Tokyo: Day 2 Temples, beer and figuring out the world

That really busy crossing in Tokyo. The most pedestrian crossings per hour, apparently

Glitch Cafe, Kanda

Crazy facade-ism... lets just build an envelope round an old building. Check out what's happening with the William St casino development... 

Sake barrels from the sponsors of the enormous temple we visited which I don't know the name of.

These are used for ritual cleansing before entering the shrine/

I thought the work that went into those beams and posts was amazing...

When we first saw this, we thought we had found a quiet little temple. Hence, I tried to work in a bit of composition with this one. Turns out the structure is just a picnic hut, anyway.

I just love the human scale of some neighborhoods in Tokyo

And the strangest examples of freestanding homes just emerge from round the corner.

Just a warning… this will be a long one. I have a few hours to kill in Dubai, and it was a big day in Tokyo yesterday.

I slept fabulously well and actually woke at 0600 local time. That meant I had what is for me a very rare eight hours of sleep. Not that stopped me

Stepping out the door at 1000 after a gorgeous eight hours of sleep, I immediately bumped into those mobile shrines, for which Greg still hasn’t given me the correct noun. As I hit the main corner of the Kanda bookshop, a local asked me if I needed directions. I didn’t but I did want to know what the processions were all about. Now joined by his wife and baby daughter, the stranger explained that the different colours stood for different districts, and they would all converge on a single neighbourhood temple at some point. It’s a bi-annual festival that’s been going on for years. The gentlemen was unable to to tell me what the mobile shrines were called… or at least, nothing I can pronounce, let alone spell.

Some rice rolls from a festival stall served for breakfast, and as I wandered off in the direction of the Palace, I was violently pulled off the street and into a small shop by the aroma of well-drawn coffee. I actually walked passed this place without noticing it, but the smell of espresso from little shop off the corner caught up with me and pulled in me. It was a very nice little shop, with a real machine and a barista who knew what he was doing. The orange twist in the coffee was a very nice touch.

I was on my way and took a tripod shot of that guardhouse from yesterday. But the best of the light had long gone, and the sun was blasting down from a clear blue sky. I did my best, but I think the little LX100 got the shot yesterday.

Meeting up with Greg outside Tokyo station, we took the green line round to a district with lots of shops in little streets and a huge temple sitting in some deep green gardens. It occurs to me that I really didn’t pay much attention to names or places… I enjoyed simply moving between places and taking in the details.

So, after leaving the station, the first thing that struck was the heat. It was hot. After that, it was the crowds. At last, here was a neighbourhood in Tokyo that was teeming. Where ever that was. It had lots of little streets and seemed to specialize in selling costumes to young women. I was beginning to wonder what Greg’s purpose was when he steered us back to the temple.

This large Shinto shrine set in some very green woods was fabulous. Huge gates with columns of timber and massive beams. Deep, cool shadows and bright dusty sunlight were my impressions. Along with the wedding processions with their strange mix of traditional Japanese dress for the women and 19^th century European finery for the men. This culminated in a visit to an artesian well that bubbles up in the forest and irrigates the irises that grow in iris season. Which isn’t now, apparently.

Anyway, this pool was nondescript, except that it perfectly reflected the sunlight and leaves of the forest canopy on its surface. And that I knew it was the farthest point on my little Tokyo odyssey.

We left the temple and entered the shopping district again. After taking a few deliberate turns down some tiny streets, I soon completely lost my bearings and lost in the detail of these discrete little dwellings and communities tucked away in corners of the world’s greatest metropolis.  Tokyo appears to be infinitely scalable… from vast, barren boulevards of the business and government districts to these tiny neighbourhoods. I loved it.

But it was time for lunch, and again Greg just seemed to choose a place at random in some nondescript commercial building. One of those little noodle places, whose primary attraction for us was the super-cold beer that was advertised. We took a table way, way up the back in the smoking section and settled in for a few beers, a really good meal and a long conversation about who really is running the world, anyway. And why?

We didn’t figure it out.

Then it was off to find a station. We crossed the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world before hearing a story about a loyal dog before boarding the train back to Tokyo central. Another couple of beers, with some beans and chips and it was time to farewell Tokyo.

A little bit of drama with my train ticket and the efficient Japanese at the ticket desk insisting I part with my oversized hand luggage were the only glitches in a journey that finds me here.

Tokyo was amazing. Of course, there is no way two days can do it justice, but I saw enough to confirm that Tokyo was everything I expected. There was no gulf between expectation and reality in this case. The Japanese were amazingly efficient, helpful and friendly. The city is vast but human, teeming but strangely spacious. Great design was in evidence, everywhere. I think I’ll be back.

Many thanks to Greg for enabling me to see so much so quickly… and for not minding the walkJ.