Before I forget: there is another benefit (other than ATM machines) from the 7-11’s ; they sell wine and whiskey!!
When we arrived at the train station yesterday – it’s as large as a city, we tried to find the correct exit from the station. With advice from the “lost and found” department – because that described us – we made our exit into an underground mall. But what next? We study maps and looked down the corridors when a Japanese man comes up and asks “Why don’t you try information?” pointing to an information booth nearby. How many times have you felt stupid?
Today we had contracted with a guide via “Local Guides”. Our guide, Hiroshi, is a highly educated and well-traveled man who worked for 40 years for an international company. He retired last year. You’ll see his photo later; he worked in Saudi Arabia in the early 1980’s, the same as me, but we were in different towns.
Our first stop was the fish market. On Wednesday the wholesale part of the market is closed but the public part is open. There is plenty to see and plenty of people shopping. Next stop was a small shrine near the market. It’s purpose is to calm the waves to keep the market from flooding.
Then to the Sensoji Temple. This area of Tokyo was bombed in 1945 but quickly rebuilt. The gate leading into the temple area is Kaminarmon Gate. On either side is the God of Thunder and God of Wind. The gate burned to the ground in 1856 and was not rebuilt until 1960, but the statues are made of bronze and survived the fire. The gate just outside the temple is Niomon. Nio meaning guardian and mon meaning gate.
There is a Shinto Shrine next to the Buddhist temple which is unusual. In this case the treasure inside the Buddhist temple was discovered by 2 fishermen and brought to their village elder. The elder recognized the importance of the small statue and had a replica made. The original is never seen by the public but the replica is put on view one day a year in the Buddhist temple. The Shinto shrine is honoring the 2 fisherman and village elder.
Buddhism was brought to Japan in the 6th century, from India. Shinto originates in mythology.
We took a water taxi to the Imperial garden area. The afternoon was spent walking through gardens and going to the top of a skyscraper for views of Tokyo. Also, we walked through new shopping areas then the oldest shopping areas in Tokyo. The new stores look very modern and chic and the oldest department store reminded me of Harrods's in London. There was a display of gold leaf and they insisted we have our pictures taken in a gold tomb, at least that’s what it looked like.
See photos from today’s tour.
We’re less than 0.5 miles from the Tokyo Train Station yesterday and there are dozens, maybe hundreds of restaurant. We were surprised by the lack of English. We were denied service on three occasions tonight, supposedly because of prior reservations.
The trip is almost over; we’ve never had our credit cards denied and getting cash from an ATM has also worked every time.
This afternoon we’re scheduled for a bike tour of Tokyo.
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