Tokyo - Cityrama Tour

Back to Tokyo! On Wednesday, Joe and I took a "Cityrama" morning bus tour of Tokyo. This was actually a wonderful way to see a few different things in Tokyo. Our tour guide, Mina, was very helpful! She had great information about Japan and was very candid with our little tour of about 20. We had four major stops - Meiji Shrine (Shinto), Imperial Palace Gardens, Asakusa Shrine (Buddhist) and Ginza.

The first stop of the morning was Meiji Shrine. Meiji Shrine is a Shinto shrine, within the city of Tokyo. In Mina's description, Shinos are concerned about this life; whereas the Buddhists are concerned with enlightenment and the afterlife. Very candidly, she shared that the Japanese visit the Shinto shrine on happy occasions, Buddhist shrines on sad occasions and Santa Claus on Christmas. (She said that 80% of the Japanese consider themselves Shinto, 60% consider themselves Buddhist and 2%Christian. Interesting religious identity!)

Anyways, when you first enter Meiji Shrine, there are a number of wine & sake barrels. Hopefully you can read this descriptive sign:

The shrine is guarded by three or four torii (gates).

This was the last one - you can see through the gate the shrine.

Outside the shrine, there is a little "purification" hut.

Mina shared the ritual of cleansing......

...which Joe and I both did.

Inside the shrine

Here is the main part of Meiji shrine. It was so peaceful, serene and green inside this shrine.

You can purchase (if you are Shinto) a "votive tablet" for your particular prayer. Mina said that most of the prayers are about school -- passing a test, getting into university, etc.

Lots and lots of offerings!

Looking back at the courtyard of the shrine.

Most Japanese visit the shrine on New Year's and make their offering (usually coins). Sometimes there are so many people, you can't make it to the main part of the shrine. So the Japanese throw their coins at the front of the shrine -- there are some serious coin holes here!

The next stop was the Imperial Palace Gardens - which you might recall, we were already there. That was ok, this was only a 20 minute stop! I did learn a few new things:

On the guardhouses, we learned what these symbols meant: The one that is there multiple times - three curvy lines surrounded by dots? That is a "no-fire" symbol. Many buildings inside the palace grounds have burnt, due to accidental fires. The other, single symbol is the symbol of the Edo.

The cherry blossom tree continued to bloom!

Joe actually snuck off the tour for a moment to get a photo of the actual palace. We somehow missed it the other day!

The next stop was Asakusa Temple (Buddhist). This was worlds different from Meiji. Here was the entrance to the temple.

Instead of rinsing with water, Buddhists do something with this smoke (I can't recall!)

Outside of the temple there was a beautiful little garden.

Interestingly enough, on the other side of the temple, there was a large shopping area -- Japanese gifts, toys and food!

The last stop on the tour was Ginza -- the large shopping district. Don't get too excited, it was mostly high-end shops, like Prada and Coach. I wandered around for a little bit, but it was pretty rainy!

Sony headquarters