TOKYO: Day 3

ART AND NEON

A trip to the National Museum of Modern Art-Tokyo (MOMAT) on another rainy day seemed like the best option. There was a fascinating retrospective of the artist Kataoka Tamako on the 110^th anniversary of her birth.

Kataoka Tamako

Cindy at the Museum

Gormley

The National Museum of Modern Art-Tokyo

We were still feeling a little road weary so we had a little siesta before waking refreshed for a trip down to Ginza to photograph some people and some neon at night. Ginza is a high-end shopping district by day and remains lively at nighttime. I used my 85mm f/1.4 lens for narrow depth of field, great bokeh, and neon that pops.

 

The train stations continue to be a hive of activity and offer a great opportunity for some interesting photographs.

KAMAKURA: Day 2

THE BIG BUDDHA AT KAMAKURA

The Great Buddha at Kamakura

 ***Please remember that you can click on photographs to make them larger***

Today was the chosen day to meet Cindy’s decade-old wish to visit “the big Buddha.” I am finding it relatively easy to negotiate the Tokyo Metro so far. The web of complex tunnels, color-coded signs, escalators, and staircases that seem to lead to endless junctions, blind alleys, and dead ends are gradually being decoded. We took the Chou line from Suidobashi to Akihabara where we changed to the Yamanote line to Tokyo station. From there we boarded the Yokosuka for the one-hour journey out to Kamakura. At that point we took the Enoshima electric train to Hase. 

 

Hase is a quaint village housing two of the areas most remarkable Buddhist temples. The Hase-dera temple complex contains several buildings, shrines, gardens, koi ponds, and statues and even boasts a cave filled with stone Buddhist wall carvings. The highlight of the temple is the 30-foot tall, 11-headed, standing, gold leaf Hase Kannon. I found this statue of the Avalokitesvara Boddhisattva quite moving. It is also known as “the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy” although strictly speaking it is not gender specific.

The Daibutsu temple is just up the road and contains one of Japan’s most famous statues, that of the majestic Great Buddha. This is a sitting Buddha that is 40 feet high plus the pedestal. The Great Buddha, an image of Amida, was cast in 1252 and has withstood a history which includes earthquakes, typhoons, and tsunami which destroyed the building in which the Buddha originally was housed. It is actually even possible to go inside the Buddha. Fancifully enough, there was one remaining cherry blossom still in late bloom nearby. 

The late afternoon brought light rain and we ducked into a tiny tea shop where we were served macha tea in hand thrown ceramic bowls and gratis truffles by a delightful little old lady who then showed us the correct way to hold the bowls for a typical tea ceremony. 

It was an appropriately rainy evening to go home, fall asleep early and burn off the remainder of the ubiquitous jet lag.

TOKYO: Day 1

FIRST DAY IN TOKYO: SUIDOBASHI, SHINJUKU AND SHIBUYA

After a couple of extra hours on the tarmac in Detroit we ended up sitting on the plane for 15 hours. I got to watch two enjoyable movies: “Birdman,” and “The Imitation Game.” We arrived in Tokyo and crawled into our waiting nest. I don’t know why the phone rang at 3 a.m. - a phantom call from LA even though my cellular network is turned off, leaving me jet lagged and jazzed at 3am on a cloud of a bed in a boutique hotel in Tokyo feeling devastatingly happy to be here.

Our first views of Tokyo were taken on a leisurely stroll in our local Suidobashi neighborhood for coffee and other basic orientation needs. This was my first sight of a surprisingly impressive Japanese phenomenon of displaying specific restaurant foods rendered in perfect plastic likenesses.

We then braved the metro system finding our way to downtown to Shinjuku. Shinjuku is at the heart of this thriving metropolis. Tokyo is the most populous city in the world at 35 million and Shinjuku boasts the busiest station in the world, a central hub for the vast and intricate network of immaculate and efficient trains that run throughout the city. From the station we followed the signs along underground pathways to the Metropolitan Government Buildings. From the top of the two towers of the building there are areas from which to view the city.

View from The Metropolitan Government Building

At the Metropolitan Government Building

The neighborhoods surrounding Shinjuku station provide a variety of visual and cultural highlights.

It took quite a while to find our way to the correct train line within the bustling maze of a station. I had told myself in advance to expect to get lost here and patiently endured my self-fulfilling prophecy. Eventually we boarded for Shibuya and headed to what is known as the busiest walkway crossing in the world. This is an example of the sense of order that allows this city to run: people politely waiting until the lights change at a series of connected crossings before trundling en masse toward each other and somehow finding their way across the wide streets without crashing into each other.

Shibuya Crossing

Shibuya Station

We had lunch in one of the back streets of Shibuya. As expected it was difficult to find a place that we could feel comfortable with amongst the multitude of bars, bistros, ethnic, and local restaurants dotted within the colorful shops and streets. We were very fortunate to find a great establishment that took very good care of us and served us beautiful, tasty food.

Tuna served as a rose on rice and seaweed with wasabi and ginger

Also, next to Shibuya station there is a statue to a remarkable dog, named Hachiko. This Akita is famous throughout Japan for his loyalty to his owner Professor Ueno, whom the dog faithfully met at Shibuya station every day. When the professor died Hachiko continued to wait for him at the station. Nowadays the statue of Hachiko is an appropriately common designated meeting place for people.