We arrived in Asakusa, an area that has the famous Senso-ji Buddhist Temple. Let me share a little information about this place with you before we move on.
The legend says that in the year 628, two brothers fished a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, out of the Sumida River, and even though they put the statue back into the river, it always returned to them. Consequently, Sensoji was built nearby for the goddess of Kannon. The temple was completed in 645, making it Tokyo's oldest temple.
A shopping street of over 200 meters, called Nakamise, leads from the outer gate to the temple's second gate, the Hozomon. Alongside typical Japanese souvenirs such as yukata and folding fans, various traditional local snacks from the Asakusa area are sold along the Nakamise. The shopping street has a history of several centuries.
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| from left to right: Kibidango - Skewered kibi-balls covered with soybean powder; top: Agemanju - deep fried manju (soft cake with red bean paste filling); bottom: Ningyoyaki - small cake with red bean paste filling; Kibidango Shop |
Various events are held throughout the year in the Sensoji Temple area. The biggest of them is the Sanja Matsuri, the annual festival of the Asakusa Shrine, held in May. Other events are the Asakusa Samba Carnival in August and the Hagoita-ichi (Hagoita Market) at which decorated wooden paddles used in the traditional game ofhanetsuki are sold.
 A statue of Bodhisattva Kannon sculpted by Ennin (a treasure of Senso-ji) |
The way of devotion to Bodhisattva Kannon can be described as emulating the compassionate mind of this bodhisattva in our day to day lives, treating everyone we encounter with kindness.
● To pray at the Main Hall, place your hands together in the Buddhist prayer position and chant “Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu” (I place my trust in Bodhisattva Kannon).
Instead of us going through the main entrance, we decided to go in to the temple grounds through the back way to avoid crowds.
Smile pretty, Shelle!
Great! Very few people! Maybe we can see everything today?!
Rob loves how the Japanese people show the peace sign whenever they get their pictures taken. Thanks for the demonstration.....
Rob wanted to go through the ritual of going up to the incense burning area to have the smoke blow on him for "protection". However, the smoke only made him cough and turn away.
The next step is to.....
go drink and cleanse yourself with the pure water at the well. They aren't too nervous about germs since there are only a handful of metal cups that people drink out of. Hey, the water is pure so it must act as a cleansing agent to kill everyone's germs. No worries!!
One then.....
goes up the stairs to the temple of worship,
goes to the large wooden box at the entrance of the temple, throws coins in the box, claps his hands, and chants a specific chant. Rob just made up a chant. I hope people didn't hear him.
Once you do that, you make your way closer in to see the gold shrine.
In my ignorant state, I am trying to understand how a retrieved statue from the river can give blessings. Can someone help me out? I'm sure I'll understand it some day.?.?
We finished at the temple, walked through the shops, and out the entrance, on a train to......
another temple....
Yes, ours. A bit more peaceful and serene. I don't have a picture of us in front of the entire building, so this is just the entryway.
Once we finished seeing our temple, I decided to take Rob, (with Rachelle's expertise) on a shopping spree.
Here we have at least a dozen kinds of tomatoes. Have your pick!
In the next area we found about 25 kinds of mushrooms. I couldn't get all of the mushrooms in one shot!
Can you believe it?
Now, let's go check out the delicious strawberries. And how much do you want for these strawberries? $13 for one little box? There has to be diamonds sprinkled in each box. No? Are you sure? Ya, I'm pretty sure.....no diamonds, no gold, nothing but 10 strawberries. How about a rain check on those? We'll just move on to something else like.....
melons. Am I reading that correctly? $250 for 2 melons? Are you serious? Okay, the ribbons on top are gold. That's the answer. No? They're just regular ribbons? Hmmm...... Let's check out something else.
Here we have a melon, apple, papaya, orange, pear, and a pomegranate all for the price of $500. Yes, it is blurry, but it says 50,000 yen which is a little more than $500. Really? There has to be gold dust on those! We need to keep shopping....
Here we have an assortment of traditional Japanese food that is in a giant bento all for the price of $530. I bet you could feed at least two people for that! Enough already! Let's get out of here!
We decided to head outside to see the statue of a dog named Hachiko in an area called Shibuya. Did any of you see the movie Hachi? Well, here is the true story:
In 1924, Hidesaburō Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo, took in Hachikō, a golden brown Akita, as a pet. During his owner's life, Hachikō greeted him at the end of each day at the nearbyShibuya Station. The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Professor Ueno did not return. The professor had suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage and died, never returning to the train station where Hachikō was waiting. Each day for the next nine years Hachikō awaited Ueno's return, appearing precisely when the train was due at the station.
Hachikō attracted the attention of other commuters. Many of the people who frequented the Shibuya train station had seen Hachikō and Professor Ueno together each day. Initial reactions from the people, especially from those working at the station, were not necessarily friendly. However, after the first appearance of the article about him on October 4, 1932 in Asahi Shimbun, people started to bring Hachikō treats and food to nourish him during his wait.[2]
In 1932 one of Ueno's students (who developed expertise on the Akita breed) saw the dog at the station and followed him to the Kobayashi home (the home of the former gardener of Professor Ueno—Kikuzaboro Kobayashi[3]) where he learned the history of Hachikō's life. Shortly after this meeting, the former student published a documented census of Akitas in Japan. His research found only 30 purebred Akitas remaining, including Hachikō from Shibuya Station.
He returned frequently to visit Hachikō and over the years published several articles about the dog's remarkable loyalty. In 1932 one of these articles, published in the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun, placed the dog in the national spotlight. Hachikō became a national sensation. His faithfulness to his master's memory impressed the people of Japan as a spirit of family loyalty all should strive to achieve. Teachers and parents used Hachikō's vigil as an example for children to follow. A well-known Japanese artist rendered a sculpture of the dog, and throughout the country a new awareness of the Akita breed grew.
Eventually, Hachikō's legendary faithfulness became a national symbol of loyalty, particularly to the person and institution of the Emperor.[4]
Hachikō died on March 8, 1935, and was found on a street in Shibuya.[5] In March 2011 scientists settled the cause of death of Hachikō: the dog had terminal cancer and a filaria infection (worms). There were also four yakitori skewers in Hachikō's stomach, but the skewers did not damage his stomach or cause his death
Shibuya is a bustling busy shopping area in Tokyo now, unlike it was in 1935, and Hachiko Square is a meeting place for many people.
Hachiko square is behind Robby and Rachelle.
As you see, it's not a quiet train station any more.
Inside part of the station.
People, people everywhere!
Do we like blonde haired Japanese?
Shopping, shopping everywhere.
Movie theaters galore.
There are restaurants every 5 feet, karaoke bars, electronic shops, clothing, crafts, accessories, etc. You name it, it's there.
Live commercials going on movie screens everywhere advertising products and
singing groups.
Rob, what is that look on your face? By the way, we don't walk around Japan with a toothpick in our mouths.....unless you are Rob.
The next day was Thanksgiving. How thankful we are for the bounteous blessings that have been given to us. Our freedoms, health, family, God, and work are only a few of things that we are grateful for. As the turkey cooked in the oven,.......
a game of Scrabble took up some time.
Here I am making pie. Do I have a rolling pin? No. So what did I use to roll out the pie shell? That's easy! My EVOO spray can. It works wonders!
Since my "picture taking brain" was shut off for some ridiculous reason (maybe meal preparations?), I failed to take any pictures until it was too late! This is the end of our meal. We had the 4 missionaries who are assigned to our ward/congregation over for Thanksgiving dinner. The elders had to leave for an appointment and as soon as they left, my brain turned on. Yes, I was bummed that I didn't get them in the picture! In our family, we have a saying, "What goes around, comes around." That is exactly what happened to us on Thanksgiving. We invited the missionaries to celebrate with us, and a kind sweet family in Michigan invited Jeff and is companion over for Thanksgiving. I was fine this year with trading one son who is giving service of himself to others for 4 great young people who are likewise giving service to others. See? What goes around, comes around. I love it!
Rob left that night to go back home so he could attend his good friend, Mike Fabrizio's wedding, and Rachelle got to stay an extra day.
That gave us an opportunity to shop for some things that she wanted to take back home and for one of her favorite meals.....sushi!
This is at a sushi place that has a moving conveyor belt filled with various kinds of sushi moving passed your seat. You pick whatever you want, or you can order something that isn't on the conveyor belt.
Rachelle requested something from the chef.
When you finish the 2 pieces of sushi on your plate and you want more, you just get another plate of food and stack the plates up as you eat. Once you are finished eating, you count your plates and that is how your bill is tallied. Pretty cool.
The next day, Rachelle had to head back home so here she is.....
saying goodbye on the Limousine bus headed back to the airport. Thank you Rachelle and Rob for the fun Thanksgiving!
On the night that Rachelle left, we looked out our windows and we were treated to.....
a fireworks show out over the water by Rainbow Bridge. It was great!
The next day we went to an area of Tokyo called Matsudo where Kent was going to narrate a Christmas musical program at one of the ward/congregation buildings.
This is a 5-story church building where there is an entryway on the first floor in the front section of the building with outside covered parking at the back under the upper 4 stories. The chapel is on the 2nd floor, classrooms on the 3rd and 4th floors, and a gymnasium on the 5th floor. It is a large, beautiful building that was creatively designed for a small plot of land.
This is the chapel.
The program was performed by about 50 of the 200 missionaries in the Tokyo mission. In this picture they were just starting their practice time without everyone there yet. We have some pretty incredible musicians as missionaries here. Violinists, flautists, guitarists, pianists, soloists, and directors; not to mention the incredible singers. The house was packed for the program and it turned out fabulously. Kent did an incredible job narrating the program.
Everyone went up to the gym to have treats and to shake Kent's hand.
Does anyone know who these cute girl are with us?
I met a dear, sweet woman from France by the name of Anne who joined me and my Japanese friends for our English class. Yes, we do more than speak, as you can see we eat!
I hate to create problems with people at home who are suffering with subzero weather and snow, but let me just show you what Tokyo looks like right now......
Not a cloud in the sky. Yep! It was in the high 50's and low 60's last week. We are talking about the first week of December. Ya, it's pretty nice right now.
Not only are we enjoying the beauty and the good weather, but we are enjoying delicious produce such as their....
apples.
If you look closely, you can see how there is a different color in the center of the apple. That is called the "honey" of the apple. If you cut into an apple with the "honey", you know it is going to be good. Yes, most of the apples that I have had so far have the "honey" in them. They are seriously the best apples that I have ever had. I wish that I could share them with you!
Every year, the American School in Japan hosts a huge fund-raising Christmas event where vendors and people bring clothing, crafts, furniture, and food to sell. However the biggest event is Santa Claus! Yes, he comes all the way to Japan!
These are the people that I went with. They are Lori's friends and one of them is one of the princess's of the Japanese royalty. She is the one in the gray jacket and is a very nice woman. The other family is great too!
A food booth....
the clothing sales area....
It is now the Christmas season with many fun gatherings and activities to attend.
One of which was our ward/congregation Christmas party. The children re-enacted the nativity, the young men and young women did a Christmas skit and sang a song, the congregation sang Christmas carols, and we had refreshments afterwards.
I invited my new friend from France, Anne's, son, George, with me so he could meet some friends. He just moved to Tokyo to do an internship for 6 months so what a better place than a party to meet new people.
Here is George sitting next to the missionaries.
Everyone is socializing, having a great time.
Anne, here are some of George's new friends! Rachelle, I'm pretty sure you know one of them too!
George is talking to two new French speaking friends. Anne, he is in good hands here!
With it being the Christmas season, it turns our hearts to be kinder and gentler. It reminds us to think of others, to give of ourselves, to help those who are in need, to be more generous, and to follow the great example of our Savior, Jesus Christ. May we each strive to include those character traits with us throughout the entire year.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Love,
Mom and Dad
Grandma and Grandpa
Uncle Kent and Grandma Barb
Kent and Barb
