Yesterday was our 32nd wedding anniversary as well as our first weekday off together. After several days of cool rainy weather, we woke to warm sun and bright blue sky. Several of our students had urged us to visit Asakusa, said to be the heart of Tokyo’s old downtown, so after a leisurely breakfast we headed off. The main attraction in Asakusa is Senso-ji, the city’s largest temple. After having seen the temples of Kyoto, Nara and Nikko, I guess it would take an awful lot to impress us now. The temple itself, was no different from many of the others that we’ve seen but the atmosphere of the place definitely was. Clogged with tourists, a fairground spirit prevailed. Leading up to the temple is Nakamise-dori, a narrow and crowded shopping street where everything from tourist trinkets to genuine crafts are sold. Within the temple compound itself, there were more little shops and places to eat as well as a few booths with games of chance! The smell of incense permeates the place. Directly in front of the temple itself, there’s a huge incense cauldron. The smoke is said to bestow good health so visitors, worshippers and tourists alike, crowd around it and rub the smoke into their bodies through their clothes.

The main part of the temple is closed to tourists. Though it would have been nice to take a closer look, I respect that. I wouldn’t want tourists traipsing through my place of worship and in spite of the carnival like atmosphere, there are those for whom the place has great spiritual significance.

After leaving the temple, we wandered a few of Asakusa’s side streets where we found some interesting little shops and had a delicious lunch. After strolling the promenade along the Sumida River and observing that this is obviously where some of Tokyo’s homeless hang out, we took a water bus to Hamarikyu gardens. The 35 minute boat ride wasn’t the most scenic of cruises but it was a relaxing way to travel from one part of the city to another and it allowed us to enjoy some different views of the city.

We spent the late afternoon strolling through beautiful Hamarikyu-teien, also known as the Detached Palace Garden. Historically it belonged the ruling family. I may have seen enough temples to last me a lifetime, but I don’t think I’ll ever tire of beautiful Japanese gardens!

The garden is about a 10 minute walk from Ginza. Rather than catching a crowded train toward home as the workday came to an end, we decided to spend some time wandering around that area again and hopefully catch a less crowded train a little later. Sounds wise, but it wasn’t! A couple of hours later, the trains were still packed. We had to stand all the way back from Tokyo and were literally packed in like sardines. It didn’t help that we were given wrong directions at the Ginza station and ended up taking a bit of a roundabout way home!

Once we were back in familiar territory, we stopped for dinner. Even though many restaurants have plastic replicas of their dishes on display, there are sometimes surprises when you can’t read the menu. What I thought was fish because I could see that it was served with tartar sauce, turned out to be breaded oysters! I have studiously avoided eating oysters since my father introduced me to eating them raw on the beach in front of our oceanside home some fifty years ago, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that these were delicious!