THE OLD AND MODERN - ASAKUSA AND ODAIBA TRIP

Sunday I went on a day trip to explore two areas of Tokyo. I met up with some others again from the day trip meetup group I found online and we started off walking around Asakusa which is the Northeast area of Tokyo near the famous Skytree.  I actually went there once before but the Buddhist Temple there was closed and it was getting dark so I didn't get to see much.

 

So this area has the largest Buddhist Temple in Tokyo. There are a couple of Shinto Shrines right next to it. Because it is a popular tourist destination and so close to the sky tree, you can find a lot of touristy crap for sale there. They also have old traditional Japanese Rickshaw rides you can take and some very old Trolley cars that are now converted into buses. After walking around the Temple we had lunch at a traditional yakisoba restaurant and then we headed over to the water where we caught a futuristic style boat that took us to the manmade island of Odaiba. Odaiba pretty much has lots of things for kids and a ton of shopping. The back of Odaiba is where many boats bring in their shipments. Overall I wasn't super impressed with Odaiba. A lot of things there seemed to be more for kids but I did find the Old Navy - the only one in Tokyo and that in itself was worth the visit. Enjoy the pics!!

 

Rickshaw Bicycles

 

 

Entrance into the main road towards the Temple

 

The largest Japanese lantern I have ever seen

 

The touristy shopping street at the Temple

 

Need some traditional Japanese Sandals?

 

Need a keychain?

 

Need a lucky cat?

 

Need some chopsticks?

 

Needs some treats?

 

Need a fan?

 

Need a wig?

 

Entrance into the Temple

 

Temple Pagoda

 

People throw their money in here and pray

 

Fortune telling boxes

 

Can't see the ceremony going on? Well you can watch it here on this plasma tv.

 

Make a wish and tie it on

 

 

 

Paintings on the ceiling

 

Outside

 

Shinto Shrine with a ceremony to bless this new Mercedes

 

Pretty little park area

 

These random figures are placed in strange places on various buildings in the area

 

My first yakisoba noodles. Honestly I didn't care for it too much. We ate a traditional restaurant where we sat on the floor on the tatami mats and pillows. I still suck at using chopsticks.

 



 

This boat is called the "Hotaluna." It was designed by a famous Anime/Manga movie person. It actually was pretty spacious inside and had a place to buy drinks and ice cream.

 

It was yucky weather with plenty of rain so my pics of the surrounding area didn't turn out so well. :(

 

I ended my day purchasing some things at Old Navy. I can't tell you how happy I was to find that store. A girl that was in the tour group said there will be 4 more opening in Tokyo soon. Woohoo!  I am not sure I would go to Odaiba again for anything. Pretty much the only thing there that interests me is Old Navy because the clothes there fit me and it is really hard to shop here if you are an American. There is one museum I would want to see in the area also. And since I plan on going to it, you will have to wait for another blog post to read about that.

 

Nokogiriyama - Largest Stone Buddah in Japan

So a couple of weeks ago I finally got around to joining  a few meetups here in Tokyo. I found one called Tokyo Day/Weekend Trips which is organized by a small company that specializes in local day trips in and around the city.  I went on my first trip Saturday with my co-worker Wendy. This trip was super cool.

 

I met the others in the group which consisted of some pretty nice and interesting people. Seriously I could not have been happier to FINALLY be out and about getting to know others in this city and to be able to see more of Japan.  We met at 8am and took an hour train ride past Chiba to the outskirts of Tokyo Bay. From there we had to take a 10 minute bus ride to a ferry and then the 35 minute ferry ride across the bay to Nokogiriyama Peninsula.  There is no other way to get to this place. After arriving we walked a bit to get to a tram which we then took to the top of the hill. There were awesome views from the top. After lunch we hiked around the top to go see the largest stone Buddah in Japan and some other pretty cool things. Hope you enjoy the pictures! 

This ain't no Staten Island Ferry people.

 

 

 

 

Local fish and treat market in Nokogiriyama.

 

 

 

 

 A couple of old Shrines that I saw on the walk

 

 

 

Made it to the Tram. I think we used about every mode of transportation on this outing except for a bike and a plane.

 

 

Some views from the top

 

 

We walked through these walls...

 

 

...and saw this amazing Buddah!

 

 

Some views from the higher level

 

 

1,500 little Buddahs scattered throughout the park

 

 

 

Found the giant Buddah! The pics don't really give you an idea of how big it really is. If you look down in the far left corner you can see a tiny person there and that helps put it in perspective.

 

I know it looks like I am photo bombing this guy but he actually photo bombed me. Walked right in front all of a sudden when I was trying to jump in front of the Buddah. Thanks Buddy.

 

 

 

This is a smaller little statue surrounded by little dolls with red string. You can buy a doll and then you write your name on the back and you throw it on the pile with the rest of them while making a wish. I bought a doll to add to the pile and an extra for a souvenir.

 



 

Here is the group I went with.  I met some really nice people. I am sure I will see some again. This was a great day out.