Gallivanting Grandma

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Sakura is the name of the Japanese cherry trees and they are almost in bloom this week. I can see pale colors of blossoms on many trees which are on the verge of opening as we walk around Tokyo. 

The Sakura Festival is an important time of year throughout Japan. It’s a season of excited anticipation and hope for good times and happiness for the coming year. Pink signs were everywhere brightening Tokyo with color. Lanterns were hanging in every park for evening strolls and picnics. 

We checked out of the New Otani Hotel (highly recommended!) and walked to the Toyku Stay Yotsuya Hotel to join the Overseas Adventure Travel tour group to see the rest of Japan during the next two weeks.

Today was a cool rainy spring day so, after we left our luggage in the new hotel, we took the JR train to Ueno Park to visit the Tokyo National Museum to see traditional Japanese art.

Afterwards we stopped in a cafe down the street from the museum and discovered “Japanese sweet milk tea” which was warming and delicious.

We took the train back to the new hotel.  Japanese people work very long hours so many of the people, of all ages, were sleeping on the train.

After we rested in the hotel, we ventured out to look for a restaurant for dinner.

Friday –  March 18, 2016

The Meiji Shrine, located in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shoken. The shrine was built in a 170 acre evergreen forest that consists of 120,000 trees which were donated by people from all parts of Japan.

Barrels of saki were donated to the shrine to honor the emperor and empress .

We followed a succession of impressive wooden gates, called torii, to the shrine.

We saw a bridal procession with priests and maidens in traditional dress. 

Visitors leave handwritten prayers in all languages: 

We walked back to the spotlessly clean subway to take another train to the Shenjuku business district.

I love the ‘hot pink’ plush seats in this train.  I don’t know how they keep them clean!

We got out of the subway to find ourselves in a busy neighborhood that reminded us of a modern Times Square. We stopped at a Starbucks for a rest. It was full of young people on computers.

March 16 and 17, 2016

We left JFK Tuesday afternoon (March 15th) and after a grueling 14 hour flight, Jeff and I arrived at Narita Airport Wednesday night.  We found an ATM machine to exchange our dollars for some yen. Then we purchased tickets for the airport bus service to take us directly to the New Otani Hotel where we planned to stay for three nights. We were quite pleased with ourselves to have found the right bus going directly to the hotel.

After a ninety minute bus ride, it was dark when we arrived at the hotel. We had been up for more than 24 hours. Since neither of us slept on the plane, we were exhausted and immediately collapsed when we reached our room.

The next morning was bright and sunny.  After a scrumptious Japanese breakfast in the hotel dining room, we ventured out to navigate the complex Tokyo subway system.  The neighborhood around the New Otani Hotel was lovely. 

Jeff had downloaded a free app from the Metro website and we wanted to see if it worked. The app proved to be an excellent aid to traveling around the city by train. The subway cars had padded seats and the stations were all very clean. We followed the color-coordinated trains.

We rode to the Asakusa district to visit the ancient temple Senso-ji which is the oldest temple in the capital city. The main gate which leads to the temple complex is on a busy intersection:

The main building dates from 1649 and is an example of early Edo architecture. 

Nearby was a 5-story pagoda. Although the structure is a 1973 reconstruction, it is the second highest pagoda in Japan.  

We explored the complex with thousands of other tourists. We saw the purification fountain, fortune telling drawers, and smoky incense pots.

We explored narrow back streets and alleyways around the temple complex which were lined with restaurants and shops.

We were tired from jet lag but curiosity drove us to continue exploring. We had purchased “Passmo” cards which allow unlimited use of the Tokyo rail system. We took the subway to Ueno Park.

The park is a vast public space whose roads were lined with lanterns in anticipation of the Sakura Festival of cherry blossoms.  Ueno Park is the location of several museums and cultural institutions.

We walked to Kiyomizu Kannon-dō hall of Kan’ei-ji temple in Ueno Park. This was part of a former Buddhist temple complex which was founded in 1625.

We continued to Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine which is recognized for Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, the third and last of the shogun governments in Japanese history. Tokugawa shogunate lasted from 1603 to 1868.

We were tired but excited to be in Tokyo.  What an amazing city!  We found another subway station and returned to our hotel to rest up for tomorrow.