This is the view from my window.
I wanted to go somewhere that would look nice in the snow, as it settled, and come on - I'm in Japan! Things look pretty in the snow! I studied my list of places to see and asked a couple of housemates where they thought would be nice, and I finally thought of Asakusa.On the way, I stopped at my local shrine, Suitengu Shrine.
It was only four stops up the Toei Asakusa Line to Asakusa, and the main temple I wanted to see, Sensoji Temple (popularly called Asakusa Kannon). The temple complex starts on a main road with the impressive Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate).
Then the road leads up through stalls that have been selling things to pilgrims here for centuries.
You could find everything from traditional foods... 
This street was particularly atmospheric. There were pipes and drums being played nearby somewhere. While I was taking shelter under a roof to read my travel guide, a middle-aged woman approached me with a camera on a tripod and spent several minutes trying to ask me something. She kept saying: "You. Moderu." "Me? Model?" "Hai, hai, hai". "What? Now? By this building?" "No no. Iie Iie." Eventually she gave up. At first it seemed like she wanted to take a picture of me in front of one of the buildings, but she said that wasn't it. I was very confused, but maybe I'm better off not modelling for this woman.
Asakusa is part of the shitamachi (low-city) area of Tokyo, and still retains a lot of the charm of the Edo period.
Very impressive! A sight I've seen in guidebooks several hundred times, and today I was there.
A five-storied pagoda.
By this time, the snow was beginning to melt and the ground was turning to slush. As I was taking a photo of the pagoda, several people were hammered down by a cascade of snow and ice sliding off the roof of the temple. I'm surprised no one was hurt. 
This gate lead into the courtyard in front of the main temple.
I was dwarfed by the pagoda. Not often I'm dwarfed by something here.
People wafted the incense over themselves using their hats and hands as they prayed.
People throw money into here and then pray for good fortune.
There are gardens adjacent to the temple, which were very nice to stroll through.
More fish!
Sensoji Temple is a Buddhist temple but there is a Shinto shrine, Asakusa-jingu, next door.
Thankfully, not a Nazi symbol, but a Buddhist sign of peace.
This stone has three haiku poems carved into it.
This sign accompanied the rock.
There were several tombs in the temple grounds. Here is one of them.
A snow cat! I couldn't resist...
This is to the left of the main entrance.
Here's one for all the geeks out there! Although I think it's probably only me and one other individual who gets the reference.
Then I wandered through some of the backstreets of Asakusa, getting a taste of old-Tokyo.
What a building! I'd seen photos of it before, but I didn't know where it was. Inside, there are cafes and an art gallery.
They do river trips up and down the Sumida River from here too.
Then the road leads up through stalls that have been selling things to pilgrims here for centuries.
You could find everything from traditional foods... ... to expensive jewelery...
... to commercialised rubbish.
This street was particularly atmospheric. There were pipes and drums being played nearby somewhere. While I was taking shelter under a roof to read my travel guide, a middle-aged woman approached me with a camera on a tripod and spent several minutes trying to ask me something. She kept saying: "You. Moderu." "Me? Model?" "Hai, hai, hai". "What? Now? By this building?" "No no. Iie Iie." Eventually she gave up. At first it seemed like she wanted to take a picture of me in front of one of the buildings, but she said that wasn't it. I was very confused, but maybe I'm better off not modelling for this woman.
Asakusa is part of the shitamachi (low-city) area of Tokyo, and still retains a lot of the charm of the Edo period.
Very impressive! A sight I've seen in guidebooks several hundred times, and today I was there.
A five-storied pagoda.
By this time, the snow was beginning to melt and the ground was turning to slush. As I was taking a photo of the pagoda, several people were hammered down by a cascade of snow and ice sliding off the roof of the temple. I'm surprised no one was hurt. This gate lead into the courtyard in front of the main temple.
The main temple wasn't actually as impressive as the gates before it. But it was still very nice.
I was dwarfed by the pagoda. Not often I'm dwarfed by something here.
People wafted the incense over themselves using their hats and hands as they prayed.
People throw money into here and then pray for good fortune.
There are gardens adjacent to the temple, which were very nice to stroll through.
More fish!
Sensoji Temple is a Buddhist temple but there is a Shinto shrine, Asakusa-jingu, next door.
The water in the pond didn't freeze and I wondered why, until I saw the hot bubbles bursting on the surface in the corners. Hot spring!
Thankfully, not a Nazi symbol, but a Buddhist sign of peace.
This stone has three haiku poems carved into it.
This sign accompanied the rock.
There were several tombs in the temple grounds. Here is one of them.
A snow cat! I couldn't resist...
This is to the left of the main entrance.
Here's one for all the geeks out there! Although I think it's probably only me and one other individual who gets the reference.
Then I wandered through some of the backstreets of Asakusa, getting a taste of old-Tokyo.
What a building! I'd seen photos of it before, but I didn't know where it was. Inside, there are cafes and an art gallery.
They do river trips up and down the Sumida River from here too.
By then, my fingers and nose were feeling more than a little numb, so I headed back to the subway station and did my weekly shop at Daimaru Peacock.
On the way I passed a Y105 shop! I've been looking for one of those! I must go back there and see what kind of stuff they have. Y105 is about 50p.
On the walk back from shopping, I accidentally dropped one of my bags and immediately the closest person picked everything up for me and put it carefully back in the bag. How nice!!
Asakusa was lovely, I'm glad I saw a nice sight in the snow. Tomorrow is a big day - my demo lesson with a private student and going to my Gaba school to see what it's like, and maybe do a lesson there too! I'm gonna be tired!
3 comments:
WOW! Japan looks even more beautiful when its covered in snow! I Want To Be There!
How's everything progressing? I'm guessing you've learnt abit more japanese just from being around it?
Quick question though, how much japanese did you have to use at your Gaba interviews? quite alot or less than you expected? Just if i dont manage to setup a business or write a decent book by the time the end of uni comes i'm tempted tio do what you're doing so im curious as to the level of japanese required to do it!
Jamie
Gaba actually has a no-Japanese policy so you don't have to worry about that at all!
Some students request a Japanese speaking teacher but you put your language ability on your profile so they will choose a teacher with suitable knowledge of Japanese.
One of the great things about doing this is that you don't have to speak Japanese to teach English here! Most students will want, and will be paying for, as much exposure to English as possible.
In regards to the language, it's starting to make more sense to me now. Things like why do they say 'itchoume' for 1st block instead of 'ichi choume' are beginning to seem normal to me.
And why do they say 'juppun' for ten minutes instead of 'juu fun'? Because it's easier! To say, not to learn...
And you can still come to Japan after writing a decent book! That's what I did!! (not that it's published or anything)
Miles
aargh you lucky lucky person. Looks gorgeous in the snow.
Post a Comment