Sunday, 17 August 2008

7th Day - Tokyo (part1)

In the morning, we went to Sensoji 金龍山浅草寺 also known as Asakusa Kannon Temple is a Buddhist temple located in Asakusa. Before that, I would like to share a legend behind this temple. 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 the put the statue back into the river, it always returned to them. Therefore, Sensoji was built there for the goddess of Kannon.

When approaching the temple, we first enter through the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate) 雷門. This is the main symbol of Asakusa. A shopping street called Nakamise, leads from the first fate to the temple's second gate, Hozomon,宝蔵門.

Kaminarimon Gate,雷門

Hozomon Gate,宝蔵門


A lot of Japanese souvenirs such as yukata and folding fans, various tradisional local snacks are sold here.





Beyond the Hozomon main gates stands the temple's main building and a five storied pagoda.


Five storied pagoda.

Sensoji main building.

Worshippers burn incense.

Clean yourselves before entering the temple.




Omikuji,御神籤
You can see this in any temples. They are random fortunes written on strips of paper.







Asakusa Shrine.


Lunch in nearby shop.

No chairs are avaiabled. We all stood up to eat.

Chi Bao bao ....Let's move on.


Sumida River, 隅田川
No wife bridge??

Asahi Beer Tower


Let's move on to
Meiji Shrine, 明治神宮 ,located in Shibuya which is the Shinto shrine that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shoken.

Barrels of sake (nihonshu) donated to the Meiji Shrine.

Another view of the torii at the entrance to Meiji-jingu.





The central sanctuary where the Meiji emperor is enshrined

6th Day - Tokyo (part2)

Next place was Yushima Tenjin Shrine.

The shrine was first erected to enshrine a deity, ameno-tajikarano-mikoto who appears in Japan’s myths in 458. Sugawara no Michizane who was an aristocrat and scholar from the Heian Period has also known to be a god of learning was enshrined in 1355. A warlord who was in charge of Kanto region, Oota Dokan reconstructed the shrine in 1478.


The shrine was worshiped by many men in academic field such as Arai Hakushu and Hayashi Doshun from the Edo Period. Today, many students who are trying to achieve an academic success or passing an entrance exam come here to pray.

I wish I can complete my master course as earlier as possible !!


We continued walked to Ameyoko,a busy market street.

The name "Ameyoko" is a short form for "Ameya Yokocho" (candy store alley), as candies were traditionally sold there. Alternatively, "Ame" also stands for "America", because a lot of American products used to be available on the black market.

Ameyoko street

We decided went back to our hotel had a short break. Teresa and I needed to move our luggages to a new room. The room was the most comfortable, clean compare to previous hostels that we had stayed so far, of course the rate is a bit big higher also. 6 persons share in one room.




After resting around 3 hours, we met Teresa's friend who study in Tokyo almost 4 years there. She brang us to Odaiba,お台場. Daiba, literally meaning "fort", refers to some of the man made islands in the Bay of Tokyo, which were constructed in the end of the Edo Period (1603-1868) for the city's protection against attacks from the sea.

Took another train to Odaiba.

In front of Fuji TV Building



Shopping centre - Aqua City

night view

.

Rainbow bridge. Behind is the tokyo tower.


Dinner time.

Ferris Wheel


A replica of the statue of liberty


Venus Fort.


It is a shopping mall in the style of a 18th century South European town. It features more than one hundred boutiques, shops, cafes and restaurants, targeting a mainly female audience.

Inside Venus Fort

Miao ~~~

We had spent our whole night here. Here the night view is very attractive and romantic, very suitable for couple for dating.