Hello everyone, this is part two of my Tokyo 2014 series.
On the second day, we revisited a few places I went the previous summers, because it was my brother's first time visiting Tokyo. In the morning, we went to 浅草 (Asakusa). 浅草 is a very traditional place, famous for its temples and 祭り (matsuri) festivals. It's definitely one of the hottest locations to visit for tourists all across the world.
We got off at 浅草駅 (Asakusa Station) towards the end of 銀座線 (Ginza line). This is a wall art at the station, depicting some sort of really busy festival. Beautiful, isn't it?
雷門 Kaminarimon, literally "thunder gate", a huge outer entrance that leads to the temple inside.
After going through the gate, a shopping street is located right in front of the gate. The street is called 仲見世通り(Nakamise Street). There are countless stores that sell a variety of goods, ranging from traditional Japanese snacks, garments to souvenirs.
仲見世通り(Nakamise Street).
Really cute decoration sold at one of the shops at 仲見世通り.
The shopping street leads to the main temple of 浅草, 浅草寺 (Sensō-ji). It's the oldest temple of Tokyo (built in AD 645, according to japan-guide.com), and one of the most significant ones.
The front view of 浅草寺.
I found it interesting to see foreign visitors following the traditional Buddhist rituals when visiting the temple. I'm somewhat familiar with the rituals, so it's good to see others interested in trying to practice them.
I love dragons. This majestic ceiling mural really caught my eyes.
Side view of the temple.
Jolly tourist helping girls in yukata with photo-taking. My brother said he looked like Steve Martin (?!).
After visiting the temple, we wandered off to the alleys in the area. We went to a restaurant called 花月堂 (Kagetsudo). It's famous for its gigantic melon bread, almost the size of one's face. I'm not a big fan of bread, but I love their かき氷 (kakigōri), which is shaved ice with syrup.
Oh dear, look at the flavors you can choose.
I chose cherry...look at this beauty.
I had a great tempura meal for lunch at 三定 (Sansada). The waitresses there were all super nice, telling us the correct way to enjoy what we ordered.
The sign says that they're the oldest tempura restaurant in Japan. Established in 天保8年 (Tenpō 8), around 1837.
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In the afternoon, we went to 渋谷 (Shibuya). It is probably one of the busiest shopping districts in Tokyo. It's where younger people like to shop, and it is also a major nightlife area. 渋谷 has its famous "Shibuya crossing", which looks like this:
(Taken from Culturalexplosion.com)
Or this:
(Taken from japan-guide.com)
When I first went there 3 years ago, I was stunned by how busy this place is. Shoppers, businessmen, tourists all roam around. However, after I got used to the crowd, I grew to love this busy district, especially how it is at night.
Buildings and billboards light up with different colors, clamors of people all around me.
The entire place pulses with energy; I felt like I was infused with energy too.
"And I'm in tune with it the city's heart beats slow
I can feel it 'cause the street's got a concrete pulse"
Big City Bright Lights by ArtOfficial
My main goal for visiting Shibuya was to purchase some albums at Tower Records. It has a shelf dedicated to a category called "hip-hop/relax". Sometime in the near future, I'd like to write about this kind of music. It's amazing.
Cheers and stay tuned to the last post!
-Veronica.
On the second day, we revisited a few places I went the previous summers, because it was my brother's first time visiting Tokyo. In the morning, we went to 浅草 (Asakusa). 浅草 is a very traditional place, famous for its temples and 祭り (matsuri) festivals. It's definitely one of the hottest locations to visit for tourists all across the world.
We got off at 浅草駅 (Asakusa Station) towards the end of 銀座線 (Ginza line). This is a wall art at the station, depicting some sort of really busy festival. Beautiful, isn't it?
After going through the gate, a shopping street is located right in front of the gate. The street is called 仲見世通り(Nakamise Street). There are countless stores that sell a variety of goods, ranging from traditional Japanese snacks, garments to souvenirs.
The shopping street leads to the main temple of 浅草, 浅草寺 (Sensō-ji). It's the oldest temple of Tokyo (built in AD 645, according to japan-guide.com), and one of the most significant ones.
I found it interesting to see foreign visitors following the traditional Buddhist rituals when visiting the temple. I'm somewhat familiar with the rituals, so it's good to see others interested in trying to practice them.
After visiting the temple, we wandered off to the alleys in the area. We went to a restaurant called 花月堂 (Kagetsudo). It's famous for its gigantic melon bread, almost the size of one's face. I'm not a big fan of bread, but I love their かき氷 (kakigōri), which is shaved ice with syrup.
----------
In the afternoon, we went to 渋谷 (Shibuya). It is probably one of the busiest shopping districts in Tokyo. It's where younger people like to shop, and it is also a major nightlife area. 渋谷 has its famous "Shibuya crossing", which looks like this:
Or this:
When I first went there 3 years ago, I was stunned by how busy this place is. Shoppers, businessmen, tourists all roam around. However, after I got used to the crowd, I grew to love this busy district, especially how it is at night.
Buildings and billboards light up with different colors, clamors of people all around me.
The entire place pulses with energy; I felt like I was infused with energy too.
I can feel it 'cause the street's got a concrete pulse"
Big City Bright Lights by ArtOfficial
My main goal for visiting Shibuya was to purchase some albums at Tower Records. It has a shelf dedicated to a category called "hip-hop/relax". Sometime in the near future, I'd like to write about this kind of music. It's amazing.
Cheers and stay tuned to the last post!
-Veronica.
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