Tokyo – Travel-along.in

Tokyo is Japan’s bustling capital that provides the visitor a taste of diverse experiences ranging from the ultra modern to the traditional. With its towering skyscrapers, neon lights and flyovers crisscrossing the Sumida river on one side and traditional temples like the Senso-ji and Meiji Jinku on the other ; it is truly an amalgam of modern and traditional Japan. It is exceptionally clean and so difficult to find a public dustbin ; that we wonder if it really is the world’s most populous metropolitan area ?

It is the main economic centre of the country and the seat of the government and the Emperor of Japan. Originally known as Edo, it has evolved from a small fishing village to what it is today. And one has to remember that all this has been achieved in spite of numerous earthquakes and the World wars that plundered it.

Landing at Narita airport, these were the signs that greeted us…

First glimpses of Japan

Driving from Narita airport to town, we did see the towering skyscrapers, flyovers and sparkling billboards of modern Tokyo.

A beautifully lit bridge on the Sumida river with skyscrapers in the background

The busy locals and the colourful billboards

The disciplined movement of traffic is something that is striking!!!! (click on video)

We checked into the beautiful Tokyo Dome Hotel and the views from there were wonderful.

The Hotel and a bird’s eye view of Tokyo city

This Hotel is part of an entertainment arena called Tokyo Dome. It has various fun activities and shopping areas in the complex.

The illuminated Tokyo Dome arena and entertainment area (click on video)

The brightly lit ferris wheel in the shopping area.

Next morning, looking down from our hotel room, the organised movement of people at the signal amused us as they resembled small black ants….click on the video below for some fun…

Bird’s eye view of the start to a day at Tokyo…(click on video)

Soon we were on our way looking around and we first visited the Imperial Palace and garden.

Imperial Palace and Garden

The primary residence of Japan’s Emperor, this palace is located on the grounds of the former Edo Castle. It features Japanese style gardens with historic castle ruins, moats, walls and the Nijubashi Bridge. The outer gardens are accessible to the public but the inner gardens are not.

Some pictures…

A bronze statue of Kusunoki Masashige a famous 14th century samurai adorns the pathway of the garden near the palace. He was very loyal to the Emperor and is seen here awaiting his return from exile. It is regarded as one of Tokyo’s important bronze statues.

The garden

The bronze samurai

The Japanese style garden with bonsai trees

The Nijubashi bridge across the moat is famous for its two arches like two eyes. Behind it is the original bridge and to the left is the main entrance to the palace

Nijubashi bridge with the palace watchtower behind

Our group at the outer gardens

The entrance to the inner gardens

Some of the buildings in the palace complex with stone walls and moats around

From here we proceeded to the Asakusa temple also called the Senso-ji temple.

Senso-ji Temple (Asakusa Temple)

Dedicated to Kannon, the Bodhisattva of compassion it is believed to be one of the most widely visited religious sites in the world.

The senso-ji legend

In 628 AD, two brothers discovered the statue of Kannon while fishing in the Sumida river. The statue was 5.5 cms in height and made of pure gold. This idol is housed in this temple which was completed in 650 AD making it Tokyo’s oldest temple.

Asakusa was at that time, a small fishing village in the Tokyo bay. Visitors flocking to worship Kannon increased the popularity of not only the temple but Asakusa too. Gradually the placed developed and by the 18th century, it became a very busy part of the city. Destroyed during an air raid in WW II, it was rebuilt in 1950.

The Temple

The entrance to the temple is dominated by a Thunder Gate with a massive lantern painted in red and black suggesting thunder clouds and lightning.

The Thunder gate

This gate leads to the Nakamise-dori the shopping street that has shops selling food items, souvenirs, Buddhist scrolls, kimonos, traditional fans and curios.This shopping street was established after the locals were given permission to run the businesses in exchange for keeping the street clean.

Nakamise -dori (The shopping street)

The shopping street ends at the inner gate or the Treasure house gate which is a two storey gate with Senso-ji’s treasures in the upper floor.

Treasure house gate

The temple grounds house the main hall, and a five storey pagoda. The main hall houses Kannon. A large beautiful shrine lies inside the main hall but the statue of Kannon is never shown to the public. The entrance to the main hall also has a huge red lantern.

Just outside the main hall is also an incense burner and purification fountain found in most Japanese temples.