And perhaps the crowdiest part at that.
There are two or three tv programs I like to watch from time-to-time. They focus on train travel in and around Tokyo with the presenters getting off at one station and exploring it detail or getting on one train line and getting off at different stops to explore the near and far. The shows always give me nice ideas for the occasional outing.
Today was a bit like that. I really didn't know which way I was going to go, or where I was going to go to...I had planned the beach but the weather just isn't in our favour at the moment.
So, to the bus stop. Catch the bus. Arrive at the station with a choice of two train lines...take the subway. Should I go all the way to Yokohama (again) or hop off at Shinjuku, or Harajuku, or Shibuya? Or go in the other direction, head towards work and explore the stations around there a bit more? Work. Yeah, nah, not today.
I got off at Harajuku in the end with a plan to go and look at Meiji Jingu again, it has been a few years. It is the shrine in the middle of Tokyo dedicated the to the Emperor Meiji. Always lots of people.
But also, lots of quiet places...
Today I went into the garden, where I hadn't been before, a place where the Emperor built a teahouse for his wife and she built a platform for him to enjoy his fishing in the pond...
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| Detail of the first torii |
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| A little creek |
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| Rocks 'n' moss |
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| Lantern |
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| Blessed be the waters |
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| Roof |
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| On the main path, look right... |
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| Bonsai |
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| Bonsai detail |
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| Her teahouse |
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| His pond |
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| lilies |
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| Branch, fallen |
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| Lily pads |
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| Across the fields |
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| Just me |
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| Tree with friends |
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| Pine reflected |
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| Visitor |
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| Budding |
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| Another visitor |
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| The Emperor's fishing spot |
Next year is the 150th Anniversary of the Meiji Restoration, the so-called opening up of Japan to the West after many years of mostly isolation. It will be even busier next year.
It is one of the things I like about going to popular shrines and temples, you don't have to go far off the beaten track to find your own little bit of peace and quiet. And that never ceases to amaze me in a city of this size. Peace. Quiet.
[Camera : Lumix TZ-85, 3.12pm-4.31pm; 30 July 2017]
