First Morning Walk.

Picture of skyline from my office on the 18th floor.

 I wanted to start off by saying that the skyline of Tokyo does not do the city justice for it's countless parks, shrines and interesting shops you can't see from it's white and grey skyline. As with the Japanese culture, the buildings of Tokyo are meant to blend with one another, so there are very few stand out buildings. I am awed by how the city changes are you leave the canopy of the concrete jungle and make your way down to the ground below.

I really think of the buildings as trees after I experienced my first earthquake today in Japan. It wasn't one to make the buildings sway, but it was noticable.  The Japanese people have been amazing to watch as they cope with power shortages and water shortages. My wife was awesome enough to pack me a few gallons in my suitcase. At the seven eleven, we were limited to one bottle. Luckily, we have lots of water at the IBM building :)

I woke up this morning around 5 am, and I couldn't go back to sleep. Following my normal travel ritual, I put on a pair of shorts and began orientating myself with m little area of Tokyo. The air was a nice 50 degrees when I stepped out into the streets making for a pleasant walk. Initially I wanted to go down the main road that my hotel is on to get an idea of what is near me but be able to navigate back. It wasn't long till I found some interesting things.

Cherry blossoms line the streets.

Unlike New York, Tokyo is a city that shuts down at night. Most people commute in, so the mornings are very peaceful. The cherry blossoms line most the streets within the current section of Tokyo I am in. This is the prime time for cherry blossoms.

Seven Eleven is bigger in Japan than the states. It's like Starbucks. Luckily the Seven Eleven is very close to the hotel and has a few American luxuries. It doesn't have Diet Mountain Dew though.

Cherry Blossoms

I thought this was a good picture of a cherry blossom tree and the clock tower next to it. 

Cherry blossoms create a canopy over the sidewalk neat Suitengu Shrine

Suitengu Shrine

I visited the Shinto shrine for healthy deliveries. It is called the Suitengu Shrine. When I came here in the morning, I was it's first visitor. I didn't realize how white the sky was this morning, and I will probably return to the shrine to take more pictures where there is better lighting.  I followed the Shinto traditions of the shrine and rang the hanging rope known as Suzu no o. Pulling the rope rings a bell in the shrine. 

Most of the shrines I saw this morning had fountains, but the Suitengu shrine had a cool dragon fountain that was surrounded by small vegetation. When I arrived, the priests were clipping and pruning the plants around the dragon.

The Suitengu Shrine

This is a picture of the main shrine in Suitengu. The facility is actually composed of multiple smaller shrines with a central shrine in the middle. Although I am the only person here, when I came back later to show Ryan, there was a lot of people. A lot of pregnant couples were there to receive blessings. Link to the Suitengu Shrine,

Small shrine to the left as you enter.

A number of Suzu no o hanging from the bells of the shrine.

These are pictures of the Suzu no o. The actual rope is made of cloth and has to be replaced once a month.  Additionally, you can get a Suzu no o to wear as a maternity belt to bring good luck.

Minor Shrines

 

Small Shrine near hotel

Very small shrine near hotel.

I found multiple smaller shrines during my walk. The shrines ranged in size, but the Suzu o no was the largest I went to this morning. The smallest shrine I say was basically a collection box and small prayer area.

Moving On

After walking about a mile more, I traveled briskly back to the hotel looking down the small roads and alleys that meandered of the main street like cappillaries. On some of the side streets, I found small shrines and parks nestled between the forest of buildings. I felt more confident as I familiarized myself with the locale, and once I arrived back to my hotel, I decided to take a different road to see what I could find. I passed by the bus terminal that I arrived at last night. As I explored I found the beer in vending machines and the small plants that people had outside their stores. I stopped for a moment to watch an older gentleman work on his golf swing as a couple passed me. I began to walk again.  They suddenly stopped and greeted me with their broken English. After a minute or so, we mangled our way through communicating, and I figured out they wanted me to see a cherry blossom park not far from where we were.  As with most people I have met so far, it was hard to turn them down, so we walked together winding our way through the quiet streets until we reached a large park with many people doing a morning group exercise.

Everyone grabbing their morning exercise.

I wished the couple a good morning and a thank you as they pointed at the forest of cherry blossom trees on the other side of the park.  I started to make my way to the trees when I was stopped by an older gentlemen who was busy exercising. He spoke English as well as I speak Japanese, but it didn't take long to figure out he wanted me to walk on the accupressure rocks. I removed my shoes and began down the trail of smooth rocks, over a small bridge to a section of smaller, more rigid rocks that pressed against my feet like a spikey grate as I walked over them. Once off the path, my feet felt very refreshed. The old man gave me a card that I will have to get translated and invited me to stay and exercise with the morning group. I thanked him and found myself the only Gaijin participating in the morning exercise.

That's me walking the accupressure foot path.

This was the nice man that convinced me to walk the accupressure path.

Getting back to the hotel was a little more challenging since I broke my rule of staying on my main street as I walked the maze of smaller streets back to the Shinto shrine. I was a little worried I would not make it back to the hotel for my 10 am call, but I was put at ease when I began to recognize the area.   After taking my morning call and getting ready for work, Ryan and I walked to the IBM office not far from our hotel. We met another Gaijin at the river that was walking her dog. She recommended a number of places for us to go close by including a Buddhist (Fokagawa) temple that has an amazing fire ceremony. I hope I get a chance to go there this weekend.  I took a picture from the shoreline of the Eitai bashi (bridge). The temple is over that bring near the Tomioka Hachiman shrine.

Eitai bashi

So a few of you reading this may wonder what the difference between a shrine and a temple are. A shrine is a Shinto place of worship and a temple is a Buddhist place of workship. It's that simple.

I took one picture for my my daughter KK. She will be glad to know, I found where the soccer fields are close to my hotel. There were a bunch of people getting their morning workout in by practicing with the ball at 6 am.

Soccer practice starts at 6 am. That's dedication.

One last picture for this post of the sun setting over Tokyo. I'm still at the

Tokyo Sunset