[Japan] Temples and Popular Areas in Tokyo

My family and I spent most of our Japan trip in Tokyo. While there, we got to visit some of its most famous temples and districts. Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa is Tokyo's oldest temple, and one of its most popular and important. There are a lot of buildings in this Buddhist temple complex, including the Main Hall, the Kaminari-mon Gate (which is the main entrance), and the Hozo-mon Gate. It seems that Hozo-mon means Treasure House, and apparently, many of the treasures of Senso-ji are kept on this gate's second story.

Senso-ji Temple Hozo-mon Gate

Aside from its historical and religious significance, what I love about this temple complex is that it has a lot of greenery. To one side of the main hall was a peaceful garden area. I was very pleasantly surprised to find such a beautiful oasis in the middle of this very busy city.

Garden in Senso-ji Temple

In front of the Main Hall is a huge jokoro, an earthenware incense burner. Smoke from incense is believed to have a healing effect which is why several visitors who pass by often fan the smoke from the jokoro towards themselves.

A jokoro, or incense burner, at the Senso-ji Temple

The path between the two main entrance gates is a short street called Nakamise, which is lined with several shops. My family and I ended up getting a lot of souvenirs here, such as magnets, pens, and chopsticks.

Nakamise street leading to Senso-ji Temple

Another temple we visited in Tokyo was Meiji Jingu or Meiji Shrine. This Shinto shrine is located amidst a beautiful forest at the heart of Tokyo. It is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken.

Meiji Jingu

There is a relatively long walk from the entrance of the shrine to the main temple area but it was quite relaxing because the tall forest trees provided a sense of serenity as well as much-needed shade from the scorching summer sun. Several large torii gates can be found throughout the pathway that leads to Meiji Jingu.

One of many torii gates at Meiji Jingu

Along the way, we passed by a large display of sake barrels that were offered to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken by members of the Meiji Jingu Nationwide Sake Brewers Association...

Sake barrels

...as well as a large display of wine barrels were offered by wineries from Bourgogne in France.

Wine barrels from France

Another popular area in Tokyo that we visited was Ginza, which is known as Japan's premium shopping district. We were there on a Saturday and it was cool to discover that Chuo Dori, the main street that passes through Ginza, is closed to traffic on weekend afternoons.

Chuo Dori, the main street that passes through Ginza

Our main purpose of going here was to visit Uniqlo. My brother asked us to see if a specific shirt was available here because it wasn't avaialble in the Philippines. The Uniqlo store in Ginza has an impressive 12 floors and its own cafe! You can also customize clothes. We ended up getting a total of 14 items here, including my brother's shirt. 

Uniqlo Ginza

I also got to meet up with my friend Tim in Ginza. He's been living Tokyo for a few years now and he suggested we have drinks at one of his favorite bars in the area. Instead of giving me directions to the bar, though, Tim suggested that we meet at the Godzilla statue in Ginza. He thought I might like to see it and he was right. Naturally, I had to take a photo.

Godzilla statue in Ginza

Another famous district in Tokyo is Akihabara. I took my family here so we could visit Hunters Bar, a Monster Hunter-themed restaurant. (I will write more about this in a future post.) We also passed by Radio Kaikan. There's a shop at the entrance that sells a lot of Japanese snacks and treats. We ended up buying a lot of boxes of Tokyo Banana here for our pasalubong to family and friends.

Akihabara

Chuo Dori also runs through the Akihabata district so people could freely walk across the street.

Chuo Dori passing through Akihabara

Finally, on our last day, we made an attempt to visit the Imperial Palace, which was supposedly walking distance from our hotel. (It kinda was, but it was a really long walk!) I saw online that there are free guided tours and that same day registrations can be done at the Kikyomon Gate. Unfortunately, we seemed to have followed the wrong directions and ended up at the Imperial Palace East Gardens instead. Since we were already there, we decided to walk around for a bit and take a few photos.

Imperial Palace East Gardens

That said, I didn't want to leave Japan without getting to see the Imperial Palace so while my family was resting at our hotel in the late afternoon of our last day in Tokyo, I decided to head back. I wasn't really able to do anything while I was there but I'm quite happy that I was able to take a photo of it along with the very elegant Nijubashi bridge.

Tokyo Imperial Palace and Nijubashi Bridge

Next post: Hachiko and Shibuya Sky