Tokyo! The last time I was here was 53 years ago, touring Japan with the Boy Scouts before a World Scout Jamboree. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be back, but here I am. Of course, nothing looks the same as it did then, and I certainly didn’t recognize anything, with one exception. Back in 1971 I remember our tour bus driving past the Diet Building, Japan’s parliament. Today I could see the top of the building from the grounds of the Imperial Palace, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning.
We docked early this morning in Yokohama, a major port city of 3.8 million residents that serves the Tokyo area and is really part of the Tokyo megalopolis. The greater Tokyo metropolitan region is home to a whopping 40 million people, making it the world’s largest metropolis.
There’s no way you can see everything in a city that large in a single day, so you have to choose, and we opted for a tour that would take us to some important cultural spots. By freeway it was about an hour from the pier in Yokohama to Tokyo and our first stop, Sensō-ji, Japan’s oldest established temple. Sensō-ji is the world’s most visited religious site, hosting more than 30 million visitors annually, and if today’s crowd was any indication I believe it.
The large Buddhist temple is really a complex, with two main buildings—the large main hall and a five story pagoda. The complex is entered through elaborate gates, and one of the first things we noticed when we entered was the smell of incense. A big , roofed brass urn was situated in the center of the open area below the main hall, and was filled with burning incense, the smoke of which supposedly contains healing properties. I unintentionally took in a few lungfuls, so I should be good to go for a while.
They also had a fortune telling operation of sorts going on. If I have it right, people were going up to a window with a question in their heads they wanted answered. For a donation of 100 yen (about 66 cents US) patrons were given a small canister full of numbered sticks. They then shook the canister until one stick rose above the others, and that stick was turned in at the window, where they were given a numbered piece of paper matching their stick. Patrons then took the paper a short distance away to a cabinet of sorts that had numbered drawers. They then opened the drawer matching the number on their paper, where they pulled out a slip of paper containing the answer to their question. If they wished they could tie their answer to a nearby string of similar answers. Got all that?
Sensō-ji may be the country’s oldest temple, but don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s a solemn place. As Exhibit A I offer the fact that there was a street performer with a trained monkey on the grounds, and their antics were drawing a large, appreciative crowd. If his oversized donation tray was any indication, he and his monkey were having a very profitable day.
I should add that in one corner of the property there is a gorgeous little Shinto shrine, which I found puzzling considering that we were on the grounds of an important Buddhist temple. Obviously I have a lot to learn about religion in Japan.
Unsurprisingly, the area around the temple is crammed with vendors hoping to take advantage of the foot traffic generated by 30 million annual visitors, and we had enough time to join the crowds and wander down the traditional shopping street, looking for who knows what. Actually, with no lunch included on our tour my first priority was to buy something to eat. The challenge was to identify something I would like, which was harder than you might think. I finally bought a cookie sized, sugar coated mystery item that looked promising, and it turned out to be a rice cake, baked or fried with a hard syrupy coating and topped with sugar. Good enough, especially when paired with a Coke Zero that I bought from another vendor.
At last our time in and around the temple was up, and we boarded the bus for the drive to our second big stop, the Imperial Palace. It’s hard to describe how important the Emperor is to the Japanese, but this may give you an idea. The Japanese can trace the Emperor’s lineage back 126 generations, well before the birth of Christ. As you might imagine, the Palace itself is off limits to the public, but you can stroll around the grounds outside the high stone walls and moat, and even that is impressive. The Palace is out of sight inside the walls, but we were able to see a couple bridges, a high watch tower, and some large gates, two of which we could walk through because they were outside the walls and moat. If the area inside the walls is anything like the outside, the Emperor has some mighty fine digs.
The grounds outside the Palace are also where I saw the only thing I remembered in downtown Tokyo from my visit 53 years ago. As I wrote above, I could see the top of the Diet Building several blocks away, which pleased me no end. Unfortunately, our tour didn’t take us any closer, and my hopes were dashed when our bus pulled out and headed in the opposite direction.
That was it for the walking part of the tour, but on the way back to Yokohama we did drive through the Ginza, Tokyo’s historic, high end shopping district. I had been there all those years ago but remembered little of it, and in all likelihood not much of it was the same anyway. Still, I was curious about it and it was fun to see where the rich people shop.
We got back to the ship around 3:30 and immediately found something to eat, before venturing back out into Yokohama on our own. We’re here overnight, so we had no deadline to return to the ship, which was doubly nice considering that we could walk right off the ship and into the city without the need to take a taxi or Uber. So where did our walk take us? Why, to Japan’s largest Chinatown, which lay several blocks from the pier.
We found it without any trouble, and my goodness, what a mass of humanity we joined on the narrow streets and alleys. There’s really no way to describe this big Chinatown on a Saturday night, you just have to dive in and enjoy being part of it. The small shops sell anything and everything, and to be honest I had no idea what some of them were. My favorite thing, though, was people watching, and I had a ball. Hopefully my photos will give you a feel for it, but there’s no substitute being there and adding to the organized chaos.
By now the sun was setting and I was ready to call it a day. We walked back to the pier along Yokohama’s delightful waterfront park, itself an attraction worth visiting. It’s spring here, and everything is in bloom, including Japan’s famous cherry trees. There were also flowerbeds, including one of multicolored tulips that especially caught my eye.
Tired, and with seven miles of walking on our pedometers, we boarded the ship and made our way to the buffet for a well earned dinner. Still, the day wasn’t quite over, as a marvelous group of local musicians and dancers had come on board to do a cultural performance for us in the ship’s main theater. Their demonstration of traditional Japanese dance and music was wonderful, and a great end to a long and memorable day. Hopefully we’ll get a good night’s sleep, because we’re out again tomorrow, this time to Kamakura, a smaller city on the coast south of Yokohama. Can’t wait to tell you about it, so stay tuned.
Rickshaw outside the temple. We saw a few of these today.
Temple entrance. There are a couple other similar gates allowing entry from other directions.
Pagoda in the temple complex.
Pagoda and main hall.
Inside the main hall. The ceiling was gorgeous.
Main hall in the background. Note the crowds and large brass urn burning incense.
Another shot of the main hall, incense urn and crowds.
On my way to inspect the urn.
If inhaling the smoke from the burning incense has healing powers I should be good for a while.
Oddly, at least to me, there was a Shinto shrine in a corner of the Buddhist temple complex.
The Shinto shrine.
Street performer with his trained monkey inside the temple complex. Last thing I expected to see.
Young girls dressed in traditional Japanese style. We saw a lot of this today.
Skytree, Tokyo’s giant communications and observation tower, is visible from all over the city.
This is what it looks like outside the temple complex, with vendors taking advantage of the temple’s 30 million annual visitors.
Statue of a famous samurai hero on the enormous grassy grounds of the Imperial Palace.
You can’t get inside, but you don’t have to in order to appreciate the beauty of the Imperial Palace. That’s merely one of the several guardhouses above the wall and moat. The bridges are elegant and add to the beauty.
Now that’s a moat.
An outer gate. All getting through it does is get you to the wall before the moat. This one and another just around the corner are part of a measured four kilometer running loop that is very popular.
Driving through the Ginza, Tokyo’s famous shopping district. I walked down the Ginza 53 years ago, but didn’t recognize a thing today.
The entrance to Yokohama’s Chinatown, the largest in Japan.
And this is what it looks like once you’re inside.
I have no idea what they were doing at this shop, but that’s part of the fun.
It’s clear where the political sympathies lie here. Those are the flags of the Republic of China, the democratic Nationalists on Taiwan.
Flowerbed in the waterfront park in Yokohama.
Lemonade vendor in the park. The sun was going down as we made our way back to the ship.
Fire juggler in the park.
Japanese dancers and musicians putting on a traditional performance in the ship’s main theater.
And last, the view from our ship in Yokohama harbor. End of a long, wonderful day.
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