Sayonara Tokyo, mata ne!

Taking the NEX train to Narita, I felt sad but happy to have shown my parents a different world that gave me ideas and courage. There were so much to learn from and more places I could have taken them (such as Akihabara, Kamakura to name a few), but I imagined as well how overloaded they were with all those sensory experiences.

In my case, this 3rd trip to Japan was a discovery that I could enjoy it with other people, as opposed to my solo trips. From planning it to improvising, this was an experience that allowed me to let go and brought me to some positive off the beaten path experience.

It also mad me realize as well I should explore something completely, because sometimes they would not be there anymore afterward.

And so refreshed with such thoughts, I flew west to met my new job.

From Ikebukuro to Kagurazaka and back

After a full day of walking the wisest thing to do was to keep walking the next day.
And so we departed our hotel for an appointment in Iidabashi station with E-san for lunch. The weather was kind of dry, though some rain was expected. Nonetheless we asked reception for a walking path to Iidabashi.

We were met with perplexed looks and panicked search and printing of Google map. Indeed, our request seemed absurd when one could just take the train there. Aware of the difficulty I put the hotel staff into, I just accepted the unreadable map and started walking towards the cardinal direction the map indicated.A few hundreds metres later we encountered a kōban (交番) where I asked for direction again as we came across a major crossroad. After the incredulous look and even a small scoff, he asked if I would understand him, so I asked him to go ahead and tell me. In any case left and right were understood, and the rest were just answered with nods and determined looks.

And so we set off, under the expressway, toward Iidabashi area through residential areas, and evena  temple we came across and we visited. These were the unseen sights that cannot be found in guide books.

It even started to rain, but we continued on for about 1h, passing through golf shops, pharmacies, small grocery stores. I enjoyed the normalcy of it, walking in the neighourhood. But also noticed there were not many people walking along the main road we took, even though there were proper sidewalks to walk on.

Eventually arriving at Iidabashi, we realized we didn't quite agree at which exit to meet. With horror we found there were at least 3 exits to the station. So we split and waited with worry. Eventually we managed to be found by E-san and regroup to go for lunch. We went to a warm nabe and place and it was very delicious and comforting.

After lunch we looked for the Kagurazaka festival that was supposed to take place in the area, celebrating traditional arts, with parades and geisha performances. We walked into alleys so small it was unbelievable we were still in Tokyo. We came across small shrines, a sudden flower pot...

Eventually we found where the soaked parade were, and got wind of a shamisen performance in a small cafe. So we rushed there to take seat, and had a lovely performance by 3 players.

They played for about 30min and gave us a taste of the beautiful old tunes and sentiments from the shamisen. It was a shame we could not see more because of the weather. But I was happy we could have a sample of this traditional art. I also received an origami heart ring from a lady from the audience I was chatting with.

What beautiful tunes to end our last evening in Tokyo. And to make the evening last we kidnapped E-san to our hotel for dinner and drinks.

It was with heavy heart that we said goodbye, to E-san and her beautiful country.

Finally seeing the Tokyo station red building!

Before ending the day, we stopped by Tokyo station because it is a huge station as well with lots of restaurants and shopping and a nice neighbourhood nice visiting outside of rush hour. To my surprise I realized I have never seen the old  red facade but always the other modern glass Marunouchi facade. The facade work was finished and we could admire the red silhouette of the old building.

 

Across the station we found a glass building which had some swanky shopping ( and restrooms) in a lovely lit arcade, ready with a Christmas tree.

And beyond the rows of glass building stood the uter garden of the Imperial palace. We could see the moat and the zamu building (just kidding), standing unchanged across the moat from all the modernity.

Friday the 13th at Meiji jingu

A short walk from Takeshida dori lies the entrance of to the Meiji jingu complex. No scary costumes here. The walk in the park took us along story telling chrysanthemums displays, the collection of barrels of Burgundy wine offerings from France, sake collection, and put in our path cute toddlers in apparel kimonos as they celebrated their 3. 5 or 7th year (Shichi-Go-San 七五三) as rite of passage.

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

 
 

 And of course, everytime I visit Meiji Jingu, there is a wedding. This time however, we got to see both the white kimono in procession and the colourful kimono (2 different weddings).

 

 But of course there is also the shrine itself which is imposing and elegant in its vast wooden structure. We noticed that we would miss the autumn blessing ceremony, 10 days later.

 

 

 
 

Considering that this shrine is in a huge park that I really hadn't the heart to explore, I promised myself to explore it one day, this large lung of Tokyo. 

Experiencing culture in Harajuku

Because there are different kind of fun to be experienced in Tokyo, after the sobering view of the landscape, I opted for a frivolous experience to make us forget about our smallness in the immense spread that was Tokyo megalopolis.

Where else would you laugh out loud and forget your insignificance than in Harajuku Takeshita dori.

The place is a destination for crepes, but also all sorts of cute shopping by teenage girls (I guess I was really reliving my teenage years in an alternate reality), costumes, message t-shirts, hats, and all kind of souvenirs.

 

 

We came across some wol and other animals cafe as well but were not interested. Another time maybe. What we took from this street was some needed laughter and lots of socks.

As we counted our socks, we walked down to Meiji jingumae station and had some ramen before continuing on.