Tokyo

Thursday morning Jeanne and Doyle were committed to help with a session in the temple. Brandon and I decided to go too. I had to laugh as we entered the temple because Brandon and I had no idea whether we should take our shoes off or not. Feeling a little foolish we asked the man checking recommends. Gratefully this is not something that is done in the temple. After the session I met a woman who owns a business in Boise. She and her husband are moving to Boise too. I also met Dee Jones. Her husband grew up in Moses Lake. She couldn't believe I was Gail's daughter. What a small world!
Luckily the Brown's schedule allowed them to see the sites with us. It was so much fun traveling around with them. They had so many little details and stories to share about the different locations. The times we were traveling between sites we enjoyed really engaging and interesting conversations.

I may not do our time in Tokyo justice. We were all over the place hopping on and off subways. We were told where we were but it is really hard to remember all the names. We went to a noodle place for lunch. Then we were off. Our first stop was the Shinkuju area where we went to the 45th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government offices. The 45th floor is an observation deck. There are windows all the way around the building. It was amazing to see just what a big city Tokyo is. There were buildings in every direction as far as the eye can see.
Next we headed to Harajuku. We went down Takeshita Dori Street to see the Goths and Lolita girls. The Lolita look consists primarily of a knee length skirt or dress, headdress, blouse, petticoat, knee high socks or stockings and rocking horse or high heel/platform shoes. It is influenced by the Victorian clothing. Lolita's prefer to look cute than sexy and the style is very modest. We also walked a few blocks away where the church use to have a building. In its place are high scale department stores. The church sold the building and were able to pay for the temple in Tokyo. Then we headed to Meiji-Jingu. This Shinto shrine was build in 1915 and dedicated in 1920. It was built because the Japanese people wanted to pay their respects to Emperor Meiji and his wife who were very influential.
In Shibuya we went to see the Hachiko statue. If you don't know the story about the dog Hachiko it is worth learning about. We also saw the Shibuya crossing. It is famous for its scramble crossing where they stop vehicles in all directions and allow pedestrians to inundate the entire intersection.
In Asakusa we saw the Senso-Ji. This is an ancient Buddist temple. It is Tokyo's oldest temple which was built in 645. It is dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy. It was dark outside by the time we arrived. What a great site to see at night. I loved the huge paper lanterns. The street leading from the gate to the temple was lined with shops that sold everything from nuts and cakes to fans and kimonos. We made a stop at Ginza to see all the fancy shops. Ginza is to Tokyo what Park Ave is to New York City. We had pork cutlets at the coolest restaurant. I can't remember the name but the food was delicious. There were no tables, just a bar that went around the kitchen area. You could watch the chefs prepare your food. It was a really fun place to eat. Brandon and I woke up very very early on Friday morning to go to the Tsukiji fish market. It is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world. Tsukiji handles more than 2000 metric ton of seafood everyday. This was a crazy site to see. I felt like I was in the way the entire time I was there. We really had to watch where we were going and try to stay out of the way. I have never seen so much fish and seafood in my life. We also walked to a garden not far from the market but it was closed. The four of us had a wonderful breakfast that Jeanne had waiting when we arrived back at the apartment. Then we went to Kamakura. It is a city 30 miles south-south-west of Tokyo. Our first stop was the Great Buddha of Kamakura. It was cast in bronze in 1252. It was once housed in a large hall but a tsunami washed the building away in 1495 so it now stands in the open air. The Great Buddha is 13.35 meters tall and weighs 93 tons.
We ate a few interesting food items on the way to our next destination. Not far from the Great Buddha is a temple called Hasa-Dera. It is located on a hill with a fantastic view of the sea. There is a beautiful garden and a collection of statues of Jizo, the patron saint of travellers and the souls of departed children. There is also a 9 meter high carved wooden 11-faced statue of Kannon the goddess of mercy. In a cave there are several sub gods carved out. It was all so interesting. Our last stop in Kamakura was Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu. This is the most important shrine of the city. The shrine is at the geographical and cultural center of Kamakura. There is a 1.8km approach to the shrine. It is lined with cherry trees. All the cities most important festivals are held there. We were lucky enough to see an entire traditional Shinto wedding.
We arrived back in Tokyo just in time to go on a river boat tour. It was pretty dark by the time we started the boat ride so we saw the city by night. We passed under several bridges.

To end the day Brandon and Doyle went to eat Sashimi. Jeanne and I had no interest! Doyle even ate salmon roe (a bunch of little eggs.)
Friday morning we went to the grounds of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The Imperial Palace is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. The grounds are huge. We walked around as long as we could before having to jump on a train to the airport. I have to express great appreciation to Doyle and Jeanne for their great hospitality. They were so much fun. They treated us like their kids and were so generous to us. Our trip wouldn't have been the same without them.
We had a great trip to Japan. It was pretty exhausting. I felt like I needed a vacation from our vacation. We are so grateful to have been able to visit but are really glad to live in the United States.