Neo-Tokyo Tour, Intermixi - Spring in Japan, Day 3

My first, full day in Tokyo started nicely at 10:30 local time. The plan was to tour a bunch of various cultural spots around the entire city, walking and using the train system to get everywhere we needed to. The main attractions for today included the following: Asakusa, Sensō-ji, Tokyo Imperial Palace, Harajuku, Meiji Shrine, and Samurai Training.

Asakusa: A district in the Taitō Ward of Tokyo; home to Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon.

Honestly, I wish I had not waited so long to post about my trip since my memories of the early days are fading. I did try to write down things that happened or things I did in a mini-diary that I carried with me, but for most of Day 3 I didn't write too much since we were on the go all day. I will say that Asakusa was pretty crowded, but I never really felt like the crowds pressed in on me. Walking towards the Sensō-ji, we went through a long corridor lined with various merchant stalls selling all kinds of trinkets, foods, charms, etc. I wish I had spent more time going through the various stalls and picking up some souvenirs. In total, we spent probably about 30 minutes to an hour here. I might have liked more time, but other areas were calling.

Tokyo Imperial Palace: The second stop of the day was at the grounds immediately outside the gates to the Tokyo Imperial Palace. The palace is not open to visitors except for two times of the year, on New Year's Day and on the Emperor's birthday. So the group took some pictures from the courtyard and then we continued on.

Harajuku: Next we stopped in Harajuku, an area in the Shibuya Ward of Tokyo. The area is known for its youth style and fashion (at least that is what Wikipedia tells me). It's an interesting place to walk through, although there isn't too much for me. I would probably have enjoyed it more if I had a gf to walk through it with. Anyway, we were given 30 minutes to ourselves to explore and shop and then we met up to have some lunch. I wish I could remember the name of the place where we ate, as I had probably the *best bowl of ramen* I have ever had there. After stuffing myself with the above dish, we moved onward.

Meiji Shrine: Located almost across the street from Harajuku is the forest that encompasses the Meiji Shrine. It was a very serene area and I found it interesting how peaceful it felt compared to the bustle and crowds of Harajuku next door. As we walked around we managed to witness three different wedding ceremonies. We could not stay long, however, as we had lessons to take.

Samurai Training: We ended our cultural tour with a 60 - 90 minute lesson in kenjutsu. I may be wrong in identifying the exact martial art, but I know we did not learn kendo and I did study iaidō for a time, so I am sticking with kenjutsu. I honestly wish I had written down names because I cannot tell you anything about our sensei, his assistant, the name of the school, the name of the style, etc. The lessons consisted of teaching us how to hold a sword properly; how to un/sheath the sword; proper stances and ways of cutting (swinging the sword). We put this all together and used it to perform a kata with two of us as the participants. Two "samurai" would be approaching each other from opposite ends of the room, and one of them would initiate an attack at the other. The defending "samurai" would avoid and ultimately block the attacker's strikes, and eventually the defender would manage to land two strikes on the attacker, ultimately killing the attacker. Somehow, I ended up being the attacker for everyone ... and so I was killed multiple times that afternoon.

Now, one of the nice things about walking throughout all of Tokyo was getting to see all of the cherry blossoms, or sakura, that were in bloom at that time. To see an example of this, just look at the first picture of this blog entry. The last time I was in Japan I was not able to see any sakura in bloom, so this was one of the main reasons why I decided I needed to go back.