air raids of 1945.  In 1951, because of this rich and long history, both were designated as an Important Cultural Property by the Japanese Government.

Nitenmon Gate

The Niten-mon Gate, located to the east of the main hall and to the right of Asakusa Shrine, was erected in 1618 (the current gate was said to have been rebuilt in 1649) as a shrine gate, with statues of Toyoiwamado no Mikoto and Kushiiwamado no Mikoto placed on either side.

Ablution Fountain

The gate was left standing after the deity enshrined in Toshogu was moved to Koyozan, inside of Edo Castle. After the separation of the Buddhist and Shinto religions during the Meiji Restoration, Shinto deities were removed to Asakusa Shrine. In their place, a statue of Tatenmon was enshrined, but this has subsequently been lost. This massive, 8.13 m. wide (at the beam) structure has 8 pillars and was built in the mitsumune zukuri style with a tiled roof in built in the kiritzuma zukuri style.

Prayer Wall

The shrine‘s annual,  popular Sanja Matsuri festival, one of the Three Great Festivals of Edo (the old name of Tokyo), is held in late spring for 3 days (Friday to Sunday) every third weekend of May. which takes place over 3–4 days .  During the festival, the surrounding streets are closed to traffic, from dawn until late evening.  Well known for the “soul swing,” the festival vividly demonstrates the traditional Edo style, depicted in the old saying “fights and fireworks are Edo’s flowers.” During the festival, portable shrines called mikoshi are wildly swung around in a wild parade, reaching a climax when three mikoshi called ichi-no-miya, ni-no-miya and san-no-miya leave and return to Asakusa Shrine.  The procession includes 120 mikoshi from a total of 44 parishioner associations affiliated with Asakusa Shrine, making it Tokyo’s most spectacular festival.

A mikoshi (portable shrine) on display at Asakusa Station

Asakusa Shrine: 2-26-1, Asakusa, Taitō-ku, Tokyo 111-0032, Japan. Tel: 03-3844-1575.  Website: www.asakusajinja.jp/english/

How to Get There:  The shrine is a 7-min. walk from Asakusa Station (Toei Asakusa Line, Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, Tobu Isesaki Line, Tsukuba Express.

Sensō-ji Temple (Tokyo, Japan)

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Senso-ji Temple

It was our last day in Tokyo but we still had time for sightseeing before departing on our evening flight back to Manila, so we visited the Sensō-ji (金龍山浅草寺 Kinryū-zan Sensō-ji) Kannon temple, an ancient Buddhist temple dedicated to Kannon Bosatsu (the Bodhisattva of compassion who is believed to take away the people’s suffering and make their wishes come true).

Jinrikisha (Ricksaw)

“Senso” is an alternative reading for Asakusa and “ji” means temple. Asakusa (浅草) is the center of Tokyo‘s shitamachi (literally “low city”), one of Tokyo’s districts.  Here, an atmosphere of the Tokyo of past decades is said to survive. From our hotel, we walked to the nearby Akasaka-Mitsuke Station and took the train to Asakusa Station. The trip took all of 30 mins.

Strolling into Asakusa

Outside Asakusa Station was a number of jinrikisha (literally “man powered vehicle”). A 30-min. tour, for two persons, on board these rickshaws costs around JP¥9000.  The temple was a short 10-min. walk from the station.  Surprisingly, even for a Monday, there were lots of people on the street.  Adjacent to the temple is a five-story pagoda, a Shinto shrine, the Asakusa Shrine, as well as many shops with traditional goods in the Nakamise-dōri. Some visitors buy the charms sold at the temple.

Check out “Asakusa Shrine”

The author at the temple grounds

The temple’s official name is Kinryuzan (Mountain of Golden Dragon), but it is also known as Asakusa Kannon and the residential building is called Denpo-in.  During the 10 March air raid on Tokyo in World War II, the temple was bombed and destroyed but was rebuilt later.  Today, it is a symbol of rebirth and peace to the Japanese people. In the courtyard there is a tree that is a similar symbol to the temple itself.  During the air raid, it was hit by a bomb but has regrown in the husk of the old tree.

Residents in traditional kimonos

Here are some interesting trivia regarding this temple:

  • Founded in 645 AD, it is Tokyo’s oldest temple and one of its most significant. In the early years of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu designated Sensō-ji as tutelary temple of the Tokugawa clan.
  • According to legend, two fishermen, the brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari, found a statue of the bodhisattvaKannon (Avalokiteśvara) in the Sumida River (Miyato River) in 628. Hajino Nakamoto, the chief of their village in Asakusa, recognized the sanctity of the statue.  To enshrine it, he remodeled his own house into a small temple so that the villagers could worship Kannon.
  • Formerly associated with Hiezan Enryakuji, the head temple of the the Tendaisect of Buddhism, it became independent as the head temple of the Seikannon sect after World War II.
  • With over 30 million visitors annually, Sensoji is the second most widely visited spiritual site in the world after the Vatican.
  • In the New Year, it ranks among the top 10 temples in Japan for the number of visitors.

Kaminarimon Gate

Dominating the entrance to the temple is the vermillon Kaminarimon (“Thunder Gate.”)  In 942, it was built as the main gate of Sensoji Temple by Kimimasa Taira in Komagata, rebuilt in 1635 but burned down in 1639. In 1649, Iemitsu Tokugawa donated the main hall, Niomon Gate (Hozomon), the five-story pagoda, and Kaminarimon Gate. Over the years, Kaminarimon Gate was destroyed by fire several times, the last time in 1866.

Nakamise-Dori heading towards Kaminarimon Gate

The existing gate dates from 1960. Konosuke Matsushita, a founder of Panasonic Corporation, contributed to its reconstruction.  An imposing Buddhist structure, its official name is Fujin- Raijin Gate.  It features a chochin, a massive paper lantern dramatically painted in vivid red-and-black tones, suggesting thunderclouds and lightning. When facing front, on the left is the statue of Rajin-sama, the god of thunder and lightning, while on the right is the statue of Fujin-sama, the god of wind. Facing the rear, on the left is the statue of Tenryu while on the right is the statue of Kinryu, both dragon gods in human form.

Hozomon Gate

Beyond the Kaminarimon is Nakamise-dori, with its shops, followed by the two-storied, dynamic Hōzōmon  which is bigger than Kaminarimon Gate and provides the entrance to the inner complex. The Hozomon, called Niomon Gate since the olden days, was destroyed by fire in 1631, rebuilt by Iemitsu Tokugawa in 1636 but burned down in the massive air raids of 1945.  In 1964, it was rebuilt with a donation from the late Eitaro Otani, third chairman of the Asakusa Tourist Federation.

Check out “Nakamise-Dori“

Cochin of Hozomon Gate

It houses a pair of Ni-Ou figures in front, both guardian deities. It is said that the models for these fierce looking deities where 1960’s sumo wrestlers Kitanoumi (on the left) and Myobudani Kiyoshi (on the right).

Ni-Ou

The chicken wire keeps people from touching the statues.  The gate’s upper storey houses the temple’s Buddhist sutras that include Hokke-kyo (Lotus Sutra), which is designated as a National Treasure, and the Issai-kyo, a complete collection of Buddhist scriptures that is an Important Cultural Property. This is why the gate is called Hozomon Gate (“Treasure House Gate”).

O-Waraji (Straw Slipper)

At the back of the gate is a huge, 4.5 m. high pair of o-waraji (traditional straw slippers) weighing 2,500 kgs. Symbolic of the power of Ni-Ou, they are charms against evil. Before visiting the Main Hall, cleanse your hands and mouth at the ablution fountain of the Omizuya (generally called as Chozusha). It has a bronze statue of Sakara, the King of Water, designed by Kotaro Takamura.

Ozimuya

Within the precincts are a stately, eye-catching five-storey pagoda (Gojunoto) built, together with a lecture hall, in the new toinzukuri style in 1973; and the main hall (Hondo, also called Kannondo), devoted to Kannon Bosatsu.

Five-Storey Pagoda

The 53.32 m. tall pagoda is the second highest in Japan after the 56-m. high pagoda of Toji Temple in Kyoto. The original pagoda, built in 1648 on a different site, was destroyed by an air raid in 1945. The top of the pagoda houses Buddha’s ashes ceremonially transferred from a temple in Sri Lanka. You can’t go inside the pagoda as it is a graveyard that contains memorial tablets of thousands of families and individuals.

Main Hall (Hondo)

The impressive Main Hall, with its high-pitched roof, enshrines a principal image of Buddha, known as Kannon Bosatsu (Kannon Bodhisattva). Built in 1644, it was destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt with the same design as the old one in 1958.

Jokoro, the main incense censer, is a large bronze vessel filled with sand and ash. Bundles of incense sticks, about 2 cm in diameter and 15 cm long, are lit here. Pilgrims stop here to wave the cleansing smoke, “the breath of the gods,” over their face and body.

Giant vase with a gold Buddhist manji cross.  It is the reverse of the right-facing German swastika.

On the west side of the Main Hall is Yogodo Hall where Buddhist divinities who support Kannon Busatsu are enshrined.  At the left side of the hall is a hexagonal building (Rokkakudo), the oldest wooden structure (it was built in the 16th century).

Yogodo Hall

The Yogodo’s quiet contemplative garden, kept in the distinctive Japanese style, features an old stone bridge, the oldest in Tokyo (it was built for the Asakusa Toshogu Shrine in 1618), that spans a small pond stocked with colorful koi and fed by a rushing stream.

Stone bridge (the oldest in Tokyo) over a koi-filled pond

At many places on its approach and within the temple itself are o-mikuji stalls where, for a suggested donation of JP¥100, visitors may consult the oracle and divine answers to their questions.

Maigo-shirase Sekihyo (Mark Stone for Lost Child). Carved with “Namu Daijihi Kanzeon-bosatsu Mayoiko-no Shirube,” it had been used for exchanging information about lost children in the Edo period.

Querents shake labelled sticks, from enclosed metal containers, and read the corresponding answers they retrieve from one of 100 possible drawers.

An 8 m. high, bronze Hokyoin-to, a tiered tower or pagoda, was cast by Fijiwara Masatoki in 1761. The largest one left in Tokyo, it was damaged during an earthquake in 1855 but was restored in 1907 to commemorate Japan’s victory in the Russian – Japanese War.

Saibutsu Itabi, raised from the late Kamakura period to the early Muromachi period, measures 217.9 cm. high and 46 cm. wide. It is the largest Aoishi Toba (blue stupa) in Tokyo.

Statue of Amitabha Tathagata

The Tori No Ichi Fair, held for over 300 years in front of Sensoji on the days of the rooster in November (according to the Chinese zodiac calendar), is an interesting special event held to sell kumade bamboo rakes which are supposed to be lucky for business.

Seated bronze statue of Kannon Bodhisattva, attendant of Amida Buddha, sitting on lotus pedestal.

The Clock of Peace, a gift of the Lions Club International, originally had a square Seiko clock mounted on the pagoda but has been replaced by an ordinary National Panasonic clock.

Attracting a large number of local small business owners, when a rake is sold, the buyer and seller perform a tejime (a ritual hand clapping ceremony) together.

Hato Poppo Song Monument. Hato Poppo, is a children’s song written by Rentaro Taki and Kume Higashi. Kume came up with the lyrics for the song as she observed children play with pigeons on the grounds of Sensoji Temple. In 1962, a monument was raised at Sensoji in honor of this famous Japanese nursery song. The monument is inscribed with the words and the score for the song, with lifelike bronze pigeons resting on top.

Sensō-ji Temple: 2-3-1 Asakusa, Taitō-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Open daily, 6 AM to 5 PM (6:30 PM, October to March).  Admission is free.

How to Get There: The temple is a 10-min. walk from Asakusa Station which is served by the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, Toei Asakusa Line and Tobu railway lines. It is also a 10-min. walk from Tawaramachi Station on the Ginza Line.

Samurai Museum (Tokyo, Japan)

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Samurai Museum. L-R: Bryan, Cheska, Kyle, the author, Grace and Jandy

The Samurai Museum (侍ミュージアム), an urban entertainment museum centrally located in the Kabukicho district of Tokyo’s Shinjuku (an area known more for its nightly entertainment than cultural facilities) ward, displays, under dramatic lighting, more than 70 examples of samurai armor, kabuto helmets and weapons gathered from Japanese and foreign collections.

A row of yoroi sets of armor

The rooms here are as Japanese as the museum creators can make it, with tatami mats, paper screens, very atmospheric lighting, Japanese music, etc..

The author beside a set of armor

The museum has two areas.  At the ground floor is the gift shop, the reception desk and an array of very beautifully arranged rows of yoroi sets of armor, mostly from the Muromachi (1336-1573) and Edo (1600-1868) periods.

Armor Sewn with Dark Blue Thread with 2-Piece Cuirass (Edo Period)

Facing them is a traditional painting depicting the Battle of Sekigahara. As soon as we entered the museum, we were transported into the world of Japan’s samurai culture.

Armor Sewn with Navy-Blue Thread (End of Muromachi Period)

At the first floor (or “second floor” in Japanese) are six smaller areas specializing in the Kamakura period.

Brown-Lacquered Armor (Beginning of Edo Period)

On display are swords and other bladed weapons, kabuto helmets, yoroi armor, matchlock guns and the passage to the modern era.

Brown-Lacquered Armor (Beginning of Edo Period)

The enthusiastic English-speaking guide first demonstrated a number of samurai sword moves and, for good measure, lets out a blood-curdling scream. The detailed explanation included information on the weapons on display.

Chiossone (Samurai helmet)

The actual number of exhibits wasn’t that big but it was enough to illustrate some of the main points of the history of the samurai. 

Copy of Iron Armor with 2-Piece Cuirass of Yukimura Sanada (Heisei Period)

We learned the meaning of the word “samurai;” what differentiates a samurai’s katana from other kinds of swords; that guns were also used in Japan during the time of the samurai; what was bushido (the “way of the samurai”); which animals and colors were thought to represent strength and why the samurai shave their heads.

Copy of the Armor of Kanatsugu Naoe (Heisei Period)

The guide also cleared some basic misconceptions regarding the samurai.  We learned that samurai warriors used disposable blades (after a few strikes, the blade was no longer sharp); that the sword was not “the soul of the samurai” (the bow and arrow was) and how important firearms were for the samurai who actually went to war. 

Gold Lacquered Armor with 2-Piece Cuirass (Late Edo Period)

Description of Armor Wearing

We also learned what was happening in Japanese history at the time of the rise of the samurai, including the Mongol invasion of Kyushu in the 13th century. We found out more about Japan’s three most famous samurai (Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu); learned what kind of armor each wore to battle and how the style of each has been expressed through haiku poetry.

Image of Ieyasu Tokugawa

Golden Armor of Ieyasu Tokugawa (Heisei Period)

Portrait of Nobunaga Oda Shihon Choku Shoku

Copy of the Armor of Hideyoshi Toyotomi (Heisei Period)

Image of Hideyoshi Toyotomi

Even for someone who is somewhat familiar with the subject, some of the exhibits were indeed very interesting and friendly to the casual visitor, especially to us who came from abroad (about 60% of the museum’s visitors are Westerners, 35% are Asians and only 5% are Japanese). 

Gold Lacquered Armor with 2-Piece Cuirass (Late Edo Period)

The exhibitions displayed in the second floor were in chronological order and so, to easily understand and appreciate the artifacts, each item on display had detailed descriptions written in English, Chinese and Korean.

Cheska and Bryan

The super popular Samurai Photo-Shooting corner was the piece de resistance of the tour. Jandy and Bryan had their pictures taken wearing a samurai helmet (kabuto), battle coat (jinbaori) then wielding a sword and trying their hands in Samurai cosplay.  Cheska wore a kimono.  Unfortunately, there were no outfits for Kyle.

Bryan

Jandy

Overall, the Samurai Museum was a fun way for young people and parents to spend a couple of hours to further understand what it truly means to be a samurai, one of the most well-known icons of Japanese culture, rather than for serious scholars of samurai culture and history.

Gold-Lacquered Saddle Seat with Unryu-zu (Ise Ise No Kami Sadamune)

As it was already late in the evening when we visited, we missed the 10-15-min. special afternoon performance of a quite intense and realistic sword battle featuring the instantaneous drawing of the sword (if you’re lucky you can catch a glimpse of a ninja).  Started since March 12, 2016, it was performed by professional actor Shinichiro Matsuura. Show times were 2PM, 3PM, 4PM and 5PM.

Katana (Japanese Sword, Oumo no Kami Tadayoshi, Middle of the Edo Period)

Japanese Sword (Dengassan, Middle of Muromachi Period)

Every Tuesday and Thursday, calligrapher Ms. Shiho Kurabayashi, designer of the logos for both the movie Sadako 3D as well as the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, will give Japanese calligraphy lessons, an art form practiced, through the centuries, by samurai and nobles. Ink, paper and writing brush will be provided.

Mutsu no Kami Yoshiyuki (Heisei Period)

Nagamaki -Sword Blade with a Long Hilt (End of Edo Period)

Visitors who will take this course will learn the fundamentals, including how to hold a brush, the right posture for writing calligraphy, how to write three kinds of letters used in Japanese language (Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji), the meanings of some Kanji characters, and your name in Japanese letters. Afterwards, they can take their work home as a souvenir.

Naginata – Pole Sword (Hakuryu Yoshikazu)

Tachi (Sword, Middle of Kamakura Period)

Started since December 17, 2015, the approximately 1-hour lecture starts at 7PM. Shiho taught Japanese calligraphy (shodo) at an elementary school in the U.S.  She won a prize at Mainichi Shodo Exhibition and a special award at Taito Shodo Exhibition in Tokyo. Her prize-winning pieces also appeared on the Saitama Newspaper.

Large Armor Sewn with Red Thread (Heisei Period)

Satsuma Armor Sewn with Navy Blue Thread (Edo Period)

A Japanese sword lecture is also presented by Mr. Paul Martin, former curator at the British Museum and an expert on samurai swords.  He will teach you about Samurai history, as well as how to handle swords correctly. The talk lasts about 45 mins., with 45 mins. for viewing and additional questions.

Zohyo Monogatari (Stories of Common Soldiers)

Chiyoda no Oooku Ukiyoe (Japanese Woodblock Print)

For an additional fee of JP¥32,000 – 44,000 (depending on the armor chosen), visitors can opt for a “Sengoku” style, fully armed, photo shoot which includes photos as well as a CD-ROM containing the images. 

Matchlock Gun

Smith & Wesson, II – 32 Pistol (Heisei Period)

The Gift Shop offers a full range of original samurai gift items (authentic Japanese swords, sword stands, sword fittings, samurai armor, etc.) and samurai-themed souvenirs (dolls, replica swords, etc.)for sale as well as kitchenware, Japanese cooking knives and T-shirts.

Battle of Kawanakajima Ukiyoe (Japanese Woodblock Print)

A Crisis of Japan (Kano Seiseinin)

Samurai Museum: 1/F Eiwa Dairoku Bldg., 2 Chome-25-6 Kabukicho, 160-0021, Shinjuku, Tokyo.  Tel: +81 3-6457-6411.  Admission: JP¥1,900 (adults) and JP¥800 (children under 12 years of age).  Children 3 years old or under enter free if accompanied by an adult.
The sword show and samurai costume are included with museum admission. Open daily, 10:30AM to 9PM. (No admissions after 8:30 PM). Admission to the Japanese sword lecture (starting time: 7PM)and calligraphy lessons is JP¥5,000 (museum admission included). Advance reservation of two or more required. Website:  www.samuraimuseum.jp.  Gift Shop email: info@samuraigift.jp. Facebook: www.facebook.com/samuraimuseum.jp.

How to Get There: The museum is an 8-min. walk from Shinjuku Station’s East Exit on the JR Yamanote Line, a 4-min. walk from Seibu Shinjuku Station, a 6-min. walk from Higashi-Shinjuku Station Exit A1 and a 10-min. walk from Shinjuku Sanchome Station.

Meiji Jingu Shrine (Tokyo, Japan)

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The Meiji Jingu Shrine

As we delved deeper into Yoyogi Park, we soon came across the entrance to the Meiji Shrine. Located directly in front of the entrance to the shrine was the temizuya (font), a cleansing station where visitors used wooden ladles to spiritually cleanse themselves by pouring water over their hands (left before right) and rinse mouths with their left hand.

The temizuya (hand wash pavilion)

The Meiji Shrine (明治神宮 Meiji Jingū), the largest and one of the Japan’s most popular Shinto shrines, is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji (the shrine, however, does not contain the emperor’s grave, which is located at Fushimi-momoyama, south of Kyoto) and his wife and consort, Empress Shōken.

Torii (Japanese gate) at the entrance of the Meiji Jingu Shrine.  Devotees usually bow once here upon entering and exiting the shrine.

After the emperor’s death in 1912, the Japanese Diet passed a resolution to commemorate his role in the Meiji Restoration, choosing an iris garden, in an area of Tokyo where Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken had been known to visit, as the building’s location. The building of the shrine, a national project, mobilized youth groups and other civic associations from throughout Japan, who contributed labor and funding. In 1915, construction began under Itō Chūta.

The Minami-Shinmon Gate

The shrine, built in the traditional nagare-zukuri style, primarily uses Japanese cypress and copper. On November 1, 1920, eight years after the passing of the emperor and six years after the passing of the empress, it was formally dedicated and completed in 1921.  Its grounds were officially finished by 1926. Until 1946, the Meiji Shrine was officially designated one of the Kanpei-taisha (官幣大社), meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines.

The author at Minami-Shinmon Gate

During the Tokyo air raids of World War II, the original building was destroyed and the present iteration of the shrine was funded through a public fund raising effort and completed in October 1958. The shrine has been visited by numerous foreign politicians, including U.S. Pres. George W. Bush, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

Kyle, Grace and Jandy in front of the Honden (Main Hall)

The entrance to the shrine complex, marked by a massive torii gate (one of the largest in Japan) in the Myojin style, constructed from a more than 1,500 year old hinoki (Japanese cypress from Taiwan), leads through the Jingu Bashi bridge. Upon entry into the shrine grounds, the sights and sounds of the busy city are replaced by a tranquil forest and Meiji Jingu’s buildings, at the middle of the forest, that have an air of tranquility distinct from the surrounding city.

A lady worshiper praying at the Main Hall. In front of her is an offertory box where coins are dropped

Visitors to the shrine can take part in typical Shinto activities – making offerings at the main hall, buying charms and amulets, writing out one’s wish on an ema (piece of paper) and tying them on a prayer wall, etc. On the first days of the New Year, Japanese usually visit a Shinto shrine to prepare for the Hatsumōde (初詣), the year’s first prayers, and the shrine is the most popular location in Tokyo for this, regularly welcoming more than three million visitors. During the rest of the year, traditional Shinto weddings can often be seen taking place there.

Visitors shopping for omamori (lucky charms, talismans and amulets for all kinds of occasions) or ofuda (emblems bearing the name of the shrine or enshrined deities distributed by the shrine)

The shrine itself is composed of two major areas – the Naien and the Gaien. The Naien, the inner precinct, is centered on the shrine buildings, dating from 1958. The buildings, all great example of Japanese Shinto architecture, are made from Japanese cypress wood from the Kiso region of Nagano (regarded as the best in Japan) with green cooper plates used for the roofs.

Interior of the main hall

It consists of the honden (The Main Hall, the main shrine building proper and the innermost sanctuary of the shrine), noritoden (The Prayer Recital Hall where Shinto liturgy is recited), naihaiden (The Inner Shrine Hall), gehaiden (The Outer Shrine Hall), shinsenjo (the consecrated kitchen for the preparation of the food offerings) and shinko (The Treasure House).

A prayer wall where ema are hung on hooks. An ema is a wooden tablet, obtained at the juyosho (amulet offices), where wishes are written.  There are two main types of ema – Kigan-Ema (bear the crest of the shrine on their front and the word Kigan on their back) and the Eto-Ema (depicting this year’s Eto  or zodiac).

The Treasure House, at the northern end of the shrine grounds, was built in the Azekurazukuri style one year after the shrine was opened.  It displays many interesting personal belongings of the Emperor and Empress, including the carriage which the emperor rode to the formal declaration of the Meiji Constitution in 1889. The Museum Annex Building, just to the east of the main shrine buildings, displays temporary exhibitions.

Kaguraden (Hall of Shinto Music and Dance). Goshuin (Meiji Jingu Memorial Seal), to remind you of your visit to Meiji Jingu,  are stamped and hand-painted here.

The quite beautiful, simple and classic Minami-shin Mon, the main shrine gate to the inner precinct, was built in 1921.  Made entirely of Japanese cypress, it has a copper plate roof. You reach it upon passing the final myojin torii gate. This gate and one of the amulet offices (shukueisha) were the only constructions in Meiji Shrine not destroyed by the World War II raids.

The reception and registration area of the Kaguraden Hall

The Kaguraden (Hall of Shinto Music and Dance), built to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Meiji Jingu, was started in 1990 and completed in October 1993. This 3-storey building (one floor is above the ground and the other two floors below ground level) follows the traditional Irimoya-Nagarezukuri architectural style The front entrance, with the reception and registration area, is slightly below ground level. One flight of stairs leads down, and another flight of stairs leads up to the waiting area and the hall for ceremonies.

The Gaien, the outer precinct, includes the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery (housing a collection of 80 large murals illustrative of the events in the lives of the Emperor and his consort); a variety of sports facilities, including the National Stadium (Meiji Jingu Gaien Stadium and later, since 1956, on the same site, Tokyo Olympic Stadium); the Meiji Kinenkan (Meiji Memorial Hall).  The latter, originally used for governmental meetings (including discussions surrounding the drafting of the Meiji Constitution in the late 19th century), is now used for Shinto weddings as well as meeting rooms for rent and restaurants services.

The Meiji-jingu Gyoen (Inner Garden), a large area of the southern section of the shrine grounds, becomes particularly popular during the middle of June when the beautiful irises here are in bloom. Kiyomasa’s Well, a small well located within the garden visited by the Emperor and Empress while they were alive, was named after a military commander who dug it around 400 years ago. The well has become a popular spiritual “power spot.”

Meiji Shrine: 1-1, Kamizono-chō, Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-0053.  Open daily, from sunrise to sunset.  Admission to the shrine precinct is free. The Inner Garden, open from 9 AM to 5 PM, requires an entrance fee of JP¥500 to enter.

How to Get There: From JR Tokyo Station, get on the Yamanote Line and get off at the busy Harajuku Station on the JR Yamanote Line or Meiji-jingu-mae Station on the Chiyoda and Fukutoshin Subway Lines. It is about a 25 minute train ride. The approach to Meiji Shrine starts a few steps from Harajuku Station.  The main complex of shrine buildings is a 10-min. walk from both the southern entrance near Harajuku Station and the northern entrance near Yoyogi Station.

Yoyogi Park (Tokyo, Japan)

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Yoyogi Park

Yoyogi Park (代々木公園 Yoyogi kōen), adjacent to the Meiji Jingu Shrine, is located in a forest within the densely built-up city.  A popular Tokyo destination, it covers an area of 54.1 hectares (134 acres).  The park is covered by an evergreen forest that consists of 120,000 trees of 365 different species, which were donated by people from regions across the entire country when the shrine was established.

The author under the park’s massive, 40 ft. high torii (Japanese gate)

This popular Tokyo destination stands on the site where, on December 19, 1910, Capt. Yoshitoshi Tokugawa made the first successful powered aircraft flight in Japan. Later, the area became an army parade ground. From September 1945, during the Allied occupation of Japan, the site housed “Washington Heights,” the military barracks for U.S. officers.

In 1964, the area was used for the Tokyo Olympics, housing the main Olympic village and the distinctive Yoyogi National Gymnasium (designed by Kenzo Tange, it hosted the swimming and diving, with an annex for the basketball). On October 20, 1967, most of the area north of the gymnasium complex and south of Meiji Shrine was turned into Yoyogi Park.

On Sundays, the landscaped park, with its picnic areas, bike paths, cycle rentals and public sport courts, is especially busy when it is used as a gathering place for Japanese rock music fans, jugglers, comedians, martial arts clubs, cosplayers and other subculture and hobby groups. During hanami, thousands of people visit the park to enjoy the cherry blossoms.

Street performer at Jingu Bashi Bridge

Rock band performing at same bridge

The forest is visited by many as a recreation and relaxation area in the center of Tokyo and the spacious shrine grounds offer walking paths that are great for a relaxing stroll.

Cheska and Bryan admiring the colorful karadizu, wrapped in straw and having wonderful unique graphics, containing sake

Along the path to Meiji Shrine is a great wall of colorful kazaridaru (which means “decoration barrels”) containing saké (Japanese rice wine), all wrapped in straw and having wonderful unique graphics. These sake barrels, offered every year to the enshrined deities at Meiji Jingu Shrine, were donated by sake brewers from around Japan. The sake is used for shrine ceremonies and festivals.

Across are barrels of wine to be consecrated at Meiji Jingu.  These have been offered by the celebrated wineries of Bourgogne in France on the initiative of Mr. Yasuhiko Sata, Representative, Hourse of Burgundy in Tokyo, Honorary Citizen of Bourgogne and owner of the Chateau de Chailly Hotel-Golf.

Provenance of the Bourgogne Wine for Consecration

Yoyogi Park: 2-1 Yoyogikamizonocho, Shibuya, Tokyo 151-0052, Japan.  Tel: +81 3-3469-6081.

How to Get There: The park is located near the JR Line’s Harajuku Station or Yoyogi Station, or Tokyo Metro’s Meiji-Jingumae Station. 

Zōjō-ji Temple (Tokyo, Japan)

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Zojo-ji Temple

It was our fourth day in Tokyo and, after breakfast at the hotel, we visited the San’en-zan Zōjō-ji (三縁山増上寺), a Jōdo-shū Buddhist temple located in the Shiba neighborhood of Minato.  The main temple of the Jōdo-shū (“Pure Land”) Chinzei sect of Buddhism in the Kantō region, it was founded in 1393 as the sect’s eastern Japan seminary.

Daimon Main Gate

During the Edo period, Zōjō-ji, together with Kan’ei-ji, were notable for their relationship with the Tokugawa clan, the rulers of Japan.  Zōjō-ji was the Tokugawa‘s family temple and six of the 15 Tokugawa shoguns were buried in the Taitoku-in Mausoleum in the temple grounds. Kazu-no-Miya Chikako, Tokugawa Iemochi’s wife, is also buried in Zozo-ji. Tokugawa Ieyasu had the temple moved, first to Hibiya and then, in 1598, at the time of expansion of Edo Castle, to its present location.

Approaching the Sangedatsumon

With the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate, the grounds took on the character of a public park. Parts of the former grounds of the temple are now occupied by a park and two hotels. The 65-hectare Shiba Park, Japan’s oldest public park (designated as such in 1873), is built around the temple, with the Tokyo Tower standing beside it.

Shiba Park

At its peak, the temple grounds covered an area of 826,000 sq. m. and contained 48 subsidiary temples, over 3000 priests and 150 temple schools but, following the decline of Buddhism during the Meiji period (1868-1912), the temple’s original buildings, temples, mausoleums and the cathedral were destroyed by fire, natural disasters or burned in air raids during the Bombing of Tokyo in World War II.

Tokyo Tower

After the war, reconstruction began.  In 2015, a Treasure Gallery was opened on the underground level of the Daiden.  Currently, it houses paintings of Kanō Kazunobu and a model of the Taitoku-in Mausoleum. Additional graves are located in the cemetery behind the Daiden.

A concrete myojin-style torii just to the right of the daibonsho

From our hotel, we walked to the nearby Akasaka-Mitsuke Station and took the short, 12-min train ride to the Hamamatsucho Station on the JR Yamanote and JR Keihin-Tohoku Line. The temple was a 10-min. walk from the station. It is the first indication that we have reached Zojo-ji Temple is the Daimon Gate, the concrete reconstruction of original main gate of Zojo-ji destroyed during World War II. As it is now located along a street, cars pass underneath it.

Sangedatsumon

About 200 m. past the Daemon Gate is the temple’s  famous, 21 m. (69 ft.) high, 17.6 m. deep and 28.7 m. wide, 2-storey Sangedatsumon (仏殿), which serves as the inner main gate.  San means “three,” gedatsu means moksha or liberation/freedom, and mon means “gate.” Dating from 1622, it is the temple’s only original structure to survive the Second World War and is, therefore, the oldest wooden building in Tokyo. It has been designated an Important Cultural Property.

Entering the temple via the Kuromon (Black Gate)

The majestic and magnificent, vermilion lacquered gate was designed in three sections to symbolize the three stages that one must pass through to achieve nirvana. If someone passes through the gate, he can free himself from the three passions of greed (貪 Ton), hatred (瞋 Shin) and foolishness (癡 Chi).

Bryan, Grace, Jandy, Kyle and Cheska at the Ji-unkaku Hall

On the upper floor of the gate are enshrined an image of Gautama Buddha (Shakyamuni), flanked by Samantabhadra and Manjusri (two attendant bodhisattvas), and statues of the Sixteen Arhats (disciples of the Buddha), all created by Buddhist image sculptors of Kyoto when Zojo-ji was built.

Image of Shoso Shonin

We entered the temple via the  Kuromon (Black Gate) which dates back to the mid to late 17th century. Immediately to the left is the Ji-unkaku Hall.  It has a multi-purpose hall on the ground floor.  A long flight of stairs brought us to the Kaisando on the second floor.  It enshrines an image of  Shoso Shonin, the founder of Zojo-ji.

Daiden (Main Hall)

The Daiden (Great Hall), rebuilt in 1974, is a blend of traditional Buddhist temple architecture and modern architecture. It enshrines the main image (honzon)  of the Amida Yosai Buddha which was made during the Muromachi Period (1336-1573).  To the right of the Amida Buddha is an image of Great Teacher Shandao, who perfected China’s Jodo (Pure Land) Buddhism), while at its left is an image of Honen Shonin (who founded Japan’s Jodo Shu).

The author beside the Shoro (Bell Tower)

Other structures within the grounds include the Ankokuden, the Kyozo (Sutra Repository), the Shoro (bell tower), Enko Daishi Hall and Koshoden. The Enko Daishi Hall enshrines Enko-daishi, another name of Honen, who is the sect founder of Jodo Buddhism.  The Dai-Nokotsudo (or Shariden), made with stone in 1933, is where the bones of the deceased are stored.

Bryan, Kyle and Cheska at the Dai-Nokotsudo (Shariden)

The Koshoden, a lecture hall and seminary for “cleansing soul and fostering the vigor to live,” has a coffered ceiling features pictures of flowering plants, donated by 120 pious Japanese artists and fitted into coffers.

Ankokuden Hall

The Ankokuden, located to the right of the Main Hall of  the temple, was built in 2010.  It enshrines the Black Image of Amida Buddha, a Buddhist image deeply worshiped by Tokugawa Ieyasu which brings victory and wards off evil.

Interior of Ankokuden Hall

The hall is also used as a prayer hall. The image is shown to the public 3 times a year (January 15, May 15 and September 15).

Black Image of Amida Buddha

The Kyozo, built in 1613 with financial aid from Tokugawa Ieyasu, serves as a storehouse where sutras (important cultural documents) are stored on red, octagonal-shaped revolving bookshelves at its center. It has a thick wall to resist fire and its door is usually closed. The Kyozo has also been designated as an Important Cultural Property by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

The Kyozo

The Shoro, just inside the grounds on the right after you enter the Sangedatsumon gate, houses the daibonsho, a huge 15-ton bell completed in 1673 (after repeating casting work as many as seven times).

Daibonsho

With a diameter of 1.76 m. and a height of 3.33 m., it chimes the hours and is tolled twice a day (six times each in the early morning and in the evening).  Renowned as one of the “Three Great Bells of the Edo Period,” it serves to purify the 180 earthly passions (bonno), which lead people astray, through an exhortation, repeated six times a day, to profound equanimity.

The Himalayan cedar tree planted by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant

A Himalayan cedar tree, between the Daibonsho bell and the Sangedatsumon gate, was planted by General Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the United States, when he visited the temple as a guest of the nation in 1879.

Sentai Kosodate Jizo (Unborn Children Garden)

The Sentai Kosodate Jizo (Unborn Children Garden), in one particular garden at the cemetery, has rows of 1,000 jizou stone statues of children representing unborn children (miscarried, aborted, or stillborn), lined up about 30 m. long and each wearing a red knitted hat and holding a small colorful windmill that spin around as the wind blows, creating a beautiful scenery.

Prayer Wall

Here, parents can choose a statue in the garden and decorate it with small clothing and toys. To ensure that they are brought to the afterlife, the statues are usually accompanied with a small gift for Jizō, the guardian of unborn children. Occasionally, stones, meant to ease the journey to the afterlife, are piled by the statue.

Incense Burner

Annual events held in the temple are Hatsumode (New Year’s visit) in January; Kurohonzon Prayer Ceremony on January 15; the Setsubun Tsuina-shiki/Nehan Ceremony (Nirvana Day) in February; the Spring Higan Ceremony in March; the Gyoki Ceremony/Buddha’s Birthday (Flower Festival) in April; the Kurohonzon Prayer Ceremony on May 15; the O-bon/Kaisan-ki/Bon Odori in July; the Peace Prayer Ceremony in August; the Autumn Higan Ceremony/Takigi Noh in September; the Kurohonzon Prayer Ceremony on September 15; the Juya Hoyo (Ten Nights of Prayer) in November; and the Jodo Ceremony (Bodhi Day)/Butsumyo Ceremony/Joya no Kane (New Year’s Eve Bell Ringing) in December. Monthly events include the Sutra copying, on the 14th (except July and August) of each month and the Betsuji Nembutsu on the 24th of each month.

Gate of the Tokugawa Mausoleum

In popular culture, the Zōjō-ji Temple was depicted multiple times, during the 1920s and 30s, in the art work of the Shin hanga artist Kawase Hasui.  It was also shown in several ukiyo-e prints by Hiroshige, in particular twice in his famous One Hundred Famous Views of Edo series from 1856–1858.

Zojo-ji Temple as seen in the movie Wolverine (photo: www.tokyofox.net)

Rila Fukushima (Yukio) and Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) – photo (www.tokyofox.net)

In the 2013 movie ‘‘The Wolverine,”  Zojo-ji Temple’s mail hall was used for Logan’s (Hugh Jackman) old friend Mr.Yashida ‘s (Hal Yamanouchi) funeral. Though badly damaged in World War II, Zojo-ji still retains the air of a major temple.

Cemetery at the back of the temple

Zōjō-ji Temple:  4 Chome-7-35 Shibakoen, Minato, Tokyo 105-0011, Japan.  Tel: (81)3-3432-1431. Website: www.zojoji.or.jp.  There is no admission fee for visitors to enter the temple complex. Treasure Gallery Museum Admission: JP¥700. Though the temple grounds are always open, the temple itself is only open from 6 AM to 5:30 PM. While not immediately obvious, the temple grounds are somewhat wheelchair accessible if entering from the side street instead of the main gate. The best time to visit the temple is late March or early April (for the beautiful cherry blossoms) or autumn (for the colorful leaves). In the evening, you can admire the temple with an illuminated Tokyo Tower in the background.

How to Get There: The entrance is at a 10-minute walk from Hamamatsucho Station on the JR Yamanote and Keihin-Tōhoku Lines, a 6-min. walk from Daimon Station on the Toei Asakusa and Toei Oedo Lines, a 3-min. walk from Onarimon and Shibakoen Stations on the Toei Mita Line, and about 500 m. from the Shibakoen exit of the Shuto Expressway. If you are getting there from Daimon Station, there is a big gate of the Zojo-ji Temple, located in front of the station, which will lead you straight to the front gate of the temple.

The Kabuki-sa (Tokyo, Japan)

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Kabuki-za (Kabuki Theater)

The fifth building on the site, it was first built as a wooden structure in 1889 but this was destroyed by an electrical fire on October 30, 1921.  Reconstruction began in 1922 but had not been completed when it again burned down during the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.

Rebuilding was finally completed in 1924. Destroyed once again by the 1945 Allied bombing during World War II, the theater was restored in 1950, preserving the style of 1924 reconstruction.  It was, until recently, one of Tokyo’s more dramatic and traditional buildings.

The author

In the spring of 2010, the 1950 structure was demolished, due to concerns over the building’s ability to survive earthquakes as well as accessibility issues, and rebuilt over the ensuing three years. The new theater complex was opened on March 28, 2013 and staged its first performances on April 2, 2013.

Grace and Jandy

The new structure, designed by Japanese architect  Kengo Kuma (whose works include Tokyo’s Suntory Museum of Art and the Nezu Museum), kept the style of the 1924 structure which was in the Wafu-Momoyama style (with its signature extravagant façade), an ornate Baroque Japanese Revivalist style meant to evoke the architectural details of Japanese castles as well as temples of pre-Edo period.

The Kabuki-sa Tower looming over the theater facade

While the theater still looks much the same as in 1924, it now has the attached 29-floor Kabukiza Tower office block looming over it. The office building’s fifth floor gallery displays Kabuki costumes and props that have been used in actual performances as well as other culture-related exhibitions.

The theater’s ticket booth

The theater, consisting of three floors, has 1,808 seats, three height-adjustable stages, of varying sizes, as well as an even larger height-adjustable stage and a new revolving stage. Performances are held most days of the month.  If you aren’t sure about committing to an entire show, you can purchase single-act tickets (Hitomaku-mi) for  ¥1,000-¥2,000.

Kabukiza Theater: 4 Chome-12-15 Ginza, Chūō, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan. Tel: 03-3545-6800.  Website: www.kabuki-bito.jp.

How to Get There: The theater is a short walk from Higashi-Ginza Station Exit 3 on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line or the Toei Subway Asakusa Line.

Lake Ashino-ko (Hakone, Japan)

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Lake Ashino-ko

We just finished our late lunch at Izumi Restaurant at Gotemba and we all had to rush back to our bus for the 30-min. drive to the Hakone area of Kanagawa Prefecture if we were to catch the last 4:30 PM ferry tour of Lake Ashinoko (芦ノ湖). It was still rainy when we left the restaurant. The lake is located on the Tōkaidō road, the main link between Kyoto and Tokyo. The bus made it just in time to Togendai-ko Harbor, the sightseeing boat pier at the lake’s northern shores.

Togendai-ko Harbor

The scenic Lake Ashinoko, also referred to as Hakone Lake or Lake Ashi, is a crater lake 720 m. above sea level that lies along the southwest wall of the caldera of Mount Hakone, a complex volcano that last erupted in 1170 CE at Owakudani. The name Ashinoko means “lake of reeds” in Japanese – ashi (芦) means “reed” while ko (湖  means “lake.”

Victory

The lake, situated some 723 m. above sea level, is the largest lake in Kanagawa prefecture.  With an area of 7 sq. kms., it extends 7 kms. from north to south and has a circumference of 19 kms. It is known for its views of Mt. Fuji, its numerous hot springs, historical sites and ryokan (inns).

Vasa docked acrossed from Victory at Togendai-ko Harbor

Royal II docked at Hakonemachi-ko Harbor

At Togendai-ko Harbor, we all boarded the Victory  (modelled after the 18th century British warship, the HMS Victory) one of three ships inspired by the design of sailing warships (the other two are Royal II, a replica of the 18th century French warship, the Royal Louis, and Vasa, a replica of the 17th century Swedish warship) of Hakone Sightseeing Boats, one of two companies (the other is Izuhakone Sightseeing Boats), that operate pleasure boats that traverse and cruise the gorgeous lake between four ports (Moto-Hakone and Hakone-machi and Togendai and Kojiri) at the lake’s northern end.

The passenger cabin of the Victory

It stopped raining when we left the pier but the skies were still overcast. The boat cruise from one end of the lake to the other takes roughly 30 minutes. The lake, with Mount Fuji in the background, is the symbol of Hakone. However, as with our tour of Mt. Fuji, clouds and poor visibility block our view of the mountain. Visibility tends to be better during the colder seasons of the year than in summer, and in the early morning and late afternoon hours.

Still, the view and cool breeze from the wide open-air decks, with plenty of comfortable viewing spots, was still scenic, with small towns in the east and north and a couple of lakeside resort hotels lining the shoreline framed by the nearby mountain range that includes the famous Mt. Fuji. Legend has it that Lake Ashinoko was home to a nine-headed dragon which is presented with an offering of traditional red rice at the Hakone Shrine Lake Ashi Festival on July 31 every year.

Hakonemachi-ko Harbor

Our tour ended at Hakonemachi-ko Port, at the lake’s southern shore, where our bus waited for us.  On our way back to Tokyo, our bus made a short stopover at Odawara Shinkansen Station where a number of passengers took the super fast shinkansen bullet train back to Tokyo.

The author with Kyle at Hakonemachi-ko Harbor. In the background is the Victory and Royal II

Outside the west exit of the station is a bronze equestrian statue of Hojo Soun (1432-1519), first head of the Later Hojo clan, one of the great powers of the Sengoku period.   It shows him with flaming torches tied to his oxen and fooling his opponents that his troops were three times more than what he actually had.

Odawara Station

Back on our bus, we continued on our long haul drive back to Tokyo. Once in Tokyo, we made a number of stopovers at a number of hotels to drop off passengers before being dropped off at the Akasaka Excel Hotel.

The equestrian statue of Hojo Soun

Lake Ashinoko: Hakone, Hakone-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun 250-0521, Kanagawa Prefecture.

How to Get There:  Frequent buses connect Odawara, via Hakone-Yumoto, with Moto-Hakone and Hakone-machi. The trip from Odawara takes about 50 mins. From Hakone-Yumoto, it takes about 35 mins. The Hakone Free Pass is valid on Hakone Tozan buses (bus line H) but not on Izuhakone buses (bus line Z).

There is also a frequently served Hakone Tozan Bus line from Odawara via Hakone-Yumoto to Togendai  (bus line T). The trip also takes about 50 mins. and is also covered by the Hakone Free Pass. From Hakone-Yumoto it takes about 35 minutes.

A slow and scenic way of approaching Lake Ashinoko, from Odawara or Hakone-Yumoto, is taking the Hakone Tozan Railway to Gora, followed by a cable car and ropeway ride to Togendai. From Togendai, you can continue to Moto-Hakone or Hakone-machi by sightseeing boat . The whole journey is covered by the Hakone Free Pass.

Fuji Subaru Line 5th Station (Japan)

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The partially cloud-shrouded Mt. Fuji

Our  third day in Tokyo was to be spent on a booked Mt. Fuji/Hakone Day Tour. After breakfast at our hotel, we walked to the nearby Akasaka Excel Hotel. Here, we as well as other tour joiners were met by Mr. Hashimoto, our tour guide.  Once all guests were accounted for, we all boarded  our Gray Line Tour Bus and were soon on our way.

Fuji Subaru Line 5th Station

The 138.4-km. drive from Tokyo to our destination, the Fuji Subaru Line 5th Station (also known as Yoshidaguchi 5th Station or Kawaguchiko 5th Station), normally took just a little over two hours and 30 mins. but, it being a weekend (Saturday), traffic was heavy along the way.

Jandy

The Fuji Subaru Line 5th Station is the most popular of the four 5th stations on Mount Fuji and the best developed and easiest to access by public transportation from Tokyo. The only 5th Station with daily bus service during most of the year, it is accessible almost year round, snow conditions permitting.

Gogoen Resthouse

The station is reached by the Subaru Line, a scenic toll road up Mount Fuji‘s lower northern slopes that begins in Kawaguchiko Town. In times of heavy snow in winter, it may temporarily get partially closed.

It lies at approximately the halfway point of the Yoshida Trail, which leads from Fujiyoshida Sengen Shrine at the mountain’s base to the summit of Mount Fuji.

During the majority of the climbing season (July 10 to September 10), the road is closed to private vehicles and shuttle buses can only operate between designated parking lots at the base of the mountain and the 5th station.

Statue of young Japanese men pointing to the summit at Fuji

During the long drive, we had some good views of the 3,776 m. (12,388 ft.) high Mt. Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan.  The peak (not snow clad as it was autumn), however, was partially obscured by clouds.

We arrived at the 5th Station by 12:30 PM. The Fuji Subaru Line 5th Station had parking lots, coin lockers and a few restaurants and shops.

At 2,305 m. (7,546 ft.) above sea level, the Fuji Subaru Line 5th Station is a popular spot even for those who are not intent on climbing the mountain as it offers a commanding view of the Fuji Five Lakes area below.

Start of the Yoshida Trail up the mountain

The Komitake Shrine, behind the shops, has an observation point with unobstructed views of Fujiyoshida City and Lake Yamanaka.

Being that high up the mountain, it was bitingly cold when we alighted our bus.  Here, we used their restrooms (for a fee), bought souvenirs and bought some Japanese-style pancakes (250 yen each) which were incredibly light and super fluffy (because of the whipped egg whites) and were available with cream cheese and custard cheese fillings.

The interior of a well-stocked Japanese store

For departing climbers, it is their last chance to stock up on supplies and purchase hiking sticks, snacks, bottles of water and oxygen, at reasonable prices (though also available along the trail, prices increase as you climb higher), before they head out.

The stall selling Japanese-style pancakes

Fuji Subaru Line 5th Station: Narusawa, Minamitsuru District, Yamanashi Prefecture