Tokyo, October 14

The great thing about this trip was that Bill was with us.  Bill had a business trip so Caroline and I tagged along.  I had enough frequent flyer miles for a free trip for the both of us.  Awesome!
The hotel was the New Sanno, a 4-star military hotel right in the middle of Tokyo.
We were a 7-10 minute walk from the metro.  I took Bill's picture before he left for work that day.

You have to know Marines, they ALL stand in this position...

Caroline and I took off right after Bill.  It was time for Caroline to learn the metro system.  She was in charge of everything from buying the tickets to navigation.  She did a great job!  She picked it up right away.  Also, since she is learning the Japanese alphabet, she was able to sound out the station names! Amazing.  The names are in English, and we had an English metro map, but I was impressed.

Can she do it???

Notice how clean the metro station is.  Japan is very clean!!

No worries!

We made it.

We learned our lesson from Kyoto.  Instead of going with a tour group (mucho dinero), I looked up where a typical group would go, then we mapped it out on the metro.  This way we saved money and could spend as much or as little tome as we wanted.  Our first stop was Asakusa at the northern end of the city.  We had to transfer lines, so she did a good job. 

We stopped at a small temple on the way.  It was so peaceful that we had to go in...

Wishes are placed here.

Tranquility right in the middle of the city.

 Okay, now we headed to Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa.  There was a small street filled with vendors on the way to the temple, we did some shopping there.  Just a few things.  We did more shopping when we brought Bill back there a few days later.

We are across the street, getting ready to enter the street vendors street before the temple.

This is Nakamise dori (dori is "street" in Japanese)  This small street is lined with all kinds of vendors.

Caroline purchased a wish from the temple and placed it in the urn to be burned.

Part of the process is to inhale the smoke.  Some of the men even captured the smoke into their hats and put the smoke filled cap back on their heads.

We roamed the quiet streets around the backside of the temple for awhile and were heading to the Metro when the Soma, the rickshaw grabbed us for a chat.  I was saying "no thanks" and I explained in part Japanese, part English, and part Spanish that I wanted to catch the metro before rush hour.  I didn't mean for any Spanish, but it slips out of my mouth a lot because I know I need a foreign word so my mind grabs the most familiar one, Spanish.

He recognized the Spanish and started speaking in Spanish.  He said he was studying Spanish and even spent time in Mexico.  I told him I was studying Japanese ("Nihongo o benkyo shiteimatsu").  So, I jumped on the rickshaw, what can I say?  Caroline wanted to do it anyway.  It was fun.  It was a strange conversation in Japanese, English and Spanish.

Soma, our driver

Here is the Orion Beer factory, it is a gold building with silver top.  It is supposed to look like a mug of beer.  Really cool.

They are currently constructing what is to be the tallest tower in Japan.  It is planned to be about 687 meters tall.  Right now it is about 450 meters.  It is huge.  I can't imagine what it will be like when it is completed.  It should open in 2012.

Soma took us to the oldest temple/shrine in Tokyo. Sorry, I can't remember the name and google was no help.  This shrine is home to BOTH Buddha and the Indian God, Gannesh.  

Soma said that this place is very sacred because both Gods reside there.  Instead of people fighting over the space, they feel it is especially sacred.

Soma taught us the proper way to wash your hands before you go into any temple or shrine.  It is not really taught any more in schools so many young people do not know the proper way.

You use one cup of water only.  First wash your left hand, then right, then rinse your mouth.  Then you flip the cup and handle vertical so that the water rinses off the handle.

Notice that Soma is wearing the traditional split-toe shoe.

Soma taught us that Buddha can not see you.  He "perceives" you.  So that is why we inhale and absorb the smoke from our burned wishes.  Buddha can smell you.  We toss a coin into the bin in front of the bell.  It has many sides so you can hear the coin.  Then you ring the bell.  Buddha can hear the bell and smell the burnt wish.  That is how you are perceived and why we ring the bell.

We also went down the street where the Geisha's train. Very quiet and private.  We didn't see any because they were inside.  Apparently, they come out at 6pm and go to the various Tea Houses etc where they perform.  This is one of the schools...

Soma took us on the east side of Senso-ji temple to Nite-Mon gate.  This is the entrance tat was used for the Shoguns.  I would not have known about it if he had not shown us.  A beautiful spot.

Heading back to the metro to meet Bill for dinner.

Soma taught us a lot about Japanese culture as well.  He was a great guy with an amazing smile.

Thanks Soma!

Mapping out the plans for the night....

We went to Shibuya station.  It has one of the busiest and craziest intersections in Tokyo.  It is incredibly safe here and so clean!  Anyway, we read that the best view is from the second floor at Starbucks.  BTW,  Starbucks are everywhere in Japan and Okinawa.

I took a picture of Bill at Starbucks.  Caroline had to get her two cents worth in....

End of Day 1 (12 hours of touring...).