Welcome to Tokyo!

Pokeman is Everywhere in Japan! (No, we didn't fly in this plane)

After four wonderful days in Sapporo the group hopped on a Nippon Airways plane for the 90 minute flight to Tokyo, the capital of Japan.  Tokyo is located on the eastern side of the main island of Honshu.  Honshu is the largest of the four main islands of Japan, with a population of nearly 100 million.  The Japanese Alps run through the center of Honshu.  The highest peak is Mt. Fuji which is near Tokyo.  It is an inactive and is over 12,000 ft.  70% of Japan is mountainous with many active volcanoes.   There are a lot of earthquakes in Japan because it lies on an unstable part of the earth's crust.  About 1000 earthquakes occur each year.  Will one occur while I'm here?  Tokyo lies in the humid subtropical zone, so we were prepared for the hot and humid days that lay ahead of us.  As it was early July, the spring rainy season was just coming to an end.  

"Salarymen" coming home from work.


Tokyo is a major metropolitan city and has a population of over 12 million!  It's very similar to New York City.  It is a very bustling city filled with neon signs and lots of traffic and people coming and going everywhere.  It is one of three world finance centers, along with New York and London.  It is the most expensive city to live in in the world!  People use many modes of transportation in order to get around the city but the Tokyo Subway is the primary mode of transportation in the city.  

Tokyo Skyline

Entrance Gate to Senso-ji

It also holds on to the traditional through its tranquil backstreets and its temples and shrines.  The first day we were in Tokyo, a small group of us went to the Asakusa section of Tokyo to visit the city's major Buddhist Temple Senso-ji. 

The Nakamise-dori

Before making our way to the temple we passed throuh stalls that have been peddling their trinkets and wares, such as beautifully crafted hair combs and paper fans as well as calligraphy brushes to the crowds for centuries. 

Red Bean Cake Maker (Photo By S. Kopecki)

 There are also restaurants and fast food stands selling red bean cakes and sembei rice crackers. 

Young women wearing the kimona and eating a rice cake!

Insense Burner (Photo by S. Kopecki)

We finally made our way to the main temple complex.  I fanned a waft of smoke-breath of the gods- over myself to take in its curative powers.  I then went over and purified myself before entering the temple itself.  The temple is dedicated to the Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion. 

Photo By S. Kopecki

Once inside a stopped a moment to pray and then went to the side to see what message the bodhisattva has for me.  Through a formula of numbers on a stick.  I shook out of a box I was able to pull my "fortune" out of a corresponding numbered drawer.  My message from the boddhisatva was not a cautionary one!  A message to me to "fix up" a certain area of my life.  These messages, along with positive messages are all important messages for our spiritual development. 

Photo By S. Kopecki

Our guide informed me that since my fortune (along with the fortunes of a few others in our group) was not a positive one, I may want to leave it behind so the boddisatva may help me with it and the bad fortune will not come to pass. 

So we tied our "bad fortunes" to the rack and we left the temple with our bad fortunes behind us!

Photo By S. Kopecki