Tokyo, Japan - Part 2

This is a second post on my current trip to Tokyo, Japan.  You can view the first post here.

Today I spent most of the morning in a part of Tokyo called Asakusa.  It's a really fun part of town.  One of the highlights there is a massive Buddhist temple.  It's actually one of the oldest temples inside the city of Tokyo.

To get to the temple, you enter through a massive gate - the Kaminarimon or Thunder Gate:

Through the gate, you enter the Nakamise shopping street.  It's a very long corridor, filled with vendors selling all manner of goods.  Mostly, it's a combination of treats, clothing, toys and touristy goods.  It's stil a huge amount of fun.

Next, I'd like to show you some of the items for sale here in the market.  You'll find things that are essentially Japanese.  First are some beautiful fans:

Next, are some delicious treats that are called anpan.  Basically, it's a sweet roll that's filled with red bean paste.  The paste is actually quite sweet.

The best part is that they make these right in front of you.  I filmed one of several machines that create these inside of one of the vendor stalls.  They roll out of these machines warm and ready-to-eat!

Several vendors create anpan in the shape of characters.  They box them and sell them just like candy:

Notice that I didn't pay attention to the "No Photography" signs all around...whoops.

In another stall, I saw this man that was working to create other hand-baked items.  I don't know what they were, but it sure smelled good:

Next, I found merchants selling chopsticks, samurai swords and fun masks:

One vendor had this massive collection of what I'll call "waving clocks".  These are solar-powered clocks that feature characters waving or moving.  The cat clock is quite popular here, as a symbol of good luck:

Once past the market, you reach the second gate to the temple - the Hōzōmon or Treasure House Gate.  It stands about three stories tall and is a beautiful red color:

Just to prove I was there...

To the left of the gate was a giant five-story pagoda.  I love the architectural symmetry of this building:

Past the gate, you enter the courtyard for the temple.  As in visits from the past, I witnessed two interesting activities related to entering the temple.  First, was the purifying smoke.  Here, all visitors gather around a large cauldron that has incense burning inside.  They use their hands to bring the smoke  towards them, in a cleansing motion.  The smoke is believed to have healing power:

Next, I witnessed a purification fountain. Here, you take one of the ladles provided, fill it with fountain water and rinse both hands. Then you pour some water into your cupped hand, rinse your mouth and spit the water beside the fountain.  I had to watch for a little while to figure out what was going on.  Many visitors just drink from the ladle, which is a no-no:

The actual temple is quite ornate - and the crowds today were more intense than I've experienced in the past.  Usually, photography isn't permitted, but I didn't see any signs...

Inside, people were throwing coins - basically an offering to the sacred spirits inside the temple. Due to the large crowds, people were throwing coins from waaay back.  It was amazing to watch:

On the side of the temple was a statue of what I believe to be Buddha.  It might have been a Shinto god, but I couldn't read the Japanese text.  I watched as the Japanese would respectively approach the statue and rub portions of the figure.  You'll notice that the head, knee and shoulders are much shinier than the rest:

Beside it, people have offered up prayers by writing them on wooden blocks, which are then attached to a stand.  I really wish I could read the prayers expressed in earnest:

From the shrine, you could see a decent view of the new Sky Tree Building. It's quite tall, at about 634 meters or 2,000 feet high.  It's currently the world's tallest free-standing broadcast tower.

Just beyond the courtyard, I found street vendors selling food.  One was creating hand-dipped bananas with a variety of flavors:

I also found one vendor preparing pan-fried noodles.  I broke down and ordered a plate...on a cold day like today, they were delicious:

That evening, I was lucky enough to spend time with my cousin's family.  They live here in Tokyo while my cousin is on an ex-pat assignment for his company.  I played around with his youngest daughters and had a home-cooked meal:

They decided that Uncle Neal needed to wear a hat from Tokyo Disneyland.  I would love to ride the subway wearing this:

That's it for today.  I'm leaving for the U.S. tomorrow...and might have time to visit one more place after a meeting in the morning.  Stay tuned, as there might be a part three ; )