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| Senso-ji Buddhist temple in Asakusa, Tokyo |
Nora and I went on a guided walking tour of Tokyo. We started at the fish market and then took the subway to Asakusa and Buddhist temple there. We then went to various places including the Meiji Shrine and ended up at the Hachiko dog statue at the Shibya crossing before taking the subway back to the hotel. Without the help of the guide I think Nora and I might have had some issues figuring out the subway!
The Buddhist temple and Shinto shrine were both packed because of the upcoming New Years day holiday. I gather millions visit the Meiji Shinto shrine on New Years day and the wait on that day is hours long. We did not have anything near those kind of crowds, but they were still more crowded than usual.
At the Buddhist temple in Asakusa Nora had her fortune taken. She got a predicted good fortune. I gather if your fortune is bad that you stick it onto the temple and it will get washed away. I was curious about the co existence of Buddhism and Shinto and I gather that many Japanese practice both religions. Mostly visiting the Shinto shrines and then having a Buddhist funeral.
I noticed a lot of people in traditional clothing and the guide told me that there are nearby shops where you can rent a kimono for the day.
The Meiji Shrine was my favorite. It was built in honor of the very popular Emperor from the latter half of the 19th century who basically restored to the emperor to power and who also modernized the country. The shrine had a forest planted around it when it was built in the 1920s and now most of the trees are HUGE. I loved walking through the trees to get to the shrine and the 2 big round trees at the actual shrine were my favorite.
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